The Drive: the United States does not have air defense against Russia for Ukraine
Photo: Aaron Henson / globallookpress.com
The United States does not have medium-range air defense (air defense) systems that occupy an intermediate position between the MIM-104 Patriot and FIM-92 Stinger systems, apart from the National / Norwegian Advanced Surface to Air Missile System (NASAMS), which could be supplied to Ukraine, writes The Drive.
According to the American publication, the delivery of the MIM-104 Patriot to Kiev is fraught with organizational and legal difficulties, in particular, it would require the presence of the United States military in Ukraine. In addition, training the Ukrainian military to work with this long-range air defense system would take a long time. According to The Drive, the FIM-92 Stinger portable anti-aircraft missile system could not solve the main problem of Kiev – protection from an allegedly possible massive air attack from the Russian side. Also, the United States, as the newspaper writes, is limited in the supply capabilities of NASAMS.
Nevertheless, the publication suggested a way through which the United States could help Ukraine. “The US government could try to get additional Soviet-era systems of various types, with which Ukrainian forces have more experience, from third countries, including any stocks of such weapons remaining in the former Warsaw Pact countries that are now part of NATO,” the newspaper says.
In December, the commander of the Ukrainian Navy, Rear Admiral Oleksiy Neizhpapa, admitted the possibility of the country's purchase of Harpoon anti-ship missiles from the United States.
