• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Avenger

The United States donated four Avenger air-defense systems, which provide short-range protection against drones and helicopters. This system is mounted on a Humvee vehicle and is equipped with up to eight Stinger missiles and a machine gun. It can destroy targets up to 8 kilometers away.

Avenger is not as sophisticated as some other systems such as NASAMS or IRIS-T. It uses optical sight and short-range laser to detect targets, and the missile range is considerably shorter. However, it is valuable thanks to its high mobility. The installation allows to protect critical infrastructure objects from the onslaught of Iranian Shahed-136 drones. In addition, the Armed Forces will receive ammunition for artillery and air defense, as well as a number of other weapons.

The anti-aircraft missile complex consists of two towers with four Stinger missile launchers, a 50-caliber machine gun, and the Avenger will be aimed at targets with the help of an infrared camera, an optical sight and a laser range finder. Thanks to unification, the air defense system can receive signals from American AN/MPQ-64 Sentinel radars, which are also in the Armed Forces.

Given the aerial threat, the Avengers will be effective given their mobility. The Ukrainian military has extensive experience using the Stinger MANPADS, so mastering new weapons will not be a problem. At most, missiles to the complex are delivered in the same Stinger launchers. If necessary, they can be retrieved and fired from the shoulder.

It is also known that the US uses the Avenger air defense system to defend the airspace over Washington and important state facilities. For Ukraine, there is a real threat of new missile strikes, if the Russian Federation manages to agree with Iran on the supply of ballistic missiles. After all, Ukraine can get long-range Western air defense systems.

Missiles for the HAWK air defense system, along with four Avenger air defense systems and Stinger missiles are headed to Ukraine as part of a presidential drawdown authority security assistance package worth up to $400 million, the Defense Department announced 10 November 2022.

Due to Russia's continuing air attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure, additional air defense capabilities are critical, said Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh during a briefing. "The Avenger short-range air defense systems will also provide Ukraine with capability to protect Ukrainian troops and critical infrastructure against unmanned aerial systems and helicopters."

The Avenger air defense systems, which use Stinger missiles, is a capability the U.S. has not previously provided to the Ukrainians. "These are mobile, short-range air defense systems that can ... protect against cruise missiles, helicopters [and] unmanned aerial systems," she said. "They're shorter in range, but with some of the additional capabilities that we and Spain and others have provided, like the HAWK missiles. This is something [that] I think fits in well with some of the capabilities that [the Ukrainians] are already using on the battlefield."

The addition of the Avenger system to what the U.S. is providing to Ukraine comes after consultation with the Ukrainians on what they need in their fight against the Russians, Singh said. "We discuss with them what they need in this fight. We assess what we can provide and what makes the most sense. This was a request that fulfilled a need ... that they wanted," she said. "I think this is an air defense system that's going to complement the other air defense systems that not just the U.S. has provided, but other countries as well."