American NASAMS air defence system has now recorded its first kill, according to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense.
Despite having just arrived in Ukraine a week ago, the US-supplied NASAMS air defence system entered the conflict right away and is said to have shot down an enemy aircraft. The US has confirmed that the NASAMS air defence system is currently deployed in battle on Ukrainian soil and that it was utilised to destroy air targets about a day ago.
It is unclear whether the “plane” shot down by a NASAMS interceptor was a cutting-edge manned fighter jet or simply a cheap suicide UAV that cost a fraction of Amraam. The US and Ukrainian militaries have made announcements regarding the combat use of the NASAMS medium-range air defence missile system, but the Russian Defense Ministry has yet to respond.
Earlier, Boris Orlov, an analyst and subject matter specialist at the Center for Political-Military Press, said that the first NASAMS air defence system had been installed in the Kyiv region.
This cutting-edge medium-range anti-aircraft missile system will be responsible for defending the political district, which is home to the Parliament buildings, the Presidential Office, the Government Office, and the National Bank of Ukraine. “President Zelensky is worried that Russia would start hitting important decision-making centres in addition to energy infrastructure. According to Boris Orlov, the US’s donation of two NASAMS complexes to Ukraine is intended to safeguard the aforementioned goals. The Russian military analyst pointed out that the NASAMS air defence system was initially designed to defend a single target or a small area. The complex frequently “covers” significant federal buildings in the US.
However, NASAMS is not intended to defend sizable areas against aerial attack. Therefore, the Russian analyst concluded, providing Ukraine with this weapon will have no bearing on the outcome of the battle. “Only 2 NASAMS complexes cannot affect any change. They won’t build a long-lasting air defence system. They are only capable of repelling one attack directed at the protected object, according to expert Orlov.
The NASAMS technology is only useful for securing one target, the Russian military analyst determined. I have not observed any further benefits from this weapon in other circumstances. It should be mentioned, though, that NASAMS collaborates with other anti-aircraft missile systems, including Buk-M1, S-300V, S-300PS, and even IRIS-T, which Germany recently handed to Ukraine.
When these incredibly potent air defence systems are joined, they form an impenetrable “iron curtain” that will cover important targets with more sophisticated complexes. Additionally, it has recently come to light that Ukraine has asked the US to send it C-RAM fast-firing anti-aircraft artillery systems so that they can fight alongside NASAMS as a bodyguard, much like Russia does with the pair of S-400 – Pantsir-S1.
