Slovakia gains fourth Patriot battery
Patriot SAM systems, pictured on 20 April en route to Slovakia. (Photo: NATO)
NATO allies Germany and the Netherlands have delivered an extra Patriot SAM battery to Slovakia.
NATO confirmed on 27 April that a Dutch-German Air and Missile Defence Task Force has deployed a battery of Patriot SAM systems near Sliač Air Base in Slovakia, ‘to reinforce defence capabilities on NATO’s eastern flank following Russia's invasion of Ukraine’.
A Patriot battery was filmed arriving at Sliač on 20 April, less than two weeks after the Slovakian government announced it had transferred its sole S-300PMU1 SAM battery to Ukraine.
Slovakia already operates three Patriot air defence batteries within the NATO Integrated Air and Missile Defence System.
‘These ground-based defensive systems will strengthen the integrated shielding of NATO's borders and will protect Slovakia from missile threats,’ NATO stated.
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