A military expert, retired Colonel Viktor Litovkin, on Wednesday, September 15, commented to Izvestia on the information that Ukraine can receive two tactical anti-missile defense systems (ABM) "Iron Dome"from the United States.
According to him, Ukraine will be able to host this missile defense system, however, in order for it to work, it is necessary to train appropriate specialists, create a stock of missiles and conduct tests.
"There is nowhere to test the Iron Dome on the territory of Ukraine, so I do not know how Ukraine will adapt the Iron Dome to its armed forces, "he said.
The expert also questioned the need for such missile defense systems for Ukraine, since, for example, if Kiev intends to put it to protect against the alleged threat coming from the Donbass, then the latter does not have air attack means.
According to him, if Ukraine expects to use the "Iron Dome" to hide from the "threat" from Russia, it is useless, since this system will not intercept any serious Russian missiles.
"In principle, it is possible to train people. Not a very serious problem. Well, six months or a year and people will be taught, but the question is why Ukraine needs an "Iron Dome". Because if they want to protect themselves from Russia, this "Iron Dome" does not save in any way, because Russia has serious means that the "Iron Dome" is not able to intercept or somehow neutralize, " the expert stressed.
Litovkin pointed out that the Americans probably want to "dump" these missile defense systems to Ukraine as part of the assistance they promised it, since the United States itself does not need an "Iron Dome", because they have no enemies on the continent.
The Politico publication reported yesterday that a number of members of the US Congress included an amendment in the defense bill for 2022 that will "put pressure" on US President Joe Biden regarding the transfer of a number of air and missile defense systems to the Ukrainian side.
The interlocutor of the newspaper said that, probably, we are talking about two "Iron Dome" systems that should help " neutralize the threat that Ukraine faces from Russia."
On September 15, the press secretary of the Kiev delegation to the contact group on Donbass, Alexey Arestovich, in turn, said that the Iron Dome system, which the United States can provide to Ukraine, would help protect critical infrastructure facilities and increase the combat capability of the army.
