NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters that the member countries of the alliance will make it their priority to increase the supply of air defense equipment to Ukraine.
He made such a statement before the start of the meeting of the defense ministers of the member countries of the alliance in Brussels.
“All this (strikes by the RF Armed Forces on Ukraine’s critical infrastructure. -
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) demonstrates Kiev’s urgent need for more (means. -
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) air defense,” Stoltenberg said.
According to the Secretary General of the military bloc, Western countries have already supplied Kyiv with various types of air defense systems "capable of hitting ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and UAVs."
However, the vast geography of Ukraine dictates the need to increase the supply of air defense equipment for more serious protection, he said.
At the same time, the US plans to form an integrated air defense and missile defense system in Ukraine for the defense of priority targets.
This was told to journalists by the chairman of the Committee of Chiefs of Staff of the US Armed Forces, General Mark Milley.
As the Kremlin said earlier, US air defense deliveries will not change Russia's goals, but will make the conflict more painful for Ukraine.
“This will make the conflict longer and more painful for the Ukrainian side, but it will not change our goal-setting and the end result,” Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with reporters.
"We need more"
Recall that on October 10, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation launched massive missile strikes on the territory of Ukraine.
As Russian President Vladimir Putin explained, energy, military command and communications facilities were subjected to shelling.
These measures were a response to the terrorist attacks organized by the Ukrainian special services.
In Kyiv and in the West, the actions of the Russian army were condemned.
On October 11, the leaders of the G7 countries (USA, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Canada, Japan) held an extraordinary summit with the participation of Volodymyr Zelensky via videoconference.
Consequences of missile strikes of the Russian Armed Forces on Kyiv
Speaking to the G7, the Ukrainian leader called on the leaders of Western countries to create an "air shield for Ukraine."
Zelensky called this measure "part of the security guarantees, which are an element ... of the formula for peace."
According to Zelensky, Ukraine will be able to fight Russian missile strikes only when it “gets enough modern and effective air defense systems.”
At the same time, the Ukrainian leader asked US President Joe Biden to transfer medium and long-range systems to Kyiv, "which will allow creating a layered defense system."
Another call by Zelensky was addressed to Italy, from which the Ukrainian leadership expects to receive SAMP / T anti-aircraft missile systems (SAM) in the coming months.
Also on Tuesday, in an address to citizens, Zelensky said that he expects progress from "partners on the issue of air and missile defense."
On October 12, on his Twitter page, the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak, announced that following the results of the meeting in the so-called Ramstein format, the sky over the country would be closed.
And Ukrainian Defense Minister Alexei Reznikov tweeted about the onset of a “new era of air defense” and reported on the supply of Western air defense systems.
“IRIS-T from Germany is already here.
American NASAMS on the way.
This is just the beginning.
And we need more… To protect the sky over Ukraine in order to save our people is a moral imperative,” Reznikov said.
According to current plans, Germany is to supply the Armed Forces with four IRIS-T SLM (Infra Red Imaging System Tail) complexes.
According to Der Spiegel, the transfer of the first APU system took place near the Polish-Ukrainian border.
The developer of IRIS-T is the German company Diehl Defense.
The German government considers this complex the most modern in the arsenal of anti-aircraft weapons of the Bundeswehr.
According to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the system is able to cover the major cities of Ukraine.
The IRIS-T SLM complex consists of a launcher on a military truck with space for eight missiles, as well as radar and command vehicles.
The height of target destruction by missiles of this air defense system reaches 20 km, the maximum distance is 40 km.
As Der Spiegel notes, with the transfer of the IRIS-T SLM air defense system, Ukraine “received such a protection system that the Bundeswehr itself does not yet have.”
In addition to IRIS-T, two US-Norwegian NASAMS (National Advanced Surface-To-Air Missile System) should receive the APU in the near future.
These complexes are medium-range air defense systems.
They are capable of shooting down aircraft and missiles.
According to Zelensky, the delivery of NASAMS will "significantly strengthen" Ukraine's air defense.
The air defense systems will be specially made for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The system has the ability to hit targets at distances of 2.5-25 km and at an altitude of up to 16 km.
NASAMS is not a new air defense system.
However, more recently, the Norwegians announced the creation of a more advanced radar called GhostEye MR.
Another medium-range air defense system that the Kyiv regime intends to receive is the Franco-Italian SAMP / T system.
It is produced by the European company MBDA.
The complex is designed to intercept targets at ranges up to 100 km.
This air defense system can operate in stand-alone mode or be integrated into a single air defense network.
For air strikes, the SAMP/T uses a two-stage ASTER missile capable of Mach 4.5.
It has an electromagnetic homing head and, according to the developer, is effective in any weather.
"Piece Samples"
As the ex-head of the anti-aircraft missile forces of the special forces command of the Russian Air Force, reserve colonel Sergey Khatylev, said in a RT commentary, SAMP / T, IRIS-T and NASAMS are approximate analogues of domestic medium-range air defense systems of the Buk family.
According to the expert, Western systems can hardly be called highly effective systems, since they have not been fully tested and have never been used in real combat conditions.
Khatylev believes that MP / T, IRIS-T and NASAMS are not capable of intercepting most modern Russian air, land and sea-based missiles.
The expert also drew attention to the small number of Western air defense systems that were promised to the Kyiv regime.
NASAMS Launcher
Legion Media
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“So far we are talking only about piece samples.
They will not change the situation for air defense, and the work on deploying these systems will be very large: it is necessary to equip combat positions, shelters, bring in ammunition, deploy command posts and, apparently, try to somehow integrate them with Soviet air defense systems, ”says Khatylev .
According to the expert, all these events are unlikely to go unnoticed by the Russian army.
If Russia continues to act tough, then the Western air defense systems will most likely be destroyed before the NATO forces have time to bring them into combat position, Khatylev noted.
The expert is sure that the military personnel of the alliance will manage and maintain the air defense systems.
“In Russia, it takes about six months to train modern air defense systems.
It is unlikely that the training cycle for the development of IRIS-T and NASAMS is significantly less.
This is a complex, whimsical and expensive technique.
Considering the West's plans for early deliveries, the alliance will not be able to properly train Ukrainian calculations.
I don’t see any other options, except for involving NATO military personnel in the management of these air defense systems, ”Khatylev said.
In an interview with RT, military expert Yuri Lyamin noted that the key drawback of Western systems is their short range.
At the same time, according to the analyst, they should get away well from being hit by Russian anti-radar missiles.
“I would not underestimate Western air defense systems.
These are quite dangerous systems, as they are based on missiles with an active radar homing head.
In fact, the probability of hitting these systems by anti-radar missiles is reduced.
Another thing is that they have a short range and there are very few of them in order to really improve the air defense system of Ukraine, ”Lyamin emphasized.
In a RT commentary, military expert Yuri Knutov suggested that with modest deliveries of air defense systems, the West is seeking to use Ukraine as a testing ground for testing its weapons.
Real assistance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as the expert says, should be expressed in a large-scale transfer of air defense systems of various types and American Patriots in a new modification.
“NATO clearly wants to evaluate the effectiveness of their air defense systems in the fight against Russian cruise missiles and UAVs.
Moreover, IRIS-T has not yet been adopted by the Bundeswehr.
The alliance is aware that the effectiveness of Ukrainian air defense is at a low level.
Officially, this is not recognized in Kyiv, but judging by the available information about arrivals at Ukrainian facilities, almost all Russian missiles successfully hit their intended targets, ”Knutov said.
Anti-aircraft installation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
© General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
According to the expert, first of all, Western air defense systems will be deployed in Kyiv, Odessa, near railway junctions, warehouses, and energy facilities.
At the same time, the interlocutor of RT does not exclude an increase in the supply of NATO air defense systems to Ukraine.
“In any case, the supply of Western air defense systems must be taken seriously.
True, I doubt that they will be able to work effectively on many of our missiles.
For example, they are unlikely to be able to intercept the Iskander OTRK missiles.
In the future, the transfer of the Patriot cannot be ruled out, but he did not have the most successful combat practice, ”summed up Knutov.