Sidewinder missiles for Ukraine — first details

Pistorius drew attention to the fact that his country has significantly strengthened Ukraine's air defense, in particular by transferring two Patriot systems to it, as well as 9 IRIS-T missile defense systems.

Next year, we will provide a large number of Sidewinder missiles from our stockpile to strengthen Ukraine's air defenses.

Boris Pistorius

German Minister of Defense

What is important to understand is that we are talking about air-to-air missiles — they can be used from helicopters or fighter jets against Russian aircraft and drones.

Ukraine already has experience using them on the battlefield, as it previously received Sidewinder from the United States.

It is worth noting that Ukrainian specialists converted these missiles intended for F-16 fighters into surface-to-air missiles for the needs of Ukrainian air defense.