Ukraine’s missile program. Successes of the military-industrial complex

The creation of our own ballistic missile indicates a high level of Ukrainian specialists in the military-industrial complex.

At a press conference on August 27, Vladimir Zelensky said that Ukraine had successfully tested its first ballistic missile. According to analysts, such a victory of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex can significantly affect the course of the war.

Little information

“I thought it was too early to talk about it, but there was already a test – positive – of the first Ukrainian ballistic missile. I congratulate our military-industrial complex on this,” said Zelensky, but did not give details.

According to Zelensky, the creation of its own ballistic missile indicates a high level of Ukrainian specialists in the military-industrial complex.

In July, Zelensky spoke of the “good dynamics” of the Ukrainian missile program.

“Our missile program is moving well, and although it is a difficult task, we are gradually approaching the ability to use our own missiles, and not only rely on supplies from partners,” said the president .

The most important weapons

In the final stage, a ballistic missile attacks the target almost vertically – and does so at high speed, leaving very little chance for air defense to intercept it.

Such missiles can be launched from land-based stationary launchers or mobile installations, as well as from ships, submarines and aircraft.

The missiles can carry high-explosive fragmentation, cluster and even nuclear warheads.

Based on their range, ballistic missiles are divided into short-range (250-1000 km), medium-range (1000-2500-4500 km) and intercontinental (4500-6000 km).

The power, speed and accuracy of ballistic missiles make them one of the most important types of precision weapons for the Russian army.

Shooting down ballistic missiles is one of the most difficult tasks for the Ukrainian air defense. Information released by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Alexander Syrsky, indicates that since the beginning of a full-scale war, the Russian Federation has fired 1,300 Iskander ballistic missiles at Ukraine, of which only 56 were intercepted . .

That is, for the Russian-Ukrainian war, it is ballistics that plays a very important role: it gives one of the parties a significant advantage.

Accordingly, the creation of a Ukrainian ballistic missile should be a priority task for the Ukrainian military-industrial complex.

History of Ukrainian missiles

Now the Ukrainian army is armed with old Soviet Tochka-U complexes, which have a range of only 120 km and a limited number of missiles. In addition, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have American ATACMS, which can hit at 300 km, but the White House stubbornly forbids Kyiv to use them on Russian territory.

Ukraine started thinking about creating its own ballistics in the early 2000s, during the presidency of Viktor Yushchenko. Then the development of the Sapsan operational-tactical missile system (OTRK) was announced, which was actually supposed to be an analogue of the Russian Iskander. The Ukrainian complex should also have a maximum range of up to 500 km and a warhead of about 500 kg. This project was planned to be completed in 2012, but the deadline was delayed due to lack of funds. The project was abruptly stopped during the presidency of Viktor Yanukovych in June 2013.

However, in 2016 it became known about the revival of the Sapsan project under the export name Grom-2. Ukraine allegedly started the creation of this OTRK with a range of up to 280 km, which was commissioned by Saudi Arabia.

In February 2021, Defense Minister Andrei Taran said that Sapsan is 80% ready and “it is necessary to take the final step” and finish the first sample of this latest weapon.

After the start of a full-scale war with Russia, official information about the Ukrainian missile program became less. At the same time, Moscow has reported several times to the public about the downing of the alleged Ukrainian Grom-2 ballistic missiles.

Military analyst Nikolai Beleskov indicates that President Zelensky’s statement specifically refers to the successful test of a ballistic missile for the Sapsan complex.