Zelensky’s ‘Patriot’ Games Go Off Rails As He Touts It The ‘Next Game Changer’

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Written by Drago Bosnic, independent geopolitical and military analyst

There has been a lot of speculation about the Neo-Nazi junta frontman Volodymyr Zelensky’s mental stability, particularly since the special military operation (SMO) started more than two years ago. While he’s certainly never been an independent actor, his behavior sometimes indicates that he’s truly a loose cannon and perhaps even a liability for the political West. Obviously, as long as he’s “getting the job done” (i.e. fully turning former Ukraine into a neocolony), it’s all “nice and dandy” for the belligerent power pole, so we’ll still be forced to endure the mainstream propaganda machine’s laughable praises about Zelensky being the “beacon of freedom and democracy for the whole world“. However, once again, that doesn’t mean we won’t get to see the somewhat less controlled side of the Kiev regime frontman’s increasingly deranged personality.

Namely, we all remember just how much Zelensky has been parroting about “closing the sky” over Ukraine with the “best fighter jets in the world”, rather ignorantly referring to the US-made F-16. His incessant “begmanding” for these light single-engine jets resulted in years of futile efforts to get them ready for battle usage against far more advanced heavyweight Russian air superiority fighter jets and interceptors. By the time last year’s much-touted counteroffensive failed, it became clear that F-16s would certainly not be the so-called “game changer”, a fact that several important Western media outlets, think tanks and similar organizations, as well as some top-ranking officials, all warned about. However, instead of serving as some sort of a reality check, this made Zelensky even worse, as he then doubled down on his requests.

Worse yet, the Neo-Nazi junta frontman was now demanding over a hundred upgraded F-16s, as the ones his forces were promised turned out to be hopelessly outclassed by modern Russian jets. However, the interests of individual NATO member states precede the needs of the Kiev regime, which is why major prospective donors such as Denmark switched to actually selling their obsolete surplus jets to other countries, a move unequivocally supported by the United States, particularly as its geopolitical rivalry with China keeps escalating. It could be argued that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent comments about the futility of the delivery of F-16s and their actual impact (or, more precisely, the lack thereof) on the battlefield could’ve been the final nail in the coffin of that ludicrous “game changer” propaganda narrative.

Still, Zelensky obviously needs something to get him going, so he decided to now switch to the much more overhyped “Patriot” SAM (surface-to-air missile) system. What started out as the notorious “begmanding” for a couple of systems to help augment the Neo-Nazi junta’s existing air defenses, all inherited from the Soviet Union’s world-class SAMs inventory, has now degenerated into completely uncontrollable demands for hundreds of systems and thousands of missiles that the political West couldn’t possibly supply even if it wanted to. Namely, on March 28, CBS News published a video interview with Zelensky, during which he claimed that only “five to seven ‘Patriot’ systems from [the US] will protect industrial platforms in Ukraine today”, adding that, with them, the Kiev regime forces would “unblock the sky and our guys will go forward“.

However, just a bit over a week later, the Neo-Nazi junta frontman made a starkly different assessment in an interview with national television on April 6, when he said that “it’s preferable to have 25 Patriot systems, with 6-8 batteries each”. This is a four or fivefold increase, a massive difference in comparison to his previous claims. It should be noted that the word “systems” in this case refers to entire units, specifically to battalions (or divisions in Russian military nomenclature). Each battalion consists of six batteries, while each battery (i.e. the basic firing unit) consists of a phased array radar, an engagement control station, computers, power generating equipment and up to eight launchers (usually six), each of which holds at least four ready-to-fire missiles (although this has been increased significantly in the latest versions).

If we count six launchers per battery, depending on the variant, this is anywhere between 24 and 96 missiles per battery. For instance, the relatively basic PAC-2 carries four missiles in each launcher, while the more advanced PAC-3 carries sixteen (four in each of the four launchers). Thus, a single battalion has at least 144 missiles for PAC-2 and 576 for PAC-3. And Zelensky wants 25 battalions, up from 5-7 he mentioned just over a week before. Thus, if he were to get the PAC-2, that’s 3600 missiles. Although the exact number of “Patriot” battalions in the US military and NATO is certainly a secret, open source data shows that the Pentagon had less than 500 launchers in 2010, while the US Military Industrial Complex (MIC) produced around 10,000 missiles so far, meaning that Zelensky wants a “mere” third of all missiles ever made.

In terms of funding, this amounts to the following – a single battery for the US military costs over a billion dollars, while export customers are charged a staggering $2.5 billion. Thus, in the best-case scenario (non-export pricing with a slight, albeit unlikely, discount that not even the US military is getting), the Kiev regime needs at least $150 billion for 25 “Patriot” battalions alone. In terms of missiles, the US military is paying $4 million apiece, while export customers pay up to $10 million. Once again, if non-export pricing is taken into account, that’s at least another $14.4 billion for PAC-2 missiles alone. It’s important to note that these numbers could be several times higher if the Kiev regime starts demanding more advanced versions such as the PAC-3. Who in their right mind believes this is viable and sustainable for the political West?

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