“Star Wars” actor Mark Hamill donated 500 drones to assist Ukraine in its efforts to push back Russian forces.
“Very simply: Ukraine needs drones,” Hamill told host Joe Mathieu during an appearance on Bloomberg Radio’s “Sound On.”
“They define war outcomes, they protect their land, their people, they monitor the border, they’re eyes in the sky,” Hamill said, adding that he was “honored” to support the mission, which would include raising funds to support Ukraine’s UNITED24 “Army of Drones” project.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the program’s launch last year, including Hamill’s role as an ambassador for the program. So far, donations through UNITED24 have reached more than $210 million.
“I was really shocked because they give me these updates at least two or three times a week about what’s going on, and they said they’ve received over 500 drones since I started this,” the actor revealed.
Mark Hamill attends the premiere of Netflix’s “El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie” at Regency Village Theatre in Westwood, California, on Oct. 7, 2019.
(Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/Getty Images)
Drones have increasingly proven a critical piece of the Ukraine conflict: Russia has started using Iranian Shahed-136 drones, known as “kamikaze” drones, which has led to Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp. training Russian troops in the weapons’ use.
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Ukraine has worked to combat Russia’s use of drones through alternative means, including the recent launch of an app to help citizens coordinate with the military to shoot down incoming Russian drones and missiles.
A part of an unmanned aerial vehicle, what Ukrainian military authorities described as an Iranian-made suicide drone Shahed-136 and which was shot down near the town of Kupiansk amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, is seen in this handout picture released Sept. 13, 2022.
(The Strategic Communications Directorate of the Ukrainian Armed Forces/Handout via Reuters)
Ukrainian citizens who download the app can type in the name of the target, such as a missile or a suicide drone, point their phones at the direction of the incoming target and press a red button. The Ukrainian military will then see that marker on the map and use its location along with radar technology to more effectively track and shoot down the threat.
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A U.S. company has also developed a microwave-based anti-drone weapon, which it soon plans to field test. Tech company Epirus said the weapon has a two-mile range but could eventually reach as far as 30 miles.
Fox News’ Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.
