Ukraine has received its first Iris-T air defense system delivered by Germany, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov announced in a post Tuesday night on the social network Twitter.
“A new era of air defense has begun in Ukraine. The Iris-Ts from Germany are already here. The American NASAMS are arriving,” the minister said.
“This is just the beginning. And we need more. There is no doubt that Russia is a terrorist state. There is a moral imperative to protect the skies over Ukraine to save our people,” Reznikov said.
In June, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz promised kyiv the delivery of Iris-T systems capable of protecting a major city from air attack.
On Monday, as “Russian missiles rained down” on Ukraine, German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said the first of these kits would be delivered to kyiv “in the next few days” and another three next year.
The Iris-T system has a range of 20 kilometers in height and 40 kilometers in width.
The German army itself has Iris-T type missiles, but not the full surface-to-air system.
The United States has pledged NASAMS surface-to-air missile systems: two for delivery in the coming weeks or months and another six as part of long-term aid.
Source: TSF
