Easy to transport and relatively inexpensive. The US-supplied Vampire missile system achieves its first documented successes against Russian drones.
Odessa – Western arms deliveries have been an important support for President Volodymyr Zelensky's troops since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. It is not just heavy equipment, such as the Patriot air defense system, that is highly relevant. Flexible and quickly deployable defense systems are particularly in demand in times of drone warfare. The USA promised this in the summer of 2022, and they are now in action – successfully, as recordings from the Ukrainian military show.
With the Vampire missile system, the Ukrainian troops are able to quickly reach the respective deployment site and intercept approaching drones with precision. The system manufactured by the US manufacturer L3Harris Technologies should not be confused with the RM-70 Vampire multiple rocket launcher system provided by the Czech Republic.
Videos show successful use of Vampire against Russian drones
On the night of February 10th to 11th, Russia again launched a large-scale drone attack on Ukraine. The Ukrainian defense units managed to intercept 40 of the 45 kamikaze drones in front of their target. The Ukrainian Navy released corresponding video material from Odessa, where according to Reuters four drones were shot down over the sea.
A OSINT analyst After analyzing the images, Open Source Intelligence concluded that this was the first documented use of the Vampire missile system. The decisive factor for the evaluation is the typical target identification shown in the video, which the drones record using optical and infrared sensors.
In total, Ukraine has 14 Vampire missile systems, which were delivered in two batches by the end of 2023, according to a statement from L3Harris. Vampire stands for “Vehicle-Agnostic Modular Palletized ISR Rocket Equipment”. A modular system that stands on normal transport pallets and can therefore be mounted on various vehicles.
The strength of the Vampire missile system lies in its flexibility
As can be seen in a number of presentation videos of the Vampire system, it can be installed in the back of a civilian pickup truck, among other things. In addition to a comparatively high transport speed to the deployment site, this also has the advantage of poorer detectability through aerial reconnaissance of the enemy.
The quadruple rocket launcher includes an extendable sensor ball that can detect both airborne and ground targets. The system is equipped with laser-guided APKWS (Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System) missiles, fired from the ground, with a range of up to five kilometers. How Defense Express reports, APKWS rockets are comparatively cheap with a maximum price of 40,600 US dollars (approx. 38,000 euros) and are therefore well suited for shooting down drones.
US missile system not involved in attack on Belgorod
A Vampire missile system made headlines at the beginning of the year. Russia accused Ukraine of using it in the Jan. 8 attack on Belgorod. However, this was not the Vampire system from the USA, but the RM-70 Vampire multiple rocket launcher that Ukraine received from the Czech Republic. (sh)
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