Ukraine Gets StarStreak— Here’s Why It’s So Lethal
The goal of closing Ukrainian skies to ongoing Russian threats is another step closer to reality.
In what is possibly the best-named weapon on the battlefield, a group of Ukrainian soldiers are currently training on the “StarStreak” surface-to-air missile in the UK.
In a recent Facebook post, Ukraine’s General Staff showed images of Ukrainian soldiers getting some range time in with the weapon.
Actually, Ukraine has had the StarStreak in limited numbers since the start of the war. British troops were deployed to a secret location in Eastern Europe to train the Ukrainian armed forces in their use as far back as March 2022.
So, StarStreak isn’t new to the Ukrainian battlefield, but, notably, Ukraine has recently received more, along with StarStreak’s unique lethality.
In my opinion, StarStreak is the single, best man-portable air defense (MANPAD) missile available in the West in 2024.
So, what makes it so deadly?
StarStreak is a short-range, man-portable, air-defense system manufactured by Thales in the UK. It is optimized to provide defense against air threats including fixed-wing ground attack aircraft and late unmasking attack helicopters.