Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Kiev government has been increasing its defensive systems thanks to Western aid and one of the main reinforcements has been anti-aircraft defense to try to deal with the rockets and missiles launched by Russia, either from ground systems, aircraft, warships or even submarines.
The Ukrainian government claims that the effectiveness of its air defenses has grown to 75%. Systems such as the HIMARS, the Spanish Aspide, the Nasam, the French Crotales or the Patriot have provided an enormous arsenal for the Ukrainian armed forces, but they recognize that there are still Russian missiles that can penetrate their airspace and hit targets in the country. Ukrainian air defenses only successfully intercepted 30% of the missiles at the start of the Russian invasion, whereas today, that percentage is 75%, which also includes kamikaze drone strikes.
In an interview with Channel 24, Colonel Yuri Ignat, spokesman for the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said that Ukraine has not successfully intercepted all types of missiles. Ukrainian systems can shoot down some cruise missiles due to their design features. The Buk-M1 and S-300 are the two main systems currently used by Ukraine. He clarified that they are anti-aircraft guided missiles that can destroy both aircraft and cruise missiles.
So, according to this military source, Ukraine can now shoot down cruise missiles like the sea-launched Kalibr (3M14); the Kh-101 / Kh-555 / Kh–55; R-500 (9M728) air-launched or ground-based Iskander-Ks, plus air-to-surface guided missiles; and the Kh-35, an air, sea or land anti-ship missile.
What missiles Ukraine does not shoot down?
On the other side Ukraine has so far failed to stop the 9M723 Iskander-M ballistic missiles that Russia used frequently at the beginning of the conflict. He claimed that the Russians had started using outdated Tochka-U missile systems after depleting their main stock of Iskander-Ms. Ignat assured that these outdated weapons hit the Kramatorsk station. In addition, he added that the Ukrainian air defense could not shoot down multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) missiles like the Smerch. The Kh-22 would also be on the list of missiles that its weapons cannot shoot down. In fact, 120 Kh-22 would have been fired since the beginning of the operation without any of them being shot down, since, to do so, Ukraine would need an aviation missile system equipped with the most advanced radar and a sophisticated missile capable of operating in autonomous mode, which would mean making decisions independently without need. of human intervention.
Something similar would happen with the P-800 Onyx supersonic coastal anti-ship cruise missiles that are frequently used in the Odessa area, the Kh-31P anti-radar missiles and other short-range air-to-surface missiles, which are also not being shot down. The hypersonic aeroballistic missile known as X-47 “Dagger”, transported by MiG-31K aircraft, is the last on the list and, furthermore, one of the most dangerous, since its flight speed is much higher, which limits the maximum the reaction time since they are detected.
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