BRATISLAVA ($1=1.00 Euro) — The anti-aircraft missile systems MIM-104 Patriot, which Slovakia was supposed to receive, are already operational on the territory of the country. BulgarianMilitary.com recalls that Slovakia donated its S-300 systems to Ukraine. NATO and the US agreed to transfer American air defense systems to guarantee the security of Slovakia.
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The transfer of the MIM-104 Patriot took place in July. This is written by the Belgian online portal Army Recognition. According to the website, Bravo Battery, 5th Battalion, U.S. 7th Air Defense Artillery Regiment carried out the temporary transfer. The transferred batteries are now under NATO command in Slovakia.
2nd Lt. Waco Horne of Bravo Battery says the batteries are compatible with those of allied troops. Horne added that the MIM-104 Patriot is a “strategic asset” and is currently ready to deter “acts of aggression,” protecting NATO’s eastern flank. BulgarianMilitary.com recalls that previously the USA, the Netherlands, and Germany provided Patriot systems to Slovakia as part of the NATO mission.
As Army Recognition writes, the situation with the air defense of Slovakia shows the strength of NATO. I.e. the member states of the alliance do not act as independent states but as a common body. In this way, it is much easier to increase the fighting capacity of a nation, regardless of whether it currently can do so by its own means.
Since the start of the war in Ukraine, following the invasion of Russian armed forces in February, NATO has significantly increased its activities in Europe. More reconnaissance, surveillance, and early warning flights. Even NATO’s early reaction force has been activated for several months.
1st Lt. Young, an air defense officer with Bravo Battery, 5th Battalion, 7th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, says the situation in Europe is challenging NATO’s air defense capabilities. According to him, it is an experience that will require everyone to show what they have learned and practiced over the years. Young said his battalion was ready to work “with the Germans and the Dutch within NATO against different countries individually.”
BulgarianMilitary.com recalls that in August Lloyd J. Austin III was in Slovakia. Then the US Secretary of Defense welcomed Slovakia’s decision to provide S-300 to Ukraine.
BulgarianMilitary.com recalls that at the end of March, after Slovakia decided to donate its S-300 to Ukraine, the Slovak Minister of Defense Jaroslav Nay stated that the Patriot is not a replacement for the S-300, but is another element of defense in the airspace of the Slovak Republic.
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