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Israeli Ballistic Missiles For Ukraine: Which Ones And How Possible It Is

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The Lora SRBM (Israel Aerospace Industries) / Illustrative photo from open sources
The Lora SRBM (Israel Aerospace Industries) / Illustrative photo from open sources

If Israel does decide to supply missiles to Ukraine, most probably it will be LORA short-range missile systems which are even better than ATACMS

Media have started actively discuss the statement by Israeli National Defense Council Eyal Hulata about the possibility of supplying high-precision ballistic missiles to Ukraine as a mirror response in case Iran provides its Fateh-110 and Zolfaghar to russia. The statement was voiced on air of Israeli Hkan TV company, 9tv reports.

The official noted that potential candidates for missiles to go to Ukraine are precisely those of Israeli manufacture. It significantly narrows the list of options and makes the Lora missile the most likely variant. It has been previously supplied to Azerbaijan during the war in Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020.

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The Lora short-range ballistic missile system was developed by Israel Aerospace Industries, with the first tests completed in 2017. The missile belongs to the newest generation of long-range precision weapons.

Being relatively small size of 5 meters long and 0.61 m in diameter, the Lora nevertheless shows an operational range of 400 km, destroying the target with a 570-kg warhead. In addition to the conventional HE-Frag, there's an option to switch to an anti-bunker warhead.

The targeting is provided by combination of inertial and satellite navigation, supplemented by TV-navigation on the terminal stage which provides for minimum error in accuracy. The missile can maneuver during the flight to make interception more difficult, not to mention that it takes specialized air defense systems to destroy the Israeli missile.

The small dimensions and weight allow to install launchers on an ordinary truck. From an unprepared position, it takes 10 minutes from the moment vehicle stopped to launch the missile; and the missile itself stay kept in a transportable container for 10 years without maintenance.

Israeli Ballistic Missiles For Ukraine: Which Ones And How Possible It Is, Defense Express, war in Ukraine, Russian-Ukrainian war
Caption: The Lora SRBM system of Israeli army

In summary, the Lora SRBM may be considered an even better system than American ATACMS which has been denied Ukrainians for since the very first long-range artillery systems hit the frontlines. For comparison: the warhead weight 2.5 times as big, and the firing range is 100 km further, though the latter parameter may be reduced by the Israeli side due to export control restrictions. The accuracy of Lora is better as well thanks to the TV-navigation. Other factors indicating better performance are the general level of camouflage and the number of missiles per one launching vehicle.

Yet, we should keep in mind that any weapon supplies to Ukraine have been out of the table for Israel for a long time because of the neutral policy of the latter. Even re-export of Israeli weapons was banned. The first supplies of lethal equipment with Israeli components started just recently, according to various reports.

In these conditions, the actual transfer of Lora SRBM systems would be a very powerful step. Although reasonable, as opposed to blatant establishment of close ties between Moscow and Tehran, that rejects the very idea of Israel's existence and actively supports paramilitary organizations such as "Hezbolla".

Read more: How Many Weapons Ukraine Needs to Win: And Why There Is Already an Accurate Answer to This Question