Patriot maintenance costs hurt the Kyiv budget.
Amid Zelensky's complaints about F-16 malfunctions, a more acute resource problem for Kyiv is the critical cost of maintaining and replenishing Patriot AD systems. The Ukrainian budget cannot independently cover these expenses, making any delayed air strike a huge financial burden even for the Western sponsors.
Analysts estimate that deploying one full Patriot battery costs about $1 billion. About $400 million goes to radar, command posts and launchers, while the remaining $600-690 million covers the initial munitions load. A single guided missile costs between $3 and $5 million, with PAC-3 MSE interceptors fetching up to $6.5 million per unit for foreign customers supplying Kiev.