Ukraine sends damaged Patriot launcher to the US

Newly released video shows a transport plane bringing the M903 launcher of Ukraine's Patriot system back to the US for repairs.

On April 21, the Ukrainian military news site Defense Express published a video at Harrisburg International Airport in Middletown, Pennsylvania, showing the M903 launcher being unloaded from a Ukrainian An-124 transport plane and taken to an unknown location.

In the video, part of the launcher is scorched, while the front of the device is dented and has many holes, apparently from shrapnel from Russian weapons. The launcher has a desert-style paint job, most likely part of the Patriot system that the US transferred to Ukraine, since the German-aided version has a green-brown camouflage paint job.

Ukraine sends damaged Patriot launcher to the US — M903 launchers are unloaded from Ukrainian transport aircraft at Harrisburg airport, USA, on April 5. Video: *Defense Express*

Civilian tracking data shows the Ukrainian An-124 aircraft departed Poland on April 5 and landed in the US shortly afterwards, but this is the first time images of the M903 launcher being removed from the aircraft’s belly for repairs have emerged. It is unclear when and where the Patriot site was attacked, leading to the damage.

The US Department of Defense and the Ukrainian military have not commented on the images.

Ukraine is operating about 3-5 Patriot complexes transferred by the US and some European countries. This was expected to be a weapon that could significantly change the situation in the skies of Ukraine, thanks to its superior combat capabilities compared to the air defense systems previously provided by the West.

One complex was damaged in a Russian attack in the early hours of May 16, 2023, but Ukraine claims it is still combat-capable. The Russian Defense Ministry in March also released a video of the destruction of at least three Patriot launchers near the front line in Donetsk, and claimed to have hit the Patriot launcher cluster, trailer, ammunition and transport-loader in Kherson province.

Western military experts say Russia has destroyed at least 10% of all Patriot launchers in Ukraine’s service. The ammunition for Ukraine’s air defense systems is also running low, making Russian missile and drone attacks more successful.

Vu Anh (According to Defense Express )

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