According to a statement published by the British Ministry of Defense on April 8, 2022, the UK will boost the support of Ukraine with new military equipment and weapons including NLAW and Javelin anti-tank missiles, loitering munitions, and Starstreak surface-to-air missiles.
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A British soldier of the Pathfinders Regiment fires an NLAW Main Battle Tank & Anti-tank Weapon. (Picture source British MoD)
Citing information published by the British Ministry of Defense, the United Kingdom will supply more than 800 NLAW anti-tank guided missiles, Javelin anti-tank missile weapons, loitering munitions, Starstreak surface-to-air missiles, and non-lethal military equipment including ballistic helmets, body armor, and night-vision goggles
This package amounts to more than £100 million and has been designed in consultation with the Armed Forces of Ukraine to ensure that it meets their military needs. This builds on the £350 million of military aid and around £400m of economic and humanitarian support that the UK has already provided.
As well as providing bilateral lethal aid, the UK Armed Forces – alongside Polish, US and international partners – have established an International Donor Coordination Centre in Stuttgart.
The UK has supported Ukraine since the 2014 invasion, training over 20,000 Ukrainian personnel, and earlier this year started providing lethal aid. This has included over 4,000 NLAWs and Javelin anti-tank systems, as well as committing to send Starstreak air defense systems and 6,000 new anti-tank and high explosive missiles. This is in addition to a range of non-lethal aid including body armour, helmets, boots, ration packs, rangefinders and communications equipment.
The NLAW is a man-portable anti-tank missile weapon system developed and manufactured by the Swedish company SAAB. The NLAW missile has a length of 1.02 m and has a weight of 12.5 kg. It is fitted with an armor-piercing warhead that can destroy heavily protected MBTs in a single shot. The effective range of the missile is from 20 to 600 meters or up to 400 meters for moving targets. It has a flight time of less than two seconds out to 400 meters and can be launched at 45°, up or down.
The Javelin missile system was developed and is built by a joint venture formed by Raytheon and Lockheed Martin. The FGM-148 Javelin is an American-made man-portable anti-tank guided missile and employable fire-and-forget medium-range missile system. The Javelin missile has a maximum range of 2,500 m using a fire-and-forget missile with lock-on before launch and automatic self-guidance. The missile has an effective firing range of 4,000 m for the lightweight LCU. It has a maximum firing of 4,750 m when the missile is fired from a vehicle weapon station.
The Starstreak is a short-range surface-to-air missile or MAN Portable Air Defense System (MANPADS) designed and manufactured by the Thales subdivision in the United Kingdom. The latest generation of the Starstreak missile is able to intercept aerial targets at a maximum range of 7 km and an altitude of up to 5 km.
