U.S. NASAMS Having 100% Success Rate in Stopping Russian Missiles: Pentagon

Air defense systems provided by the U.S. have had a perfect strike rate in intercepting Russian missiles fired into Ukraine, the U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has said.

As Moscow continues to fire rockets at Ukrainian civilian and energy infrastructure, Austin praised the efficacy of the NASAMS (National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System) that the U.S. has supplied as part of its military support for Kyiv.

Austin told a briefing on Wednesday that the systems sent to Ukraine "are now operational, and their performance so far has been very impressive."

"The NASAMS systems had a 100 percent success rate in intercepting Russian missiles as the Kremlin continues its ruthless bombardment of Ukraine," he said.

He added that the U.S. was also looking to secure "more critical equipment to protect and repair Ukraine's energy infrastructure after Russia's indefensible attacks."

Developed by Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace in Norway and U.S. conglomerate Raytheon, NASAMS can use a wide range of missiles to defend against a number of threats.

Used by 12 countries, NASAMS is described by Raytheon as a "state-of-the-art defense system" which can "identify, engage and destroy current and evolving enemy aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and emerging cruise missile threats."

Ukraine has also benefited from the U.S.-made M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) whose speed and maneuverability has allowed Kyiv to target command and control centers and ammunition depots.

At the start of Wednesday's briefing, Austin told reporters that the U.S. had seen "nothing that contradicts" the preliminary assessment by Polish President Andrzej Duda that a missile explosion in Poland the previous day "was most likely the result of a Ukrainian air defense missile."

The explosion was the first time a NATO country had been directly impacted by the war in Ukraine and raised concerns that it might cause an escalation of hostilities.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has insisted that he had "no doubt that it was not our missile." However, President Joe Biden, reiterated his position that the missile was unlikely to have come from Russia.

When asked about Zelensky's comments, Biden told White House reporters, "that's not the evidence." Newsweek has contacted the Ukrainian foreign ministry for comment.

On Thursday, the Ukrainian Armed Forces said in an update that its troops had repelled Russian troops in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, with reports of missile strikes continuing across the country.

Local officials said that two people were killed in a missile attack overnight on the southeastern region of Zaporizhzhia. Other attacks on Kharkiv and Odesa also injured three people in each city.

The head of Ukraine's presidential administration, Andriy Yermak, said on Telegram that his country "has already withstood extremely difficult blows of the enemy."

"We continue to move forward. Do not ignore the air raid sirens, they will not succeed. We will crush them."