Ukraine has received its first German-supplied anti-aircraft defense system, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiï Reznikov announced in a tweet published on Tuesday evening, October 11.
“A new era of air defense has begun in Ukraine,” said the minister. “Germany’s Iris-Ts are already here. The American NASAMS are coming”. “This is just the beginning,” Oleksiï Reznikov continues, “and we need more. There is no doubt that Russia is a terrorist state. There is a moral imperative to protect the skies of Ukraine to save our people.”
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Coming US missiles
In June, Chancellor Olaf Scholz promised Kyiv the delivery of Iris-T systems, which he said could protect a major city from air raids. On Monday, as a shower of Russian missiles fell on Ukraine, German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht assured that the first such equipment would be delivered to Kyiv “in the coming days” and three more next year.
The Iris-T system has a shield range of 20 kilometers high and 40 kilometers wide. The Bundeswehr itself has Iris-T missiles, but not the complete surface-to-air system. It fires the missiles from Tornado or Eurofighter aircraft.
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The United States has pledged NASAMS surface-to-air missile systems: two for delivery in the coming weeks or months, and six more as part of longer-term assistance. This NASAMS surface-to-air missile system is manufactured by the American Raytheon and the Norwegian group Kongsberg.