UK's Starstreak Missiles Down Russian Choppers In Ukraine

Military experts believe footage of a Russian helicopter being blown out of the sky by a missile in Ukraine shows the British-made weapons system Starstreak in action, Luke Hurst reported for Euronews.

Photo Insert: Starstreak is a form of man-portable air-defense system (MANPADS).

In March, the UK government announced it may send Starstreak, a form of man-portable air-defense system (MANPADS), to Ukraine to help the country defend itself against the Russian invasion.

UK defense minister Ben Wallace insisted the technology falls within the definition of defensive weapons, as he confirmed on March 16 to the BBC that the UK was sending the weapon to Ukraine.

A video circulating on social media shows a helicopter being hit by a missile, reportedly in the Luhansk region, in the east of Ukraine. The Times newspaper reported a Ministry of Defense source "believed that the video showed Startstreak in action over Ukraine," and that the system had been used in the country for almost a week.

The paper added that senior defense industry sources also believe Starstreak to have been the weapon used in the incident. The UK was already supplying Ukrainian forces with anti-tank missiles as of late January, ahead of an anticipated invasion by Russia.

Starstreak is a highly portable, short-range air-defense system, manufactured in the UK, which cannot be jammed. The manufacturer, Thales, says the weapon can be moved by a person (in the MANPAD role) or mounted onto a vehicle, making it highly flexible.

Thales says the missile is made up of three tungsten darts, which reach speeds in excess of Mach 3 (more than 3,700 km per hour). This makes STARStreak the fastest short-range surface-to-air missile in the world.

The rocket fired from the Stinger of the US can reach a maximum speed of Mach 2.54 (3,136 km per hour), which is slightly slower than the Starstreak. Its range of up to 4.8 km is also shorter than the Starstreak, which Thales says can hit targets more than 7 km away.

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