Latvia has decided to transfer to Ukraine all the Stinger man-portable air defense systems that it has at its disposal. According to RBC, this was announced by the Minister of Defense of the country Inara Murniece at a meeting of the contact group on Ukraine at the Ramstein base in Germany.
“Latvia responded to the request of Ukraine <…>. We will do our best to deliver them as soon as possible,” Murniece said. According to her, all Stingers that Riga will transfer to Kyiv must ensure “not only the freedom of Ukraine, but also the security of Latvia.”
The minister did not specify the number of complexes in question. She also said that Latvia would not be left without portable air defense systems: instead of Stinger, Riga would receive more modern RBS systems.
According to Murniece, the country will expand the training program for the Ukrainian military: it expects that by the end of the year almost 3,000 servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be trained in Latvia.
MANPADS systems are supplied to Ukraine by the United States, Germany and other countries. Stinger, adopted by the United States Army in 1981, is considered the most common in the world. The zone of its defeat is from 500 to 4750 m in range and 3500 m in height. The set in combat position weighs 15.7 kg, the launch weight of the rocket is 10.1 kg, the flight speed is 640 m / s.
Source: Rosbalt
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