Great Britain London supplies Ukraine with hundreds of air defense missiles

Great Britain is supplying Ukraine with 650 missiles for air defense. This was announced by the Ministry of Defense in London before a meeting of the Ukraine Contact Group at the US airbase in Ramstein, Rhineland-Palatinate.

Defense Secretary John Healey will announce the air defense package worth 162 million pounds (192 million euros) at the meeting, according to a statement. It will be financed primarily from the UK's three billion pounds (3.5 billion euros) annual support for Ukraine.

Missiles fly at supersonic speed

"This new pledge will give an important boost to Ukraine's air defenses and show the determination of our new government to increase support for Ukraine," said the Labour politician, according to the statement.

The so-called Lightweight Multirole Missiles (LMM) are manufactured by the defense company Thales in Belfast and can be fired from land, sea and air. With a range of six kilometers and supersonic speed (Mach 1.5), they can be used to defend against a large number of threats, including drones, armored vehicles and smaller ships, according to London.

According to a report, Selenskyj is expected to attend the meeting

According to Der Spiegel, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is also expected to attend the meeting in Ramstein, which was hosted by US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

Around 50 countries, including Germany, belong to the contact group. As in previous meetings at the base near Kaiserslautern, non-NATO states have also been invited. This is the 24th meeting of the Ukraine Contact Group, although most of the talks have been held as video conferences.

Russia has been waging a war of aggression against neighboring Ukraine since 24 February 2022. The West is supporting Kiev in its defense with extensive arms deliveries, among other things.

SDA