Minister: Ukraine uses FrankenSAM hybrid system for first time, downs Russian kamikaze drone

Ukraine used the first hybrid air defense system under the FrankenSAM program, a joint project between the U.S. and Ukraine, to shoot down a Shahed drone launched by Russia on Jan. 17, Strategic Industries Minister Oleksandr Kamyshin said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.

"One of these systems was successfully used for the first time last night. We shot down a kamikaze drone from a distance of nine kilometers," Kamyshin said.

As further military aid packages for Ukraine remain stalled in Congress, the joint project, which combines old Soviet-era surface-to-air missile systems with new U.S.-made missiles and radars, has been a way for Ukraine to continue its fight against Russia in the meantime.

The AP earlier reported that U.S. engineers have been able to work with Ukraine to modify its numerous Soviet-era Buk air defense launchers to fire RIM-7 missiles, of which the U.S. has large stockpiles.

According to Kamyshin, five projects have been developed under the FrankenSAM concept. All the systems have already been deployed on the battlefield.

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The Kyiv IndependentDinara Khalilova