“We need to work to have our own air defense system,” – expert on countering Russian ballistic missiles

Political expert and serviceman Oleksandr Musiienko commented on the massive shelling of Ukraine on April 15–16 and assessed its distinctive features and how Ukraine’s air defense should be strengthened, Politeka reports.

He spoke about this in his blog.

“The attack began even the day before, as on April 15 Russia launched strategic aviation aircraft that carried out flights from Olenegorsk to their launch positions. A total of 20 Kh-101 cruise missiles were used, 19 of which were shot down. In addition, as a result of yesterday’s attack, almost 100% of both missiles and drones were intercepted, which unfortunately cannot be said about the night attack. And there is a specific feature here. Our forces handle drones and cruise missiles with results of 85% and higher, but when it comes to ballistics, unfortunately, achieving a 100% interception rate is difficult,” Oleksandr Musiienko noted.

The reason, he explains, as the president previously stated, is the shortage of missiles for the Patriot system due to ongoing combat operations in the Middle East. At the same time, the expert notes that Ukraine is counting on increased production, and, fortunately, the United States continues to supply weapons to Ukraine under the PURL program, while Mark Rutte announced an additional €60 billion for Ukraine on top of the EU’s €90 billion loan.

Overall, he states, ballistic missiles remain the most painful issue: during the night, 8 out of 19 Iskander-M and S-400 missiles were shot down—meaning less than half—so Ukraine needs more systems and interceptors. Therefore, the expert adds, work is ongoing with European partners to strengthen air defense. In particular, France is expected to provide missiles for IRIS-T and SAMP/T systems, which in their modified versions are capable of intercepting ballistic targets.

“But this is not the limit. We need to work to ensure we have our own air defense system, our own capabilities to counter ballistic threats. We had developments. I would like to remind you of the Hrim operational-tactical missile system, which was developed at Pivdenmash at one time and was, incidentally, being prepared for adoption into service. Funding had already been planned for 2022, but this was disrupted by Russia’s full-scale aggression. This system was designed as a transformer: it could strike ground targets with ballistic missiles, intercept aerial targets, function as a missile defense system, and even serve as a carrier for anti-ship missiles in one of its versions. I believe work in this direction will continue,” Oleksandr Musiienko concluded.

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