Washington diverts Patriots bound for Switzerland to support Ukraine

WASHINGTON — The United States is reshuffling its Patriot air defense queue as European nations rush to support Ukraine, with Switzerland announcing it will have to wait longer to receive the weapon systems.

“The United States Department of Defense has informed the DDPS [Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport] that it will reprioritize the delivery of Patriot systems to support Ukraine, focusing on ground-based air defense,” a statement posted on the Swiss federal government’s website said. “This also affects Switzerland, which will receive its production batches later than planned.”

The Alpine state placed an order for five Patriot systems in 2022 with deliveries slated to occur between 2026 and 2028. But on Wednesday, the Pentagon notified Bern that this delivery timetable has been delayed in order to backfill other nations sending their air defense weapons to Ukraine.

It is unclear, Bern added, how many of its Patriots will be delayed and whether the delivery of PAC-3 interceptors will also be affected.

“Countries now supplying weapons systems to Ukraine will be able to replace them faster,” the Swiss announcement said. “The US has therefore decided to reprioritize the delivery of Patriot ground-based air defense systems. Germany, among others, has decided to once more supply two of their Patriot systems to Ukraine.”

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The US State Department referred Breaking Defense’s questions about this and any other redirection of Patriot systems to Ukraine to the Defense Department, which did not immediately respond.

What is clear is Kyiv’s outcry for additional air defense systems as Russia continues to lob weapons at the capital city.

“We have a chance [of victory] and this chance is quite big,” Maj. Oleh Shyriaiev, Commander of Ukraine’s 225th Separate Assault Battalion, told Breaking Defense in a July 11 interview. “Right now, if we receive air defense resources, plus the means of conducting long range strikes, then the issue that will come to the agenda will not be a ceasefire, but a victory of the civilized world, of the civilized West in this war.”

As for Washington, after months of criticism of Ukraine and waffling on the provision of military aid, President Donald Trump did an about face Monday, announcing a new plan that revolves around selling US weapons to European nations that will be passed off to Ukraine. While he did not detail all the weapons that could be part of that plan, he said it would include Patriot batteries and PAC-3 interceptors.