The Czech Republic has started raising money for the purchase of mobile air defence systems to protect Ukrainian skies from Russian attacks, the fundraising page for mobile air defence for Ukraine reports.
The campaign goal is to acquire 5 Czech-made Viktor systems.
“It is a modified Toyota off-road vehicle equipped with a pair of KPVT machine guns, which are capable of effectively defending strategic and civilian targets against suicide drone strikes and aerial bombardment. But there is only one goal: to close the skies over Ukraine to Putin's murderers,” the message states.
The effective range of fire is over two kilometres. The weapon is equipped with a day and night anti-aircraft sight, as well as a sight for direct fire on ground targets.
The webpage says that with an experienced operator, the system is very effective against medium and large unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as aircraft and helicopters operating at low altitudes. It can also work against lightly armoured vehicles, enemy fortifications, and is "quite devastating" against manpower.
The rapid-fire 14.5 mm machine guns have a ready-to-fire supply of 300 rounds in magazines, and another 300 rounds in spare magazines directly on the gun carriage, with additional rounds carried in boxes on the hull of the vehicle. They also have spare barrels with the possibility of quick change in case of overheating.
The anti-aircraft system is based on a modified Toyota off-road vehicle with reinforced suspension and a special adapter on the hull that allows firing directly from the vehicle.
The T-72 tank, which Czechs had donated to Ukraine earlier, departed for the country in mid-October.
