Image source: topwar.ru
Britain intends to significantly increase the air defense potential of the Armed Forces of Ukraine by supplying Kiev with self-propelled anti-aircraft systems. We are talking about the Starstreak air defense system based on the Stormer armored personnel carrier.
According to the British press, this week British Defense Minister Ben Wallace will address parliament with a statement that London intends to supply anti-aircraft systems to Ukraine. So far, Britain is ready to supply only a few complexes, but claims that these are the best samples of equipment that were previously supplied to Ukraine.
According to reports, the Ukrainian military has already been shown this SAM, they were brought to the largest military training ground of the British army on the Salisbury Plain. Representatives of the Armed Forces of Ukraine liked the complex "very much".
The self-propelled version of the SAM is placed on an armored chassis "Stormer" (SP). The weight of the car is 13 tons, the speed is up to 80 km / h, the crew is three people. The basis of the complex is the "Starstreak HVM" missile system with a warhead of three "darts" 0.45 meters long, 20 mm in diameter, weighing 900 grams, of which 450 grams are accounted for by the plastic explosive PBX-98. Each of the darts has its own laser beam control and guidance circuit, armor-piercing core, explosive charge and thermal battery.
Tactical and technical characteristics of the Starstreak MANPADS: the range of the affected targets is from 300 to 7000 m, the height of the affected targets is up to 5000 m, the maximum speed of the rocket is more than 3 M, the length of the rocket is 1369 mm, the launch mass of the rocket is 14 kg. The warhead is three penetrating tungsten submunitions.
Earlier, Britain announced the imminent delivery of 120 armored personnel carriers and anti-ship missiles to Ukraine to protect Odessa.