Ukraine needs Patriot missiles, but a country with reserves cannot help

Ukraine needs Patriot missiles, but the country outside the United States that can still produce the most capable version cannot simply send them to Kyiv. The shortage has become a recurring issue in Western political discussions as the war in Ukraine and the American-Israeli intervention in Iran have reduced interceptor stocks among countries operating Patriot systems.

U.S. production remains too limited to restore those stocks quickly. European governments have therefore spent months searching warehouses for additional missiles. The demand focuses especially on interceptors for ballistic missiles, which the article describes as the greatest threat facing Ukraine. Without regular supplies of missiles capable of countering them, Kyiv is left largely defenseless against that threat.

Reports of pressure on Greece and Spain to hand over so-called surplus missiles reflect the wider search. Both countries have relatively intact stocks because they have not made large-scale donations to Ukraine. Their inventories consist mainly of PAC-2 GEM-T missiles, whose anti-ballistic capabilities are limited. Their stocks of the more effective PAC-3 MSE missiles are much smaller.

Greece operates six Patriot batteries, and about 200 PAC-2 missiles reportedly have more than 23 years of service and are due to be replaced with new PAC-3 systems. Spain has previously indicated that it would transfer five missiles. Madrid, far from the threat zone, is estimated by analysts to hold only about 50 missiles in its own war reserves.

Germany, the Netherlands and Romania have been the largest non-U.S. donors, with Israel also reportedly involved. Israel has never officially acknowledged supplying missiles to Ukraine, although 90 were formally sent to the United States for maintenance and reportedly arrived unofficially at Rzeszów airport before heading toward the Dnieper. The United States and Middle Eastern countries have also depleted stocks during the conflict with Iran, after using missiles extensively against Iranian drones.