Clash of the Super Missiles: U.S. Patriot Battery May Have Been Damaged by Russia After All, Say Reports

A Patriot Missile air defence battery in Ukraine “was likely damaged” in a Russian missile barrage this week, a report claims, possibly confirming Russia’s claim the day before they had “struck” a Patriot in Kyiv with a ‘hypersonic’ missile.

The Ukraine war has been characterised to a certain degree in recent days with a return to Cold War form by Russia and the United States with a barely disguised competition over who has the better missiles. An important question, the United States could feel confident with a report earlier this month that their state-of-the-art Patriot air defence system had taken down one of Russia’s much-vaunted “undefeatable” Kinzhal (Dagger/Killjoy) missiles for the first time in combat.

This big win for Patriot manufacturer Raytheon was intensified yesterday with the claim the missile system had taken down six of the allegedly hypersonic missiles in one wave, a major achievement. Yet Russia made a counterclaim, that a missile had made it through and “hit a US-made Patriot anti-aircraft missile system”.

Now CNN claims — citing an unnamed, and therefore unverifiable source — that there was indeed a strike, and that a Patriot air defence system was “likely damaged, but not destroyed, as the result of a Russian missile barrage” on Tuesday. Reuters refer to their own sources and claim the U.S. and Ukraine are already in talks about repairing the “likely” damaged Patriot battery.

The United States has not yet officially confirmed one of their state of the art — and relatively rare — Patriot Missle air defence systems has been damaged. Speaking at the National Security Council yesterday, John Kirby tiptoed around a direct question on the strike, remarking:

I can’t confirm the reports, but you know, it would depend on the scope of the damage as to whether or not it could be repaired by the Ukrainians or whether we might need to help them… [we have given them other equipment that] have been damaged in the fighting or just worn out by the fighting. Some have been able to be repaired on-site, some we have assisted the Ukrainians with repairs outside Ukraine. I just can’t speak to this, but obviously if there damage done to a Patriot System that needed to be repaired outside of Ukraine, obviously we’d help with that.

It is possible the damage, to whatever extent it may or may not exist, could have been caused by falling debris from missiles during the barrage. Certainly, the engagement was at a relatively close range.

While Ukraine insists no Russian weapons got through in the major Tuesday morning blitz, the engagements to destroy them were “in Kyiv’s airspace” and falling debris was recorded in five city districts. Several vehicles including cars and buses were destroyed, but other than that Kyiv said “the damage is insignificant”.

Because Patriot is a decentralised battery system, with launchers, replacement missiles, radar set, command centre, generators, and antenna masts all mounted on individual trucks or trailers which can be sited far enough apart from each other to prevent a total with just one shot. The advantage of this nature was discussed by Ukraine Air Force spokesman Yurii Ihnat on Wednesday, when he said to “not worry” about the claims, because “It’s impossible to destroy the system” with one Kinkhal missile.

Russia has made no fresh claims about their missile strike today, other than to repeat the CNN-Reuters claims in their own state media.