The MAMBA medium-range air defense system to be provided by France and Italy will enable Ukraine to “defend itself against attacks by Russian drones, missiles and aircraft,” the French Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces said on Friday.
“The provision of this system responds to the urgency expressed by Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov to his French and Italian counterparts to protect the civilian population and infrastructure from Russian air strikes”adds the statement.
French minister Sébastien Lecornu and his Italian colleague Guido Crosetto contacted by telephone on Friday to finalize this delivery, which had been negotiated for several weeks.
“The two ministers have completed technical discussions (…) to deliver the SAMP/T – MAMBA anti-aircraft system to Ukraine in spring 2023. It is the first European long-range anti-aircraft system of Franco-Italian design”the ministry needed.
The announcement follows Reznikov’s visit to Paris this week.
For months, Ukraine has been asking for reinforcements of its surface-to-air defense system, particularly after a spate of Russian attacks on its infrastructure, using Iranian drones.
The MAMBA, equivalent to the North American Patriot system, has already been moved to Romania and installed in the strategic region of the port of Konstanz, next to the Black Sea.
With this system, radar and the multiple system of eight Aster missiles with a range of 100 kilometers, “we can counter a wide variety of airborne threats: short-range ballistic missiles, fighter jets, helicopters, drones and even multi-fire cruise missiles”a French soldier told AFP news agency in Romania in December.
On Tuesday, France had already announced the delivery in the coming weeks of another 12 155mm Caesar guns, bringing Kiev to a total of 49 guns, “a not inconsiderable amount”, underlined Sébastien Lecornu.
Paris also promised a Ground Master 200 (GM200) radar from the French company Thales. This medium-range radar makes it possible to detect an enemy device 205 kilometers away and fight it from 100 kilometers away, whether flying at low altitude and low speed like drones, or at high altitude like fighter jets.
According to the manufacturer, which has already sold more than 60 units worldwide, it also provides protection against rocket and artillery fire by warning troops in the field of enemy fire. It is transported in a truck.
The military offensive launched by Russia in Ukraine on February 24, 2022 has so far led to the flight of more than 14 million people – 6.5 million internally displaced persons and more than eight million to European countries – according to the most recent data from the UN. which classifies this refugee crisis as the worst in Europe since World War II (1939-1945).
Currently, 17.7 million Ukrainians need humanitarian aid and 9.3 million need food aid and shelter.
The Russian invasion – justified by the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, with the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russian security – was condemned by the international community at large, which responded by sending arms to Ukraine and impose political and economic sanctions on Russia.
The UN presented 7,110 dead civilians and 11,547 wounded as confirmed since the start of the war, emphasizing that these numbers are far below the actual ones.
Source: DN
