June 10, 2025
Some context about Israel’s former possession of Patriot missile defense systems and why it wasn’t what we commonly know as military aid to Ukrainian forces
Ukraine did get the decommissioned Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems retired from the Israel Defense Forces in 2024, according to Michael Brodsky, Israeli Ambassador to Ukraine. In his interview with YouTube blogger Marichka Dovbenko, he mentioned that Israel “agreed to transfer” these air defense systems to Ukraine, which, “unfortunately, was not talked about very much.”
Defense Express notes that the way the diplomat had put it, saying the country “agreed to transfer” the Patriots, may be due to the fact that Israel itself received the systems in the early 1990s as part of the United States military aid program.
Initially American, the Patriots in PAC-2 version had since undergone the Yahalom modernization in the 2010s. The systems got updated software and some fine tuning for the AN/MPQ 53 radar. Open sources indicate that after this, the systems gained the ability to use MSE interceptors, but this information raises doubts and no confirmation could be found.
Quite possibly, Patriots from Israel could have reached Ukraine through the U.S. mediation. At their homeland, the surface-to-air systems could have received an upgrade to the PAC-3 standard to effectively intercept ballistic missiles. But even without this upgrade, PAC-2s are still a potent air defense system to guard Ukrainian skies, in particular, they could be suited for “wandering Patriot” tactics.
As for the number of batteries in IDF’s inventory as of 2024, according to various sources, there were four to eight fire units. Michael Brodsky did not name the number of units sent to Ukraine after service in Israel but used the word “systems” in the plural.
Although the oldest Patriot in the IDF was 34 years old at the time of decommissioning, these systems had seen little combat use. Officially, the IDF stated that these air defense systems shot down only 19 targets, the first of which was in 2014. It was a UAV, as were the majority of other destroyed targets. However, in 2014 and 2018, Patriots were attributed with downing a Syrian Su-24 and Su-22M4.
Given the ambiguity about Israel’s role in providing Patriot to Ukraine, it remains questionable whether the country has changed its policy ruling out the possibility of purchasing Israeli weapons for the Ukrainian Defense Forces and the possibility of their re-export to Ukraine from partner countries. At least until now, it was believed that Israel had imposed a tacit embargo on such operations.
Read also: Israel Replenishes Ukrainian Patriot Air Defence Arsenals After Heavy Combat Losses
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