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| Patriot system has minimal damage following Russian attack near Kyiv on Tuesday, US officials say |
| 2023-05-18 |
| [CNN] The damage to a Patriot air defense system following a Russian missile attack near Kyiv on Tuesday morning is minimal, three US officials tell CNN, with one official describing it as "minor" damage. The US sent inspectors to examine the system on Tuesday, after being told by the Ukrainians that the system appeared to have been damaged, one official said. The system itself is still operational, the officials said, and the radar component of the Patriot, one of its most important elements, was not damaged. US officials do not believe the Patriot will need to be removed from the battlefield for repairs. A complete Patriot battery has six major components: generators, a radar set, a control station, antennas, a launcher station and interceptor missiles. The components operate together to fire a Patriot missile and successfully guide it to its target. It is not clear what part of the Patriot was damaged or if it was damaged by an actual missile strike or falling debris. The Ukrainians said they successfully intercepted all six Russian Kinzhal missiles on Tuesday morning. |
| Posted by:Enver Slager8035 |
| #10 ^ I'm not impressed by our "checked box" spokesditz lately. I hope this idiot's right |
| Posted by: Frank G 2023-05-18 20:00 |
| #9 Already fully repaired according to Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh. |
| Posted by: Enver Slager8035 2023-05-18 15:03 |
| #8 Also those Kinzhals are worth around 10 million (according to the Wiki). Two 3 million dollar Patriot missiles to bring down a Kinzhal is still a decent deal. Especially when Russia is hard pressed to make more of them. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2023-05-18 14:37 |
| #7 Still, if the Ukes fired $158 million worth of Patriots for one attack, that's not good, no matter how well it held up. Wrong way of looking at air defense. If they were protecting targets worth 1 billion, that is a damn good investment. Shooting down a $20k Iranian drone, not so much. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2023-05-18 14:35 |
| #6 Still, if the Ukes fired $158 million worth of Patriots for one attack, that's not good, no matter how well it held up. It's definitely no good for the US taxpayer. Raytheon, LM and Boeing stockholders probably feel it's a bargain. |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2023-05-18 13:46 |
| #5 I would doubt we would hear anything too bad about the system as it is a major weapons platform available for export. With the complete failure of Russian systems in Syria against Israel and now in Ukraine the export market boomed for Patriot. Only gonna get stronger. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2023-05-18 13:36 |
| #4 Or who was running it. That's some 30 successive launches against the best Russia has. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2023-05-18 13:31 |
| #3 Patriot is their sacred cow. I would doubt we would hear anything too bad about the system as it is a major weapons platform available for export. |
| Posted by: mossomo 2023-05-18 13:08 |
| #2 the Patriot battery’s generator... Back before Hurlburt Field was what it is, I was on mission with a team from Bragg monitoring a night flight. Excitement was high because of a two star tourist. When the General's tour did show [0237] the un-uniformed augmentees were directed to 'stand by'. The full tour checklist had been completed to include breaking down crates for a walking path to keep him out of the ankle deep swamp. Into the S280 shelter for a show of the realtime monitoring and 'buuu...' the lights went out. No power. The task of fueling the 50kw was not on the checklist. but officials are examining other options as well. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2023-05-18 08:41 |
| #1 Two components of a Patriot battery were damaged in a Russian attack Tuesday, but the system “was never offline," according to a US official familiar with the matter. Damagee to the Patriot battery’s generator and part of the system’s electronics. US officials are still assessing how exactly the Patriot components were damaged since it does not appear that any of the components sustained a direct hit from a Russian Kinzhal missile or other munition. One possibility is that debris from a falling missile damaged the Patriot components, but officials are examining other options as well. |
| Posted by: Enver Slager8035 2023-05-18 00:08 |