{"id":59952,"date":"2022-03-30T17:26:25","date_gmt":"2022-03-30T17:26:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2022\/03\/30\/will-slovakia-send-ukraine-s-300-air-defenses-the-pentagon-is-working-on-it\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:28:40","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:28:40","slug":"will-slovakia-send-ukraine-s-300-air-defenses-the-pentagon-is-working-on-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2022\/03\/30\/will-slovakia-send-ukraine-s-300-air-defenses-the-pentagon-is-working-on-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Will Slovakia send Ukraine S-300 air defenses? The Pentagon is working on it."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2015 A top Pentagon official told lawmakers Wednesday the Biden administration is working to accommodate NATO ally Slovakia\u2019s offer to send more S-300 surface-to-air missile systems to Ukraine, following Russia\u2019s invasion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Slovakia<\/a> has agreed to provide Ukraine with the Soviet-era system to help defend against Russian airstrikes, and Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Celeste Wallander<\/a> said at a House Armed Services Committee hearing the U.S. is working out Slovakia\u2019s request for some kind of backfill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But two weeks after Slovakia\u2019s defense minister, Jaroslav Nad, made an impromptu offer to send the S-300 if Western allies provide a \u201cproper replacement,\u201d Rep. Mike Rogers<\/a>, R-Ala., asked why the deal is not done. Wallander said the effort\u2019s \u201congoing,\u201d with coordination afoot with a range of countries, and she asked to provide a fuller answer in the classified session to follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are working with Slovakia to identify the requirements for meeting their needs,\u201d she said. \u201cWe are working on this, and meanwhile we have focused on getting countries that hold Soviet legacy systems, including S-300 systems \u2015 that have spare parts, missiles, different parts of that S-300 \u2015 who are willing to send that to Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The comments came weeks after Ukrainian President Vlodymyr Zelenskyy<\/a>, with his nation under attack by Russian aircraft and missiles, asked the U.S. Congress to create a no-fly zone over Ukraine or alternatively to supply S-300 and other air defense systems and warplanes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Germany, whose defense minister visited U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon Wednesday, has committed to sending Patriot air-defense capabilities to Slovakia, which borders Ukraine in the east. Nad has said the Patriot, part of a new NATO battlegroup, would complement the S-300 and not replace it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a separate exchange, Wallander affirmed 100 Switchblade drones are part of a U.S. package<\/a> being delivered to Ukraine. It\u2019s been previously reported the drones, made by AeroVironment, are part of a $800 million aid tranche in the process of being sent this month, with a range of anti-armor weapons, firearms, body armor and ammunition. (Ukrainian forces already use Turkish Bayraktar TB2 armed drones.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked if 100 of the Switchblades would be enough to destroy the Russian invading force\u2019s logistics convoys, or if more would be needed, the commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Europe, Gen. Tod Wolters<\/a>, said, \u201c\u2018I\u2019m convinced that when we get them first set of Switchblades, there\u2019ll be an immediate request from the Ukrainians for more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t