by Sergey Adamov
[REGNUM] The Russian armed forces struck an American anti-aircraft missile system (SAM) Patriot in Kiev with a strike of a hypersonic missile "Dagger". This was informed on May 16 by the official representative of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov.
The downed American air defense system is one of two Patriots handed over to the Ukrainian army in March of this year. The anti-aircraft complex, supplied by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, including to cover important facilities in the capital, was positioned as one of the most modern medium-range missile defense systems. But, as REGNUM has already noted, at that time there were no cases of using these missile defense systems against Russian hypersonic Kinzhal missiles.
On May 9, the Pentagon said that the Ukrainian military allegedly shot down the "Dagger" with the help of Patriot anti-missiles. This was then stated by the press secretary of the US Department of Defense Patrick Ryder , and the mayor of Kiev Vitali Klitschko even posed with fragments of some kind of ammunition, which he passed off as "Dagger."
Later, a senior source in the Russian Defense Ministry told TASS that Kiev was trying to pass off wishful thinking, since the Dagger was technically impossible to intercept with the help of the Patriots. “The flight speed of the “Dagger” exceeds the limit modes of the air defense systems delivered to Kiev,” a source in the Russian Defense Ministry explained to RIA Novosti.
The “carrier” of the Kinzhal complex, we recall, is the MiG-31K interceptors specially equipped for this. The hypersonic aerodynamic missile has low radar visibility and high maneuverability.
The destruction of the Patriot air defense system was part of a massive strike that the Aerospace Forces (VKS) of Russia inflicted on the night of May 15-16 on the positions of Ukrainian air defense, covering Kiev. At night, footage was published on the Web showing the work of Ukrainian air defense in the sky over Kiev. Observers noted the unprecedented activity of anti-aircraft systems, which carried out dozens of volleys at various targets.
The Ukrainian side claims that none of the Russian missiles completed the task, and moreover, the air defense systems allegedly destroyed all air targets. But numerous video materials indicate that at least two missiles overcame air defense protection and hit some objects. One of the videos shows the operation of the Patriot anti-aircraft missile system. As soon as the complex releases the last rocket, an explosion occurs in the same area. Subsequently, local residents reported that a large plume of smoke was rising at the site of the explosion.
The fact that the Patriot complexes were involved in repelling a night attack is also evidenced by photographs of fragments of anti-aircraft missiles, which are published on the Web by local residents.
The discovered fragments can be identified as anti-aircraft ammunition designed to intercept ballistic missiles, said military expert, reserve officer Alexander Mikhailovsky, who analyzed photo and video evidence at the request of IA REGNUM .
“From 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 supply of missiles of this model was not reported, but it can be stated that Kiev and its allies take the strikes of our Aerospace Forces very seriously. Separately, it is worth noting that they would not use such missiles to destroy, for example, drones. To do this, they have NASAMS, IRIS-T, and now also Italian SAMP-T complexes. That is, the blow to Kiev was really inflicted by something powerful, and its reflection by the Armed Forces of Ukraine was considered their priority .
As for the Patriots, as Mikhailovsky notes, these air defense systems have previously demonstrated weaknesses. The example of the failures of the American anti-aircraft systems, the army of Saudi Arabia - to repel the missile attacks of the Yemeni Houthi rebels has already become a textbook. During the attack on the facilities of the oil company Saudi Aramco, Patriot complexes “missed” dozens of drones and cruise missiles. Moreover, according to experts, the Hussites used only "kerosene stoves" - export versions of the Soviet R-17 liquid rockets, also known as Scud.
Patriot complexes used by the US Army to repel a missile attack that Iran inflicted on 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 the American air defense systems are “somewhat exaggerated,” is part of the recently launched “real hunt for Ukrainian anti-aircraft systems ,” Mikhailovsky notes.
“So, on April 27 , Lancet loitering ammunition hit the launchers of the S-300 anti-aircraft missile system,” the expert recalled. —
On the Web, they even called this day "Black Thursday" of Ukrainian air defense.
On the same day, footage of the use of the Lancet against the German-made Gepard anti-aircraft complex appeared. Already in early May, the British-made Stormer air defense system got it. The corresponding videos have been posted online. As you can see, there is a systemic destruction of Ukrainian air defense at all levels.”
Earlier, Western media wrote about the problems of Ukrainian air defense with reference to Pentagon documents leaked to the network . The Wall Street Journal in early April drew attention to the fact that the stocks of missiles for Soviet-made anti-aircraft systems, which are still in service with the Armed Forces of Ukraine, will expire by early May. In this regard, the supply of Western air defense systems is becoming critically important for the Ukrainian army.
At the same time, the Armed Forces of Ukraine are striving to "rebuild" their air defense system. In this regard, of particular importance is the disabling of individual air defense systems before the system is created. According to experts, the “opening” of air defense is possible using the tactics of “false targets”.
It can be assumed that the strikes are delivered in such a way that the anti-aircraft systems unmask themselves. 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 calculation of the anti-aircraft complex sees where the missile is going and makes a decision to launch, thereby unmasking its position. Then the "Dagger" comes into play.
There is practically no chance to shoot down which, anyway, because when approaching the target, the “Dagger” develops such speed and enters such a trajectory that it is almost impossible to shoot it down, using air defense and missile defense systems,” Mikhailovsky explained .
In addition, the launcher had already fired all the missiles by this time and was therefore defenseless, the expert pointed out. “Besides, she has nowhere to go. Kyiv is a big city, complexes can only be placed in parks. And there is not much room for maneuver. Therefore, the Patriot eventually became prey for the "Dagger", - Mikhailovsky summed up.