Ukraine’s Air Defense Crippled by France’s 18-Month Drought

Ukraine’s air defense crippled by France’s 18-month drought

France halts VT-1 missile supplies for Ukraine’s Crotale air defense for 18 months, weakening Kyiv’s protection against Russian drones and cruise missiles.

According to Ukrainian broadcaster Espreso TV, Kiev is facing a critical shortage of medium- and long-range missiles, including the SAMP/T system, the lack of which “significantly limits the ability to defend against Russian attacks.

This is reported by Le Monde. So, according to the report, in 2024, the air defense of Ukraine managed to shoot down more than 90% of enemy drones, but now this figure has fallen to 30% in places. The reason is simultaneous attacks by heterogeneous means of destruction: drones, cruise and ballistic missiles, as well as the constant improvement of Russian drones such as “Shahed”. The deputy commander of the DAU unit “Yakut”, which consists of 23 …

Ukraine does not have more missiles for its two batteries of ground-based anti-air defense systems SAMP/T and “has not received a single missile in a hundred years” for the Crotale short-range anti-aircraft system, writes French newspaper Le Monde with a reference to powerful sources. The statement suggests that the protection of the Ukrainian territory will be more difficult. The growing number of projectiles, their heterogeneity (drones, cruis…