For the first time, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have shot down a Shahed kamikaze drone using a "hybrid" air defense system made under the FrankenSAM project. This happened on the night of January 17.
According to Interfax-Ukraine, the news was reported by Oleksandr Kamyshin, Minister for Strategic Industries of Ukraine.
"The projects [production of hybrid air defense systems], which we are implementing with the United States, we call FrankenSAM. And I'm pleased to report that one of these systems was successfully used for the first time tonight. We shot down a Shahed at a distance of nine kilometers from a height of 400 meters. And this is the first use of this particular system. In FrankenSAM's 'portfolio,' we have about five projects. And I'm glad that we've already got these systems on the battlefield, protecting our skies, protecting our people, and grateful to our American partners for making this happen," Kamyshin said during a discussion at the Ukrainian House in Davos.
Kamyshin emphasized that this was the fastest way to build Ukrainian air defenses. "We take old Soviet legacy systems and adapt Western missiles to those systems, or we take Western launchers and missiles and integrate them into old Soviet legacy systems. We have several similar projects," the minister explained.
What FrankenSAM is and where it works
As we reported earlier, FrankenSAM is a moniker for Ukrainian Soviet-era anti-aircraft equipment retrofitted with advanced Western-made ammunition using U.S. defense technology.
The first few systems produced under this project have already been delivered to the frontline. This winter, FrankenSAM systems are also being used to protect critical infrastructure facilities in cities.
The project portfolio includes five projects. These are Soviet-made air defense systems that already use medium- and long-range Western missiles. Several state-owned and private companies are working on the project.
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