Ukraine Video Shows US-Supplied Avenger Air Defense System in Action

Footage circulating online appears to show the U.S.-supplied Avenger air defense system at work in northern Ukraine as Kyiv deals with near-daily missile and drone strikes from Russia.

In a brief clip posted January 5 on messaging app Telegram by a Ukrainian military footage channel and shared by open-source intelligence accounts, what looks like an Avenger system is used by Ukraine's 1129th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment close to Kyiv, Ukraine's capital. The clip appears to show a Stinger missile fired by the system taking down a Russian Shahed kamikaze drone.

Newsweek could not independently verify the footage and has reached out to the Ukrainian military for comment via email.

The U.S. has provided at least 12 Avenger air defense systems to Kyiv in its numerous military aid packages, and the first of the Avengers arrived in the war-torn country in April 2023. Although aid for Ukraine has often focused on air defense capabilities against Russian missile and drone onslaughts, Kyiv has repeatedly appealed to its Western backers to bolster its supplies.

Washington announced it was sending Avenger air defense systems and Stinger missiles to Ukraine in a $400 million aid package unveiled in mid-November 2022. The four air defense systems would give Ukraine the ability to protect its troops and critical infrastructure from Russian drones and helicopters, the Pentagon said at the time.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed the systems and the Stinger missiles as key parts of Ukraine's "air shield" for protecting Ukrainian civilians.

The Avenger is a short-range surface-to-air missile and gun weapon system, often mounted on a Humvee. It is highly mobile and designed to be used in all weather conditions as well as in darkness.

As seen in the brief video, the Avenger has a thermal night vision system or forward-looking infrared camera to work during the night, something that is "essential as the majority of Shahed attacks are carried out at night," weapons expert David Hambling told Newsweek.

The Avenger can fire up to eight Stinger missiles and has a .50-caliber automatic machine gun with a shorter range than the defensive missiles. However, it is not an armored vehicle and is therefore vulnerable to attack.

Although the Avenger and the Stinger missile appear to show a successful intercept in the video, there are serious concerns over how sustainable this type of air defense activity is.

Stinger missiles, which Ukraine has also received from Germany, "are in short supply" and have a price tag of more than $300,000 per missile, whereas a Shahed drone is in the tens of thousands, Hambling said. Russia is launching more and more Shaheds, meaning Ukraine could run out of air defense missiles, he added.

Ukraine operates various forms of air defense, from man-portable systems to the Patriot missile defense system that can shoot down Russia's hypersonic Kinzhal missiles. Russia has repeatedly launched waves of airstrikes on Ukraine using the Iranian-designed Shahed suicide drones as well as various types of missiles.

Ukraine had anticipated increased Russian airstrikes over the winter months and called for more air defense systems. Those predictions have come true—Russia has carried out extensive strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure and industry, particularly since December 29.

Moscow launched a "massive attack on Ukraine" in the early hours of Monday morning, Ukraine's top soldier, General Valery Zaluzhny, said in a statement. Ukrainian air defenses intercepted all eight Shahed drones and 18 of the cruise missiles, he said.

Russia launched a total of 59 missile and drone strikes overnight. Kyiv typically has a much higher success rate in shooting down incoming Russian missiles, particularly when using Patriot batteries.

In a Monday post on X (formerly Twitter), missile expert Fabian Hoffmann wrote, "These successful missile raids can likely be attributed to Russia saving up hard-to-intercept missile systems over the last few months and Ukraine not having enough missile defense systems in place to defend geographically dispersed high-value targets."

The slow-moving Shahed drones are easier for Ukraine to intercept than ballistic or cruise missiles, often through smaller air defense systems or large-caliber machine guns.

The U.S.-supplied Stingers are able to hit fast jets "so using one against the slow-moving Shaheds is like chasing a horse-drawn wagon with a sports car," Hambling said.

Last week, a senior Ukrainian commander in the country's north warned that Ukraine has enough ammunition for its man-portable air defense systems to "withstand the next few powerful attacks."

Russia is attempting to deplete Ukraine's air defenses, Serhiy Nayev, who is the commander of the joint forces of the armed forces of Ukraine and oversees mobile air defenses in northern Ukraine and Kyiv, told Agence France-Presse on January 3.

Update 01/8/24, 10:55 a.m. ET: This story was updated to include comments from weapons expert David Hambling.