But he did not offer specifics.
“So for operations security reasons, I'm not going to get into delivery timelines other than to say we're confident that we'll be able to get the Patriots there on an expedited timeline,” Ryder said. “I'll just leave it at that.”
Pushed to confirm
a CNN story published earlier Tuesday that the Patriot delivery will be faster than expected, Ryder confirmed that the training of the Ukrainian air defense troops did go quicker than anticipated.
“You're seeing that the Ukrainians that were undergoing Patriot training went faster than expected, just given their propensity and eagerness to do the training,” he said. “So of course that figures into this and I really, again, don't want to get into when you're going to see the Patriot arrive in Ukraine other than one day, it will be there and we'll highlight that once the Ukrainians have done things.”
According to
CNN, the delivery of
a Patriot air defense system to Ukraine "will be faster than originally planned."
“A group of 65 Ukrainian soldiers will complete their training on the systems at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, in the coming days,"
CNN reported, citing a US defense officials said on Tuesday.
ok that was really fast actually.
"The troops will then move on to Europe for additional training on the two Patriot systems – one American and one built by the Germans and Dutch – that will be deployed to Ukraine in the coming weeks, the officials told reporters at Fort Sill."
Germany had
initially promised Ukraine a Patriot system, but both
CNN and
Politico reported Tuesday that it will consist of components from German and Dutch systems.
US trainers at Fort Sill, where the 65 Ukrainians have been training since January 15, were able to significantly speed up the timeline of the course because of the Ukrainians’ baseline knowledge of air defense systems, the officials told reporters from several news organizations.
“Our assessment is that the Ukrainian soldiers are impressive, and absolutely a quick study,” said Brig. Gen. Shane Morgan, the Fort Sill commander. “Due to their extensive air defense knowledge and experience in a combat zone, it was easier – though never easy – for them to grasp the Patriot System Operations and Maintenance concepts.”
The US military had allocated 10 weeks for the training, according to
CNN, "but the Ukrainians completed it in about eight weeks" as they underwent an "aggressive" training schedule that ran daily from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The Patriots are “capable of intercepting cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and aircraft," a senior U.S. defense official told reporters, including from
The War Zone on Dec. 21. “For air defense, there is no silver bullet. Our goal is to help Ukraine strengthen a layered integrated approach to air defense that will include Ukraine's own legacy capabilities as well as NATO standard systems. Patriot will complement a range of medium- and short-range air defense capabilities that we have provided and the allies have provided
in prior donation packages.”
The biggest facet the Patriot system brings to Ukraine is a robust ability to counter ballistic missile threats. Currently, Ukraine only has a very peripheral capability in this regard via a limited number of their S-300 system.
You can read more about the Patriot system, its potential role in Ukraine, and some of the things it can and can’t do, in our coverage
here.
