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| An Israeli missile is launched from an Iron Dome defence missile system |
International Military - JustAnswer, a technology platform based in San Francisco, is working with Ukraine to try to help the country build its own "Iron Dome" air defense system. Ukraine's ambassador to Israel indicated earlier this month that Kiev wanted to buy the Iron Dome air defense system.
But Israeli media reported in February that Tel Aviv had blocked the sale of the Iron Dome system to Kiev in 2021, fearing a Russian reaction.
“Ukrainian technology today is old and slow,” JustAnswer CEO Andy Kurtzig told Fox News. He added, "When a missile is on its way, having a slow computer doesn't really help." "If we can close the skies over Ukraine, Ukraine will have a much better chance of winning this war and winning democracy," Kurtzig said.
Kurtzig's company collaborated with the Lviv IT Cluster, a group of local technology companies and universities, plus the Lvov Military Administration and the West Ukraine Air Defense Command to develop the “Sky Project”, aka “Ukrainian Iron Dome”, an air defense structure that can move in all weather. "We help them improve their computer systems and network systems and software," said the tech entrepreneur.
He expressed confidence, “Ukraine can be much faster and much more accurate in trying to knock down these incoming missiles from Russia once the system is upgraded.” "The plan is said to include revamping the Ukrainian command center and 45 mobile monitoring stations to dramatically improve air defenses, which currently only bring down about a fifth of Russian missiles," the MarketWatch report said.
Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel Yevgen Korniychuk pleaded with Israel to sell the Iron Dome air defense system to Kiev earlier this month. Korniychuk said Ukraine was not seeking "donations", and was ready to "buy it up", possibly using some of the billions of dollars in cash from the United States and NATO currently being funneled into the country.
“We need Israel's help. I mean, we need military technical support; we need an Iron Dome… which will allow us to save our women and children from firing Russian missiles on our territory,” Korniychuk said. Russia's Defense Ministry has repeatedly said its missile strikes targeted Ukrainian military facilities and infrastructure involved in arms transfers.
Quoted from Ynet, last February Israel halted US efforts to transfer some Iron Dome batteries to Ukraine in the spring of 2021 amid fears of a Russian reaction. The US and its allies have delivered Strela, Stinger, Starstreak, Mistral and Piorun surface-to-air missiles to Ukraine, with Germany committed but yet to deliver 50 updated Flakpanzer Gepard anti-aircraft tanks.
Slovakia donated one of the Soviet-era S-300 air and missile defense systems to Ukraine in April, but it was reportedly destroyed soon after it arrived. Bratislava denied these reports.