British-made Starstreak missile 'shoots down Russian helicopter'

Thank you my friend LTC (Join to see) for posting the perspective from dailymail.co.uk authors Chris Matthews and Katie Weston "British-made Starstreak missile 'shoots down Russian helicopter in its first use in Ukraine' as Zelensky says the 'occupiers ARE withdrawing' from West - but Kyiv is braced for new assault in East
Kudos to the British government for standing up for Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression. It is wonderful news to me that my family's heritage nation is providing 6,000 Starstreak missile systems to Ukraine as well as light anti-tank weapons known as NLAWs and providing body armour, helmets and combat boots.

Images
1. Russian Mi-28N helicopter in the Luhansk region a moment before it was shot down by a British-made Starstreak missile
2. British-made laser-guided Starstreak missile anti-aircraft shot down a Russian Mi-28N helicopter in the Luhansk region,
3. British-made Starstreak missile can be shot from a shoulder or stand and has a range of more than four miles
4. The Starstreak system is a shoulder-mounted missile that travels at more than three times the speed of sound to take down low-flying enemy aircraft
5. A Ukrainian soldier poses for photos next to a destroyed Russian helicopter bearing the letter 'Z', the Russian invasion symbol, in the Mala Rohan village which has been recaptured by the Ukrainian army near Kharki

Russian Mi-28 Helicopter SHOT BY Ukraine's Starstreak
A Russian helicopter is said to have been shot down by a British-made Starstreak missile in the weapon's first use in Ukraine, as Kyiv claims Russia has lost roughly 18,000 troops since the invasion began.
https://rumble.com/vzfqop-russian-mi-28-helicopter-shot-by-ukraines-starstreak.html


Background from {[dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10678173/British-portable-Starstreak-missile-shoots-Russian-helicopter-Ukraine.html]}
A British-made anti-aircraft missile shot down a Russian Mi-28N helicopter in the Luhansk region, said experts. Footage showed the aircraft being cut in two as its tail was struck by the portable missile, made in Belfast. The Starstreak system is a laser-guided missile that travels at more than three times the speed of sound. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly insisted the UK will provide further defensive support to Ukraine.
A British-made Starstreak missile is understood to have shot down a Russian helicopter in the weapon's first use in Ukraine - as the country's president Volodymyr Zelensky says the 'occupiers are withdrawing' from the West.

The Starstreak system is a laser-guided missile that travels at more than three times the speed of sound to take down low-flying enemy jets and attack helicopters.

Britain is supplying and training Ukrainian troops in the use of the high-velocity anti-air missiles as well as providing body armour, helmets and combat boots.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly insisted the UK will provide further defensive support to Ukraine, including a new package of 6,000 more missiles.
And footage now shows a Russian Mi-28N helicopter being shot out of the sky in the Luhansk region and cut in two as its tail is struck by the portable missile.
The video released on Friday shows the Starstreak missile in action during its first week of use in the war, a source at the Ministry of Defence (MoD) told The Times.
Meanwhile, Zelensky alleged Russian troops were retreating from Ukraine's northern region. He said: 'The occupiers are withdrawing forces in the north of our country. The withdrawal is slow but noticeable.'
The United States will also work with allies to transfer Soviet-made tanks to Ukraine to bolster its defenses in the Donbas region, the New York Times reported on Friday, citing a US official.
The transfers, requested by Zelensky, would begin soon, the unnamed official said. The official declined to tell the paper how many tanks would be sent or from which countries they would come.
And UK defence sources revealed last night that Kremlin forces have run out of vital weapons and cannot now replenish their stocks.
The MoD also gave a further update saying a fire has destroyed several oil tanks at a depot in the Russian city of Belgorod, which is close to the Ukrainian border.
Zelensky has declined to comment on whether he ordered an attack on the Russian fuel depot. In an interview with FOX News, he said he does not discuss any orders he issues as commander in chief.
On Thursday, explosions were reported at an ammunition depot in the surrounding area of the city.
The department added: 'The probable loss of fuel and ammunition supplies from these depots will likely add additional short-term strain to Russia's already stretched logistic chains.
'Supplies to Russian forces encircling Kharkiv (60km from Belgorod) may be particularly affected.'
The comments came as the president's forces drove Russia out of dozens of towns around Kyiv and the north in one of the most extraordinary days since the start of the invasion.

What are Starstreak missiles?
The Starstreak high-velocity surface-to-air missile is designed to defend against conventional air threats like fixed wing fighter planes and helicopters.
It is made in Belfast by the company Thales Air Defence.
The missile has a range of more than 7km and carries a three dart payload.
The Starstreak system is a shoulder-mounted missile that travels at more than three times the speed of sound to take down low-flying enemy aircraft
It uses a laser beam guidance system which the manufacturer says is 'immune to all known countermeasures'.
The weapon can be launched from lightweight land, sea or air platforms and can be unleashed as soon as a target is detected - there is no wait for 'lock on'.
It accelerates to a speed of more than Mach 3 - approximately 2,300mph - in a 'fraction of a second'.
Once hitting full speed it releases its three 'hittiles' which are then guided to the target.
It is a man-portable air-defence system - known by the MANPADS acronym.
The missiles are similar to the US-made Stinger which is already being used by Ukrainian forces.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace previously said the Starstreak system – a shoulder-mounted missile that travels at more than three times the speed of sound to take down low-flying enemy jets – was ready to be used imminently.
Mr Wallace said the first Ukrainian troops had been trained and were now deployed with Starstreak, adding that the UK was 'doing more than pretty much anyone else' to help the war-torn country.
'One of the biggest challenges is that the more you go up in sophistication of weapons systems, the more training you require to use them, which is why the real focus of effort has to be helping the Ukrainians either refurbish or locate Russian or Soviet equipment that is already in their inventory,' he told the Mail on Sunday.
'Just providing British tanks wouldn't really work.'
The weapon seen in the video shared on Friday is by short-range missiles company Thales. It can be shot from a shoulder or stand and has a range of more than four miles.
The missile detaches into three darts mid-air, which are guided to the target by a laser operator on the ground.
The use of lasers rather than being attracted to infrared energy means flares cannot counteract the three-pronged missile.
Britain has already sent thousands of anti-tank weapons to Ukraine, although Nato nations have continued to rebuff pleas from Zelensky for tanks and fighter aircraft.
Mr Wallace told Sky News earlier this week: 'There will be more lethal aid going into Ukraine as a result of today.
'Ukraine needs longer-range artillery and that's because of what the Russian army has been doing, which is now digging in and starting to pound these cities with artillery.
'The best counter to that is other long-range artillery, so [Ukraine will] be looking for and getting more long-range artillery, ammunition predominantly.
'They are also looking for armoured vehicles of some types — not tanks necessarily, but certainly protective vehicles, and more anti-air [weapons]. All of this will be forthcoming as a result of this conference.'
More than 30 settlements have been reclaimed with Vladimir Putin's forces retreating up to 25 miles in places.
But officials urged caution, saying the movement is part of Russia's 'tactics' to encircle Ukrainian troops in Donbas and split the country in two.
Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said: 'Russian units are not withdrawing but repositioning.'
Among the towns back under Ukrainian control last night were Hostomel, where Moscow had hoped to gain the airport to ease taking control of Kyiv, Chernihiv in the north, and Chernobyl, where Putin's forces were heading across the border to Belarus.


Since the conflict began in late February, Russia has lost an estimated 143 planes, 131 helicopters, 625 tanks and 316 artillery pieces.

Russia has also fired at least 1,100 missiles, raising questions about how long it can maintain such an expenditure rate.
Early on Saturday, Zelensky warned his people that retreating Russian forces were creating 'a complete disaster' outside the capital as they leave mines across 'the whole territory,' including around homes and corpses.
He issued the warning as the humanitarian crisis in the encircled city of Mariupol deepened, with Russian forces blocking evacuation operations for the second day in a row. Meanwhile, the Kremlin accused the Ukrainians of launching a helicopter attack on a fuel depot on Russian soil.

Ukraine denied responsibility for the fiery blast, but if Moscow's claim is confirmed, it would be the war's first known attack in which Ukrainian aircraft penetrated Russian airspace.
'Certainly, this is not something that can be perceived as creating comfortable conditions for the continuation of the talks,' Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, five weeks after Moscow began sending upwards of 150,000 of its own troops across Ukraine's border.
Russia continued withdrawing some of its ground forces from areas around Kyiv after saying earlier this week it would reduce military activity near the Ukrainian capital and the northern city of Chernihiv.
'They are mining the whole territory. They are mining homes, mining equipment, even the bodies of people who were killed,' Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address to the nation. 'There are a lot of trip wires, a lot of other dangers.'

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Shoot them all down.Thanks for posting Sir.

It's amusing how articles about new threats bring back memories of ready room discussions amongst pilot about what countermeasures would be effective. In my day the threat was the enemies sure to be development of an equivalent to the Redeye, the Hind, and Migs.
My first thought on seeing this film was why the Russian was flying at such an altitude rather than using nap of the earth tactics.
The real point is an argument for manned equipment. The imagination of pilots and other equipment operators always outpaces the imagination of the engineers in creating a countermeasure to new capabilities. The ultimate equipment countermeasure might be more effective, but the creativity of operators always comes up with some tactic that at least reduces the threat of new threats.