The German Bundeswehr has delivered two MANTIS air defense systems to Slovakia. The Deputy Inspector General handed over the weapon systems on Tuesday.
On Platform X, formerly known as Twitter, the German Ministry of Defence wrote: “The Deputy #InspectorGeneral Laubenthal handed over the weapon system #MANTIS to Slovakia yesterday to strengthen air defense. Slovakia shares a direct border with #Ukraine and is therefore constantly exposed to threats, including from misguided aerial munitions. The handover of the stationary close-range air defense system #MANTIS to Slovakia had already been announced earlier this year. #MANTIS is a modular protection system for close-range defense against #aerial attacks. It defends against rockets, artillery shells & mortars, but also aerial targets like #drones or cruise missiles. With the handover of the system, Germany and Slovakia are sending a strong message of unity.”
German Patriot defense systems have been stationed for some time
According to n-tv.de, MANTIS is expected to be used primarily to protect a maintenance base of the German industry in the east of the country. German Patriot air defense systems are already stationed in Slovakia to protect NATO airspace. According to the Bundeswehr, the MANTIS air defense systems have a range of up to three kilometers and can combat approaching objects with up to 1000 rounds of ammunition per minute.
Image: Preiss/ MSC, Olaf Scholz MSC 2019, CC-BY-3.0 EN via Wikimedia Commons (image size modified)