(The Hill) — The Pentagon plans to carry Ukrainian troops to Oklahoma to train them on the Patriot missile protection techniques beginning as quickly as subsequent week, the Pentagon confirmed Tuesday.
The coaching, first reported by CNN, will occur at Fort Sill, Defense Department press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder instructed reporters.
The U.S. military “will prepare approximately 90 to 100 Ukrainian soldiers to operate, maintain, and sustain the defensive system over a training course expected to last several months,” Ryder mentioned.
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,” he added.
Fort Sill — one of many Army’s 4 fundamental coaching areas, positioned 90 miles southwest of Oklahoma City — already teaches troops the operation and upkeep of the Patriot system and can also be the situation of the Army’s area artillery college.
Patriot coaching usually takes up to a 12 months, however Ryder mentioned the Pentagon is taking a look at the way it can pace up the timeline for the Ukrainian forces.
“We recognize . . . that the longer those troops are off the line, they’re not actually engaged in combat, and so [we’re] trying to work with the Ukrainians to see what we can do to accelerate the training timeline,” he mentioned.
He added that coaching will consist of classroom instruction, coaching on the Patriot techniques themselves, and work in a simulation lab earlier than Kyiv can use the system on the battlefield.
Prior to revealing the coaching plan, protection officers had mentioned they anticipate that instructing Ukrainians on how to use the superior air protection system will take “several months,” Laura Cooper, the deputy assistant secretary of protection for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia, instructed reporters final week.
“We will start training for Patriot later this month,” Cooper mentioned at a Jan. 6 Pentagon briefing. “I’m not going to be able to give you a specific time frame for the completion of training. It will take several months. So, again, Patriot is not an immediate-term capability. But we will start that training very soon.”
And Ryder on Jan. 5 instructed reporters the Defense Department was exploring a wide range of choices on the place to maintain Patriot coaching “to include potential training here in the U.S., overseas, or a combination of both.”
Asked whether or not there can be additional teams of Ukrainian troops introduced to the United States for such coaching, Ryder mentioned the present focus is on this preliminary class however the two nations will maintain an open dialogue.
“I’m not aware of any additional forces, but again, that will be an ongoing discussion based on the needs of Ukraine,” he mentioned.
President Joe Biden late final month authorized the cargo of a Patriot missile protection system to Ukraine to assist defend the embattled nation from an onslaught of Russian missile strikes.
Germany final week additionally dedicated to sending a Patriot battery from its personal stock to the embattled former Soviet state.
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