Why is this Missile System so Strictly Restricted to Ukraine's offensive? 

You mistakenly said Sweden towards the end instead of Switzerland

It's a rare thing for Switzerland to have a morale compass the banking system certainly does not follow the same rules

This was a great system (former UK AD battery commander here). Known as a 'Hitile' because of it's accuracy. Even now this could be a game changer.

Having worked on Rapier for 12 out of 15 yrs in the RAF Regiment, I can tell you its an impressive bit of kit. Whether its B1m or FSC I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of one, as for it being effected by the weather, the 181 blind fire radar sorted that issue out, incidentally the radar tracker use by the sea wolf system was adapted from the 181.The missile is in fact a hittile and extremely fast with a flight time of 15.25 secs to cover 6.8km .

I remember that during the original gulf war " desert storm" the rapier was one of the few systems that could pick up the F117 stealth fighter, using its IR command and control system. From this video it would seem that they went down the radar control instead of the IR. Rapier was always a short range weapon, so no surprises that some consider it outdated, similar types of people used to consider that Bloodhound missiles were outdated because high level mass bombing was "now a thing of the past" those same people have never been in any situation, otherwise they would realise that you need to cover every base, intimate, short range, nominal and long range. There is no one system that can currently and other than say Laser, there is unlikely to be anything that will cover all ranges.

The US is still selling the Hawk system, I met with the guy who was selling them nice guy. The hawk system is a very good mobile system for and cheap.. He said it was a lot better than the S400 simply because of how cheap it was. I think the Rapier is a similar system but maybe a little more expensive and up to date.

Quite certain I saw one of these deployed to the rooftop of an office tower next to the Olympic stadium in London in 2012.

Why on earth would they destroy a defensive military system?

I think this is one of the British armies equipment that’s overlooked and good reason it’s the only one that can track stealth aircraft dunno how and the missiles are very fast and accurate

A few years ago the Gepard was considered old hat also.....When fighting the old Ruskie scrap these weapons are state of the art!....

It is old, and sure, it's long due replacement, but still tracked the hell out of a B2 at the Farnborough Airshow. But the CAMM-ER is here now, so we'll see how that goes.

In April 1982, the original Rapier was deployed during the Falklands War when T Battery of the 12th Regiment Royal Artillery joined 3 Commando Brigade as part of the Falklands Task Force, landing at San Carlos on 21 May. Their task was to provide air defence cover for a Harrier landing and re-fuelling pad built on the outskirts of Port San Carlos. (T Battery's sister battery, 9 Battery, was not deployed on the islands until after the conflict had ended.) 63 Squadron RAF Regiment, coincidentally the first unit to have been equipped with Rapier, was deployed at San Carlos bay on 1 June, later deploying around Stanley. Early post-war reports were favourable, indicating 14 kills and 6 probables. Later analysis was less rosy, indicating as few as four enemy aircraft were downed. Only one Argentine aircraft, a Dagger A of FAA Grupo 6, can be confirmed as a Rapier kill, when Lt Bernhardt's aircraft was destroyed on 29 May 1982. The pilot was killed. The other three, an A-4B Skyhawk of FAA Grupo 5 on 23 May and two A-4C Skyhawk of FAA Grupo 4 on 24 May and 25 May 1982, were subjected to the full force of the San Carlos Air Defences, with claims going to Sea Wolf, Sea Cat, Blowpipe and small arms, as well as T Battery. The official history of the war states "Within the total, only five Argentine aircraft might have been shot down by Rapier, and, as originally noted by Ethell and Price, only one of these was certain, with two probables and two possibles. Similar discrepancies arose over other weapons systems, notably Blowpipe (one confirmed against nine claimed and two probables) and Sea Cat (zero to one against eight claimed and two probables). This confirmation that MoD had exaggerated, however unwittingly, the capabilities of Rapier was deemed to be political, as it was observed that if this assessment became widely known it 'could have serious adverse effects on sales' prospects for Rapier, which was a staple revenue-earner for BAE.

Aquired in 1980's and maintained/updated them for almost 50 years...? It's only been 43 years since 1980....

ive seen pictures of its IR system picking out the running engines on a B2 bomber.

There must be some trick suspension system under that, assumed delicate, radar system and its mount, whether it be trailer or that track layin' rig. Its range would bring it into close proximity to a front which means fast deployment/relocation, which could mean going over rough ground, maybe even as fast as the rig can move, it's war after all, and the terrain could easily beat the livin' hell outa somethin' like delicate radar it would seem.

So let me get this straight they won't allow this defensive missile system to be used to save the lives of innocent people.

Switzerland won't care until somebody kicks down that door.

It's time NATO looked for other suppliers and ended it's use of Swiss manufactured ammunition.

How did we - in Britain - develop a weapons system that was affected by inclement weather 😂. Obviously they fixed that and it looks cool as fck though

@7:22 you start talking about Sweden. I'd guess you misspoke and meant Switzerland?

Those on the coast of Odessa would save lives both from aggression and starvation.

Streamlined - monocoque body and a circular body section?! It must be state of the art!!!

Is it Switzerland or Sweden ur talking about? You keep using them interchangeably.

I love this system and your dates are questionable. Also this system would be a brilliant platform to mount in any recaptured territory as a deter-ant for helicopter or drone reconnaissance. MINI rapier could be used for drones.. This system was built for a reason and that was close range and stealth. This system , like me, is old but not obsolete lol. :) Great video.

Former 16 Regt RA, 30Bty. I remember the firing ranges in the Hebrides with Tornadoes doing low fly passes. Quiet something when a missile went rogue and came back towards you 😂

The missile system that failed to track and kill subsonic argentine jets in the falklands war in a clear unsaturated sky.

So much wrong with the content of this video. I explained in an earlier comment but it was deleted. The Swiss systems were NOT upgraded. They got the Mk2 missile in 2007 but the Field Standard B (FSB) Launcher and Blindfire units were pretty much mid-1980's spec. There is plenty of documented evidence and statements about why the Swiss did not want to give them to Ukraine. They would have been a liability. Better that the UK donated the Field Standard C (FSC) but sadly there are not enough usuable missiles left in stock to make any difference and they are no longer in manufacture.

Brits: Make a cool weapons system Also Brits: Weather can fuck about with it How the fuck did that get past testing in "sunny old England" 😂😂

Ok so not even 30 seconds in, I have questions, why did the British Army retire this weapon system, giving it too Switzerland and what did they replace it with? Cmon Dark Tech I know you're better than this. Why would Switzerland retire it and not keep upgrading the sensory and processing system, you've invested 50 years of time and money into a platform that, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".

Switzerland punks out again.

Why there was a pic of DRDO ASTRA MK1 ?

I just want to correct this video during the first statement. Switzerland's rapier systems were not kept up to date. They were completely outdated, and deemed unsafe to use. This is why they are getting rid of them.

0:34 Why are you using footage of tube field artillery?

With all the missiles having passed their utility date by a lot and the British government refusing to accept them in order to send them to Ukraine, Switzerland couldn’t do anything but scrap them. If the UK had accepted Switzerland’s offer to send them to the UK and then having the UK shipping them to Ukraine, the missiles could have been used in Ukraine. But as a neutral country Switzerland cannot directly send weapons to countries at war.

hey, it's the rapier. Singapore had one of these.

Switzerland has been playing the neutrality game for a while now...nobody really buys it, but the Swiss seem to like to play so not publicly getting directly involved in the Ukraine conflict is unsurprising.

At about 7minutes 22 seconds you mix up Sweden with Switzerland.

Switzerland never had tracked Rapier. It was a UK only system. You also mentioned 'Sweden' when you actually meant 'Switzerland'. Try a little harder on the fact checking and editing.

Switzerland and Sweden confused at one point near end.

THIS WAR, IS NOT JUST ABOUT WEAPONS, BUT THE WHOLE GAMUT OF WAR STRATEGIES & INFORMATION.

The Swiss export small arms all the time and a few other weapons systems

how the fuck did you get from the swiss dismantling the units to swedish doing it?

no subtitles or close captions?

What's its range ? Max altitude ?

I remember in 2012 when the olympics were happening in london i was walking past blackheath park and saw 4 of these bad boys deployed on a school field behind a primary school XD

I would have thought even the UK would have donated theirs to Ukraine as ours was only replaced 2 years ago we cant have got rid of all of them already

Fair game for Lancet.

@7:21 : "Sweden"...I think you mean "Switzerland".

I'm pretty sure they're not decommissioning them because they are so good I'm pretty sure they're decommissioning them because the advances have leapfrogged that system

The warhead is 1.4KG, not 0.4KG

my dad was an operator in the 70s

I think I saw one of those on streets and rooftops of london during my internship... pretty crazy, just steal them and sell it lol...

Extensive overlapping and competent weapons systems keep Switzerland war free for decades now.

It would seem to me Switzerland could save considerable expense by donating them. Return them back to Great Britain and let them donate them to Ukraine.

The Swiss could just sell them back to the UK avoiding the neutrality conflict.

Clearly it hasn't helped their offensive much... 6 weeks in, still haven't made it past Russia's first line of defense

If you don't have the best weapons your enemies will

Somting is better then noting.

well as cool as it looks it seems every super-duper missile system in the world is easily wiped out buy drones.

Get your heads out of the snow Switzerland 😡😡😡

Wise move

Perhaps the Swiss could sell the systems to the UK.

Why is the Indian Astra AAM there in this video ~7:00 mins?

Hypocrisy is also a Swiss trade.

That's why a lot countries are thinking twice about Sweden joining NATO

UK should just buy them back. £1 million per unit. Then see if anyone wants them for free....

Seems like a dated weapon system that is just going to be disposed of would be an asset to any nation that needs it especially Ukraine granted the Swiss don't want to be involved with this conflict or they might have technology in there that they don't want to share with others

I mean Switzerland always sides with Yatzees, so no surprise they're doing everything they can to aid Russia.

I've noticed on mulitples of your videos ?mistakes?, ?gaffes?, or ???, usually when you're identifying nations or companies involved. In this case, at 7:21mins into the video you mention Sweden instead of Switzerland. It's a bit unnerving when considering the seriousness of the topic and the number of times this has occurred in your videos.

Why are you mentioning Ukraine in this post?

its old,,,, but it is a hitt-ile

This is Rdpier 2000

Why would Switzerland have such a Defensive Missile System and claim to be Neutral, also Switzerland hasn't been invaded and occupied since the Napoleonic War.

Rules?

I would have thought that the ukrainians could offer guarantee to only be used for civillian protection , away from the front lines , the people of oddessa , kharkiv , liviv would be thankful

Excellent video Just give it to them, for defending their people. It is not an offence weapon.

Do Switzerland think Russia care about neutrality

Russian money is too good to take any risks ... It was the same issue in WW2 ...

Switzerland should be ashamed of there self's 😑, Let's just hope nobody has to come to there aid them in the future!

If they want to dismantle them all instead of giving them to Ukraine, perhaps the western countries should exclude the Swiss from future arm sales.

This shows that they want harm to UKRAINE!!! These could help keep Ukrainians alive!!! Defensive not offensive! 🇺🇦🇺🇸🤠🇺🇸🇺🇦

Unfortunately, neutrality is not easy, cheap, or popular. 🤷‍♂

This is easy target for the cheap drone.

I’m disappointed in Sweden scraping instead of donating to Ukraine, it’s a DEFENSIVE system , not offensive so that scraps the reasoning their using to remain neutral, they could deploy them to civilian locations recieving Russian air strikes to civilian populations . The fact they destroyed 4 already is disappointing.

WoW, Ukraine could save a lot of lives with these missile systems!!! The Swiss will not get Christmas card from me this year :(

why the misleading caption?????

Sweden Switzerland which one is it!?😢

watch what happens when the US and Nato decide not to defend Switzerland from anyone including itself

Try donating them to UKRAINE!

it out dated to drones the rockets are meant for jets not small targets that are wortles then the rocket

Switzerland or Sweden - make your mind up!

1980’s ain’t 60 years

If they are getting rid of it, I couldn't think of a better way than give it to the Ukrainian forces!

They should sell them cheap to Moldova or Rumania… which could then donate them to Ukrania, which could then send them to Odessa fast ! 😮

The Swiss could resell it to a Nato Nation or directly to the UK who could send them to Ukraine. It could save many lives.

If the swiss gave this system to ukriane, they wouldnt exactly be neutral anymore.

Its ironic that a British missile system won't work in the rain... lol Why is Sweden dismantling the Swiss missile system? Is it because both countries' names begin with an 'SW' and they must take it I turns therefore to assemble and dismantle it?

The Swiss have long left it for others to do the fighting.

The swiss should sell these to the U.S.Then we could then give these to Ukrain.

At 07,21 you refer to the nzation of Sweden >? A new Nato Memeber >?