Olena Buturlim12:10, 11.06.24
Germany will transfer the system in the near future.
Germany will soon transfer the third Patriot system, IRIS-T, Gepard, missiles and ammunition to Ukraine. This was announced by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
(C)UNIAN 2024
Yet another “in the future” promise. Ukraine need weapons now, not in the future. The deliberate holdups by the West, in order not to escalate are getting a little annoying to say the least.
Yeah, those deliveries take too long. That’s still not wartime speed. However, imho this is about the fourth Patriot battery from Germany, the third already having been delivered, me thinks.
“Germany Considers Sending Fourth Patriot Air Defense System to Ukraine.”
https://armyrecognition.com/news/army-news/army-news-2024/germany-considers-sending-fourth-patriot-air-defense-system-to-ukraine
🤔
If Ukraine would have had everything delivered on time that was promised, this war would be over by now. The missing Czech shells, the F16s, Scholtz refusing Taurus missiles are all contributing to the needless deaths in Ukraine.
Add to that list the bottleneck in pilot training. Only 20 pilots graduated so far, for up to 80 planes, what the hell is Nato thinking? Why does Ukraine have to beg for getting more slots at the training centers? Grrr. 😠
“Ukraine frustrated with US over F-16 pilot training”
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/06/05/ukraine-f-16-pilot-training-00161742
Biden can’t blame Congress for that, there’s bipartisan support for an increase of training oppirtunities! From that Politico report:
“Lawmakers on Capitol Hill, including Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) and Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio), the leaders of the House Intelligence Committee, have also pressed the administration to approve the additional training.”
So, is this the result of indifference in the White House? Or deliberate obstructionism, by effing Jake Sullivan, maybe? 😠
Germany have not even sent a third Patriot system yet, never mind a fourth.
https://euromaidanpress.com/2024/06/11/scholz-says-germany-will-transfer-third-patriot-system-additional-iris-ts-and-gepards-to-ukraine/
Oh, damn, that effing procrastinator Scholz and his lame government! Thanks, F1, all those effing announcement
Ooops, misclicked, continued:
… got me confused. I have to say, this is very embarassing for Germany! So much talk, but not enough action. Grrr. 😡
This is becoming confusing – is it the third or the fourth Patriot battery? Too many announcements by the German government about the same decisions. Scholz shouldn’t talk as much, but rather do his homework and speed up deliveries. 🙄
Frustrating but it takes time to train the crews. Training for the Patriot system operators requires 16-20 weeks. It requires only 10 weeks training for the launcher crewmen. These timelines are shortened in wartime by roughly a third but still require months for fire control crew training. Similar but much longer timelines are required for F16 pilots – years.
https://sill-www.army.mil/30ADA/ait.html
It takes time to replace fire units transferred post Cold War. During the Cold War Germany had 36 batteries and transferred most to other countries post Cold War. By 2022 Germany only had 11 batteries remaining. Three have been transferred to Ukraine with a fourth being considered. Germany has provided more than 25% of its Patriot batteries to Ukraine. It also requires time to release a firing battery from its NATO mission and there is a lot of critical infrastructure in Germany from which support for Ukraine is based. US firing batteries make up the shortfall with 6-15 month deployments- globally.
Germany has four batteries on order but are standing in line behind Romania- 3 batteries, Poland- 6 batteries, and Switzerland- 5 batteries. Raytheon has increased production of all Patriot system components and Lockheed Martin has ramped up production of missiles but it is not enough. This week the US asked Japan, the only other producer of Patriot missiles, to sell Patriot missiles to the US. MBDA in Europe will begin producing PAC2 missiles in Europe but that is several years in the future.
Good point. Yup, Japan should increase its production, too. Not only to help Western allies, but to increase its own stockpiles. The security situation regarding China has unquestioningly worsened and this needs to have consequences. Politically, regarding arms export law, too. 🤨
Unlike the government, many German companies are still able to act fast:
“Rheinmetall’s first equipment repair and production shop opens in Ukraine”
https://mil.in.ua/en/news/rheinmetall-s-first-equipment-repair-and-production-shop-opens-in-ukraine/
I guess it helped that they had to deal with less bureaucratic brouhaha in Ukraine.
😎👍