Norway announced Thursday that it will transfer about 160 Hellfire missiles, launchers and guidance units to Ukraine, according to a government press release in Oslo. The Ukrainian army will also receive night vision devices from the reserves of the Armed Forces.
The donation was announced by Norwegian Defense Minister Bjorn Arild Gram at a meeting of defense ministers from about 40 countries in Germany on Thursday, where the United States announced approval of an additional arms package to Ukraine worth 675 million euros.
At the Ramstein military base in Germany, representatives of more than 40 countries of the world and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg discussed the challenges of arms supplies, which are critically important for Ukraine.
According to Norwegian publication TU, the missiles were originally purchased for the Coast Guard Command, making this the eighth donation the Oslo government has made to Ukraine.
“These are the weapons that Ukraine asked for and which will be useful in the fight against the invading Russian forces. The missile is easy to control and can be used against both land and sea targets,” said Defense Minister Björn Arild Gram.
Hellfire missiles were originally designed for use on helicopters against tanks and other armored targets, but have since been produced in several versions.
Hellfire missiles, also known as AGM-114, are anti-tank guided missiles of the “air-to-ground” class, which can be guided by a laser beam or other systems, Ukrainian publication iPress notes.
Laser-guided Hellfire missiles (the L version has a radar detector) have a range of up to 8 kilometers.
The ground-based Hellfire missile launcher can be transported on a vehicle or by hand, but it can also be mounted on mobile platforms, reports bulgarianmilitary.com.
The Hellfire system includes:
- remote-controlled launcher and the Hellfire missile itself, equipped with a 9-kilogram warhead
- optical-electronic observation and guidance station,
- control panel.
Hellfire missiles, recently successfully used by the Americans
The Norwegian Armed Forces tested and checked the condition of the missiles before sending them from Norway to Ukraine.
The Ministry of Defense of Norway said that the Ukrainian military was trained to use Hellfire missiles.
The Hellfire system is nearing the end of its useful life, and Norway’s armed forces plan to decommission it.
Norway also handed over night vision devices to Ukraine.
In early August, the most wanted terrorist in the world, the leader of al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, was killed by a US special operation with the help of a drone, using two Hellfire missiles and without any US military presence on the ground, a US official clarified, indicating, in his opinion , about the United States’ ability to “identify and locate even the world’s most wanted terrorists and take action to eliminate them.”
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Source: Hot News RU
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