12.12.2023 – Translated from Ukrainian via Google and OFP
From time to time, there is talk in the Ukrainian information space about the use of a Ukrainian missile system called “Grom” at the front. At first, some military experts attributed to him the attack on the Russian military airfield in Saki on August 9, 2022, then the attack on Feodosia on April 8, 2023. And on March 30, the Russian Ministry of Defense for the first time officially announced that it had destroyed the Ukrainian operational-tactical missile Grom-2.
OBOZ.UA figured out what kind of operational-tactical missile system this is, which does not officially exist yet, but it is already instilling fear and panic among Russians all the way to Moscow.
Historical background of the appearance
In Ukraine, back in the early 1990s, there were quite interesting developments in this direction, but chronic lack of money, and sometimes outright sabotage by government officials led to the fact that in 2014 we had to start almost from scratch.
The first Ukrainian operational-tactical missile system capable of striking at short range (about 100 km) and medium range (up to 500 km) distances was to be the Borisfen OTRK missile. Work on it began back in 1994, but due to lack of funding the work did not progress beyond sketches, and in 2003 work on the project was stopped altogether (the Prime Minister of Ukraine at that time was Viktor Yanukovych).
Thus, due to organizational and financial difficulties, the Borisfen OTRK project became outdated at the “paper” stage, and in 2006, on the initiative of then President Viktor Yushchenko, a strategic decision was made, based on its sketches, to create a new project, called “Sapsan”.
According to the original idea, Sapsan was supposed to combine the properties of multiple launch rocket systems, tactical and operational-tactical complexes. It must hit a target at a distance of up to 500 km and keep the Russian capital at gunpoint (the distance from the Ukrainian border to Moscow is approximately 480 km).
The new operational-tactical missile was planned to be put into service in 2011, but the traditional lack of funding and political contradictions between the branches of government prevented it.
Thus, in 2009, the Ukrainian design bureau completed the preliminary design of the Sapsan OTRK, but the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine rejected it (Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, Acting Minister of Defense Valery Ivashchenko). And starting in 2010, when Viktor Yanukovych became President of Ukraine, work actually stopped altogether. On June 26, 2013, the Minister of Defense of Ukraine and citizen of the Russian Federation Pavel Lebedev officially announced that the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine abandoned the Sapsan project.
After the victory of the Revolution of Dignity and Russian aggression in 2014, the issue of completing the development of the Sapsan complex was again on the agenda. In 2016–2018, many experts assumed that the Sapsan project had found its implementation in the Grom-2 missile system, which on August 24, 2018 was demonstrated at the military parade for the Independence Day of Ukraine (why is the name “Grom-2” – it is not known for sure; we only know that in 2013 the same project was exhibited at an arms exhibition under the name simply “Thunder”).
For obvious reasons, there is still no exact official information about whether Sapsan and Grom-2 are the same project, or whether they are different developments – the project is classified as secret as possible in modern realities. The opinions of military experts are divided: some suggest that Grom-2 is an export version of Sapsan, while others develop the theory that Grom-2 will have a flight range of 500 km, and Sapsan – almost 2000 km.
What is “Grom-2” today
In 2015, information appeared that Saudi Arabia and Ukraine were negotiating a contract for the purchase of Ukrainian Grom-2 tactical missile systems with the involvement of finance for design development. Subsequently, Saudi Arabia transferred about $40 million for the corresponding modifications to this missile system, which actually gave rise to this project (it seems that this is where the legs of the version about the export name “Grom-2” grow).
In December 2015, the then Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, Alexander Turchynov, said that a full cycle production was being created around the Grom-2 project, starting from rocket fuel and ending with the missile warhead, which would be the best standard of operational-tactical missiles existing in the world. He noted that the OTRK will consist almost entirely of Ukrainian components and its development and production involve the cooperation of almost 50 domestic enterprises.
On August 30, 2016, the press service of one of the domestic design bureaus disseminated information that Ukraine was beginning to develop the newest operational-tactical missile system “Grom-2”, and already on January 2, 2018, information appeared about its readiness for testing.
It was expected that Grom-2 would undergo state tests in the fall of 2019 and begin entering service in 2022. But things didn’t go further than a single copy, which, starting in 2018, traveled along Khreshchatyk year after year during the military parade on Independence Day.
In February 2021, according to information from then Defense Minister Andrei Taran, the Grom-2, or Sapsan, project was just over 80% ready. The reason (and this is not even funny anymore) is lack of funding.
In March 2023, the current Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Alexey Reznikov, said in an interview that the plans are to complete the creation of the Grom-2/Sapsan missile system this year.
“I think this is a completely realistic chance. I would call it a plan. I personally recently visited production and looked at individual elements of this program, so I am optimistic about the implementation of this plan,” Reznikov said.
Published technical characteristics of the Grom-2 OTRK
In open sources, you can find information that Grom-2 is an operational-tactical complex with high accuracy and missile defense penetration of more than 96%. This is achieved due to the fact that these missiles are capable of flying not only along a ballistic predicted trajectory, but also along an aeroballistic one – unpredictably changing the trajectory during the flight, which guarantees a breakthrough of all existing air defense systems, even the Russian S-300 and S-400. That is, this is a kind of improved version of the Russian Iskander.
It is also known that the missile’s onboard control system is inertial and is equipped with navigation systems and guidance systems of various types (radar, optical-electronic).
The warhead of the single-stage ballistic missile is designed to weigh 480 kg. The monoblock design uses a high-explosive fragmentation or penetrating high-explosive fragmentation ampule. The weight of the warhead allows us to say that it is capable of destroying an enemy over an area of 10 thousand square meters when using a cassette charge, or on an area of 2-3 hectares with a conventional high-explosive fragmentation charge.
The authors of the project especially note that the Grom-2 complex is adapted for firing both ballistic and cruise missiles, which makes it universal and suitable for both air defense and coast guards, and also allows it to be used as a long-range operational-tactical complex.
The minimum firing range of this complex is 50 km, the maximum is 280 km in the export version and 350 km for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (this is due to the “Missile Technology Control Regime”, which prohibits the sale of surface-to-surface missiles with a longer range to foreign states). However, judging by the available information from a number of sources, 350 km is the “legal” range (registered in accordance with existing legal restrictions), and the actual range of Grom-2 could be up to 500 km.
Thus, the Grom-2 tactical missile system was considered as a powerful non-nuclear deterrent against an aggressor. And who knows how history would have turned out if the authorities had found money to complete the project before February 24, 2022…
Instead of conclusions
So, as we see, neither the Grom-2 OTRK nor the Sapsan OTRK officially exist yet, but the fame of their victories is already confidently spreading across the Internet. Of course, it cannot be ruled out that the final tests of the Grom-2/Sapsan missiles were carried out in combat conditions, using Russian military facilities in Crimea as targets. There is a certain meaning in this. But it’s better to wait for official information.
And the concern of the Russian Ministry of Defense is understandable. After all, if Ukraine really managed to bring this project to combat standards, then such a concept as “safe distance” has lost its meaning not only in Donbass or Crimea, but also in Moscow.
We have only verified information in our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber . Don’t be fooled by fakes!
So Ukraine launched an attack on Feodosia with the Grom-2 system, one week after the orcs said they had destroyed it. It’s time for Ukraine to test this destroyed system on the Kerch bridge. Hopefully at the same time as Putler is holding his annual propaganda phone-in tomorrow.
“So, as we see, neither the Grom-2 OTRK nor the Sapsan OTRK officially exist yet…”
No, of course, it doesn’t exist yet…