NATO and European Union countries are supplying arms to Ukraine to help them defend themselves against the Russian army. Here are six of the weapons the Ukrainian military has at its disposal:
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The United States has deployed two new Patriot anti-aircraft batteries to Poland, in line with its commitment to defend the territory of NATO countries, a senior Pentagon official said on Wednesday.
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An anti-aircraft battery, also called a surface-to-air missile battery, is a defense system made up of surface-to-air missiles, mounted in a battery, and which includes detection, acquisition and fire control systems. The first batteries appeared during the Cold War during the Second World War.
These Soviet air supremacy fighter aircraft were developed in the 1970s. Over 1100 examples were built. It is the fifth most used fighter aircraft in the world in 2020, according to the World Air Forces 2021 report. The Mig-29 has seen many fights, including the Gulf War in 1991, the Kosovo War and the Dombass war in Ukraine in 2014.
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Turkish-made, the Bayraktar TB2 drone can fly for 27 hours at more than 220 km/h. It is capable of carrying light laser-guided missiles and hitting fixed or moving targets at a distance of ten kilometers. Kyiv has about twenty of these devices.
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Canada, like several European countries, has sent anti-tank weapons to Ukraine. Whether light M-72s, next-generation light M-72s, light Panzerfaust 3s, medium-range FGM-48s, or Carl Gustav recoilless rifles, these weapons allow fighters to tackle armored vehicles. They appeared during the First World War.
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Stinger missiles are a shoulder-mounted air defense system capable of hitting planes, helicopters and drones at a distance of almost five kilometers using infrared and ultraviolet technologies.
Christopher O’Quin, US Marine Corps
NATO and European Union countries send very little field artillery, particularly because of their weight. However, Italy sent 81 or 120 millimeter caliber war mortars, while Estonia sent 122 millimeter Howitzer D-30 howitzers. These howitzers entered service in the Union of Soviet Republics in the 1960s.
AFP