US to start training Ukrainians on Patriot system on US soil next week

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U.S. armed forces will begin training up to 100 Ukrainian soldiers on the sophisticated Patriot missile system next week at Fort Sill, Okla., a defense official confirmed for Fox News Tuesday. 

The training is expected to take several months, though it will still be an expedited process in comparison to roughly year-long program the Patriot missile system traditionally takes. 

"The longer those troops are off the line – they're not actually engaged in combat – and so [the U.S. is] trying to work with Ukrainians to see what we can do to accelerate the training timeline," Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters. 

10 March 2022, Poland, Rzeszow: Three MIM-104 Patriot short-range anti-aircraft missile systems for defense against aircraft, cruise missiles and medium-range tactical ballistic missiles are located at Rzeszow Airport.  (IDF via Getty Images)

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Ryder said he was not aware of additional plans to send a second round of troops for Patriot systems training at this time. 

"The Patriot will add to the air defense capabilities of Ukraine, as we've seen over the last number of months in particular, Russia has really intensified its aerial bombardment of Ukraine – really across the country," he said. "The Patriot will contribute to the air defense capabilities that Ukraine already has."

Ryder said the battery system will enable Ukraine to defend itself against ballistic missiles and "adversary aircraft."

ISRAEL - APRIL 12: In this photograph provided by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), a Patriot missile is fired from a desert launch site April 12, 2005, in southern Israel. (IDF via Getty Images)

"This is a part of a broader effort by the United States and the international community to provide Ukraine with air defense capabilities that it needs to defend its populations and its armed forces," Ryder added. 

The U.S. first pledged to send the surface-to-air missile battery last month in a move that committed the most advanced air defense system from the West yet as the war in Ukraine continued for a 10th month. 

Just one Patriot missile battery requires some 90 soldiers to operate and maintain the system that includes a radar and control station along with computers and generators.

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Though only three soldiers are actually needed to fire the system.

Germany last week also said it would send one Patriot missile system to Ukraine as Western nations look to "change the dynamic on the battlefield."