Germany Hands Over Patriot SAM Launchers to Ukraine

Germany said it has transferred two additional launchers of the Patriot air defense system to Ukraine.

Berlin pledged the Patriot launchers to Ukraine during the NATO summit in Vilnius in early July.

Defense ministry of Germany said it has offered to extend the deployment of its own Patriots in Ukraine’s neighbor Poland, likely until the end of the year. They were sent to Poland after a deadly blast struck a Polish village in late 2022. The strike is believed to have been from a stray Ukrainian air defense missile.

On its official website, the German government said it also handed over ten of the total 64 promised Bandvagn 206 all-terrain vehicles. Ukraine has already received 18 such vehicles.

The assistance package also included 6,705 additional 155mm smoke shells, explosive ordnance disposal material, 20000 goggles, 1163 binoculars, 40 thousand first-aid kits, five border protection vehicles, six truck tractor trains with six semi-trailers, two load-handling trucks 100 new MG5 machine guns and 4 VECTOR drones.