Ukraine conflict: UK supplies Raven air defence system to Kyiv

The UK is supplying the Raven air defence system, seen here during a demonstration in May 2025, and supplied on a Supacat HMT 600 with ASRAAM, to Ukraine. (Crown copyright/UK MoD)

The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) is supplying the Raven air defence system to Ukraine. The system, mounted on the Supacat High Mobility Tranporter (HMT) 600 6x6 all-terrain vehicle and armed with the Advanced Short-Range Air-to-Air Missile (ASRAAM), was presented in a UK MoD video posted online on 12 May.

In the video, Colonel Olly Todd, Military Assistant Head of Task Force ‘Kindred', the UK MoD's programme to provide equipment to the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) from UK stockpiles through rapid procurement, said Raven went from concept to delivery within three months in 2022, resulting in “one of the most effective short-range air defence systems in use in Ukraine at the moment”.

A defence source told Janes on 12 May that the concept was proposed by the UK Royal Air Force's Air and Space Warfare Centre in August 2022 and the systems were then built between September and November of the same year, with testing of the first prototypes starting in November. The first package of eight systems and nearly 150 missiles was exported to Ukraine by early 2023, to be followed “soon” by five more, the source said.

A bespoke mount is installed on the HMT fitted with two ASRAAMs, drawn from existing stocks, on rails that have been taken from out-of-service Hawk air defence systems and Jaguar and Tornado combat aircraft.