“I said we are willing. Let’s see what we can offer and what we can get in return, because it is unacceptable for Romania to remain without anti-aircraft defense”

President Klaus Iohannis said after the meeting at the White House with President Joe Biden that one of the points of discussion was a possible transfer to Ukraine of a Patriot air defense system.

Iohannis explained that Romania was asked to cede a unit, but a decision in this regard will take place within the National Defense Council (CSAT).

“There is obviously a need for anti-aircraft defense systems in Ukraine. Advanced systems. In recent weeks there has been a discussion about who can provide Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine. These discussions have also reached us.

And President Biden brought that up, and we said we’re willing. We will discuss in the CSAT, let’s see what we can offer and what we can receive in return, because it is unacceptable that Romania remains without anti-aircraft defense”, Iohannis said.

When asked which system could be transferred, as long as there is only one functional one in our country, Iohannis detailed:

“There is a functional one that will remain in Romania. The others that are in an advanced state of operationalization and we were talking about one of them”, added the President of Romania.

The development of the PATRIOT air defense system began in the late 1960s with the aim of countering the air threat of that period.

Phased Array Tracking Radar to Intercept on Target – PATRIOT entered the equipment of the United States Army in 1984

PATRIOT defense systems were first used in the 1991 Gulf War to defend vital airfields and seaports, as well as command and control centers in Saudi Arabia and Israel, against Iraqi SCUD ballistic missiles.

The most important feature of the PATRIOT system, and the one that seems to make the difference, is that the system is designed to be able to engage multiple targets simultaneously.

With the purchase of the PATRIOT systems by Romania, in 2018 the 74th PATRIOT Regiment under the Air Force General Staff came into being, representing, first of all, a new chapter in the history of the national anti-aircraft and anti-missile defense system.

Romania acquired the latest version of PATRIOT systems in service and battle-tested, capable of engaging all types of current air threats, the website states Ministry of Defense.