Allies accelerate delivery of air-defence assets to Ukraine for an integrated air-defence system

The Ukraine Defense Contact Group on 12 October agreed to accelerate the delivery of air-defence assets to Ukraine for an integrated air-defence system. (NATO)

Allies agreed on 12 October to transfer various air-defence assets to Ukraine and help Kyiv knit them together into an integrated layered defence capability against Russian missiles and aircraft. While senior allied military officials said the assets would be transferred as quickly as possible, they declined to say how long it would take to achieve that capability.

“These systems will be provided as fast as we can get them there,” US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told reporters after a meeting of the US-led Ukraine Defense Contact Group at NATO headquarters in Brussels on 12 October preceding a 12–13 October allied defence ministerial.

Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, the United States, and others announced after the group's meeting that they would provide air-defence systems, components, or support services to Ukraine. Germany has already sent its advanced IRIS-T SLM (Surface Launched Medium Range) air-defence system to Ukraine, while the Netherlands and the UK are providing air-defence missiles, including Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAMs) to be used with US National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMSs). France will transfer counter-unmanned aerial system capabilities to Kyiv, with Canada providing unmanned aerial vehicle cameras and satellite communications.

Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley said the integration objective will focus on producing a multilayered system capable of countering low-, medium-, and high-altitude threats, and will also integrate Ukraine's legacy Soviet Union-era systems.