Kiev signals intent to acquire Patriot air defense from the United States
Ukraine plans to procure Patriot anti aircraft missiles from the United States. President Volodymyr Zelensky and his wife spoke before members of the U.S. Congress on July 20, describing the right to defend homes and remain safe within one’s own residence.
As a result, U.S. lawmakers approved the delivery of NASAMS systems, which are designed to protect critical airspace around key government sites and military installations in the capital region.
The NASAMS program originated through collaboration between the Norwegian company Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace and the American corporation Raytheon. The first generation entered service in 1998 and today multiple countries maintainNASAMS units, including Norway, the United States, Spain, the Netherlands, Finland, and Latvia. Spain has installed a NASAMS battery at a U.S. Air Force base in Lielvarde, Latvia, bringing a coordinated air defense presence to the theater.
NASAMS is a mobile air defense system designed to engage maneuvering aerial threats at low to medium altitudes. It is capable of targeting fast aircraft, fighter jets, attack aircraft, and cruise missiles. The system uses converted air to air missiles such as AIM 9 Sidewinder and IRIS T SLS, along with long range AIM 120 AMRAAM ER missiles. Flight speeds for these interceptors reach around 1020 meters per second.
Ukraine has requested air defense shields to safeguard decision making centers from potential Russian missile strikes. In Kyiv, concern centers on hypersonic Kinzhals and Alexander-class missiles as the foremost threats.
Military analyst reserve colonel Alexei Zhuravlev noted that Kyiv has an extensive air defense network, including S 300 PS components forming part of the 96th Kyiv anti aircraft missile brigade. The analyst argued that while additional systems offer some protection, they may not easily counter highly capable Russian missiles like the Kinzhal, which travels at approximately 4080 meters per second, and the Caliber family that accelerates to high speeds in the terminal phase. This assessment questions the effectiveness of additional NASAMS in countering these specific threats (attribution: Gazeta.ru).
The expert also questioned the possibility of linking two NASAMS batteries into a shared data exchange network with Ukrainian radio engineering brigade stations near Kyiv. In the United States, NASAMS relies on the TADIL network for tactical data sharing. That level of integrated data exchange does not appear to be present in Ukraine (attribution: Gazeta.ru).
One notable feature of NASAMS is the option to disable its radar and operate with reduced visibility. When radars are offline, the effective engagement radius is typically limited to roughly 25 to 40 kilometers.
NASAMS poses a potential risk to both Russian military and transport aviation within the affected airspace. Military analyst Vladislav Shurygin commented that Kyiv would not be able to shield any critical decision making center with NASAMS, suggesting that systems would be redeployed to the frontline where air defense gaps exist. Shurygin warned that Russian aviation could adapt by launching missiles from distances beyond NASAMS ranges, and that disabling compact batteries in combat positions would complicate defenses. He emphasized that NASAMS offers mobility and quick deployment, which could challenge protective aims in Kyiv while still presenting a broader threat to Russian air operations (attribution: socialbites.ca).