About 100 Ukrainian troops are expected to head to Oklahoma's Fort Sill as soon as next week to begin training on the Patriot missile defence system.
27 minutes agoEach Patriot battery consists of a truck-mounted launching system with eight launchers, a ground radar, a control station and a generator.abc.net.au/news/ukrainian-troops-to-train-on-patriot-system-in-oklahoma/101843874About 100 Ukrainian troops are expected head to Oklahoma's Fort Sill as soon as next week to begin training on the Patriot missile defence system.
For months, Ukraine has been asking the US to provide the surface-to-air guided missile defence system because it can target aircraft, cruise missiles and shorter-range ballistic missiles. During his late-December visit to the US, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the battery would make a significant difference in bolstering Kyiv's defences against Russia's invasion.
The number of Ukrainians heading to Fort Sill was approximately the number it takes to operate one battery, Pentagon spokesman Air Force General Pat Ryder said.Kyiv's decision to take troops off the battlefield to train across the Atlantic in the US is unusual, although Ukraine has sent forces for short-term training at European bases for other complex systems it has received, such as on the longer-range High Mobility Artillery Rocket System .
Patriot training normally takes several months, but "the longer those troops are off the line, they're not actually engaged in combat", General Ryder said, so the training would be shortened.
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