- The US Army is closely watching how Ukraine uses its Patriot air defenses to stop Russian attacks.
- Ukraine has turned its Patriots into moving targets, making them harder for Russia to find and destroy.
- This tactic has taught the Army about why it's important to stay mobile, two officers told BI.
The US Army is closely watching how Ukraine uses its coveted Patriot systems to fend off Russian missile attacks and is learning that, in order to best protect air defenses, it's crucial to keep them hidden and mobile, two American officers told Business Insider.
The MIM-104 Patriot surface-to-air missile systems are the top layer of Ukraine's air defense shield. Kyiv is believed to be operating six batteries, which have proven to be critical in defending the country against Russian aerial attacks, particularly ballistic missile strikes.
Lt. Col. James Compton, the deputy operations officer for the 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command, explained to BI that the Ukraine war has, in some cases, reinforced US military air defense doctrine.
However, he said the war has also "introduced more concepts, like how to become more mobile, how the system's components are organized on battery sites, ways of camouflaging the equipment, and how the system can be improved to be more survivable."
"This conflict has definitely made the community relook how we train, how our units are organized, as well as how we prepare for potential conflicts with robust air and missile threats," Compton added.
Being mobile requires a whole-of-system approach. A Patriot battery consists of several complementary parts, including a radar, a control station, a power generator, and as many as eight launchers that can each hold four interceptor missiles. Dozens of soldiers are needed to operate the weapon.
The Patriots are coveted weapons for Ukraine, giving the country its best shot at defending against Russian ballistic missile attacks. But Kyiv has long been hamstrung by a shortage of interceptor missiles, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy repeatedly calling on the US and NATO allies to send more ammunition and batteries amid worsening aerial bombardments.
Chief Warrant Officer Sanjeev "Jay" Siva, a technician in the 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command, said Ukraine's Patriot batteries have emerged as priority targets for Russia.
He told BI that Patriot units have to prioritize movement discipline, cover and concealment tactics, and overall survivability measures in ways that haven't been required in decades, adding that the US "can no longer operate under the assumption of relative invulnerability."
Siva said the war has given Army planners various ideas, including for creating decoys and camouflaging equipment, to confront the changing air defense landscape.
Survivability is critical to maintaining a robust air defense to keep missile threats and enemy airpower at bay. The suppression and destruction of surface-to-air missile systems like the Patriots allows an enemy force to carry out more powerful air attacks. For Ukraine, it's not enough to keep the batteries hidden; it also needs to harden the positions.
Compton said Ukraine has "shown remarkable ingenuity in how the systems are arrayed on their tactical sites and how each site can be physically adapted to increase protection of the batteries."
Earlier this year, for instance, Ukraine started putting steel plates on the exterior of the control units of its Patriot batteries, which is where the crew sits to operate the system, to better protect them from missile shrapnel and blast fragments.
Ukraine has "shown how the equipment can be physically adapted to protect the crews, as well as what is possible to conduct maintenance and repairs quickly and in adverse conditions," Compton said.
Lessons learned from Ukraine may already be paying off. Since April 2024, the Army has used Patriot batteries in the Middle East to fend off multiple Iranian ballistic missile attacks.
Just last month, US soldiers in Qatar used the Patriot to defend an air base from a volley of over a dozen Iranian missiles. The Pentagon later described it as "the largest single Patriot engagement" in American military history.
