Germany buys Four Patriot Batteries for $1.2 billion

Germany acquires four Patriot Batteries to fill the gap after donating air defence systems to Ukraine. The German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) declared on March 21 that it had entered into a fresh agreement with Raytheon, valued at € 1.11 billion. Raytheon's contract stipulates the inclusion of launchers, command post radars, and control stations that adhere to the Patriot Configuration 3+ standard, commonly referred to as Patriot PAC-3 MSE. In addition, it is specified by the German Armed Forces that a total of four systems are being procured. In Germany, "system" refers to a battery rather than a launcher. Specifically, a complete battery consists of eight launchers, resulting in a total of 32 launchers. Regarding the detecting system, no information is available indicating the acquisition of the recently developed LTAMDS radar. The acquisition of the AN/MPQ-65 is highly probable, given it serves as the fundamental radar system for the Patriot PAC-3 batteries. Regarding vehicles, it is quite likely that these new launchers will be affixed to MAN 8x8 off-road trucks, similar to the Patriots currently utilised by the Bundeswehr. This procurement aims to address the capacity deficit resulting from the shipment of two batteries and two extra launchers to Ukraine. Furthermore, this development expands the array of systems accessible to the German Armed Forces. The Bundeswehr employs approximately thirty operational launchers, and Germany is among the five nations that have agreed to get 1,000 PAC-2 GEM-T missiles.