Minister of Strategic Industry of Ukraine Herman Smetanin reported on his social media that a memorandum of cooperation had been signed between Belgian company THALES and an unnamed Ukrainian defense company. This memorandum provides for the organization of joint production of a missile to counter unmanned aerial vehicles.
"We also expect that this cooperation will expand in the future to the transfer of technologies and components for these missiles. This cooperation will strengthen the Ukrainian defense industry and the protection of critical infrastructure from enemy drones," Smetanin wrote. No other details about the future cooperation have been disclosed yet.
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Although the Minister of Strategic Industry of Ukraine has not disclosed the specific type of anti-drone missile mentioned in the memorandum, if it involves THALES Belgium, it is likely the FZ275 LGR guided missile, which is already in service with the Defense Forces of Ukraine.
This is a 70-mm missile with semi-active laser guidance system. It can be called an analog of APKWS rocket by BAE Systems, but with a number of differences. In the FZ275 LGR, the guidance system is located in the head of the missile, while the warhead is located in the middle.
In any case, given the positive experience of the Defense Forces of Ukraine using the APKWS rocket to destroy drones and strike ground targets, the joint production of a missile with a similar purpose, like the FZ275 LGR, is a very positive step.
Speaking of the FZ275 LGR missile, it is also worth mentioning that in July of this year, it was announced that Thales is increasing production of these missiles fivefold, with plans to expand to 5,000 units. The goal is to reach such indicators next year.
The FZ275 LGR missile characteristics:
- range - up to 7 km;
- accuracy - deviation within 1 meter over a distance of 6 kilometers;
- total weight - 12.5 kg;
- warhead - 4.1 kg.
Earlier, Defense Express reported on the number of mortar shells produced by Ukraine per year and explained why production had reached its limit.
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