BBC news report… “Proof of exhaustion of high-precision cruise and ballistic missile stocks”
The Russian Internet version of the BBC broadcast on the 18th (the 18th) said that Russia is showing different attack patterns from the beginning of the war, such as using a lot of Iranian self-destruct drones (unmanned aerial vehicles) in recent air strikes in Ukraine and using surface-to-air missiles used to intercept air targets for ground attacks. local time) was reported.
The broadcast reported this on the basis of the results of analyzing the weapons used in the Russian airstrikes on major Ukrainian cities, which have been ongoing since the Crimean Bridge explosion on the 8th.
He noted that Russia appears to be struggling to find more suitable weapons for attack due to a lack of inventory.
According to the Pentagon, Russia has fired regarding 600 missiles in the first 11 days since the start of the war in Ukraine on February 24.
Early in the war, Russia used high-precision guided missiles on a large scale to strike Ukrainian ground targets.
The latest tactical ballistic and cruise missile ‘Iskander’ and the cruise missile ‘Kalibr’ launched from submarines and surface ships deployed in the Black Sea were mobilized in large numbers.
New air-to-ground cruise missiles developed since the 1990s, the Kh-101 and Kh-555, were also deployed.
However, in the summer, the number of strikes using these high-precision missiles has decreased.
Moreover, recently, cheap Iranian-made self-destruct drones are frequently used in airstrikes, and the S-300 surface-to-air missile developed in the former Soviet Union is being used to attack ground targets.
According to the BBC, citing experts, Iranian self-destruct drone ‘Shahed-136’ has appeared over Ukraine since mid-September, and recently a miniaturized version of ‘Shahed-131’ has appeared.
Shahed-136 and Shahed-131 are unmanned attack aircraft called ‘Geranium-2’ and ‘Geran-1’ respectively in Russia.
Unlike general attack drones that fire missiles mounted on the aircraft at high altitudes, they use an attack method that directly collides with a target, giving them nicknames such as self-destruct drones and kamikaze drones.
It is analyzed that it is becoming the preferred means of air strikes in Russia, which lacks expensive cruise missiles and ballistic missiles because it is difficult to intercept because it is hardly detected by radar and is relatively cheap.
The BBC also said its own analysis of photos of damage from airstrikes in Ukraine had confirmed at least three indications of the use of S-300 missiles by the Russian military.
The S-300 is a surface-to-air missile developed by the former Soviet Union to intercept air targets in the 1970s, and is called the ‘Russian version of the Patriot’.
But recently, the broadcaster reported that Russia appears to be diverting these surface-to-air missiles to attack ground targets.
Douglas Berry, a senior research fellow at the Institute for International Strategic Studies (IISS) in the UK, said: “A striking feature of the recent (Russian attack) is the widespread use of different types of missiles to strike ground targets. It appears to have fallen or is falling off.”
“Russia has used quite a few long-range missiles once morest Kiiu, Lviv and other Ukrainian cities,” said Louisa Jones, an analyst at McKenzie Intelligence Services in the UK. It is clear that they decided to divert the -300.”
/yunhap news
