Anti-tank weapons, air-defence missiles and sniper rifles on their way to Ukraine
The 50 Panzerfaust 3 anti-tank weapons with 400 rocket-propelled grenades and the 200 Stinger air-defence missiles pledged by the Netherlands yesterday are now on their way to Ukraine. The 100 sniper rifles with 30,000 rounds of ammunition and 2 diving vessels, pledged earlier, are also on board the transport. This military materiel is being transported by a C-17 transport aircraft that departed from Eindhoven Air Base today, bound for a country in Eastern Europe. From there, the materiel will be transported to Ukraine by road.
For security reasons, the Netherlands Ministry of Defence will not comment on how the military materiel will reach Ukraine.
The Panzerfaust is a man-portable anti-tank weapon. It can be used against tanks, armoured vehicles, fortified military positions, light bunkers and hovering helicopters. It is compatible with various types of ammunition, and can be used up to a maximum range of 600 metres.
The Stinger is a man-portable infrared-guided air-defence missile. It can be used to protect ground forces and military objects against hostile aircraft flying at low and medium altitude, from a distance of 500 metres up to 5 kilometres.
The 2 diving vessels mentioned are wire-guided detection robots for the detection of land and sea mines.
Veenhuizen ammuntion depot
Up until this point, the ammunition had been stored at Veenhuizen ammunition depot. From there, it was transported to Eindhoven by road and loaded on to the military transport aircraft. The ammunition meets all of the requirements set for immediate use.
Part of the total number of helmets and flak jackets pledged had already been sent. The remaining items will reach the region soon.
C-17 Globemaster
The Boeing C-17 Globemaster is part of what is known as Strategic Airlift Capability (SAC). This is an international cooperation of 12 participating countries, including the Netherlands. Each country has purchased a number of flight hours per year. The Netherlands has 500 flight hours this year.
In total, there are 3 SAC C-17 aircraft. They are stationed at Pápa Air Base in Hungary.