Ukrainian Troops Could Train on Missile Systems in USA
For all of the blustering bombast that Russia has spewed in regard to so-called “foreign interference” against their invasion of Ukraine, there isn’t really a whole lot that they can do about it.
Russia was once considered a mighty military power; a nation to be feared. But now, after watching the swift decimation of their forces in Ukraine, complete with their 70 year-old tanks and rusty rifles, there is little left for Moscow but to make empty threats of nuclear annihilation that they know full well cannot be executed. (Russia can’t even seem to test their nukes, let alone deploy them).
And so, in defiance of the Kremlin’s worthless whining, Ukrainian troops could soon be on US soil learning how to use one of the most advanced missile systems the world has ever known.
Ukrainian troops are set to begin training on the Patriot missile system in the United States as soon as next week.
CNN first reported the news, which was confirmed later on Tuesday afternoon by the Pentagon.
The training program will take place at Fort Sill in Oklahoma, where the US conducts its own training on operating and maintaining the advanced air defense system. Fort Sill is one of the Army’s four basic training locations and home to the service’s field artillery school, which has been training service members for more than a century.
The weapons could make an enormous difference in the way Ukraine defends itself.
On Tuesday, Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters that 90 to 100 Ukrainian soldiers would be arriving in Oklahoma for the Patriot training as soon as next week. He was unable to give an exact time frame for how long the training would take – typically it takes up to a year for US soldiers to be trained on it – saying only that it would last “several months.”
“Once fielded, the Patriot… will contribute to Ukraine’s air defense capabilities, and provide another capability to the Ukrainian people to defend themselves against Russia’s ongoing aerial assaults,” Ryder said at Tuesday’s press briefing.
The news will almost certainly earn a retort from Russia, but, as has been demonstrated repeatedly over the course of the last 11 months, there’s nothing that they can really do about it.
