Ukraine’s continued requests to Western allies for more air defenses were answered in part this week, with the announcement that Germany has ordered an additional 17 IRIS-T air defense systems for Kyiv.

And the timing couldn’t be more critical – an ongoing campaign of aerial strikes on Kharkiv, devastating attacks like that on Ukraine’s largest children’s hospital in July, a strike on Poltava earlier this week that killed at least 55 people, and an attack on Lviv the day after, repeatedly highlight the shortcomings in the country’s air defenses.

. . .

But according to experts who spoke to the Kyiv Independent, while welcome, the IRIS-Ts will be unable to protect from something that has become an increasing concern in recent days – Iranian ballistic missiles.

MBFC
Archive