Did The US Patriot Air Defense Systems In Kyiv Failed To Stop Russia's Recent Missile Attacks?

Patriot and Kinzhal.

According to Turkish sources, yesterday NATO held an emergency meeting on the state of air defense of the largest base hubs for Ukraine in Poland and Slovakia in light of the failure of the Patriot air defense system in the defense of Kyiv.
The situation… pic.twitter.com/8SzK49qmYq

— Victor vicktop55 (@vicktop55) May 17, 2023

WNU Editor: The official line is that the Patriot systems in Kyiv only sffered "minor damage" .... US officials say damage to Patriot missile defense system was minimal following Russian attack near Kyiv (CNN). More here .... Patriot missile system in Ukraine damaged but operational: US (France 24).

I do not know if the Patriot systems were damaged or destroyed, but I do know that since yesterday Ukrainians are now being warned/threatened to not post images or videos of Ukraine's air defense systems or how many missiles were launched during a barrage on social media.  

Update: Good point. See tweet below.

30 US Patriot PAC-3 MSE launch at a cost of $5 million per missile. That’s $150 million gone within 2 mins. At the end the Patriot launch platforms were destroyed by Russian missiles. Why would any military still want to buy Patriot after this failure? pic.twitter.com/JiNr06y0Rt

— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) May 16, 2023

Did US Air Defenses Fail In Iraq?

 

Asia Times: US air defenses fail again in Iraq

Rockets hit US base and airport in Erbil after defense systems failed to activate 

The attack on the US military base at Erbil – in the Kurdistan region of Iraq – and the nearby Erbil airport illustrates once again that US defenses against rocket attacks are inadequate and, for the most part, don’t work. 

As far as can be determined, Erbil was defended by a US Patriot air defense system and a C-RAM rapid fire gun system there to protect the Patriot. 

There is no information to suggest that either system was activated when a number of rockets slammed into the base and airport. 

The US and Iraq say they can account for 14 rockets that hit the airport and base; the terrorist group allegedly responsible says 22 rockets were fired. 

Read more .... 

WNU Editor: Too early to say if US air defenses failed in stopping this rocket attack in Erbil. They could have been turned off. But the question is a valid one, and I hope the Pentagon will provide some answers.