On the night of January 1, the Ukrainian military demonstrated the high efficiency of the NASAMS air missile system in destroying Russian (Iranian) drones. The Ukrainian military destroyed all 45 kamikaze drones. They perfectly mastered NASAMS and deftly destroyed Iranian kamikaze drones. Ukrainian air defense systems increased their effectiveness from 50 % at the beginning of the full-scale Russian aggression to 80 % in December.
Today, in fact, no country in the world has such experience in the use of SAMs as Ukraine, since the Ukrainian military reloaded the NASAMS complex during combat. On the example with NASAMS, the Ukrainian military demonstrated how skillfully and effectively in combat conditions they can use military equipment of foreign production, while training in just a few weeks. At the same time, Ukraine will continue to need more NASAMS systems.
Ukraine uses a combination of air defense systems donated by its Western partners, Soviet-era systems and modified mobile machine guns to combat the Russian missile threat.
First of all, Russia’s inability to gain air superiority over Ukraine became the main factor that determined the course of the invasion.
At the same time, Ukraine continues to suffer constant missile and rocket-bomb attacks, which deplete air defense ammunition and cause electricity and water blackouts throughout the country. Ukraine’s Western partners should prioritize assistance such as NASAMS, as well as portable anti-aircraft missile complexes and modern anti-aircraft guns to protect Ukrainian cities from missile terror.
In addition, the creation of a stable air defense of Ukraine will also require at least a few Western fighters capable of fighting on an equal footing with Russian ones.