The Swedish government has decided to supply the Ukrainian army with an RBS-17 short-range anti-ship missile system.
This became known during a joint briefing by the Minister of Defense and the Minister of Finance of Sweden, who said that the type of weapons specified were “a special request from the Ukrainian government”.
“The Swedish government proposes, among other things, that Sweden donate defense equipment in the form of the Robot 17 (RBS-17) short-range anti-ship missile system,” the Swedish government said in a statement. press published on its website.
Ukraine will also receive AG 90 automatic sniper rifles and ammunition, 5,000 Swedish AT-4 recoilless anti-tank weapons.
According to Militaryleak, the RBS 17 (naval target robot 17) is the Swedish version of the AGM-114C Hellfire air-to-surface missile. It has been adapted for an anti-shipping role and can be launched from warships or a land gun station.
The RBS-17 is used by units of the Swedish Amphibious Corps to prevent the enemy from entering ships or ports in the Swedish archipelago. Missiles can be used effectively against enemy surface targets while landing. RBS-17 missiles can fill the gap to hit the enemy at close range, since Harpoon and Neptune missiles cannot hit a ship at such close range due to “minimum range” restrictions.
