American VAMPIRE mobile missile systems for APKWS guided projectiles appear to be already in Ukraine and working on Russian drones.
AFU used high-precision air defence laser projectiles against Russian drones for the first time
Analysts concluded after, on Sunday, February 11, the Naval Forces of Ukraine published a video showing the destruction of enemy kamikaze drones of the "Shahed-131/136" type. They claim that the Armed Forces used the VAMPIRE system with APKWS missiles and laser guidance for this.
Ukrainian anti-aircraft gunners use an unknown optical-electronic station to take "Shahed" in their sights. After that, the Russian kamikaze drone is hit by a missile, and the drone crashes and falls.
What is known about the Vampire complex
Vampire is an American anti-aircraft missile system designed to combat UAVs. It is portable. It can be mounted on most SUVs to launch inexpensive APKWS missiles or other laser-guided munitions.
The USA was supposed to hand over 14 such systems to Ukraine at the end of 2023.
In November 2022, during tests, this APKWS-guided projectile complex proved surprisingly effective in destroying "2nd class" UAVs, that is, drones with a flight mass of up to 25 kilograms and a flight speed of up to 200 km/h. Analysts assume the Vampire system under APKWS was initially designed to destroy this class of drones.
