US pushes allies to assemble patchwork air defences for Ukraine
In order to protect Ukraine from Russia's varied threats, however, it will be necessary to build air defences made up of multiple layers, says the top US military officer, General Mark Milley.
The United States is pressing allies to hastily build for Ukraine a patchwork air defence network using NATO-compatible equipment – some ultra-modern, others older – to protect strategic targets from Russian strikes.
The effort was given added urgency after Moscow pummeled Ukraine with missiles this week, damaging energy facilities nationwide and leaving at least 20 people dead.
"What the [Ukrainian] leadership described that they needed yesterday most was air defence capability," US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said in Brussels on Thursday, a day after a meeting of 50 allied countries who coordinate their military support for Kyiv.
In order to protect Ukraine from Russia's varied threats, however, it will be necessary to build air defences made up of multiple layers, says the top US military officer, General Mark Milley.
"What you're looking at, really, is short-range, low-altitude systems, then medium-range, medium-altitude, and then long-range and high-altitude systems," he said on Wednesday in Brussels.
These three levels will protect major cities and key infrastructure in Ukraine from Russian ballistic and cruise missiles as well as drones.
"That doesn't control all the airspace over Ukraine, but they are designed to control priority targets that Ukraine needs to protect," Milley said during a news conference.
Washington has promised to provide Ukraine with the short- to medium-range, medium-altitude NASAMS air defense system, with the first two arriving soon.
It has also ordered six more from manufacturer Raytheon, but those deliveries may not occur for two to three years.
Old and new
Germany has delivered the first of the latest-generation Iris-T defence systems, but Kyiv will have to wait until next year for three others that have been promised.
The medium-range, high-altitude Iris-T system is designed to protect a small city.
To accelerate the process, the United States urged its allies on Wednesday to provide their available anti-aircraft equipment – even if it is older – as long as it meets NATO standards.
Spain was the first to respond positively to that call: it will send Ukraine four medium-range Hawk surface-to-air systems, which first went into service during the Cold War but have been modernised over the years.