According to the Department of Defense, CNN reports that the United States will begin training Ukrainian forces on the Patriot missile system later this month.

Laura Cooper, the US assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia, said preparations would take “several months.”

The Pentagon said Thursday that the U.S. is considering bringing Ukrainians to the U.S. to train with the Patriot missile system, as well as training them abroad “or a combination of both,” according to a Defense Department spokesman.

“I think we’re clearly at a point in this battle where we can provide that kind of training to allow Ukraine to maintain those kinds of systems so they can focus on defending their country and taking territory,” he said. said Pentagon spokesman Gen. Pat Ryder. at a press conference on Thursday.

Germany has announced it will provide an additional Patriot air defense battery following Washington’s donation last month, the US and Germany said, adding that both countries would welcome “further donations of air defense systems and combat vehicles” from allies.

By December 2022, the United States has trained about 3,100 Ukrainian soldiers in various systems.

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

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 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.