About 100 Ukrainian troops will head to Oklahoma’s Fort Sill soon to begin training on the Patriot missile defence system, two US officials said Tuesday. Ukraine has long sought the Patriot surface-to-air guided missile defense system because it can target aircraft, cruise missiles and shorter-range ballistic missiles. During his late December visit to the U.S. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the battery would make a significant difference in bolstering Kyiv’s defences against Russia’s invasion. The number of Ukrainians coming to Fort Sill is approximately the number it takes to operate one battery. Kyiv’s decision to take troops off the battlefield to training across the Atlantic in the U.S. is unusual, although it has sent forces for short-term training at European bases for other more complex systems it has received, such as on the longer-range High Mobility Artillery Rocket System. The U.S. pledged one Patriot battery in December as part of one of several large military assistance packages it has provided Ukraine in recent weeks. Last week Germany pledged an additional Patriot battery.
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