The Alvis Stormer is a lightly armoured, tracked vehicle that first came into service with the British Army in the 1970s. It can be used in a variety of roles, including to engage ground targets, lay mines or retrieve disabled vehicles.

The version to be supplied to Ukraine is effectively a mobile anti-aircraft platform with a Starstreak battery mounted on the roof. It will grant the Ukrainians greater mobility to respond to aerial threats as the battle in the open landscape of the Donbas escalates.

The provision of vehicles reflects a growing belief among Western governments, which initially expected a quick Russian victory, that Vladimir Putin’s invasion is failing and can be defeated on the battlefield.

Mr Wallace told the Commons British assessments were that “alongside the death toll are the equipment losses and in total a number of sources suggest that to date over 2,000 armoured vehicles have been destroyed or captured”.

He said: “The offensive that was supposed to take a maximum of a week has now taken weeks.”

The Defence Secretary added that Russia had deployed more than 120 battalion tactical groups, or around 65 per cent of its ground forces, to the war. About 25 per cent had been rendered “combat ineffective” during the last two months of fighting.
 
Starstreak missiles accelerate to Mach 4 after launch, making them the fastest of their type in the world and especially difficult for targets to evade. However, they are short range and can only engage relatively low-altitude targets such as Russia’s KA-52 helicopters and SU-25 ground-attack jets.