US awards Lockheed Martin $4.5bln contract for Patriot systems
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The move to increase production is intended to strengthen the country's capacity to sustain its own military forces, as well as help foreign ones like Ukraine.
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A Patriot system is pictured at a US airbase behind a troop in Turkey in February 2013. (AFP)
The Pentagon revealed that Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, a US defense industry corporation, has been awarded a $4.5 billion contract for Patriot Missile systems on Friday. The multi-year agreement includes 870 PAC-3 MSE missiles and accompanying components.
The move to increase production is intended to strengthen the country's capacity to sustain its own military forces, as well as those of its allies overseas, notably Ukraine, according to the statement.
Kiev deploys at least four Patriot systems supplied by the United States and Germany. In May, the Netherlands announced a cooperative campaign to supply one more air defense battery, encouraging other countries to donate individual components. Spain, Greece, Romania, and Poland all have Patriots, but they have refused to provide them to Ukraine.
Poland has stated that its Patriots are defending the infrastructure used to transport Western weapons across its border into Ukraine, and hence are already deployed. Italy stated this month it will give Kiev a second SAMP/T air defense system, a European-made alternative to the Patriot.
Earlier this year, the Russian Defense Ministry published video footage showing one of Ukraine's Patriot batteries being destroyed. Sources also told TASS that three US Patriot systems were obliterated by a tactical missile attack in the Donetsk People's Republic.
The Financial Times reported on Thursday, citing 5 officials, that the US is currently engaged in talks with Israeli and Ukrainian officials regarding the potential transfer of Patriot missile systems from "Israel" to Ukraine.
Under the arrangement being discussed, the Patriot missile systems would first be transferred from "Israel" to the US before eventually being sent to Ukraine, the report detailed.
In April, "Israel" announced its plans to phase out its eight Patriot missile batteries and replace them with more advanced systems. This potential transfer represents part of "Israel's" strategic adjustment in its security capabilities.
Since the start of the crisis in Ukraine, the US has committed more than $52 billion in security assistance to support Ukraine. Meanwhile, the US has supplied "Israel" with over $6.5 billion in military supplies since the beginning of the war on Gaza last October, including nearly $3 billion approved in May.
