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NATO Chief Acknowledges Ukraine Needs More Patriot Interceptors Despite Steady US Missile Flows
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PAC-2 and PAC-3 interceptor missiles for Patriot air defense systems continue to reach Ukraine from the United States on a daily and weekly basis, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on June 3.
Rutte framed the two interceptor families as decisive to Ukraine's defense while acknowledging that Kyiv needs far greater quantities than it currently holds, in remarks reported by RBC-Ukraine.
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"Let's agree that PAC-2 and PAC-3 interceptors are key things. And of course you [Ukrainians] want there to be more of them than there are. The good news is that the supply of these key interceptors continues from the US to Ukraine every day and every week," Rutte stated.
The PAC-2 and PAC-3 are the two interceptor families fired by the Patriot system, and each is built for a different class of threat. The PAC-3 MSE relies on hit-to-kill technology, destroying its target through direct impact using precise guidance, a dual-pulse solid-fuel motor, and lateral thrusters that enable aggressive maneuvers in the final intercept phase.
The older PAC-2 GEM family uses tail control surfaces and a fragmentation warhead, making it better suited to aircraft and cruise missiles than to maneuvering ballistic targets.
That distinction matters because the hit-to-kill PAC-3 remains the primary tool against the ballistic missiles Russia launches at Ukrainian cities and infrastructure, leaving interceptor stocks under constant strain.
The reassurance comes amid Ukrainian warnings that deliveries are not keeping pace with the threat. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently appealed to the US president and Congress for additional PAC-3 missiles and for licenses to expand domestic Patriot production, cautioning that current delivery rates under the PURL program no longer match the scale of Russia's missile campaign.
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