United to win: UK sends Terrahawk Paladin anti-drone system to Ukraine

Great Britain will provide Ukraine with the Terrahawk Paladin air defense system. 

According to Ukrainian Air Force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat, the weapon will help fight off Russian drones and protect critical facilities, Rubryka reports.

Colonel Ihnat added that "Paladins" can support medium-range anti-aircraft missiles such as NASAMS and become a "weapon of last hope," which can "finish off" the Russian aerial threats missiles couldn't down.

"These systems can be stationary or installed on the chassis. Every unit will decide on a platform according to their needs and tasks," he said.

The Terrahawk Paladin mobile anti-drone air defense system, manufactured by the British company MSI Defense Systems, provides reliable protection for ships against surface and air threats. 

According to the British government, the Terrahawk Paladin should help the Ukrainian Armed Forces track and destroy drones and protect critical national infrastructure.

Terrahawk Paladin is a classic anti-drone tool that combines an automatic gun with digital fire control and radar systems, hitting targets up to 2km away. It comes standard with the Mk44 Bushmaster II 30mm autocannon, equipped with a dual power supply system. 

The weapon has 360-degree tracking of potential threats using radar with active phased array antennas, a target search and capture system with a day and night channel, and a thermal imager and a laser range finder.

Artificial intelligence tracks the targets, and the control system calculates ballistic compensation and also has an improved target recognition algorithm developed by the Polish company Advanced Protection Systems.

Terrahawk can track multiple targets simultaneously and report the object's exact 3D location in real-time. According to the Military Media Center, the Terrahawk classifies flying objects and distinguishes between UAVs and birds thanks to AI machine learning.

Compared to stationary air defense systems, the Terrahawk Paladin has significant tactical and strategic advantages, regardless of whether it is deployed as a stand-alone system or as part of an echeloned air defense system.

The specialized military portal Defense Express noted that the British Terrahawk system, especially in combination with programmable munitions, was a fairly effective solution to the affordable destruction of threats such as the Shahed-136.

Britain confirmed it would transfer "drone hunters" to Ukraine at Wednesday's Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting.