The defense minister has said that the Harpoons will complement Kiev's own anti-ship capabilities.
Ukrainian defense minister Alexey Reznikov said on Thursday that the US-made Harpoon anti-ship missiles supplied to Ukraine have already been deployed. Denmark sent this type of weapon to Kiev last month.
The Ukrainian coastal defence has been strengthened by the extremely efficient Harpoon systems, the official said. He claimed that, together with the domestically-made Neptune missiles, they were already forcing the enemy fleet to keep its distance to avoid the fate of the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, the Moskva. The Soviet-built warship sank in mid-April. Officials in Kiev claimed Ukrainian forces successfully hit it with Neptune missiles. Moscow said that a fire onboard caused heavy damage to the ship and that it sank in a storm during an attempt to bring it to its home port.
Reznikov previously hailed the Harpoon-Neptune combination as a military brotherhood that will allow Ukraine to liberate and make our Black Sea safe again. The Harpoon missile family can be fired from various platforms, according to McDonnell Douglas. Denmark fields RGM 84 L-4 Harpoon Block II missile batteries a range of 70 nautical miles 130 kilometers. Neptune is a Ukrainian modification of the Soviet Kh 35 missile with a claimed range of 280 kilometers.