Preparations have begun for the transfer of Patriot systems to Ukraine, according to Dmytro Kuleba, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.

The minister announced this today, January 4, at his briefing.

He said that the United States has already begun preparatory work and is set to transfer equipment as soon as possible.

“We expect to deploy Patriot as soon as possible. Preparations for the transfer of these systems have already begun,” said Dmytro Kuleba.

Dmytro Kuleba stressed the urgent needs of the Ukrainian army now. According to him, first of all, Ukraine needs air and missile defense systems, as well as ammunition for them.

“Ukraine needs as many high-tech air defense systems as possible, and therefore we are negotiating not only about new Patriot batteries but also about the supply of new NASAMS, IRIS-T, Crotale systems. We are grateful to the USA, Germany, Norway, and France for the decisions already made, and we are working to accelerate such decisions either from them or from other countries,” Kuleba added.

Ukraine is also interested in obtaining Gepard, Vulcan anti-aircraft systems, Stinger MANPADS and others.

Another urgent need is artillery rounds of all calibers.

“We address all partner-states with a request to accelerate additional supplies as much as possible,” Kuleba emphasized.

Ukraine is also actively working to receive all types of artillery systems and armored vehicles, in particular tanks.

“Now President Zelensky and his entire diplomatic team are working intensively on new solutions to supply new types of Western weapons. It is primarily about the supply of Western-type tanks and other armored vehicles. I have no doubt that soon the Ukrainian army will have additional armor and firepower,” the Minister of Foreign Affairs added.

The M163 Vulcan VADS (Vulcan Air Defense System) is an anti-aircraft self-propelled gun manufactured by General Electric Company. It was developed on the basis of the armored personnel carrier M113 in the 60s.

M61 Vulcan is a 20mm extremely high rate-of-fire gun with a rotating barrel block. The rate of fire is up to 3,000 rounds per minute. The fire is carried out in short bursts of 10, 30, 60, or 100 shells. Effective range of fire on air targets – up to 1.2 km, targets on the ground – up to 2 km.