Not even the American defense industry, the largest and most powerful in the worldwas ready to face the growing demand for weapons, motivated not only by the rearmament promoted by the European Union but also by the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
The rain of orders coming from the old continent, as well as the demands of Donald Trump’s own administration, have exceeded the capabilities of the American military sectorwhich was forced to extend delivery times to its customers.
One of the most affected by this situation is Lockheed Martin, company responsible for example for manufacturing the F-35 fighters and the PAC-3 missiles used by the Patriot anti-aircraft system. Spain is one of the countries affected by the arms giant’s production limitations.
As confirmed by sources in the Ministry of Defense, the four Patriot batteries acquired in Washington, as part of the FMS program, They will only be received by the Army in 2030. This Tuesday, Raytheon announced the formalization of the agreement.
However, the batteries – which required an investment of 1.445 million euros – They will arrive without the missiles included in the contract. According to the same sources, who could not specify when the projectiles will finally be received, this uncertainty is due, precisely, to the industrial incapacity of Lockheed Martin.
Spain is not the only European country to have equipped itself with this air defense system. Germany, the Netherlands and Romania have also negotiated their buyout in 2025.
One of the reasons why European Union members cannot count on Patriot missiles in their own arsenals is that Ukraine has prioritywhich uses this weapon to defend itself from bombings carried out by Russia, which have intensified in recent months.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a visit to Germany with Patriot anti-aircraft batteries.
Europe Press
Actually, The Council of Ministers gave the green light this week to the disbursement of 100 million euros to kyiv for the purchase of American equipment. As Volodymyr Zelensky detailed during his visit to Madrid in mid-November, this money will be used to purchase Patriot missiles.
This contribution will materialize through the PURL mechanism, designed by NATO to channel urgent purchases of weapons from the United States by European countries for use on the Ukrainian battlefront.
51 PAC-3 MSE missiles
In 2024, the Government approved, with a spending ceiling of 2.4 billion eurosthe purchase of four Patriot batteries in 3+ configuration with 24 M903 launch stations. The latter has the capacity to launch all types of Patriot missiles.
In addition, The project includes the incorporation of a total of 51 PAC 3 MSE missilesfour AN/MPQ-65 radars, four AN/MSQ-132 control stations, two coordination and information centers and four electrical power stations.
That same year, the department headed by Margarita Robles contracted GEM-T PAC-2 missiles with Raytheon and the French MBDA, for 400 million euros; and, in turn, ordered an unspecified number of PAC-3 MSE projectiles from Lockheed Martin.
For its part, Spanish industry is participating in the development of the two missiles. Sener produces the electromagnetic control system for the PAC-2 and the actuators for the PAC-3; while Grupo Oesía produces components of the latter.
Illustrative image of a PAC-3 missile from the Patriot system
THE PAC-3 MSE iThey integrate an active search engine which illuminates the target and the technology called strike to killin which target destruction occurs through direct missile impact instead of exploding nearby and projecting shrapnel.
Furthermore, Patriot system 3+ configuration ordered by Spain includes modifications to electronic components to increase your performance, even in bad weather conditions. For its part, the radar increases the scanning range from 90 to 120 degrees and improves the classification, discrimination and identification of threats.
Currently, The Army has three Patriot batteries, each with six launchers.capable of simultaneously firing 20 missiles (four per launcher), assigned to the Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment No. 73 based at Marines (Valencia).
The three were purchased second-hand in Germany, the first in 2004 and the other two, ten years later, in 2014. Since 2015, one of them has been permanently deployed in Türkiye under the NATO flag.as part of the Active Fence mission, in order to protect the city of Adana from possible ballistic missiles coming from Syria.
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