Ukraine has only two Patriot missiles

The Washington Post reported that Ukraine is facing a severe shortage of Patriot missiles following the escalation of Russian missile attacks.

According to ambassador Arjan; The Washington Post, citing a Ukrainian official, reported that Ukraine's stockpile of Patriot missiles has been severely depleted, and the country now has only two such missiles for air defense.

According to the Washington Post, a Ukrainian official said that Kiev had only 10 Patriot interceptor missiles on October 7, which were used in the recent attacks. This official also announced a sharp reduction in Ukraine's weapons stockpile to intercept Russian ballistic missiles.

According to this report, Patriot is one of the few air defense systems of Ukraine that has the ability to deal with ballistic missiles. Therefore, reducing the reserves of interceptor missiles of this system can reduce the power of Kiev to deal with Russian attacks on the cities and infrastructure of this country.

The Washington Post, citing informed sources, wrote that the shortage of interceptor missiles has heightened concerns about Ukraine's increased vulnerability to Russian missile attacks.

The pressure of the war with Iran on the American weapons reserves

In another part of its report, this newspaper pointed out the effect of the war with Iran on the weapons stockpiles of the United States and its allies and wrote that the widespread use of interceptor missiles in the war with Iran has increased the pressure on the stockpiles of these weapons.

According to this report, in the first month of the war with Iran, the US military fired more than a thousand missiles of Patriot and THAAD types to deal with missile threats; An issue that has added to the limitation of the reserves of these advanced weapons.

The Washington Post also wrote that the United States has provided Kiev with hundreds of Patriot missiles since the Joe Biden administration agreed to send the Patriot system to Ukraine in December 2022.

According to this newspaper, during the war with Iran, America moved some Patriot systems based in the Pacific Ocean region to strengthen the air defense of West Asia. The pressure on the arms stockpile has also delayed the delivery of some promised weapons to America's allies.

The high cost of providing interceptor missiles

Referring to the high cost of the Patriot system, the Washington Post reported that the price of each rocket of this system, including launch equipment and ground radars, is about one billion dollars, and the cost of each interceptor missile can exceed four million dollars.

These costs, along with the limited production capacity and increased demand for interceptor missiles, make it difficult to quickly supply spent stocks.

Based on this, the lack of Patriot missiles in Ukraine has been exacerbated in a situation where the United States and its allies are facing increasing pressure to meet their air defense needs; A situation that can increase the competition for access to these advanced weapons.