Why is Ukraine unable to use Patriot air defence systems effectively?

Since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the United States has provided Ukraine with a large number of vehicles and weapons aid and continues to do so. The aid sent to Ukraine includes a wide range of weapons and vehicles, from artillery to tanks, armoured vehicles, small arms and air defence weapons. 

Since most of these vehicles and weapons will be used by the Ukrainian army for the first time, courses and training are organised for the personnel who will use them before the aid is sent. Recently, there has been some debate about the adequacy of this training for the Ukrainian military, in particular the training on the Patriot air defence system. 

The Patriot air defence systems were first delivered to Ukraine in April 2023, after the training of Ukrainian personnel who would use them, and handed over to the Ukrainian Armed Forces (USK). However, it was observed that these weapons could not be used effectively enough against Russian air/missile attacks. 

Thereupon, the US Department of Defence assigned a team to investigate the issue. In the statement made by this team, it was reported that the most important reason for the ineffective use of Patriot air defence systems was the deficiencies in the training given to Ukrainian personnel using these weapons.

In courses organised by the US Army, Ukrainian soldiers were trained to operate and maintain Patriot systems. As part of this training, they were also taught air defence capabilities that allow the USK to detect and intercept Russian aircraft, missiles and UAVs.  

Basic operations and maintenance training courses for the USK on Patriot systems were conducted at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and in Poland. The training was adapted from that provided to US armed forces personnel. However, in order to provide the same amount of training in a shorter period of time, the number of training weeks was reduced by dividing the topics into separate, concurrent courses.

According to a statement by US Department of Defence officials, ‘In addition to repairs resulting from use or battle damage, components of the Patriot air defence system require complex, frequent and regular maintenance and refurbishment to maintain their operational capabilities.

Furthermore, maintaining the operational capability of these systems without continuous training, infrastructure, technicians, material and logistics can pose significant challenges, especially in combat environments with harsh weather conditions.

The main reason why Patriot air defence systems could not be used effectively in Ukraine is that the urgency of the situation meant that Ukrainian soldiers had to be trained by accelerating existing processes. 

Instead of establishing a sustainment strategy for Patriot systems that includes training, maintenance, procurement and facility components similar to the US Army's LCSP (Life Cycle Sustainability Plan), the US Army has built a system that is dependent on additional support from the US Army.

For this reason, the United States should initiate a new effort to develop and implement a complete sustainment strategy for the Patriot air defence systems that have been awarded to the USAF.

This effort should not only focus on the training of personnel, but also on the development of the Ukrainian military infrastructure. This is because training personnel to operate a complex weapon system is of little use in the long term if the infrastructure of their army cannot sustain that training.’