NATO reluctant to adopt Ukraine’s combat experience in Patriot use 

A number of factors demonstrate that NATO countries are still in a dimension that is extremely distant from real security challenges, Ukraine’s Defense Express information and consulting company points out.

In particular, this is evidenced by the use of really expensive weapons without taking into account the real Ukrainian army’s experience of their practical use against the real enemy.

And this is best demonstrated by the deployment of the Patriot air defense system by NATO. The Polish Armament Agency has published photos of the country's air force exercises taking place at the 32nd Tactical Air Base near the city of Lask, which is protected by the Patriot, with the IBCS integrated control system.

And in these photos, one can see the clustered launchers at a minimum range from the main element of the AN/MPQ-53 radar complex itself. Nearby, it seems, there is a command post and tents for personnel. And the barbed wire fences one meter away from the launchers are the only fortifications.

They seem to have heard nothing about the spacing of elements of the complex or about caponiers. Although, of course, such measures are somewhat more costly than simply concentrating Patriot elements as tightly as possible.

But in case of a real attack, there is a chance that even one "missed" missile, or even its downing in close proximity to the position, will result in the destruction of the entire complex.

Perhaps such a certain level of recklessness is permissible when the facility is thousands of kilometers away from a potential threat. But the fact is that the 32nd Tactical Air Base is 340 km from the Russian border and 290 km from Belarus. This distance is sufficient for the use of the Iskander air defense systems deployed in both Kaliningrad and Belarus.

Of course, one can argue that the Kremlin is unlikely to attack a NATO country. But then the logical question is why the Patriot system was installed in the first place.

And the first bell regarding the neglect of real combat experience in NATO countries sounded when a Patriot was photographed being specially deployed to protect the NATO summit in Vilnius.

The photos taken from the aircraft's window showed clearly how this system was concentrated in an extremely small area. But the situation was even worse then, because Vilnius International Airport, where the Patriot was deployed, is only 32 km from the border with Belarus. That is, in the range of artillery fire.