Four Patriot Missile Launchers and Air Defence Radar Destroyed By Russian Strike in Ukraine

<p >The Russian Armed Forces were on December 15 confirmed to have destroyed an AN/MPQ-65 radar station and four surface to air missile launchers launchers from an American MIM-104 Patriot long range air defence system operated by the Ukrainian Air Force. Coinciding attacks also targeted infrastructure at Ukrainian military airfields, personnel concentrations, and military equipment in 146 areas. Tactical combat aircraft, surface to surface missile launchers, artillery units and armed drones all contributed to the attacks. Ukraine’s arsenal of Patriot missile systems has been gradually depleted from mid-2023, with footage having continued to emerge confirming the losses of the systems to Russian missile attacks. Russian sources<a href=" > first claimed the successful destruction</a> of components of one of the systems in May 2023 during a ballistic missile strike by <a href=" >MiG-31K fighters</a>, although many of the more recent attacks have seen significantly more evidence released proving their successes.</p><p ><img src=" title="Ukrainian Patriot System Milliseconds Before Iskander Strike "></p><p ><a href=" >On March 10</a> newly published footage showed an <a href=" >Iskander-M</a> ballistic missile strike the previous day destroying parts of a Patriot system near the Sergeevka locality in the disputed Donetsk region. Subsequently in the second week of July footage showed the <a href=" >destruction</a> of two Patriot batteries near the settlement Yuzhnoye in the Odessa region. Footage released in mid-August showed a successful strike on Patriot batteries at an unknown location in the Ukrainian theatre, as well as an associated AN/MPQ-65 radar station. Less than a week later additional footage showed an Iskander-M missile strike <a href=" >destroy three more batteries</a> using cluster munitions. The Patriot is by far the most high value military asset in Ukrainian service, with its very high attrition rates, and the lack of significant reserves of the systems in the Western world, leaving Kiev’s strategic partners NATO highly limited in their ability to replenish losses. </p>