F-16, missiles with up to 500km range: Commander Nayev on expected military aid
That’s according to Ukraine’s Joint Forces Commander Lieutenant General Serhiy Nayev, Ukrinform reports with reference to the JFC press service.
"In further packages of military aid, Ukraine expects F-16 aircraft and missiles with a range of 300-500 kilometers, which will allow our Defense Forces to achieve even greater success on the battlefield and liberate our territory from the enemy," said Nayev.
Commenting on the issue of international aid, he said in the first month of the full-scale invasion, NLAW and Javelin anti-tank missile systems, Stinger, Starstreak, and Piorun MANPADS provided by partner countries, played a crucial role. Anti-tank mobile fire groups would ambush and destroy Russia’s armored convoys and disrupt supply routes. Mobile air defense groups, armed with portable anti-aircraft missile systems, downed warplanes and attack helicopters, and engaged enemy air assault forces midair.
"Thanks to the logistical and technical assistance from partner countries, the Armed Forces received Western-type artillery systems, which in terms of tactical and technical feeatures are superior to similar models employed by Russia. This is about M777A1 and FH70 systems, and Caesar, AHS Krab, PzН-2000, and M109 systems, which, in combination with counter-battery capabilities and reconnaissance UAVs, allowed Ukraine’s Defense Forces to nullify the enemy's massive superiority in artillery and defy their ‘valley of fire’ tactic. With the appearance in the summer of 2022 of the M142 HIMARS launchers, and later the M270 MLR systems, the enemy suffered even more significant losses along their supply routes to forward units and was forced to move their field depots and control points to a distance of more than 100 kilometers from the front line. This led to an increase in the logistical ‘shoulder’ of ammunition and materiel supplies, complications in operational command, loss of offensive capabilities, transition to forced defense, and eventually to a ‘gesture of goodwill’ – the withdrawal from the right bank of the Dnipro and evacuation from Kherson," the commander said.
According to Nayev, during Russia’s missile terror in the winter of 2022-2023, medium-range NASAMS and IRIS-T SLM air defense systems, and Gepard anti-aircraft self-propelled guns` played a decisive role in leveling the missile threat and protecting critical infrastructure from SHAHED-131/136 attack UAVs. This increased the effectiveness of Ukraine’s air defense network to 75-80%. On some days, air defense forces intercept 100% of incoming targets, Nayev noted.
Also, after Ukraine received Patriot air defense systems in April 2023, the country’s missile shield was strengthened even more as the striking range increased to 150 km. Ukraine received reliable protection against the enemy's Iskander and Kinzhal ballistic missiles.
"Two more weapons systems are worth noting. They are both domestically made and will be included in the textbooks of military art. The first is unmanned maritime attack drones SEA BABY and some other models, whose production and combat use forced Russia’s Black Sea Fleet to forget about dominance in the northwestern part of the Black Sea and to pull significant reserves to strengthen the protection of their naval bases and the Crimea bridge. The second is FPV drones, which are much cheaper, but no less effective tools for hitting enemy hardware and manpower than anti-tank missile systems and artillery ammunition," said Nayev.
As Ukrinform reported earlier, EU High Representative Josep Borrell stated that since the outset of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the European Union and its member states have provided Ukraine with EUR 28 billion in military aid. On February 2, the EU Ambassador to Ukraine, Katarina Mathernova, reported that at the next European Council in Brussels, EU leaders will discuss the increase of defense production in Europe and various joint initiatives regarding military support for Ukraine.
