The US will provide Ukraine with up to 16 NASAMS launchers by the end of the year and up to 64 in total
The spokesman of the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Yuriy Ignat spoke about how many launchers Ukraine will receive from the United States.
A few days ago, information appeared that the first anti-aircraft missile systems of American-Norwegian production have already arrived in Ukraine. But, as it turned out later, in an interview, President Zelensky stated that he had not received air defense systems, but that Joe Biden had approved their delivery.
How many launchers will be delivered to Ukraine has remained a secret until now. We still do not know this for sure, but we can already orient ourselves a little. According to Yuriy Ignat, the Armed Forces will receive up to 16 launchers – eight in each of the two batteries.
They will arrive in Ukraine by the end of autumn 2022. In total, the US promised to transfer eight batteries, that is, a maximum of 64 launchers. The cost of one is about $60 million. The rest of the systems will be delivered within two years. The battery, in addition to the launcher, includes a radar and a command post. Ignat added that Ukraine began negotiating to receive NASAMS in the early days of Russia’s large-scale invasion.
NASAMS is a mobile anti-aircraft missile system on a wheeled chassis. The air defense system can intercept missiles, planes and drones at medium and low altitudes. The maximum distance to hit the target is 20 km in height and 40 km in range. The response time of the system is 10 seconds.
