Ukrainian Patriot batteries will receive the D-PICC information and coordination center, improving their interaction with adjacent air defense systems.

Canadian researcher Colby Badwar reported on this in an article for Defense archives, citing government documents.

In a document to Congress submitted in December 2024, the Deputy Secretary of Defense announced his intention to use $11 million to purchase a D-PICC control system for Patriot air defense systems as part of military assistance to Ukraine.

The D-PICC is a remote information and coordination center that ensures the coordination of anti-aircraft systems at the battalion level, receiving data on the air situation from them and coordinating combat operations.

A feature of this system is the ability to be deployed in the field at a considerable distance from air defense batteries, which makes it flexible in use.

The American resource Army.mil, which covers the activities of the US Armed Forces, reported that in 2018, the 1st Battalion of the 1st Anti-Aircraft Regiment, stationed in Okinawa, deployed such a complex for the first time, uniting four batteries under its control.

Updating the control systems of the Ukrainian Patriot

The document submitted to Congress reveals the details of the procurement: the project was to transfer elements of the Integrated Air and Missile Defense System (IAMD), the Combat Command System (IBCS), the Operational Control Center (EOC), and the Integrated Communications Environment (ICE).

IAMD is a system that integrates all radars, weapons, and related controls of Patriot systems into a networked air and missile defense system. IBCS is designed to create a “single integrated picture of the air situation” by combining data from all available sources.

In fact, the new equipment is intended to replace the outdated control and communication systems used by the Patriot batteries in the Ukrainian Air Force, particularly the PAC-2 generation systems that Germany transferred.

The new network equipment will increase the batteries’ operational capabilities and ensure their interaction with other anti-aircraft systems and Western-style fighter aircraft.

Ukrainian anti-aircraft gunners are currently using mobile command posts and communications equipment purchased by the Come Back Alive Charitable Foundation to communicate and accelerate interaction.

The Foundation stated that on February 12, the transferred KAZs and RKPs were used by the air defense forces to intercept six Russian ballistic missiles fired at Kyiv.