Kamyshin: Ukraine for first time successfully uses at night 'hybrid' air defense of FrankenSAM project
Minister for Strategic Industries of Ukraine Oleksandr Kamyshin announced the first successful use of the "hybrid" air defense of the FrankenSAM project on Wednesday night – the Russian Shahed was shot down.
"The projects [production of hybrid air defense systems], which we are implementing with the United States, we call FrankenSAM. And I'm pleased to report that one of these systems was successfully used for the first time this night. We shot down the Shahed at a distance of nine kilometers from a height of 400 meters. And this is the first use of this particular system. In FrankenSAM's 'portfolio,' we have about five projects. And I'm glad that we've already got these systems on the battlefield, protecting our skies, protecting our people, and grateful to our American partners for making this happen," Kamyshin said during a discussion at the Ukrainian House in Davos.
The minister said the development of any new air defense system takes years and years, everyone understands this, but instead of waiting, Ukraine and the United States found another way. "We take old Soviet legacy systems and adapt Western missiles to those systems, or we take Western launchers and missiles and integrate them into old Soviet legacy systems. We have several similar projects," he said.
At the end of December, Kamyshin announced that the first solutions from the FrankenSAM "portfolio" of projects, which relate to air defense, are already working on the battlefield.