German initiative to strengthen Ukraine's air defense fails - Politico

Germany has responded to Ukraine's call to increase the number of air defense systems by promising to send several of its own systems and calling on other allies to help, but few have supported the initiative. Politico writes about this, citing its sources, UNN reports. 

Details 

So far, Berlin has provided three of the 11 US-made Patriot batteries, as well as more than 50 short-range Gepard air defense systems and air-to-air missiles capable of countering ballistic missiles, bombs and drones. 

For several weeks, senior German politicians - most notably Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Defense Minister Boris Pistorius - have been calling on the allies to fulfill their commitments to provide Ukraine with Patriot air and missile defense batteries. However, two people familiar with the negotiations told the newspaper that the partner countries are reluctant to send the batteries, which Ukraine desperately needs. 

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Although the German initiative includes alternatives such as SAMP/T, NASAMS, HAWK, IRIS-T, or S-300 air defense systems, it is the Raytheon-developed Patriots that are most effective against attacks. 

"There is no European leadership and no unity between the main actors," said Nico Lange, former chief of staff at the German Ministry of Defense and now a fellow at the CEPA think tank. 

One of the reasons for the reluctance to send Patriots is that they are expensive - about $1 billion per unit - and each interceptor missile they launch costs millions.

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