Video shows British-made fighter missiles, modified in 3 months to launch from the ground, scoring Russian drone kills

Ukraine’s air force released footage on Wednesday of UK-made Raven air defenses striking Russian air targets in at least five instances.

The video features a Ukrainian air defense crew discussing their experiences with the system, and their interviews are interspersed with clips of the missile soaring into the sky to destroy Russian drones.

The Raven fires what was originally the British Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missile, also known as the AIM-132, which is mainly equipped on the Royal Air Force’s Typhoon and F-35 Lightning II fighter aircraft.

However, the UK’s defense ministry said in 2022 that it had transformed the missile into a version for Ukraine that could fire from a British 6×6 HMT600 Supacat transport vehicle. At the time, it was touted as a key way for Ukraine to defend itself from Russian missile strikes.

The Asraam is particularly useful because it’s infrared-guided and locks onto its target once launched, even in poor weather. Ground crews can fire it and relocate quickly, and they don’t need to maintain a line of sight with their target.

UK defense officials said in 2023 that their teams took roughly four months to make the missile ground-launched and to train Ukrainian crews to use the Raven.

However, in an official video published in May, Col. Olly Todd of the UK’s task force supporting Ukraine said the Raven “went from concept to delivery” within three months.

“They’ve conducted over 400 engagements, which understand with a success rate of over 70%,” Todd said.

The Supacats are fitted with missile mounts taken from decommissioned UK jets, such as the BAE Hawk, SEPECAT Jaguar, and Panavia Tornado. These are classes of fighter aircraft that were retired from combat over the last two decades.

Crews inside use a gamepad controller to identify targets on a screen and activate the missile’s infrared lock-on system.

With drones saturating the skies over Ukraine, Raven crews said in the Wednesday video that they’ve largely been targeting uncrewed systems, plastering their Supacat with stickers of Russian Orlan, Shahed, and Zala drones to mark every kill they scored.

The Raven’s launch controls feature four switches that prepare each mounted missile and a large red button for firing.

A Ukrainian Raven operator speaking to the camera said crews are generally trained so all members, including the driver and commander, can replace each other if needed.

According to a June statement by the UK’s defense ministry, Ukraine has been supplied with eight Raven systems and is due to receive another five.

The UK says that the Asraam missiles supplied to Ukraine were sitting in its inventory but were due to expire, meaning they’d have soon been marked for disposal if not sent to Kyiv.

Ukraine deploys other air defense systems similar to the Raven because they combine a hybrid mix of munitions and launchers originally built for separate systems.

Known colloquially as “FrankenSAMs,” they include modified Soviet-era Buk M1s that can fire the American RIM-7 Sea Sparrow missile, as well as Soviet radars that pair with the AIM-9M Sidewinder air-to-air missile.

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