Ukraine has been asking for a no-fly zone. NATO has been unwilling to do so, in part because it would explicitly commit NATO forces to shooting down Russian aircraft, ending any pretense that this was strictly a Russia vs. Ukraine war.
But also in part because it wouldn’t necessarily help Ukraine against the bigger issue — Russian missiles, more than 500 of which have rained down on Ukrainian cities so far. Those missile launchers are sitting on the ground in Russia and Belarus, pounding positions up to 500 miles away. Going after them would greatly expand the war.
Stopping them requires special equipment. The U.S. is sending the familiar Patriot anti-missile batteries to both Poland and Slovakia. But these are big, bulky systems with missiles almost 20’ tall, several of which may be needed to stop one incoming missile. Getting them into somewhere like Kyiv and keeping them maintained and supplied seems impossible.
There’s the Iron Dome system, which is smaller and more portable, but Israel has a veto over its deployment, and they’ve were unwilling to allow it to be sold to Ukraine before the invasion. It’s unclear that, even if they relaxed that refusal now, that the system could be adequately deployed, especially with supply lines into Kyiv coming under more pressure.
Getting any kind of additional anti-missile system in place beyond the systems Ukraine already has in place is a dilemma. But when it comes to providing something that’s kind of an intermediate to the shoulder-launched weapons that are most effective against helicopters, and a more capable mobile defense battery that can go after more varied aircraft, the U.K. may have something in mind.
iNews is reporting that the U. K. is considering sending Ukraine their “Starstreak” system. Starstreak is another man-portable air-defense system (MANPADS), but it’s a more capable, more versatile system capable of punching down fighter jets and fast moving craft like a much larger installation.
“Starstreak’s lightweight 14kg missile has a claimed operational range of more than 7km … It is also reportedly the fastest short-range surface-to-air system in the world, with a peak velocity above Mach 3.”
That’s a hard thing to outrun. Click the link above to get an idea what this system looks like — and keep hoping that there’s a solution in the wings for all those missiles.