The Israeli Air Force plans to abandon its outdated Patriot air defense systems and switch to more modern weapons. This was reported by The Times of Israel, and by UNN.
Details
The publication says that the Israeli army started talking about rearmament in February. It is now known that several Patriot air defense systems will be finally deactivated within two months.
Israeli troops are expected to replace them with more advanced air defense systems, including the David's Sling system and the famous Iron Dome.
It is noted that these batteries Patriot officially entered service with Israel in 1991, but made its first interception only in 2014, shooting down a Hamas drone launched from the Gaza Strip.
After that, in the following decades, intercepted only about 10 targets, including Syrian fighter jets that violated Israeli airspace in 2014 and 2018.
And despite the fact that the Patriot has been used several times since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip, Israel wants to replace the SAM with more advanced air defense systems.
The publication emphasizes that "it is unclear what will happen to the Patriot batteries, which are very much needed by Ukraine, which seeks to protect its skies from Russian missiles.
Recall
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that Ukraine has found seven Patriot air defense systems that could be transferred by partners. One of them is being sent by Germany, four more are being negotiatedand two more are in Ukraine's "field of vision.