The hardest shortage facing one Ukrainian shoulder-fired air-defense unit isn’t necessarily missiles, its battery sergeant told Business Insider. It’s some of the equipment that helps crews find targets and keep their systems running.
The soldier, who uses the call sign Yankee, serves in a front-line unit equipped with man-portable air-defense systems, or MANPADS, which fire shoulder-launched missiles able to engage low-flying aircraft, as well as cruise missiles and drones.
Weapons like these, which include the US Stinger, Polish Piorun, and Soviet-designed Igla, have been a key part of Ukraine’s short-range air defense in front-line areas, protecting troops and operations from attacks.
Yankee said that for him, at least, one...
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