Spain will supply a batch of Patriot missiles to Ukraine. international

Spain has agreed to supply Patriot missiles to Ukraine despite pressure from NATO and the EU, with the aim of strengthening their anti-aircraft defense against Russian attacks. Can deliver it to Kiev. For government sources. The transfer of a small number of missiles – each unit costs more than a million euros and has a range of 24 kilometers and a range of 150 – made its way to Ukraine after the Defense Ministry refused to transfer its batteries, deployed since 2013, to Ukraine. Is on the border between Turkey and Syria.

The Spanish Army has three batteries – each with their respective missile launcher, radar and control station – acquired second-hand from Germany in 2004 and 2014. One of these batteries is located in the city of Adana (Turkey), while the other two are at the Marine Base (Valencia) and one of them is used to instruct the Ukrainian and Spanish armies in the management of this system.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has demanded the delivery of six batteries to protect the country’s nerve centers in the face of a Russian invasion in the coming months and has his eye on a system deployed by the Spanish military. Türkiye, with a contingent of 150 soldiers. However, the Defense Ministry has flatly denied this, alleging that these systems are only effective against missile attack – as demonstrated in the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East – and that the staffing of the Spanish Armed Forces is minimal. . However, according to information received from sources, as compensation, the government has accepted the delivery of a batch of Patriot missiles. In any case, this would be a very limited number, as the Spanish war reserve is about fifty units and interceptors are very expensive.

The Defense Ministry has a program to acquire a whole group of Patriots with four batteries of 3+ configuration, much more advanced than now, which will give it a real missile defense capability. The Pentagon greenlighted the operation last October, valued at about 2.6 billion euros, but the Council of Ministers has not yet approved the program’s spending limit or signed the contract. Although the processes have been accelerated, the forecast is that the new batteries will not arrive before 2028 or 2029. Meanwhile, the armed forces will have to ensure the air defense of Spain with their existing limited means.

Other countries with Patriot missiles are also under pressure to supply them to Kiev: Germany has announced the delivery of another battery – the third since the Russian offensive began – while Greece may soon follow suit. The Netherlands has declared itself willing to finance the purchase of missiles from third countries for delivery to Ukraine, while France could supply the MAMBA system, which it has in Romania. The defense ministers of the so-called Contact Group on Ukraine or the Ramstein Group, which brings together more than fifty countries (including 32 members of NATO) under the leadership of the United States, are holding a videoconference meeting this Friday in which the Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles will attend. The meeting will review various countries’ contributions to Kiev’s demands, although pressure has eased after the US Congress finally approved $61 billion in military aid to Ukraine.

The Spanish government, which has reiterated its commitment to support Kiev, is preparing a new arms package ahead of June 30, which includes 10 of the 19 Leopard 2A4 battle tanks that are being rehabilitated and the last The year distributed will be added to 10. Apart from Patriot missiles, the transfer of other anti-aircraft systems is problematic: the army has only four NASMS batteries, and one of them is permanently deployed in Latvia and the other in Estonia for a period of several months. Although according to military sources, Spain has delivered 12 Hawk anti-aircraft missile launchers to Kiev, it is not easy to supply more missiles of this type, because their manufacturing has stopped and stocks cannot be replenished . Under these conditions, the government itself committed to supplying ammunition manufacturing companies, such as 155 caliber projectiles, to Kiev, even if it meant postponing the replenishment of the almost empty arsenal of the Spanish Army.

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