Newly released video shows the transport transporting the M903 launcher of Ukraine's Patriot complex to the US for repair.
Military news site Defense Express of Ukraine on April 21 released a video at Harrisburg International Airport in the city of Middletown, Pennsylvania, showing the M4 launcher being unloaded from the Ukrainian An-903 transport and taken to an unknown location.
In the video, part of the launch pad is scorched, while the front equipment cluster is dented and has many holes, apparently due to being hit by splinters from Russian weapons. The launcher has a desert-style paint color, most likely in the Patriot complex transferred by the US to Ukraine, because the German-donated version has a green-brown camouflage paint color.
The M903 launcher was unloaded from a Ukrainian transport at Harrisburg airport, USA, on April 5. Video: Defense Express
Civilian flight tracking data shows that the Ukrainian An-124 aircraft left Poland on April 5 and landed in the US not long after, but this is the first time the image of the M4 launcher being removed from the belly of the plane has appeared. to take it for repair. It is unclear when and where the Patriot battlefield was attacked, leading to damage to this equipment.
The US Department of Defense and the Ukrainian army have not commented on the image.
Ukraine is operating about 3-5 Patriot complexes transferred by the US and some European countries. This was once expected to be a weapon that could significantly change the situation in the skies over Ukraine, thanks to its superior combat capabilities compared to air defense systems previously donated by the West.
One complex was damaged in a Russian raid early on the morning of May 16, 5, but Ukraine claims it still maintains combat capability. The Russian Ministry of Defense in March also released a video of the destruction of at least 2023 Patriot launchers near the front line in Donetsk, and also announced that it had hit a cluster of launchers, tractors, ammunition and transport and loading vehicles of the group. Patriot complex in Kherson province.
Western military experts believe that Russia has destroyed at least 10% of the total number of Patriot launchers in Ukrainian service. Ammunition sources for Ukraine's air defense systems are also running out, making Russian missile and UAV raids have a higher success rate.
Vu Anh (Follow Defense Express)
