To date, the U.S. has trained about 3,100 Ukrainian troops with various systems, and training on Patriot missile systems is set to begin “very soon,” a senior defense official told CNN.

Almost half of these troops have been trained using M777 howitzers or HIMARS multiple rocket launchers, two systems that have been key to Ukrainian operations so far. Ukrainian forces also trained on equipment, various types of artillery, unmanned aerial vehicles and other systems.

The Pentagon will soon start training Ukrainian personnel to work with the Patriot missile system, it was officially announced yesterday during the visit of President Volodymyr Zelenskyi to Washington.

While the Pentagon declined to say exactly when the training would begin or how long it would take Ukrainians to master the complex system, a senior defense official said Wednesday that it would begin “very soon” and last “several months.”

According to the Pentagon, the Patriot system costs between $450 million and $550 million, depending on the configuration of the platform. Each rocket costs about 4 million dollars.

The US will also soon begin an extensive training program for Ukrainian forces, including joint maneuvers and joint military exercises. This program involves the involvement of approximately 500 soldiers per month in larger combat operations.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that America’s Patriot missile defense systems are “old” systems and that Russia will “always find an antidote,” CNN reported.

“As for the Patriot, it’s a pretty old system and it doesn’t work as well as our S-300s,” Putin said after a journalist asked him to comment on the US decision to supply Ukraine with the Patriot system.

On Thursday, Russia said that deliveries of American Patriot missile systems to Ukraine, announced during the visit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi to Washington, will not help resolve the conflict and will not prevent Moscow from achieving its goals.

What is Patriot?

The Patriot is a surface-to-air guided missile system that was first deployed in the 1980s and can engage aircraft, cruise missiles and short-range ballistic missiles.

Patriot systems are delivered in fully mobile batteries that include a command center, threat detection radar and launchers.

According to the German military, the Patriot system covers an area of ​​about 68 kilometers. Its radar can track up to 50 targets and hit five of them simultaneously.

Against cruise missiles and drones, Ian Williams notes, the Patriot’s value is limited because their radar has a 120-degree coverage angle, while NASAMS monitors the horizon 360 degrees, AFP reported.

On the same topic:

• What can the “Patriot” system do for Ukraine / To what extent can it affect the fate of the war?

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