Germany is considering the purchase of the Patriot air defense system for $1.3 billion

The Scholz government will double the size of the order to eight units.
Germany is considering the purchase of four additional anti-missile defense systems Patriot defenses worth up to $1.3 billion, in addition to the four that Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government ordered in March. The plans are at an early stage and officials are still evaluating how to finance the expanded order, which could push the total cost to about 2.6 billion euros, people familiar with the matter said. On Thursday, April 18, Scholz called on other European Union leaders to send Ukraine more Patriot systems, which are produced by the American defense contractor RTX Corp. And last weekend, his ruling coalition announced that it would provide a third air defense system to the Ukrainian government along with other air defense systems, Bloomberg reports.

In March, the budget committee of the lower house of parliament in Berlin approved the purchase of four Patriot systems, the first of the first which are expected to be delivered by the end of next year. This step was taken after the December decision to purchase 500 guided missiles with spare parts for a total amount of about 3 billion euros. The armed forces of the German Bundeswehr plan to use the Patriot air defense system as the most important ground-based air defense system by 2030.