Patriot air defense systems can not only shoot down ballistic missiles, but russian jets – Ukrainian Air Force
Patriot anti-aircraft missile complexes, which Ukraine will receive from the allies, can shoot down ballistic missiles and enemy aircraft that attack Ukraine from temporarily occupied territories.
Colonel Yuriy Ihnat, the Air Force of Ukraine's Armed Forces spokesman, announced this on the air of the national telethon "Yedyni Novyny" (United News – ed.).
"The complex is good not only in terms of shooting down ballistic missiles, but it is also a long-range complex. Unfortunately, we do not have such long-range anti-aircraft systems because our main complex is the Buk-M1 ( self-propelled, medium-range surface-to-air missile system developed by the Soviet Union – ed.) with a range of up to 40 kilometers, and the S-300 missile system (long-range surface-to-air missile system developed and operated by the former Soviet Union – ed.)— with a range of 70 kilometers.
Therefore, the range of 150 kilometers, which both the Patriot and SAMP/T complexes have, will help first of all to shoot down not only ballistic missiles but also to oppose russian aviation at long distances," the colonel said.
Ihnat emphasized that russia today uses aviation in the front-line zone of the North and South to strike with both missiles and guided aerial bombs.
"They fly up to a distance of 30-40, 50-60 kilometers to our borders and can drop these bombs. We know what large-tonnage aviation bombs are and how destructive they are.
And the presence of long-range anti-aircraft systems and aircraft capable of striking over 150 kilometers will drive russian aircraft away from our borders.
It is evident that we would like to see downed not only racist cruise missiles but also their planes, which often appear on the line of battle," explained the spokesman.
Ihnat clarified that he spoke of the downing of enemy planes in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, from where the racist planes are launching rocket-bomb attacks on the positions of the Defense Forces of Ukraine.
The spokesman also said that the Patriot complexes would be placed in such a way that they can also protect Ukrainian critical infrastructure.
It should be noted that from February 24, 2022, to March 11, 2023, the Ukrainian Defense Forces eliminated about 158,000 russian aggressors, including 1010 invaders destroyed on March 10.
