L3Harris Technologies has announced that it has received a contract from the U.S. Department of Defense for the supply of VAMPIRE missile systems for Ukraine.

Information about this was published on the official website of the L3Harris.

This contract is valued at $40 million.

According to the company’s press-release, the VAMPIRE mobile system will allow Ukrainian ground forces to detect and shoot down enemy drones, as well as target enemy ground targets.

The new system is expected to help Ukraine significantly strengthen air defense and protect civilian infrastructure.

Under the contract, the L3Harris must install the VAMPIRE system on vehicles that the U.S. government will provide.

The contract provides for the supply of 14 VAMPIRE systems to the Pentagon: four by mid-2023 and ten more by the end of 2023.

The VAMPIRE system prototype was selected as a part of the U.S. $3 billion international military aid package under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative. The manufacturer sent a sample of this weapon to the Pentagon back in April last year. However the fact that Ukraine will receive VAMPIRE, was confirmed by the White House few months later, in August 2022.

The VAMPIRE mobile system is a relatively new development. Field testing of VAMPIRE began in 2021, and in the summer of 2022, the company continued testing the range of targets and the overall reliability of the systems.

“Since August, we have invested in procurement, testing and certification so that VAMPIRE production can begin without delay,” said Luke Savoie, president of L3Harris Surveillance and Intelligence.

The VAMPIRE guided weapons system integrates the WESCAM MX-10 optical-electronic system with thermal imaging and TV cameras, responsible for target detection and guidance, and the launcher of four APKWS 70mm guided missiles.

The Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) is a laser guidance system that is mounted on Hydra 70 missiles. Such modernization turns unguided aircraft missiles to precision-guided ammunition.