In further packages of military aid, Ukraine expects F-16 aircraft and missiles with a range of 300-500 kilometers.
What weapons helped Ukraine
AFU Joint Forces (AFU JF) Commander, Lieutenant General Serhiy Naev, on the occasion of the AFU JF's fourth anniversary, spoke about the weapons that played a decisive role on the battlefield and about Ukraine's expectations.
Ukraine is expecting F-16 aircraft and missiles with a range of 300-500 kilometers in further packages of military aid, Naiev said.
He noted that in the first month of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, anti-tank missile complexes NLAW, JAVELIN and MANPADS like STINGER, STARSTREAK and PIORUN played an important role.
Ukrainian troops from ambushes destroyed convoys of Russian armoured vehicles, destroyed aeroplanes, attack helicopters, and enemy landing forces in the air.
Western howitzers M777A1, FH70 and self-propelled howitzers CAEZAR, AHS Krab, PzН-2000, M109, in combination with counter-battery systems and reconnaissance UAVs, allowed the Defense Forces of Ukraine to nullify the multiple superiority of the enemy in artillery and nullify the Russian tactics of "firewall".
Naiev mentions that with the arrival of the M142 HIMARS in the summer of 2022 and later the M270 MLRS, the Russians moved field depots and control points to a distance of more than 100 kilometres from the forward edge.
This led to the transition to forced defense (and eventually to a "good will gesture" from the right bank of the Dnipro and evacuation from Kherson).
During the missile terror in the winter of 2022-2023, the NASAMS, IRIS-T and GEPARD SPAAG played a decisive role, increasing the effectiveness of air defence to 75-80%.
In April 2023, the PATRIOT air defence system arrived in Ukraine, so Ukrainians received protection from the enemy's Iskander and Kinjal ballistic missiles.
Ukrainian weapons development
Two more samples of weapons, which, according to Naiev, will be included in military art textbooks, are Ukrainian developments:
Naval combat drones SEABABY and some others displaced the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation from the northwestern part of the Black Sea.
FPV drones are cheaper and more effective means of defeating enemy equipment and personnel than anti-tank missile systems and artillery ammunition.
