It comes as the UK Defence Secretary revealed Britain was now examining ways of sending a cutting-edge anti-aircraft missile system to Ukraine.
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Ukraine “could eventually prevail” in its fight against the Russian military, if Ukrainian forces get enough Western -supplied missile systems, senior defence and security analysts have told GB News.
It comes as the UK Defence Secretary revealed Britain was now examining ways of sending a cutting-edge anti-aircraft missile system to Ukraine.
Ben Wallace also confirmed that the UK had already provided Ukraine with 3,615 mostly anti-tank missiles so far.
The government in Kyiv said its forces had destroyed 335 Russian tanks and 1,105 armoured vehicles of all types since the conflict began.
GB News cannot independently verify those claims, but the UK Ministry of Defence and other Western defence departments have published their own intelligence assessments, suggesting Russia has suffered significant battlefield losses.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has pleaded with Western leaders to send him more weapons systems.
Retired Royal Artillery Lieutenant Colonel Glen Grant, now a senior defence analyst at the Baltic Security Foundation, said it was perfectly possible Ukraine could prevail against its far bigger neighbour, if it is properly supplied with lethal aid.
“There will be no compromise on the part of the Russians. They will be beaten by the Ukrainians, which is why the missiles are so important.” He said.
“Because those are the tools they need to actually to do the business.
“I don't think Russia quite understands the trouble it's in. I think they will double down and become more brutal and more nasty.
“But having said that, the quality of the soldiers is not going to improve on the Russian side. Brutality doesn't make them any better soldiers. The more missile weapons that can be given to the Ukrainians the greater the chances that the conflict will be over more quickly.”
The UK was the first Western country to begin training and supplying the Ukrainian armed forces several years ago.
The MOD gave Ukraine 2000 NLAW anti-tank missiles and trained 22,000 Ukrainian soldiers in its use.
The NLAW system is a shoulder-launched missile, which is extremley easy to use and has a lethal range of 800 metres.
Glen Grant said: “Some of these people literally are straight out of the office. I mean they've got no military training.
“So having a weapon that is easy to use is brilliant. But for many of these people, firing that weapon will be the first military act of their life.”
The US and other nations have also supplied thousands of Javelin anti-tank weapons, which have much longer range than even the NLAW system.
Ukraine has also asked for many more anti-aircraft missiles, after the U.S. and other nations supplied them with a around 3,000 Stinger missiles.
The UK has now agreed to examine ways of sending a number of Starstreak anti-air missile systems.
They are more complex to use than Stinger, but are far more effective, according to Chris Lincoln-Jones, a former senior artillery officer in the British army.
“The difference between the Stinger and the Starstreak is that the Stinger chases the tail of an airplane, it homes in on the infrared signature, primarily from the engine exhaust. Starstreak, you can meet the threat head on.”
Major Lincoln-Jones said he also believed more missile systems, quickly delivered, could make all difference, and could see Ukraine prevail against all the odds.
“Prevail or at least force a stalemate.” He added.
“I think there's courage in abundance amongst the Ukrainian fighters - if they can get sufficient weapons in there, if they can get the training so they can use them well, in the close fighting they are forcing the Russians to adopt, I think they have a very good chance.”
A total of 14 countries have so far supplied missiles to Ukraine and despite Russia’s objections, they have stepped up efforts to smuggle many more over the Ukrainian border.
