The United Kingdom will hand over the Gravehawk air defense system, which was developed in a short time specifically for the needs of Ukraine.

The news was published on the country’s government website.

It is known that Gravehawk is an anti-aircraft missile system, the urgent development of which was jointly funded by the UK and Denmark.

The system, which is the size of a shipping container, uses air-to-air missiles to launch from the ground against air targets and can be equipped with “Ukrainian missiles already in service with the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”

“The Gravehawk system will strengthen Ukraine’s air defense, allowing it to protect its cities, troops and critical infrastructure,” the statement reads.

It is reported that two Gravehawk prototypes have already been tested in Ukraine. This year, the UK plans to transfer another 15 units.

Unidentified anti-aircraft system

The concept of a “rapidly developed air defense system” indicates that this is not a fully developed anti-aircraft system but rather a relatively simple design based on off-the-shelf components.

According to the description, the anti-aircraft system is similar to the already known British missile system on the Supacat HMT chassis, equipped with an optical target acquisition station and two guides for AIM-132 ASRAAM air-to-air missiles. However, the report emphasizes the use of “Ukrainian missiles.”

It is possible that this refers to a solution based on Soviet R-73 aircraft missiles, of which there are significant stocks in the Defense Ministry’s warehouses. The Ukrainian defense industry has been actively adapting them for launches from modernized Osa air defense systems and Magura v5 maritime drones.

As a reminder, back in 2023, the United Kingdom government announced the transfer of Terrahawk Paladin stationary air defense systems to Ukraine to provide targeted air defense against drones.

The system uses an automatic gun with an ammunition programmer to destroy targets. As standard, the system is equipped with a 30-mm Mark 44 Bushmaster II cannon with a possible caliber increase to 40 mm.

Along with the gun, the platform is equipped with a fixed radar mast with a circular view to detect small targets. In conjunction with the radar, an optical target acquisition system with a day and night channel is installed, which ensures the destruction of enemy targets in any weather.