The Lithuanian government will provide Ukraine with six AMBER-1800 radars within the German-led air defense Initiative Immediate Action on Air Defence (IAAD), German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said on May 17.
Berlin launched the initiative in April amid Kyiv's increasingly dire need for air defenses, facing heavy Russian aerial attacks against population centers and the energy grid.
Belgium and Canada have already publicly pledged to the initiative.
The AMBER-1800 radar was developed by the Lithuanian company LitakTak. The radar was designed to automatically detect aerial targets, their azimuth, and range coordinates.
The approximate date of the radars' arrival in Ukraine, as well as the amount of Lithuanian contribution, were not specified after the meeting between Pistorius and his Lithuanian counterpart Laurynas Kasciunas.
Pistorius said that Germany would also contribute to the Lithuanian initiative for demining in Ukraine.
Initially criticized for its sluggish delivery of military aid to Ukraine following the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Germany has become the second-largest provider of military equipment after the U.S.
Berlin has previously provided IRIS-T air defense systems to Ukraine, including three IRIS-T SLM systems, with a range of up to 40 kilometers, and one IRIS-T SLS, with a range of up to 12 kilometers.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on April 6 that Ukraine needed 25 Patriot air defense systems to cover the country's skies from Russian attacks.
Kateryna Hodunova
(Updated: )
