The U.S. military is providing Ukraine with around 90 interceptors for the Patriot air defense system, taking these from Israeli stocks, according to a recent report. The development, the implications of which we addressed in detail in the past, comes as Israel mulls whether to approve the transfer of significant quantities of Soviet- and Russian-made weapons to Ukraine that were seized from Hezbollah militants in recent operations.
The story was broken by the U.S. news website Axios, citing three unnamed sources familiar with the matter, who said the interceptors were delivered this week. The missiles in question had previously been in storage in Israel, after the withdrawal of the Patriot system from Israel Defense Forces (IDF) service last year. Details of the story were subsequently confirmed to CNN by a U.S. defense official.
The interceptors were reportedly transported by U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III aircraft, which flew between Nevatim Air Base in southern Israel and Rzeszów in eastern Poland, which serves as a hub for moving weapons into Ukraine.
Ukraine apparently began efforts to get the Israeli Patriot systems in April 2024 after the IDF announced their decommissioning. Kyiv’s proposal involved Israel handing the Patriots back to the United States, which would then transfer them to Ukraine.
As well as the interceptors, which can immediately be used by Ukraine’s existing Patriot systems, the sources state that other components from the system, including radars, will be provided to Kyiv from Israeli stocks. These items, however, will first be refurbished in the United States.
A spokesperson for the Israeli prime minister’s office confirmed that at least one Patriot system had been returned to the United States but said they didn’t know if it would ultimately be delivered to Ukraine.
The IDF operated the PAC-2 GEM-T version of the Patriot, with eight batteries reportedly deployed before their withdrawal. Known by the local Hebrew name Yahalom, meaning diamond, the systems underwent some local upgrades.
The GEM-T designation refers to Guidance Enhanced Missile — Tactical. As we have explained in the past, the GEM subvariants are produced by upgrading older MIM-104C and D missiles to the E configuration. Converted MIM-104Ds were given additional upgrades to improve performance against tactical ballistic missiles, hence the GEM-T designation. As for the MIM-104E configuration, this features a completely new front section with upgrades that give both sub-types improved accuracy and overall performance. These interceptors feature various reliability updates, as well.
While still very capable, the IDF decided to withdraw its Patriots after locally developed systems — chiefly David’s Sling, which can also defeat ballistic missiles, and the upper-tier Arrow, which specializes in ballistic missile defense — made them increasingly redundant.
For Ukraine in particular, the PAC-2’s terminal-phase anti-ballistic missile capability is of particular relevance, although the system is highly versatile and able to defeat a broad spectrum of targets. Not only can the PAC-2 GEM series defeat fast-moving ballistic missiles, for example, but an improved seeker makes it better able to engage smaller targets or ones otherwise with smaller radar cross-sections. This makes it a formidable asset to deploy against fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, cruise missiles, and drones.
The Pentagon has provided three U.S.-made Patriot batteries to Ukraine, while Germany has donated another three batteries and six launchers, the Netherlands has donated five launchers, and Romania has donated a battery that was funded by the United States and Norway. As the video below indicates, at least some of these systems have already been lost and they remain among the most prized targets for the Russian military.
The delivery of Israeli military hardware to Ukraine, even if by a roundabout route, is highly significant.
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Israeli government has repeatedly refused to send arms to Ukraine, while seeking to maintain relations with Moscow. In particular, Israel has been worried that direct support for Ukraine could be met by a Russian response in the form of providing Iran with more capable weapons that could in turn be used against Israel.
One Ukrainian official reportedly told Axios that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to take calls on the issue of Patriot transfers “for weeks.”
However, the option of returning the Patriot systems to U.S. ownership was clearly sufficient to change that policy.
Final Israeli approval for the arrangement was given in late September, an Israeli official told the same publication.
There’s also a precedent for this, in the transfer of artillery ammunition from Israeli stocks to Israel in 2023. In the same way, the shells were officially handed over to the United States before being transferred to Ukraine.
A senior Israeli official also told Axios that Russia was told in advance about the Patriot transfer, which Israel said involved “only returning the Patriot system to the United States,” and not supplying weapons to Ukraine. It seems far-fetched to imagine that Kremlin officials didn’t understand that the air defense systems would eventually end up in Ukraine, but there was obviously little they could do.
At the same time, there are signs that Israel is less concerned with maintaining its neutral stance on Russia and is instead deepening its relations with Ukraine, driven in part by Moscow’s continued support for Iran.
Furthermore, with the capabilities of Iran’s proxies in the Middle East now severely diminished after Israel’s campaigns of recent months, the overall level of threat posed by Russia putting new and more advanced weapons in Iranian hands has also been reduced. Russia is also no longer a major player in Syria, after having previously furnished the Assad regime with a variety of weapons, including the most advanced air defenses in that country.
For Ukraine, there has long been a huge demand for additional air defense systems, especially for high-end systems like the Patriot. With relentless Russian drone and missile strikes against infrastructure and cities across Ukraine, as well as the demands for aerial defense over the battlefield, the Patriot systems have been rapidly burning through their interceptors.
Repeatedly, Ukrainian officials have made it clear that transfers of air defense equipment are among their highest priorities if the Russian invasion is to be held back.
The former Patriot interceptors are a major contribution to that.
Although they represent the most significant delivery of Israeli-sourced weapons from Israel to Ukraine since the start of the full-scale invasion, it’s far from clear whether the supply of Patriot will open the door to further transfers.
In recent weeks, there has been much discussion about the possibility of Israel donating to Ukraine some of the tens of thousands of Soviet- and Russian-made weapons captured from Hezbollah in Lebanon. These weapons include man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS), Kornet anti-tank missiles, sniper rifles, and much more.
According to a report earlier this week, Israeli and Ukrainian officials may already have met to discuss such a move.
However, speculation that U.S. Air Force C-17 cargo flights between Israel and Poland were carrying ex-Hezbollah weapons may well simply have resulted from confusion around the sorties that brought Patriot interceptors.
Ukrainian officials are unsurprisingly pushing for a deal that would see the captured Hezbollah arms made available for their own military. Should they be successful, it could open up one of the last major untapped resources for arms to Ukraine, something that would have huge implications for the country’s armed forces.
In the meantime, the apparent arrival of Patriot interceptor missiles this week will provide Ukraine’s air defenses with a welcome boost.
Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com