Allied troops had air cover to win on D-Day. Ukrainian troops need it too

June 6 is the 80th anniversary of D-Day. As we reflect on the Allied landing at Normandy, we should also remember that in addition to the bravery of ground troops, Allied forces won because of the presence of air cover.

Ukraine currently has air cover in only one city — Kyiv. It could soon lose its second-largest city, Kharkiv, because it can’t defend against replenished Russian forces without air cover. A devastating attack occurred over the weekend on a hardware store packed with customers, causing at least 12 deaths and more than 40 injuries. The historic and beautiful city of Odessa may be next.

There is an answer: Provide Ukraine with the seven Patriot air-defense batteries President Volodymyr Zelensky is pleading for, as well as F-16 fighter jets. The EU foreign affairs chief says that Western armies have about 100 Patriot batteries among them; several more are simply being mothballed in Israel in favor of more modern air-defense systems. There is no reason America and our partners and allies cannot spare a mere seven to keep Ukraine’s cities from collapse.

As Trudy Rubin of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes: “Six NATO allies — Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, and Spain — currently operate Patriot systems, yet all except Germany have pleaded that they need their systems for their own defense.” Meanwhile, Ukraine is the only country in Europe under active air assault from Russian ballistic missiles and drones. This excuse-making and foot-dragging on the part of some of Ukraine’s Western partners — what Rubin calls “Patriot games” — must stop.

More galling still, as Rubin points out, is the fact that the Israeli Defense Forces recently announced they would retire their own Patriot batteries entirely — but have given no indication of plans to contribute them to Ukraine’s defense. Public reports put Israel’s Patriot arsenal anywhere between three and eight batteries, but the country has so far avoided any arms transfers to Ukraine to avoid antagonizing Russia.

The Western and Arab coalition that successfully defended Israel from hundreds of Iranian drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles just weeks ago did not include Russia. The fact that it shot down nearly every single projectile was duly noted in Ukraine, which has been struggling alone for two years under Russian bombardment. To Zelensky, the episode showed how unity protects against terror: “Terror must lose everywhere and completely — not somewhere more and somewhere less.”

The U.S. and Germany are supplying Ukraine with defenses and urging others to do so. Germany has contributed two Patriot batteries and promised to send another. The U.S. has sent one and is reportedly considering sending another. Others must step up too. For those — such as Israel — reluctant to contribute directly to Ukraine from their idle stocks for fear of antagonizing Russia — the Netherlands has offered to facilitate indirect transfers.

Ukraine must also be allowed to use American weapons to hit targets in Russia that are attacking them. Russia is assaulting civilian centers and infrastructure with no fear of retaliation. Recognizing this, NATO’s parliamentary assembly this week adopted a resolution calling on allies to lift restrictions on Ukraine’s use of weapons, and some European leaders such as France’s Emmanuel Macron have called for the same. The U.S. has so far said there is no policy change. 

Like Israel, some countries still worry that letting Ukraine use U.S.-supplied weapons to attack targets inside Russia risks escalation. But the real risk goes in the other direction. Not letting Ukraine win this conflict will likely entangle the U.S. and NATO in a ground and air war in Europe. As Zelensky himself said: “There are no risks of escalation. Escalation has already occurred: Russia’s escalation against Ukraine.”

Nearly 80 years ago, a few days after the Normandy landings, Gen. Dwight Eisenhower and his son visited the site, where the future president observed: “Without air supremacy, I wouldn’t be here.” The battle against tyranny takes place in different skies now, but both the underlying values and the way to victory are still the same. And without better air defense, Ukraine won’t be here.

Jane Harman is the chair of the National Defense Strategy Commission. She is a former nine-term congresswoman from California, former ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, and author of “Insanity Defense: Why Our Failure to Confront Hard National Security Problems Makes Us Less Safe.”