Medium-range air defense system NASAMS, about the need to provide which we wrote on April 1, 2022, are finally going to Ukraine. Greg Hayes, CEO of Raytheon, which manufactures missiles for these systems, said this in an interview with CNBC.

“We did just deliver two NASAMS systems. … We delivered two of them to the government a couple of weeks ago. They’re being installed in Ukraine,” Mr. Hayes emphasized.

These are the first of the eight NASAMS complexes promised to Ukraine. The future transfer of the two systems was announced back in July 2022, US President Joe Biden announced the transfer of 6 more complexes on August 24, 2022 in a speech on the occasion of the Independence Day of Ukraine.

It is interesting that Greg Hayes mentioned NASAMS systems after the host asked him why Raytheon does not supply Ukraine with more powerful MIM-104 Patriot air defense systems. According to the head of Raytheon, supplying these or other systems is the prerogative of the Pentagon and the White House, and Raytheon only fulfills government orders. But as Mr. Hayes noted, discussions on the provision of the MIM-104 Patriot air defense system do not stop. So, maybe someday we will see these systems in Ukraine.

Today, a statement of the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine appeared.

“There will be no coverage of the combat work of air defense of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This also applies to the process of receiving IRIS-T and NASAMS anti-aircraft missile systems in Ukraine and their combat work,” the statement says.

Former Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal said about the German IRIS-T air defense system: “The IRIS-T system is extremely effective. We, so to speak, protect our airspace thanks to this modern weaponry. It is definitely effective: 9 out of 10 missiles (destroyed – ed.). They actually save the lives of Ukrainians by hitting the target. This is the highest indicator of the weapons that we have seen and used.”

We hope that the results of the combat work of NASAMS, which the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine does not comment on, will not be worse. Thank you, USA and Raytheon.

Tactical and technical specifications
Range – 2.5 to 40 km
Target elevation – 30 m to 21 km
Reaction time – 10 s
Deployment/packing time – 15/3 min
Target speed – up to 1000 m/s
AIM-120 AMRAAM missile:
Weight – 152 kg
Combat unit – 22,7 kg
Length – 3,7 m
Diameter – 18 cm
Speed – 1361 m/s
G-force – 40 g