U.S. Faces Critical Shortage of Patriot Missiles in Europe

U.S. Supplies Are at a Premium, Major Contributors Claim They Are Short on Interceptors, and New Manufacturing Won’t Arrive Until It’s Too Late…

Europe is in a mad dash to give Patriot interceptors to a beleaguered Ukraine, which is rushing to beef up its ballistic missile defenses in anticipation of Russia’s anticipated winter attack.

Ukraine is in dire need of interceptors—hundreds upon hundreds—but the United States’ supply has been severely curtailed due to the war with Iran, and other prominent European allies of Ukraine have stated that they have very few interceptors remaining that they can provide without fear of retaliation.

Last week, Mykhailo Fedorov, a former defense minister of Ukraine, made the statement that Russia has been firing more missiles at his country every week than it receives from its allies in a month. According to the Ukrainian defense ministry, only 29 out of 195 Russian ballistic missiles were intercepted in July, while another 40 were unable to reach their intended targets.

“The U.S. military is experiencing a ‘beyond critical’ shortage of advanced missile interceptors in Europe largely driven by President Donald Trump’s war with Iran, raising concerns about vulnerabilities in NATO countries to a potential Russian attack,” the Associated Press(opens in new tab) reports.