Germany delivers next batch of Patriot, IRIS-T air defense systems to Ukraine

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has announced plans to supply Ukraine with Sidewinder missiles to strengthen its air defense, Report informs via Ukrainska Pravda.

Pistorius made the remark at the opening of a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (also known as the Ramstein format).

The minister noted that Germany had significantly reinforced Ukraine's air defense by delivering two Patriot systems agreed in August, partly with the help of Norwegian partners, as well as a ninth IRIS-T air defense system.

He said that next year Germany would provide a large number of Sidewinder missiles from its own stocks to bolster Ukraine's air defense.

These are air-to-air missiles that can be used from helicopters or fighter jets against enemy aircraft or drones.

The United States has already supplied such missiles to Ukraine. The Ukrainians adapted these missiles, originally designed for F-16 fighter jets, into surface-to-air missiles for the needs of Ukraine's air defense.

A source told the Financial Times in 2023 that they had modified the missiles and found a way to launch them from the ground, describing it as a kind of improvised air defense.

According to the source, this was one example of converting equipment that had seemed no longer useful into operational weapons.