Metinvest Mining and Metallurgical Group, as part of Rinat Akhmetov’s Steel Front military initiative, has mastered the production of armor protection for the MIM-104 Patriot control module, which protects the Ukrainian sky from enemy attacks.
According to the group’s press release on Friday, Metinvest engineers have already mounted the first armor on the air defense system’s operational control module.
At the same time, it is noted that Metinvest continues to actively expand its line of protective products for the Ukrainian army, which increases the level of security and protects the lives of defenders and military equipment. The company has mastered the production of steel shields for the main domestic T-64 and T-72 tanks, American M1 Abrams tanks and Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, and is preparing to integrate them into various Leopard 2 modifications. The soldiers have already received more than 300 screens.
Oleksandr Myronenko, Head of Steel Production for the Ukrainian Army at Metinvest and Group Chief Operating Officer, noted that the defenders of the sky also need reliable protection.
“Since this is one of the main areas of the Steel Front initiative, in which we have extensive experience, it is not surprising that we have been entrusted with such a responsible mission. In a month and a half, we created a project from scratch and manufactured a shield for the crew of the Patriot air defense system from Metinvest’s Ukrainian armor steel according to the drawings, which guarantees protection against fragmentation damage to both the defenders and the air defense control system. Our experienced engineers also supervised the installation of the armor,” explained Myronenko.
The company clarified that Metinvest engineers have set up the production of a unique armor patch for the Patriot air defense system’s brain center, which controls the air defense system. The crew protection against shrapnel damage is made of 30KhN2MA steel, which has improved wear resistance, strength, toughness and resistance to mechanical stress.
The armor consists of nearly 200 elements – plates of armored steel up to 8 mm thick that protect the air defense control center. The total weight of the armor exceeds 2.6 tons, but this does not affect the functionality or mobility of the complex. A team of project engineers worked on the creation of the Patriot air defense system’s armor, supervising the work of turners, fitters, mechanical assemblers, and electric and gas welders.
The Patriot system is an anti-aircraft missile system. The core of the system is the AN/MPQ-53 Patriot radar. This is a multi-purpose radar with a passive phased array antenna (PFAR) operating in G- or H-bands. Patriot uses advanced air-to-air interceptor missiles and highly effective radar systems. The maximum range of airborne targets is 170 km.
