(DEFENCE SECURITY ASIA) — In what has been described as a “calamitous” day for Ukraine, Russian forces have been confirmed to have successfully destroyed between two to three MIM-104 Patriot air defense system launchers supplied by the United States within a single day.
International military analysts have stated this marks the first recorded successful destruction of Patriot air defense systems, with images and video recordings of the wreckage now widely circulated across mainstream and social media.
All of the Patriot air defense system launchers were reported to have been annihilated after being precisely targeted by Russia’s tactical Iskander missiles.
Russian news agency TASS reported that three Patriot air defense system launchers were destroyed by Iskander missiles, although other reports claimed only two of these systems were obliterated.
The incident reportedly took place in Pokrovsk, Donetsk, Ukraine, as the country’s forces were relocating the air defense systems supplied by the United States, Germany, and the Netherlands to the front lines without air cover.
The lack of air cover likely allowed the movement of the Ukrainian Patriot air defense systems to the front lines to be monitored by Russian ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance) platforms.
Ukraine is said to have deployed the Patriot air defense systems provided by the United States to its border with Russia, aiming to counter Russian combat aircraft incursions while they were in Russian airspace.
Recently, Russia has reported the “loss” of combat aircraft such as the Su-34, the early warning aircraft (AWACS) “A-50”, and transport aircraft, shot down while still within its airspace, shocking Russian military leadership.
However, the successful destruction of two to three Ukrainian Patriot air defense systems in Pokrovsk, Donetsk, has somewhat restored their confidence.
To date, Ukraine has not disclosed the number of military casualties resulting from the destruction of the Patriot air defense systems in Pokrovsk, but there have been reports claiming that among those killed were American citizens operating the system.
These claims have not been verified, and it remains unclear whether the American citizens involved were military personnel.
A single Patriot air defense system is reportedly valued at US$400 million (RM1.86 billion), with each of its missiles estimated to cost US$6 million (RM27 million) each.
The destruction of two Ukrainian Patriot air defense systems supplied by the United States is estimated to have caused losses exceeding US$1 billion (RM4.5 billion) for Washington and Kyiv.
Currently, Ukraine is said to possess five Patriot air defense systems, tasked among other things with protecting the airspace over the nation’s capital, Kyiv, from Russian long-range and hypersonic missile attacks.
The Patriot air defense system has been regarded as effective against Russia’s tactical Iskander missiles, but in the recent incident in Pokrovsk, an Iskander missile was identified as responsible for destroying the prestigious American air defense system. — DSA