Netherlands reveals plan to supply Ukraine with Patriot missiles, launchers & training

The Dutch Ministry of Defense will supply two Patriot missile launchers and an undisclosed number of missiles from to Ukraine. The Netherlands will also contribute to the training of Ukrainian soldiers to properly operate the air defense equipment, said Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren and Foreign Affairs Minister Wopke Hoekstra in a letter sent to the Tweede Kamer on Friday.

The Netherlands is supplying the surface-to-air missile equipment to the Ukrainian government together with Germany and the United States. According to the ministers, the consequences for the deployment and readiness of the Dutch armed forces are "considerable,” but acceptable. Agreements are being made with the Americans to replace the equipment more quickly.

"With this, the Netherlands and allies are responding to President Zelenskyy's urgent call to provide air defenses against the continuous attacks on Ukrainian cities involving rockets and drones," the ministers said in the letter to parliament.

A Patriot system consists of a target acquisition radar, a fire control section and missile launchers. It can be used to shoot ballistic missiles, helicopters and airplanes out of the sky. The weapon system can reach targets 20 kilometers in the air and 60 kilometers away.

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced during a visit to President Joe Biden in Washington that the Netherlands is willing to participate in the German-American plan to send Patriots. At that time he could not specify exactly how the Dutch would contribute to the plan.

Ollongren also announced at a meeting in Ramstein, Germany, on Friday that the Netherlands and the Czech Republic have purchased 100 vehicles with anti-aircraft guns for Ukraine. These are all-terrain vehicles with double-barrelled anti-aircraft guns that can be used against drones and helicopters, for example.

Previously, the Netherlands, together with the Czech Republic and the US, already supplied T-72 tanks to Ukraine. Those ninety modernized and overhauled Russian tanks were reportedly originally intended for Morocco. The Hague and Washington each paid 45 million euros to send the tanks to the front.