The United States will provide Ukraine with one battery of Patriot air defense systems.

We are talking about 8 launchers, each of which is capable of carrying up to 16 anti-aircraft guided missiles. Deliveries may begin as early as March next year, while the Ukrainian military may begin training in operating the system as early as this year in Germany.

At the moment, it is known that the supply of weapons will be carried out from the Pentagon warehouse, since earlier Germany refused to transfer these expensive air defense systems to Ukraine.

“Formal deliveries could be announced as early as Thursday,” said three officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision is not final and has not been made public. Two officials said the Patriot would come from a Pentagon warehouse and be relocated to another country. The US plans to send one Patriot battery, officials said. The Patriot air defense battery includes up to eight launchers, each of which can carry four missiles. The entire system, which includes a phased array radar, control station, computers, and generators, typically requires about 90 soldiers to operate and maintain, however, according to the Army, it only takes three soldiers to actually launch the missiles., according to the Associated Press.

How effective such air defense systems can be is unknown, however, analysts have previously reported that Ukraine needs at least 24 Patriot launchers.