Russia has adapted its missile attacks to break through Ukrainian air defenses. The West paid great attention to six launches of Kinzhal air-launched ballistic missiles, which are especially difficult to stop, CNN reports
The channel’s experts emphasized that this missile travels at least five times faster than sound, but it is also particularly difficult to detect because it can be launched from MiG-31 fighters. This allows for greater range and the ability to attack from multiple directions and by virtue of the fact that she can maneuver as she approaches her target. According to Douglas Barry, a senior fellow at the US International Institute for Strategic Studies, Russia is likely to have adapted its missile attacks “using a combination of subsonic cruise missiles, much faster Kinzhal aeroballistic missiles, and possibly decoys and other countermeasures.”
The use of hypersonic missiles, in particular, “follows years of the Kremlin’s drive to equip its military with such weapons, a move that the United States and the West have taken less willingly,” the channel’s website notes. “You get a missile that is much harder to intercept and less alert to your adversary. What you lose is that it’s much more expensive and can often only be carried by a much more limited number of platforms,” Justin Bronk, senior scientist, said in an interview. in Aviation at the Royal United Services Institute in London. He added that this shift occurred as the Ukrainian air defense system became better equipped and more advanced.
According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), “Russia has likely developed a unique missile to more easily hit critical European infrastructure … and its speed, combined with the missile’s erratic trajectory and high maneuverability, could make interception difficult.”
Source: rg
