The high-tech anti-aircraft missile system of the United Kingdom shot down a Russian helicopter, following a week of use on the battlefield in Ukraine. The image spread through a video, impacts: the projectile split the aircraft in two.
This is the Starstreak, a portable air defense system manufactured by Thales Air Defense, capable of destroying targets with three penetrating darts.
The sequence of the destruction of the Russian helicopter, a Mi-28N, occurred in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine.
Before handing over this combat weapon to Ukraine, the British Army had said that Starstreak is a “very capable air defense weapon” and added that it is particularly “effective once morest helicopters”.
The Starstreak system is the portable anti-defense system made in the UK. Photo: AFP
As published The Times, the weapon is guided by laser beams. It can be fired from the shoulder or from a vehicle and can hit targets up to 6.5 kilometers.
Ukraine was sent a kit that can be mounted on the shoulder. According to the army, it allows faster deployment on the ground. Especially the mountainous.
As explained in the English article, its use is complex. And those who are going to handle this type of weapon must have at least a thousand successful hits in the simulation.
The British Ministry of Defense had sent a team of Starstreak operators and a simulator to neighboring Ukraine for training. The Ukrainian army had to speed up the times.
The UK has already provided Ukraine with Starstreaks, as well as more than 4,000 NLAWs, the light anti-tank weapon that has a system similar to anti-aircraft.
Russian complaints
Last Saturday, Russia’s ambassador to the UK told the Russian news agency TASS that British arms supplies to Ukraine were “legitimate targets” for the Russian military.
Meanwhile, Ambassador Andrey Kelin had said that supplying weapons such as Starstreak missiles was “destabilizing”.
“They exacerbate the situation, making it even bloodier. Apparently those are new high-precision weapons,” Kelin told the news agency.
“Naturally, our military will see them as a legitimate target if those supplies cross the border into Ukraine,” he added.
LM
