Test firing from the Patriot air defense system. Archival photoMOSCOW, May 11. Russia is not afraid of the supply of Patriot PAC-3 anti-aircraft missile systems to Sweden, however, it opposes the deployment of the US contingent in the country, columnist Ihab Mokbel wrote in an article for the British newspaper Rai Al Youm. The author of the publication recalled that in November last year, the country received from the United States States advanced air defense systems worth 3.2 billion dollars. «Russia is not afraid of the Swedish Patriot PAC-3 anti-aircraft missile systems (also known as the Air Defense System-103″) and certainly is not afraid of the Swedish Navy,» Mokbel said. As the observer noted , Moscow's critical position regarding the US contingent in Sweden and Finland is explained by the risk of transferring modern undeclared American weapons to the territory of the Scandinavian country.Turkey warned about the collapse of NATO after the entry of Sweden and Finland, Mokbel also pointed out the weak point of the Patriot PAC-3 anti-aircraft missile systems. «The main problem with these systems is that they were primarily developed to counter aircraft, not missiles. Otherwise, why Saudi Arabia did not purchase a Patriot PAC-3 instead of the Russian Triumph S-400 systems, if they are really that effective?» the observer concluded. Sweden and Finland started talking about the possibility of abandoning their long-term neutrality and joining NATO against the backdrop of a Russian special operation in Ukraine. The Secretary General of the organization, Jens Stoltenberg, supported this idea and promised to provide both countries with a quick entry. US Permanent Representative to NATO Julianne Smith said the organization expects Stockholm and Helsinki to make their own decisions about joining the military bloc in the coming months. According to her, the States would welcome such a step. The Kremlin called the entry of Sweden and Finland into NATO an existential threat to the country. And Deputy Chairman of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev announced the need to be prepared for the bloc's aggressive actions against the backdrop of attempts to expand its presence near the Russian borders. uploads/2022/05/f6b7355a9b54116ccd63f437afb56b05.jpg» />The Pentagon confirmed the dispatch of the Patriot complex to Slovakia
