Third day of British weapon flights to Ukraine

British transport aircraft are now in their third day of delivering “thousands” of anti-tank weapons to Ukraine in the face of a massive build-up of Russian troops.

Minister James Heappey told Times Radio that the Ministry of Defence has given “thousands” of anti-armour weapons to Ukraine.

According to a statement given by the Defence Secretary in the House of Commons today, the 17th of January 2022.

“As of today, tens of thousands of Russian troops are positioned close to the Ukrainian border. Their deployment is not routine, and they are equipped with tanks, armoured fighting vehicles, rocket artillery, and short-range ballistic missiles. I can today confirm to the House that, in light of the increasingly threatening behaviour from Russia, and in addition to our current support, the UK is providing a new security assistance package to increase Ukraine’s defensive capabilities.

We have taken the decision to supply Ukraine with light, anti-armour, defensive weapon systems. A small number of UK personnel will also provide early-stage training for a short period of time, within the framework of Operation ORBITAL, before then returning to the United Kingdom. This security assistance package complements the training and capabilities that Ukraine already has, and those that are also being provided by the UK and other Allies in Europe and the United States. Ukraine has every right to defend its borders, and this new package of aid further enhances its ability to do so.

Let me be clear: this support is for short-range, and clearly defensive weapons capabilities; they are not strategic weapons and pose no threat to Russia. They are to use in self-defence and the UK personnel providing the early-stage training will return to the United Kingdom after completing it.”

You can read the full statement here.

We had someone on the ground at RAF Brize Norton that observed the arrival of vehicles carrying explosives to the base which were later loaded onto a C-17. An image of the arrival is shown below.

The flights started on the 27th of January, with Royal Air Force C-17 aircraft departing RAF Brize Norton for Kiev multiple times per day, today is the third consecutive day of deliveries.

This is a screenshot of flight tracking software showing two British C-17s in flight at various part of their journeys to and from Ukraine.

Video from Ukraine even shows the aircraft being unloaded.

RAF C-17s arrive in Kyiv with ATGMs pic.twitter.com/JEz1rA9C89 — OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) January 18, 2022

Next Generation Light Anti-Tank Weapon, or NLAW for short. The Next Generation Light Anti-Tank Weapon (NLAW) is described by its makers Saab in the following way:

“The Bofors NLAW (Next Generation Light Anti-tank Weapon) is the first ever single soldier missile system that rapidly knocks out any Main Battle Tank in just one shot by striking it from above.”

You can read more about the system from respected defence commentator ‘Think Defence’ by clicking here.

Here’s a video of the system in action.