In a bid to build up short-end capabilities, Ukraine is pressing Australia to supply four-wheel-drive Hawkei vehicles that can be mounted with air defences and used in the same way as Avengers, Sak said. The Avenger is effective near the battefield, but there are too few of the systems to go around, he added. There is greater mobility at the short end to counter targets and it is also much cheaper than firing expensive salvos of Patriot missiles, Sak said. Patriots have a 3 km minimum range and a maximum of 80 km. U.S.-made Patriot systems are at the long-range end. The Avenger, like hand-held Stinger missiles, are at the short-range end of the three layers. "One of our top priorities, when it comes to transforming our armed forces and building up our air defence capability is creating a three-layered air defence system," said Sak. The Avenger is a rotating turret with eight missiles mounted on the back of a Humvee, which makes it highly mobile. Washington has supplied at least 12 Avenger systems to Ukraine. Who's going to run out first? The Russians with their missiles or the ones we get from our allies?" he said. "Russia's tactic is using cheap drones in order to exhaust our air defences. Though it has dropped out of headlines as Kyiv has pressed for F-16 fighter jets from the West, Ukraine is still regularly asking for - and receiving - air defence missiles to replenish stocks, said Yuriy Sak, adviser to Ukraine's defence minister. The day before 11 were killed in a strike on President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's hometown. Last Wednesday, three civilians were killed in a missile attack in Odesa. On Friday, Ukraine said it shot down all six cruise missiles and six hypersonic Kinzhal missiles fired at targets in and around the capital.īut strikes still regularly slip past defences. They join an unfolding air battle that has played out over several weeks during which Ukraine has reported an extraordinary rate of downed drones and missiles, including hypersonic ones. They are yet to shoot down any missiles or drones. He leads a six-man team that took up positions two weeks ago after being trained by U.S. "When they arrive in one night, both (drones) and cruise missiles fly by, that's the most difficult." "The most difficult is an attack by various types of aerial targets," said the Avenger unit's commander who goes by the call sign "Architect", his pre-war profession. The strikes, which regularly kill civilians, look at least in part aimed at depleting air defence stocks so that fewer systems can be used to protect troops trying to advance under Russian air superiority, Kyiv officials say. Russia has unleashed regular long-distance missile and drone attacks since October, but it seriously increased strikes in May as Ukraine prepared for a counteroffensive this month. The short-range unit is an important part of a three-layered air defence network that Ukraine is trying to develop with a range of highly sophisticated Western systems to thwart Russian air attacks. NEAR KYIV, Ukraine, June 20 (Reuters) - At a glance on a clear summer's afternoon, the U.S.-made Avenger air defence system is barely visible in the shadow of trees at the end of a dirt track outside Kyiv.
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