Stormer: The UK's short-range air defence system proving itself in Ukraine

The Stormer is the UK Armed Forces' very short-range air defence system.

It was developed in Belfast in the 1990s and can fire up to eight Starstreak HVM missiles from its launcher while carrying a further nine inside.

Operated by a three-person crew it is fitted with a roof-mounted air defence alerting device, providing target detection and prioritisation.

• Starstreak manufacturer Thales sees weapons production double due to Ukraine
• Ukrainians have been using our Starstreak missiles for weeks, Defence Secretary says
• Ukraine: What is the STARStreak anti-air weapons system?

Manufacturer Thales has made improvements to the Starstreak system to increase its range beyond 7km to maximise its capability. 

Rory Woods from Thales said: "It can fire both the Starstreak [High Velocity Missile] and LMM [Lightweight Multirole Missile].

"Over the years it's been upgraded with 24-hour capability with thermal imager automatic target tracking and it has our latest generation open system architecture.

"The system has Mode 5 IFF integrated to it as well.

"It's also fitted with an Air Defence Alerting Device on board, so this is a fully encapsulated defensive system and doesn't need to link up with any external equipment."

The UK donated six vehicles to Ukraine in 2022 following Russia's invasion.