/ world today news/ The Russian armed forces hit an American Patriot anti-aircraft missile system (SAMS) in Kiev with a hypersonic “Dagger” missile strike. This was announced on May 16 by the official representative of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov.
The downed US air defense system is one of two Patriots handed over to the Ukrainian military in March this year.
The anti-aircraft complex supplied to the armed forces of Ukraine, including for covering important objects in the capital, was positioned as one of the most advanced medium-range anti-missile defense systems. But, as REGNUM has already noted, at that time there were no cases of the use of these anti-missile defense systems against Russian Kinzhal hypersonic missiles.
On May 9, the Pentagon said that the Ukrainian military allegedly shot down the Dagger with the help of Patriot anti-missile systems. This was stated by the press secretary of the US Department of Defense, Patrick Ryder, and the mayor of Kyiv, Vitaliy Klitschko, even posed with fragments of some ammunition, which he presented as “Dagger”.
A senior Russian Defense Ministry source later told TASS that Kiev was trying to develop wishful thinking because the Dagger was technically impossible to intercept using the Patriot.
“The flight speed of the “Dagger” exceeds the limit modes of the air defense systems delivered to Kiev,” a source from the Russian Ministry of Defense explained to RIA Novosti.
The “carrier” of the “Dagger” complex, we remind you, are the specially equipped MiG-31K interceptors. The hypersonic aerodynamic missile has low radar visibility and high maneuverability.
The destruction of the Patriot air defense system is part of a massive strike that the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) carried out on the night of May 15-16 against Ukrainian Air Defense positions covering Kiev.
At night, footage was published on the network, which depicts the work of the Ukrainian air defense in the sky above Kiev. Observers noted the unprecedented activity of anti-aircraft systems, which carried out dozens of volleys on various targets.
The Ukrainian side claims that none of the Russian missiles were up to the task and, moreover, the air defense systems allegedly destroyed all aerial targets. But numerous video materials show that at least two missiles broke through air defenses and hit some targets.
One of the videos shows the operation of the Patriot anti-aircraft missile complex. As soon as the complex launches the last missile, an explosion occurs in the same area. Subsequently, local residents reported that a large column of smoke was rising at the site of the explosion.
The fact that the Patriot complexes were involved in the coverage of a night attack is also evidenced by photos of fragments of anti-aircraft missiles published on the network by local residents.
The fragments found can be identified as anti-aircraft munitions designed to intercept ballistic missiles, said military expert reserve officer Alexander Mihailovsky, who analyzed photo and video evidence at the request of the REGNUM agency.
“Based on the tail, gas-dynamic rudders and other fragments, we can conclude that PAC-3 CRI or MSE interceptor missiles were transferred to Kiev, whose task is to shoot down tactical ballistic and cruise missiles,” the source said.
– “Previously, the delivery of missiles of this model was not reported, but it can be said that Kiev and its allies take the strikes of our Airborne Forces very seriously,” he said.
“Separately, it is worth noting that they would not use such missiles to destroy, for example, drones,” the expert added.
“For this purpose, they have NASAMS, IRIS-T, and now the Italian SAMP-T complexes. That is, the strike against Kiev was really struck with something powerful, and its coverage by the Armed Forces of Ukraine was considered their priority,” Mihailovsky said.
As for the Patriots, as Mihailovsky notes, those air defense systems have demonstrated weaknesses before. The example of the failures of the American anti-aircraft systems in the bows of the army of Saudi Arabia to repulse the missile attacks of the Yemeni Houthi rebels has already become textbook.
During the attack on the facilities of the Saudi Aramco oil company, the Patriot complexes “missed” dozens of drones and cruise missiles. In addition, according to experts, the Houthis used only “kerosene” – export versions of the Soviet R-17 liquid rockets, also known as “Scud”.
The Patriot systems used by the US military to repel a missile attack Iran launched against US military bases in Iraq in January 2020 faced similar problems.
American anti-aircraft systems could not cope with missiles, which in terms of their characteristics are seriously inferior to the Dagger complexes.
The current destruction of the Patriot, which confirmed that the capabilities of US air defense systems are “somewhat exaggerated”, is part of the recently launched “real hunt for Ukrainian air defense systems”, Mykhailovsky noted.
“So, on April 27, the Lancet stray munitions hit the launchers of the S-300 anti-aircraft missile system,” the expert recalled.
“The network even called this day the ‘black Thursday’ of Ukrainian air defense.”
On the same day, footage of the use of the Lancet against the German Gepard anti-aircraft system appeared. Already at the beginning of May, the British Stormer air defense system received it.
The corresponding videos are posted online. As you can see, there is a systematic destruction of Ukrainian air defense at all levels.
Earlier, Western media wrote about the problems of Ukrainian air defense, referring to Pentagon documents leaked on the web.
The Wall Street Journal in early April drew attention to the fact that the stockpile of Soviet-made anti-aircraft missiles still in service with the armed forces of Ukraine was running out by early May. In this regard, the supply of Western air defense systems becomes extremely important for the Ukrainian army.
At the same time, the armed forces of Ukraine are seeking to “restore” their air defense system. In this regard, it is particularly important to disable individual air defense systems before the system is hit. According to experts, the “opening” of air defense is possible with the help of the “false targets” tactic.
It can be assumed that the strikes are delivered so that the anti-aircraft systems are unmasked. Special missiles can be used – target simulators, drones can be used. In fact, real cruise missiles that hit real targets can also be used.
“The anti-aircraft complex’s calculation sees where the missile is heading and makes a decision to launch, thereby unmasking its position. Then the “Dagger” comes into action.
In any case, there is practically no chance of being shot down, because when approaching the target, the “Dagger” develops such a speed and enters such a trajectory that it is almost impossible to be shot down with the help of air defense and anti-missile systems,” Mihajlovski explained.
Moreover, by that time, the launcher had already fired all the missiles and was therefore defenseless, the expert pointed out.
— “Besides, she has nowhere to go. Kiev is a big city, the complexes can only be located in parks. And there is not much room for maneuvering. Therefore, the Patriot eventually became a prey for “Dagger”, – summarized Mikhailovsky.
Translation: SM
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