Estonia to provide Ukraine with air defense missiles for testing
The missiles to be trialed by Ukraine are designed to counter drones, and can shoot down targets at an altitude of up to 2 kilometers.
The missiles to be trialed by Ukraine are designed to counter drones, and can shoot down targets at an altitude of up to 2 kilometers.
Ukraine's continued requests to Western allies for more air defenses were answered in part this week, with the announcement that Germany has ordered an additional 17 IRIS-T air defense systems for Kyiv. And the timing couldn't be more critical – an ongoing campaign of aerial strikes on Kharkiv, devastating attacks like
Oslo will allocate 1 billion Norwegian kroner (around $93 million) to bolster Ukraine's air defense, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere announced on July 11 at the NATO summit in Washington, as reported by Reuters.
Ukraine is expected to get "more news" on air defense capabilities before the upcoming NATO summit in Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on July 1.
The news comes after the U.S. announced in late June that it will prioritize deliveries of air defense missiles to Ukraine over orders from other countries, particularly Patriot and NASAMS missiles.
This is the second Russian Su-25 jet that Ukraine has claimed shot down this month.
"The United States government has made the difficult but necessary decision to reprioritize near-term planned deliveries of foreign military sales to other countries, particularly Patriot and NASAMS missiles, to go to Ukraine instead," National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said on June 20.
According to Blick, Bern has an order totalling $340 million with Washington for the PAC-3 variant of the missile.
The statement came shortly after the New York Times reported that the U.S. is planning to deliver another Patriot system to Ukraine. The outlet claimed that this should concern a system placed in Poland, which Warsaw denied.
Berlin will send an additional 68 Patriot missiles to Ukraine, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said during a joint press conference with President Volodymyr Zelensky in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, on June 11.
Ukraine intercepted five missiles and 48 out of the 53 drones over Kherson, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, Kyiv, Kirovohrad, Kharkiv, and Khmelnytskyi oblasts.
Ukrainian air defenses shot down 24 of the 25 attack drones launched by Russia overnight on June 2, the Air Force said in its morning update.
Romania is considering equipping Ukraine with advanced Patriot defense systems to counter Russian attacks. However, President Klaus Iohannis clarified that such a decision would require an approval from an autonomous administrative authority responsible for coordinating national defense and security activities.
Ukrainian air defenses shot down 13 of the 14 Shahed-type attack drones launched during a Russian attack overnight on May 29, according to Ukraine's Air Force Commander, Mykola Oleshchuk.