German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced at the Warsaw Security Forum on 29 September 2025 that Berlin, with support from Norway, will deliver two additional Patriot air-defense batteries to Ukraine by the end of the year. The pledge raises Germany’s total Patriot donations to five and reinforces its role as a leading supplier of advanced air-defense capability to Kyiv amid intensified Russian strikes.
The Patriot is a mobile, networked surface-to-air and missile-defense system built around a phased-array radar, an engagement control center, and M903 truck-mounted launchers. Ukraine fields mixed loads of GEM-T (long-reach anti-air/cruise missiles) and PAC-3 MSE (hit-to-kill anti-ballistic interceptors), giving batteries a layered toolkit to engage aircraft, cruise missiles, and terminal ballistic threats.
Tactically, commanders disperse launchers and use PAC-3 MSE for point defense of key infrastructure while employing GEM-T to engage incoming cruise salvos at range. Mobility enables “shoot-and-scoot” operations that reduce vulnerability to counterstrikes, and integration with national radars and other shooters (NASAMS, IRIS-T SLM etc.) shortens reaction times and improves target discrimination. The additional German batteries will strengthen Ukraine’s layered air-and-missile defenses during sustained Russian strike campaigns.
