It Can Reach Moscow Center: Capabilities Of Ukrainian Sapsan Ballistic Missile
- 5.10.2024, 17:34
The weapon will affect the situation at the front.
Ukraine focuses on its own production of missiles and drones. Kyiv plans to announce a large missile program. This was stated by the Minister of Defence of Ukraine Rustem Umerov at the International Forum of Defence Industries held in Kyiv, Current Time writes.
According to Umerov, we are talking about the production of ballistic missiles: "We have been focusing recently on missile and drone programs. Next year or before the end of this year, you will hear a lot about the large missile program. We have already started working on ballistic missiles.”
Earlier, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine had already created its own ballistic missile. However, it was not reported what kind of development it was, whether it was used at the front and whether the Ukrainian defence industry would be able to produce such missiles. The Ukrainian authorities and the military keep secret which ballistic missile Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke about in August, congratulating him on the successful tests. But the fact that this type of weapons can affect the course of hostilities is recognized by both experts and war veterans.
"If we manage to establish production in larger quantities, then, I think, this will not change the course of the war by 100%, but it will greatly affect our capabilities on the front line," explained Ukrainian military expert Oleksiy Hetman. Plans to create its own ballistic missile in Ukraine have been around since independence and the abandonment of nuclear weapons. The cruise missiles were then handed over to Russia. The Tochka U operational and tactical system, which is still in service, was not suitable. It has a range of only 120 kilometers.
Due to problems with the economy, the development could begin only in 2006 with the active support of President Viktor Yushchenko. The Yuzhnoye design bureau was engaged in the development of the Sapsan system. Experts believe that it was this missile that Zelensky spoke about. In the export version for Saudi Arabia, it is called the Grom-2. The Russian Defence Ministry said a year ago that such a missile was shot down. But there is no confirmation of this information.
"This missile is much like the Russian Iskander. Analogue in the sense that it is also a ballistic operational and tactical missile. Here're all similarities. Because the principles laid down are completely different. But constructively, it is the same short-range missile with a solid-fuel engine," explained Ukrainian aviation expert Valeriy Romanenko.
According to him, unlike the Russian Iskander, the Ukrainian Sapsan should have improved guidance systems. This increases the accuracy and reduces the consumption of missiles.
"On the final leg, it had a high-precision radar system with a 3 mm wavelength radar, that is, it allowed to aim the missile at the object with an accuracy of up to two meters," Romanenko added.
The deadlines for the development of Sapsan were constantly postponed. And during President Viktor Yanukovych, work on the new weapon was unexpectedly stopped. They refused to finance the project when Pavel Lebedev was the Minister of Defense of Ukraine. Now he is wanted for treason and, according to Ukrainian investigators, is hiding in Crimea annexed by Russia.
"Russia interfered with our missile program in every possible way, because it perfectly understood how dangerous it would be for them when we were armed with long-range weapons," says military expert Oleksiy Hetman.
In 2016, it became known about the revival of the project, and two years later the launcher was shown at a military parade on Khreshchatyk. In February 2021, Defence Minister Andrei Taran said that Sapsan is 80% ready and "it is necessary to take the last step" — to finish the first sample of this weapon. But Zelensky announced the last step only three and a half years later.
"The president said that the missile was already in the complex, as the product was tested, and individual components had been tested even earlier. And it is known that the FSB had an agent in the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau, who reported that in early 2022, work on the project was resumed and accelerated. And flight tests required to be carried out even earlier than ground tests, that is, without refinement of the engine on the ground," explained Valery Romanenko.
The Times newspaper published a map: it shows objects that can hit British Storm Shadow missiles on the territory of Russia. Airbases, oil refinery, headquarters of the Southern Military District of the Russian Army. The range of the British missile is up to 300 kilometers. According to manufacturers, the Sapsan missile has range of 200 kilometers more. That is, it can even reach the center of Moscow.
"Russia has practically no Patriot-type systems capable of shooting down ballistic missiles. These are systems from the defense of Moscow, and, possibly, the Russian new S-500 systems, which are now in the testing stage. That is, with the creation of the Ukrainian ballistic missile, Russia turns into a naked king," says aviation expert Romanenko.
Oleksiy Hetman adds that if Ukraine has enough of its own ballistic missiles, then no one will need to ask permission to attack the territory of Russia: "We do not violate anything with our missiles, all military facilities on the territory of the Russian Federation are our legitimate targets."
According to Ukrainian experts, if the Ukrainian missile is used successfully, the Russian army will be forced to remove aircraft 450 kilometers from the border. Staffs, repair units, ammunition and fuel depots will also have to be relocated. All this will affect the combat capability of Russian troops.