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Washington's new arms for Ukraine Washington, March 16 (AFP) Mar 16, 2022 The United States said Wednesday that Ukraine would be given long-range missile defense and Switchblade armed drones, enabling Kyiv's forces to better defend against Russian aircraft and armor from a distance. The new arms and equipment that President Joe Biden announced for Ukraine includes: - S-300 long-range missile defense - Ukraine has had the ability to shoot down Russian aircraft and cruise missiles at relatively close quarters. Washington is arranging for it to acquire systems that can strike attacking aircraft much further away. According to a military source, the systems are the Soviet/Russian-made S-300, which like the US-made Patriot system, is a fully automated, ground-based radar-and-missile launcher unit that can detect, track and fire at multiple incoming aerial threats at long distances. Ukrainians already know how to operate the S-300, and the United States and a number of NATO countries possess the systems or components of them to supply Ukraine.
Dubbed "kamikaze drones," Switchblades can extend the range of attack on Russian vehicles and units to beyond the sight of the user. That gives them an advantage over the guided heat-seeking missiles that Ukrainians have used against Russian tanks.
Among those, the US-made Javelin, with dual charges designed to defeat Russian tanks' anti-missile defenses, has become legendary in its effectiveness. A popular Ukrainian song extols it and there is now even a viral depiction of "Saint Javelin," an Eastern iconography-style image of a woman cradling the weapon. Biden said Washington will send 2,000 more javelin missiles to Ukraine.
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