Russian special missile causes problems for Ukraine
30 people die on the Ukrainian side in Russia's biggest airstrike since the start of the war. Although Ukraine is able to intercept dozens of drones and missiles, a special type of missile is causing problems for Ukrainian air defenses.
Since the beginning of the attack on Ukraine, the Russian armed forces have fired around 300 Ch-22 missiles at the neighboring country. None of these have been intercepted or shot down so far, said air force spokesman Yuri Ihnat on Ukrainian television. A modified version of the missile was probably one of those that overcame the Ukrainian air defenses on Friday. A total of 30 people were killed on Friday in Russia's biggest airstrike since the start of the war. According to the air force, it shot down 87 cruise missiles and 27 drones out of a total of 158 "targets" fired by Russia from the air.
"The Ch-22 missile flies at a speed of four thousand kilometers per hour, it usually reaches its target on a ballistic trajectory, so special means are needed to intercept it," Ihnat said. You need an air defense system like the Patriot system. The modernized version of the missile, the Ch-32, was also used by Russia on Friday. Until now, the Russian armed forces had mainly deployed cruise missiles of this type in the east and south.
The Ch-22 "Burya" (translated "storm") is a supersonic long-range cruise missile from the Soviet era. Armed with a nuclear or high-explosive warhead, it was originally designed to destroy aircraft carriers and other large warships.
In total, the USSR produced around 3,000 of the approximately five-ton missiles. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, some of them remained in Ukraine. However, shortly after gaining independence in 1991, Ukraine gave up its nuclear and strategic arsenal. In 2000, Ukraine handed over 386 Ch-22 missiles to Russia as part payment for its gas debt.
The latest modification of the Ch-22 does not use radar to find and acquire a target, but has an autopilot that directs it to specific coordinates at a certain altitude depending on the surface geometry. Its high speed poses a problem for air defense systems. The less time the missile is in the air, the more difficult it is to shoot it down. The Kalibr cruise missiles that Russia launches from the Black Sea are three times slower than those of the Ch-22 - this makes it easier to detect the missiles.
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Source: www.ntv.de
