Key points
- The media reported that the US allegedly has only 25% of the required Patriot missiles. This could have influenced the suspension of arms supplies to Ukraine.
- This is rather dubious information. It is unlikely to correspond to reality.
- Israeli military analyst David Sharp has speculated whether the US really has a shortage of Patriot missiles.
The media speculated that the United States had suspended military aid to Ukraine due to a shortage of Patriot missiles. Allegedly, the United States had only 25% of the required number of these missiles left because they had exhausted their stockpiles in the Middle East. But this is very dubious information.
Israeli military observer David Sharp told Channel 24 about this, noting that the wording is important here. It is unlikely that the United States has depleted its stockpiles of Patriot missiles to 25% of what is needed.
Is the US Short of Patriot Missiles?
As Sharp noted, when they talk about Patriot missiles, they are talking about PAC-3, which are capable of shooting down ballistics. And here it is difficult to imagine that the United States had an emergency reserve, but they spent it so that 25% of the permissible minimum remained.
During the standoff with Iran, the US used other missiles. I have not heard of Israel using them either. The missiles that were launched at Israel were not the ones that Patriots are effective against. The US base in Qatar was hit with 14 missiles. Even if the US used 20 missiles against the Patriot, it would hardly have significantly depleted its stockpiles, Sharp noted.
It is quite possible that the information about 25% of the minimum is false data. Or the US believes that under current conditions they need to increase the number of these missiles in their own warehouses.
Another important point is that it wasn't just Patriot that was turned away for Ukraine. They also suspended supplies of ammunition and missiles for other systems that have nothing to do with missile defense. So it's not all that simple. I hope that everything will become clear soon, Sharp said.
Let's add that later the US State Department reported that they had resumed arms supplies to Ukraine. Donald Trump himself said that he did not know who had suspended military aid to our country. The media reported that this decision was made unilaterally by Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth, which surprised both Congress and the State Department, European allies and Ukraine.
