Ukraine has received its first delivery of NASAMS and Aspide air defense systems, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov tweeted on Monday, November 7.
«These weapons will significantly strengthen #UAarmy and will make our skies safer. We will continue to shoot down the enemy targets attacking us.Thank you to our partners: Norway, Spain and the US.”
The NASAMS (Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System) is a Norwegian-American medium-range (up to 50 km) surface-to-air missile system capable of shooting down helicopters, drones, aircraft and cruise missiles.
Politico earlier reported that the Russian military failed to destroy a single HIMARS launcher since their deployment in Ukraine earlier this year. A spokesman for the US Department of Defense said that Ukraine had received a total of 20 units, with another 18 to be delivered as part of a new military aid package.
The Russian Defence Ministry has reported the destruction of the US-made HIMARS on multiple occasions. On September 3, Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov claimed that one HIMARS launcher was destroyed near Kostyantynivka in the Donetsk Region. On September 9, Russia allegedly destroyed another HIMARS unit near Donets in the Kharkiv Region, followed by another one on September 25 in the Mykolayiv Region. It is suspected that the Russian military's rockets could have hit wooden HIMARS decoys.