Ukrainian soldiers near finish of Patriot missile training in Oklahoma

FORT SILL, Okla. — Several large, 12-wheeled military vehicles carrying mobile missile launchers rumbled across the southwest Oklahoma prairie on Tuesday as part of a training exercise at the Fort Sill Army Post.

Spilling out of the sand-colored vehicles and quickly setting up the launchers were some of the 65 Ukrainian soldiers who have been training at the installation since January on how to use the defensive missile system to track and shoot down enemy aircraft. U.S. military officials invited journalists from across the country and Europe, including The Associated Press, to watch the soldiers train.

The Patriot missile system, which hasn’t yet been deployed in Ukraine, is particularly useful for defending population centers and critical infrastructure, said Brig. Gen. Shane Morgan, Fort Sill’s commanding general.

The soldiers are expected to leave Oklahoma in the next several days for additional training in Germany before they deploy to Ukraine with a Patriot missile battery that typically includes six mobile launchers, a mobile radar, a power generator and an engagement control center.

Military officials did not provide an exact timeline for when the missile battery will deploy to Ukraine. But a Pentagon spokesman said it will be quicker than initially planned.

“For operation security reasons, I’m not going to get into delivery timelines other than to say we’re confident that we’ll be able to get the Patriots there on an expedited timeline, I’ll just leave it at that,” Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said at a Pentagon briefing on Tuesday.

Although Army officials acknowledge they faced initial challenges overcoming a language barrier, Morgan said the Ukrainian soldiers learned quickly and were handpicked because of their air defense experience.

“Our assessment is that the Ukrainian soldiers are impressive and absolutely a quick study due to their extensive air defense knowledge and experience in a combat zone,” Morgan said. “It was easier, though never easy, for them to grasp the Patriot system’s operation and maintenance concepts.”

The training of the Ukrainian soldiers is part of a larger international effort involving more than 50 countries who are providing security assistance to Ukraine, said Col. Martin O’Donnell, a U.S. Army spokesman based in Germany.

U.S. Army soldiers at Fort Sill who trained the Ukrainians said they were surprised how quickly the visiting soldiers grasped the concepts and learned how to operate the equipment. Many of the soldiers had previous experience using the older Soviet-made S-300 long-range surface-to-air missile system.

One trainer, who the AP agreed not to identify by name for security purposes, said he learned how resourceful the Ukrainians were when one of the vehicles developed a coolant leak during the early days of training. Repairs that would normally require submitting a formal request and waiting several days were instead completed in about 20 minutes.

“It shows their ability to adapt to a situation,” the trainer said. “In Ukraine, they won’t have days. They may just have minutes.”

Although the Ukrainian soldiers were confined to the military installation during their 10-week training program, they were afforded the same privileges as other visiting soldiers, including access to shops, recreation and restaurants on the installation. They particularly enjoyed eating tacos from a Taco Bell on the post, one trainer said.

“A lot of them have never had tacos before,” he said.

But a deadly seriousness underscored the Ukrainians’ visit to Fort Sill that was evident when they held a memorial vigil on the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion, another trainer said.

“That was the hardest part for me,” he said. “Several of them have lost loved ones in the war.”

Associated Press reporter Tara Copp in Washington contributed to this report.

俄克拉荷马州锡尔堡——周二，几辆载有移动导弹发射器的大型 12 轮军用车辆隆隆驶过俄克拉荷马州西南部的草原，这是锡尔堡陆军基地训练演习的一部分。

从沙色车辆中涌出几名士兵，迅速架设起发射装置。他们是自今年1月以来一直在该基地接受训练的65名乌克兰士兵中的一部分，训练内容是如何使用防御导弹系统追踪并击落敌机。美国军方官员邀请了来自美国各地和欧洲的记者，包括美联社记者，前来观看士兵训练。

锡尔堡司令谢恩·摩根准将表示，爱国者导弹系统尚未在乌克兰部署，但它对于保卫人口中心和关键基础设施特别有用。

预计这些士兵将在未来几天离开俄克拉荷马州，前往德国接受进一步训练，之后他们将带着爱国者导弹连部署到乌克兰，该导弹连通常包括六个移动发射器、一个移动雷达、一个发电机和一个交战控制中心。

军方官员没有给出导弹部队何时部署到乌克兰的确切时间表。但五角大楼发言人表示，部署速度将比最初计划的要快。

“出于行动安全考虑，我不会透露交付时间表，只能说我们有信心能够加快爱国者导弹系统的交付速度，我就说到这里吧。”空军准将帕特·莱德周二在五角大楼的简报会上说道。

尽管陆军官员承认他们在克服语言障碍方面面临一些挑战，但摩根表示，乌克兰士兵学习得很快，而且由于他们拥有防空经验，所以是经过精心挑选的。

摩根说：“我们评估认为，乌克兰士兵表现出色，而且由于他们拥有丰富的防空知识和战区经验，学习能力非常强。虽然掌握爱国者导弹系统的操作和维护概念并非易事，但对他们来说相对容易一些。”

美国陆军驻德国发言人马丁·奥唐纳上校表示，对乌克兰士兵的训练是50多个国家向乌克兰提供安全援助的更大规模国际努力的一部分。

驻扎在锡尔堡的美国陆军士兵在训练乌克兰士兵时表示，他们惊讶于来访士兵们如此迅速地掌握了相关概念并学会了如何操作设备。许多乌克兰士兵此前都曾使用过老式的苏联制造的S-300远程地对空导弹系统。

一位出于安全考虑不愿透露姓名的教官告诉美联社，在训练初期，一辆车辆出现冷却液泄漏，他这才见识到乌克兰人的应变能力。通常需要提交正式申请并等待数天才能完成的维修，他们只用了大约20分钟就完成了。

“这展现了他们适应环境的能力，”教练说。“在乌克兰，他们没有时间，可能只有几分钟。”

虽然乌克兰士兵在为期十周的训练期间被限制在军事基地内，但他们享有与其他来访士兵相同的特权，包括使用基地内的商店、娱乐场所和餐厅。一位教官说，他们尤其喜欢在基地内的塔可钟餐厅吃墨西哥卷饼。

他说：“他们中很多人以前从未吃过墨西哥卷饼。”

但另一位教官表示，乌克兰人对锡尔堡的访问表现出一种极其严肃的态度，这一点在他们为纪念俄罗斯入侵一周年举行守夜活动时表现得尤为明显。

“对我来说，那是最难熬的部分，”他说。“他们当中有好几个人在战争中失去了亲人。”

美联社驻华盛顿记者塔拉·科普对本报道亦有贡献。