How the Patriot missile will change the face of the war in Ukraine

The arrival and deployment of the US Patriot air-defence anti-missile system in Ukraine marks a crucial moment in the war. At last the Ukrainian military have a weapon which can shoot down Russian fighter aircraft, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and hypersonic missiles. Ukraine claims to have used a Patriot to shoot down a Russian Kinzhal hypersonic missile capable of travelling at up to ten times the speed of sound. That's a helluva achievement and should make Putin worry that his most deadly missile now looks to be vulnerable. The problem for the Ukrainians is that they simply don't have enough Patriots to protect every city and town. They have two batteries of launchers. That may be two or possiby more actual Patriot systems and then a limited supply of the missiles. To deter Putin from ordering all his fighter aircraft over the border to attack high-value targets, the Patriot is going to have to be lined up against them en masse. I can see the Pentagon coming under huge pressure over the next few weeks to send more and more Patriots because they will make a massive difference to the whole battle landscape. Putin has always claimed that his hypersonic missiles are indestructible because they go too fast and can be manoeuvred in flight to evade enemy radars. That boast is now an empty one and shooting a Kinzhal down is a helluva fillip for the Ukrainians.