During this month of November, the agreement by which five NATO countries (Sweden, Germany, Netherlands, Romania and Spain)have given the green light for the reception of up to a thousand Patriot GEM-T missiles (tactical missiles), considered key for the Patriot air defense system and designed to defend against cruise missiles, tactical ballistic missiles and aircraft.
All this was carried out thanks to the contract signed by Sweden on November 15 with the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA). The GEM-T is a modern variant of the PAC-2 missile and features substantial improvements, such as the addition of an improved proximity fuze and low-noise components that improve performance against enemy threats.
As it turned out, the signing of the contract goes beyond the purchase of the missiles, since it also includes updated component qualification as well as the incorporation of new suppliers and the acquisition of test equipment and spare parts.
Patriot missiles being presented
With this agreement, the Swedish Defense Materiel Administration (FMV), the Nordic country will enhance its weapons capacity while NATO does it thanks to collective air defense efforts.
NATO aims to enhance operability between allied countries
Sweden will contribute a total of 455 million dollars to carry out its acquisition, whose participation was requested in 2023 by the NATO Support and Acquisition Agency (NSPA) and thus supply the growing global demand for missiles, at the same time expands Europe’s industrial capacity for GEM-T.
At a defensive level, this acquisition is also a plus for European capabilities, since the Patriot missile defense systems have great capabilities to stop a variety of air threats (aircraft, cruise missiles and tactical ballistic missiles)and which has already been used in different conflicts, such as the Gulf War or the Ukrainian war.
On the part of NATO, the purchase of these thousand Patriot missiles aims to achieve economies of scale and improve interoperability between allied countries.
Source: www.huffingtonpost.es
