Ukraine’s Armed Forces to keep shooting down Shahed drones with everything they have, even if it is expensive
The Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine consider inappropriate accusations that Ukrainian defenders shoot down Iranian-made Russian drones with much more expensive missiles from Western air defence systems, because it is about saving people's lives and the preservation of vital infrastructure.
Source: Yurii Ihnat, Spokesperson for Air Force of Ukraine, on air of the national joint 24/7 newscast
Quote: "If there is a threat to life, you will probably spend everything to save your life. It is not correct to compare here. I have seen it in the Western press a time or two. It sometimes seems to me that some newspapers have a column for Russian propagandists to express their opinion there. Both in the US and in Europe, there are mass media that sometimes publish things that contain contradictions.
It is clear that the rockets in use today, and NASAMS, IRIS-T, are expensive rockets. [As for] Patriot [US-made missile system, which is expected to be delivered to Ukraine – ed.] – in general, one rocket costs up to [US$]4 million.
Will we use them, or will we raise fighter aircraft to shoot down Shaheds? It is extremely expensive. We will."
Details: This is how the spokesman for the Air Force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces reacted, in particular, to the New York Times article about Ukraine shooting down cheap drones with expensive missiles.
Ihnat noted that Israel also shoots down cheap rockets and projectiles fired at it with much more expensive anti-aircraft fire.
For Ukraine, it is about saving lives, about the preservation of critical infrastructure and facilities that can be hit by a kamikaze drone, he emphasised.
Quote: "Shahed carries up to 40 kilograms of explosives. If it gets into a critical infrastructure facility, into the very heart [of it], a fire occurs, people die. Let's calculate how much damage a drone can cause and how much an anti-aircraft missile costs, and then [how much missiles for Western air defence system cost – ed.]. This is a completely incorrect comparison."
Background:
- On 1 January, Yurii Ihnat said that on New Year's Eve, the Ukrainian military "barely had time to reload the NASAMS", "[they] fired from it as if it was artillery."
- Later, The New York Times wrote that due to the Russian night attacks, the Ukrainians began to launch expensive NASAMS missiles at drones, while earlier they used anti-aircraft guns and small arms to shoot down certain kinds of drones.
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