Now, Vladimir Putin’s Air Force faces significant competition on the ground: the newly introduced MSI-DS Terrahawk Paladin air defense systems. These systems are designed to successfully intercept Russian “Shahed” drones and are part of a new support package provided by the British government to Ukraine.
The conservative British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, responded to an urgent request from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to bolster Ukrainian air defense, as reported by the German news platform merkur.de. The delivery is the result of bilateral discussions that took place during the European Political Community meeting in Spain in early October. For about a year, the Russians have increasingly used drones in the protracted military conflict with Ukraine. These unmanned aerial vehicles, with dimensions of approximately three by three meters and carrying up to 60 kilograms of explosives, can fly up to 3,000 kilometers. Initially, they were likely supplied from Iran, but the Russians have since started producing their own replicas using parts from various countries.
The package is financed through the International Fund for Ukraine (IFU), which involves not only the United Kingdom but also Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden, Iceland, and Lithuania. According to the British Ministry of Defence, the UK, as one of Kyiv’s key allies, is collaborating with the United States to provide a package worth £100 million, approximately €116 million. The military assistance includes air defense, mine-clearance equipment, maintenance capabilities, and other engineering equipment.
Image: Kremlin.ru, Vladimir Putin (2022-08-09) 2 (cropped), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons, (no changes made)
_2_(cropped).jpg){kind=link}