The air defense of Ukraine received two batteries of the NASAMS air defense system.
In his interview with NV media, Yuriy Ignat, spokesman of the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, stressed that Ukraine will receive not two units, but two batteries.
“We were promised [to receive] not two units, but two batteries. We understand that very few countries in the world have such high-tech weapons and are waiting in line for them,” Yuriy Ignat said.
He also noted that the exact number of air defense systems that Ukraine will receive cannot be made public yet.
“This regards two batteries that have not only launchers, but also certain vehicles for charging, target detection and complex maintenance,” said the spokesman of the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
He noted that manufacturers’ capacity is not unlimited and the supply of NASAMS air defense systems and IRIS-T SLM to Ukraine is not a quick process.
“Unfortunately, everything will happen gradually and not as quickly as we would like today,” the speaker emphasized.
In July 2022, the United States announced another $820 million aid package to Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed his gratitude.
“I am especially grateful today to the United States and to Biden personally for the package of support for Ukraine announced today, which includes very powerful NASAMS – an anti-aircraft missile system that will significantly strengthen our air defence. We have worked hard for these supplies,” Zelenskyy said late on Friday in his nightly video address.
It includes NASAMS SAM, additional ammunition for HIMARS, 155mm artillery rounds and counter-artillery radars.
NASAMS systems are designed by a consortium of the American Raytheon Technologies Corporation and the Norwegian group Kongsberg. The system includes launchers and Raytheon AN / MPQ-64F1 Sentinel radars from the Raytheon and Kongsberg consortium.
The second-generation NASAMS air defense battery consists of 12 launchers (each carrying six AIM-120C AMRAAM missiles), eight radars, one fire control center, one electro-optical camera vehicle, and one Tactical Control Cell vehicle.
The third-generation NASAMS battery includes six mobile AIM-120 AMRAAM ground-based missile launchers mounted on three-wheeled high-mobility launchers.
NASAMS 2 uses the same missile but was fielded with an improved radar. The NASAMS 3 upgrade incorporated an extended-range version of the AMRAAM-ER that will reach targets out to 50 km. While the U.S. has not announced which version it is providing to Ukraine, it is likely NASAMS 2 as the U.S. no longer operates the earlier versions of NASAMS that fires AIM-120C AMRAAM.
© 2022, GDC. © GDC and www.globaldefensecorp.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to www.globaldefensecorp.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.