Slovakia Prime Minister Heger has confirmed today that the country has sent its lone S-300 Surface-to-Air Missile Battery to Ukraine.

I would like to confirm that #Slovakia has provided #Ukraine with an air-defence system S-300. #Ukrainian nation is #bravely defending its sovereign country and us too. It is our duty to help, not to stay put and be ignorant to the loss of human lives under #Russia’s agression.

— Eduard Heger (@eduardheger) April 8, 2022

The 11th Anti-Aircraft Brigade of Slovak Armed Forces carried out the transfer of the lone battery, a modernized PMU version which was the only long-range anti-aircraft system the Slovak Armed Forces had in their inventory. This battery probably consisted of 9 Transported Erector Launchers (TELs), a Target Acquisition Radar, a command vehicle, and support vehicles.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CcGbKwBL6MY/?igshid=NDA1YzNhOGU=

These TELs are desperately needed in Ukraine. Before the Russian invasion on February 24th, 2022, Ukraine had about 100 TELs. The opening salvo of nearly 100 Kalibr Cruise Missiles and the ongoing Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD) by Russia has probably reduced that number to less than 50.

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CaXw_JLgnLS/?igshid=NDA1YzNhOGU=

However, that does not mean that Slovakia will be without long range surface-to-air missile defense. After much debate, Germany, the Netherlands, and The United States have pledged to deploy four Patriot batteries in Slovakia. “A total of four batteries of the peak Patriot system in the most modern version of PAC-3 will provide unparalleled defensive potential than one unmodernized S-300 system from 1987. Therefore, it is a clear strengthening of Slovakia’s defense and at the same time an adequate replacement for the S-300 system,” the Minister of Defense of the Slovak Republic.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Austin corroborated this announcement in one of his own, which pledged American troops would operate the Patriot battery in Slovakia.

The S-300 (NATO reporting name SA-10 Grumble) is a series of initially Soviet and later Russian long range surface-to-air missile systems produced by NPO Almaz. It has had a variety of missiles and radars associated with the system in its more than 30 years of development and employment. However, most estimates say its Target Acquisition Radar can detect aircraft and ballistic missiles out to 300 nautical miles and engage targets out to 100 nautical miles. It has been mostly replaced by the S-400 (NATO: SA-21 Triumpf) by the Russian Aerospace Forces, but many ex-Soviet countries still operate it.