Thread by @GresselGustav

Finally, there are also positive surprises comming out of Berlin, and this one is huge.
@Bundeskanzler announced 🇺🇦 will get #IrisT-SLM air defence missile.
Why is this so impiortant?
faz.net/aktuell/politi…

🇺🇦 needs an air defence capability above 3000m altitude. Otherwise the Russian Aerospace force will just fly high and avoid MANPADS (Singer, Igla & Grom).
Flying high degrades accuracy, but RuAF give little about collateral damage anyway.

For the time being, 🇺🇦 uses Soviet era S-300 and Buk-M1 for this job. Remarkably well by the way.
But there are limited stocks of ammunition, and very few systems in the West. Ukraine will run dry on these systems over the summer.

We could observe 🇺🇦 air defences engaging fewer and fewer targets in recent weeks. Just enough to make the Russians aware that missuiles are still there. So they don't start to use UA airspace at will. But always with limited stocks in mind.

If this situation were to continue, Russia in authumn could start using bombers to just whipe out 🇺🇦 entire cities, bomb railways and defence industry at whish.
So UA needs a Western made air defence system where we control the supply chain to keep the threat to the RuAF up.

Now as we (West, #NATO) had enjoyed air superiority in recent wars, we have very few air defence systems available, or in production.
Furthermore, Ukrainians need mobile systems. Because 🇷🇺 strike positions once known, 🇺🇦 has to employ hit and run tactics.

#Patriot is a capable missile, but it is not a mobile system.
🇫🇷 #MICA-VL, 🇩🇪 IRIS-T & 🇳🇴 #NASAMS are the ones to choose from. I am very positively surprised that 🇩🇪 is the first to deliver.

Now again, this is a complex weapon system, and logistical preparation as well as training needs are high. Don't expect this to pop up in Donbas next week.
Because of that I have argued for months that a decision on supplying such a system needs to be made urgently.

Like here my assessment (in German) from early March. libmod.de/gressel-stand-…