German military expert calls on NATO to shoot down Russian missiles over Ukraine

According to RT on April 20, in a commentary for Das Erste TV channel (Germany), German military expert Nico Lange, a senior member at the Munich Security Conference, said that it was time for NATO to correct its "costly mistake" and change its strategy in Ukraine: NATO should use its air defense system to shoot down Russian missiles on the eastern flank of the alliance.

Ukrainian air defense remains a weak point of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. German TV channel Das Erste pointed out: The Ukrainian military believes that "at least 10 Patriot complexes are needed to protect a part of the territory, and 26 Patriot systems are needed to protect the entire country."

But Kiev currently has two Patriot batteries supplied by Germany and the Netherlands; the third Patriot will be supplied by Germany by the end of June 2024. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian military believes it is too late, as Kiev expects a Russian attack in May 2024.

The issue of supplying Patriots to Kiev will be discussed at the NATO-Ukraine Council's online meeting, but it is clear that three systems alone will not be enough. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) estimates that Ukraine can intercept only 16% of Russian ballistic missiles.

Military expert Nico Lange says the West has made a "costly mistake"when it failed to provide Ukraine with air defense systems or increase their production.

Expert Lange offers the military alliance "ways to change strategy" and "non-standard solutions".

"From now on, NATO partners should use multiple Patriot systems on the alliance's eastern border to shoot down all Russian missiles and drones in the skies over Ukraine when they are within range," expert Nico Lange suggested.

Lange, who worked at the German Defense Ministry from 2017 to 2022, believes that such NATO actions would be “fully in line with international law.” After all, he said, this is the same thing the US, UK and France did with Iran’s attack on Israel.

Expert Lange calls the Patriot systems placed on Poland's eastern border systems enough to cover the skies over western Ukraine.

In the long term, Lange believes that NATO should increase Patriot production. "It would be a strategic mistake not to start systematically increasing production by 2022," he said.

A Patriot production plant is currently under construction in Bavaria, but the first deliveries are expected to take place in 2027, Das Erste reported./.