Norway reveals Mistral shipment to Ukraine
Norway has donated about 100 Mistral missiles and an undisclosed number of launchers to Ukraine. (Photo: Norwegian MoD)
Ukrainian short-range air defence capabilities are bolstered by Mistral SAM missiles donated by Norway.
The Norwegian government has donated Mistral SAM missiles and an undisclosed number of launchers to further enhance Ukrainian short-range air defence capabilities.
'The weapons have already been shipped to Ukraine,' the government noted in a 20 April statement.
‘The conflict could draw out in time, and Ukraine is dependent on international support to withstand Russian aggression. The Norwegian government has therefore decided to donate Mistral air defence [systems] to Ukraine,’ Norwegian Minister of Defence Bjørn Arild Gram announced in a statement.
Norway sent about 100 Mistral systems (made in France by MBDA) to Ukraine. The missile features an HE fragmentation warhead with high-density tungsten balls, a Snecma solid-propellant rocket motor, an eject motor and a passive IR system. It can travel at Mach 2.6.
Mistral currently equips Royal Norwegian Navy vessels such as Skjold-class missile craft but the missile is ‘slated to be phased out within few years’, the Norwegian government noted in its statement, adding that Norwegian military readiness ‘will not be significantly reduced by providing the system to Ukraine’.
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