US sends 'vampires' to Ukraine: these weapons turn ordinary cars into rocket launchers

The administration of US President Joe Biden has announced that Ukraine will receive $3 billion in military aid, the largest amount it has sent since Russia launched its invasion in February. The edition told in more detail Yahoo!.

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The Department of Defense said it was meeting both "Ukraine's urgent and long-term security assistance needs."

VAMPIRE anti-aircraft systems were among the 245 artillery munitions and laser-guided missile systems listed in the Pentagon's Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) assistance to Ukraine.

VAMPIRE is an acronym for Vehicle-Agnostic Modular Palletized ISR Rocket Equipment. The system turns pickup trucks and other vehicles into mobile rocket launchers.

According to Matthew Schmidt, director of international affairs and assistant professor of homeland security at the University of New Haven in Connecticut, changing existing vehicles will have a more immediate impact than other forms of military assistance.

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“Most of the kit announced as part of the aid is intended to support Ukrainian military needs in the medium term up to one or more years, even in post-war conditions,” Schmidt said. “But VAMPIRE is equipment that could make a difference now if it gets on the battlefield fast enough.”

“Its advantage is that it can be installed on anything with an onboard platform, so civilian pickup trucks with this system can fire quickly, holding down enemy positions or hitting armored personnel carriers,” he explained. “If you can fill the battlefield with them, then you can slow down and pin down small enemy units.”

The kit consists of a four-barrel rocket launcher and a ball that acts as a sensor. L3Harris, an equipment manufacturer, said VAMPIRE can be installed in a vehicle in two hours and done by one person.

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“The VAMPIRE suite itself is a UAS (unmanned aerial system) countermeasures system,” said Colin Kahl, deputy head of the Department of Defense for policy. “This is a kinetic system used by small missiles to shoot down unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the sky.”

When sending the kits to Ukraine, a spokesman for L3Harris said: “Our VAMPIRE system provides the Ukrainian armed forces with even more robust capabilities. They continue to defend their country and democracy in Europe, and we will continue our unwavering support for their mission."

The U.S. has provided more than $2021 billion to Ukraine since January 13,5 and more than $15,5 billion since Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula in 2014, according to the Department of Defense.

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