The Ukrainian military will soon have more advanced missile variants of the Patriot air defense system to counter the Geranium-2 (Geran-2) kamikaze drones that Russia is using to deplete Kiev's air defense batteries.
The missiles are part of the Pentagon's latest $2.1 billion security assistance package, which includes MIM-23 HAWK surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), 105mm and 203mm munitions, RQ-20 Puma reconnaissance drones, laser missile systems, guided munitions, and training and maintenance support.
The US will transfer two advanced missiles used on the Patriot system, one is the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) currently used by Ukraine, manufactured by Lockheed Martin Corporation. The other is the Guidance Enhanced Missile (GEM-T) developed by Raytheon Technologies Corp.
According to official documentation, GEM-T “provides an enhanced capability to defeat tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, or enemy aircraft in addition to the PAC-3 missile.”
Western military experts say that Russian Geran UAVs have depleted Ukraine’s air defense missile arsenal, making it impossible to intercept drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles. The tactics Moscow uses include a mix of Iskander ballistic missiles, Kalibr and Kh-10 cruise missiles, with the support of Geran UAVs to attack military targets in urban areas.
Therefore, GEM-T is expected to supplement the shortcomings of Patriot, which is having difficulty confronting Geran - a UAV developed by Russia based on the Shahed-136 model.
According to Raytheon, GEM-T features a digital fuse “with a low-noise electronic oscillator,” increasing sensitivity in gathering information and tracking smaller airborne threats such as drones.
The Geran UAVs are slow-moving, but do not emit radio frequency (RF) emissions like remote controls, satellite navigation, or exhaust, making them difficult to lock onto with infrared or RF detectors like SAMs. The GEM-T could change this, posing a new challenge for Moscow to find new tactics or develop new systems.
Israel's long-range interceptor system is a hot commodity
Meanwhile, the Russia-Ukraine conflict has prompted the German government to buy the Israeli-made Arrow-3 missile defense system in a deal worth nearly $4.3 billion, to supplement its Patriot air defense systems.
Documents show that the German parliament will consider disbursing an advance payment of up to 560 million euros for the purchase of a long-range missile interceptor system that is expected to be completed before the end of this year.
Earlier, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the country was looking to strengthen its ground-based air defense capabilities and described the Arrow-3 as a “very effective” product.
Berlin now has about 10-12 Patriot batteries, down from about 36 previously. Meanwhile, the IRIS-T system deployed in Ukraine has only shown effectiveness at medium range.
Arrow-3 is a defense system based on the principle of launching missiles out of the atmosphere to intercept targets in the mid-flight phase. This is also a long-range outer defense system, combined with the short-range rocket interceptor “Iron Dome” that the Israeli army is deploying.
(According to EurAsian Times)
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