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Russian air defenses have begun to intercept American-made MIM-104 Patriot long-range anti-aircraft missiles Kiev forces are launching from time to time.
The first successful interception of a Patriot missile was reported by the Russian Ministry of Defense during a briefing on February 20. A second interception was announced by the ministry on February 22. In both cases, the ministry didn’t clarify where exactly the interception took place, nor revealed what air defense system was used to shoot down the missiles.
Last year, Ukraine received two Patriot batteries and two launchers from Germany and another battery from the United States with two additional launchers donated by the Netherlands.
The systems supplied to Kiev are said to be a mix of PAC-3 hit-to-kill active missiles to intercept ballistic missiles, with a range of 30-60 kilometers only, and PAC-2 blast fragmentation warhead semi-active missiles to counter aircraft threats with a range of up to 160 kilometers.
The Patriot missiles intercepted by Russian air defenses were most likely PAC-2, as these could stay in the air for more than a minute and a half in order to reach a target at their maximum range. This would give air defenses enough time to respond.
The interception of an anti-aircraft missile is a major achievement. These missiles do not fly according to a predictable path as they need to maneuver at high speeds in order to hit their target. This makes complicates the interception process in a significant way.
The Russian military has already destroyed several components of Ukraine’s Patriot systems. Recently, reports revealed that Kiev forces have integrated the system’s missiles with Soviet-era command and control radars under a program called “FrankenSAM”. This explains how some missiles are still being fired.
Kiev forces reportedly used a PAC-2 missile to shoot down a Russian Il-76 military aircraft on January 24, killing more than 60 Ukrainian prisoners of war who were aboard.
The use of air defenses to intercept Ukrainian Patriot missiles show how the Russian military is working in more than one way to neutralize the threat posed by what’s left of these systems. This will further degrade the air defense capabilities of Kiev forces.
