Raytheon plans to produce five more MIM-104 Patriot air defense systems batteries for Ukraine until the end of 2024. This is reported by Militarnyi.

Raytheon Technologies executive director Greg Hayes announced the production of additional systems in a comment to The Wall Street Journal. At the same time, the USA did not officially announce plans to transfer additional MIM-104 Patriot air defense batteries to Ukraine.

Mr. Hayes noted that the company was very impressed with the effectiveness of the Patriot complex, which helps the Air Defense Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine intercept almost 90% of Russian missiles and UAVs.

“The Ukrainian military has adjusted the software of the Patriot air defense system so that it could track and destroy hypersonic missiles flying twice as fast as it was designed for,” says Raytheon’s executive director.

The WSJ writes that the Armed Forces of Ukraine currently have MIM-104 Patriot PAC-2 and PAC-3 missiles at their disposal.

Earlier it was announced that Raytheon Technologies plans to increase the production of the Patriot air defense system to 12 systems per year.

We will remind you that on May 4, 2023, the MIM-104 Patriot air defense system shot down a Russian ballistic hypersonic air-launched missile Kh-47M2 Kinzhal for the first time in history. And on May 16, 2023, it shot down 6 such missiles during a combined mass attack. The myth of the invulnerability of this weapon has been destroyed.

Technical specifications of MIM-104 Patriot of different versions
Weight – 914 kg (PAC-1/PAC-2), 312 kg (PAC-3), 373 kg (PAC-3 MSE)
Length – 5310 mm (PAC-1/PAC-2), 5200 mm (PAC-3), 4826 mm (PAC-3 MSE), 4600 mm (PAAC-4)
Diameter – 410 mm (PAC-1/PAC-2), 255 mm (PAC-3), 300 mm (PAC-3 MSE)
Wingspan – 850 mm (PAC-1/PAC-2), 510 mm (PAC-3), 920 mm (PAC-3 MSE)
Warhead weight – 90 kg
Fuel – solid rocket engine
Operational range – 90 km (PAC-1), 160 km (PAC-2), 30 km (PAC-3), 60 km (PAC-3 MSE)
Target height – 24,200 m
Maximum speed – Mach 2.8 (PAC-1), Mach 4.1 (PAC-2/PAC-3)
Platform – mobile semi-trailer with 4 or 16 launch containers