October 4, 2024 – Translated from Ukrainian via Google and OFP
What is the new Ukrainian ballistic missile “Sapsan” with a range of 500 kilometers?
Ukraine is concentrating on its own production of missiles and drones. Kyiv plans to announce a major missile program. This was stated by Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov at the International Defense Industries Forum, which was held in Kyiv. According to the minister, this includes the production of ballistic missiles: “We have been concentrating lately on missile and drone programs. Next year or by the end of this year, you will hear a lot about a major missile program. We have already started working on ballistic missiles.” Earlier,
Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine had already created its own ballistic missile. However, what kind of development it is, whether it was used at the front, and whether the Ukrainian defense industry will be able to produce such missiles en masse, was not reported. The Ukrainian authorities and the military are keeping secret what kind of ballistic missile Volodymyr Zelensky spoke about in August, congratulating on the successful tests. But both experts and war veterans admit that this type of weapon can affect the course of hostilities.
“If we manage to establish production in larger quantities. If it is hundreds, then I think it will not change the course of the war by 100%, but it will greatly affect our capabilities on the front line, greatly affect it in a positive sense,” explained Ukrainian military expert Oleksiy Getman. Plans to create a ballistic missile in Ukraine have been around since the time of independence and the renunciation of nuclear weapons. Cruise missiles were then given to Russia. The operational-tactical complex “Tochka U”, which is still in service, was not suitable. It has a range of only up to 120 kilometers.
https://www.currenttime.tv/embed/player/0/33144811.html?type=video
Due to economic problems, development could only begin in 2006 with the active support of President Viktor Yushchenko. The Yuzhnoye design bureau was engaged in the Sapsan complex. Experts believe that this is the missile Zelensky was talking about. In the export version for Saudi Arabia, it is called Grom-2. The Russian Ministry of Defense said a year ago that such a projectile was shot down. But there is no confirmation of this information.
“This missile is an analogue of the Russian Iskander. An analogue in the sense that it is also a ballistic operational-tactical missile. That is the whole analogy. Because the underlying principles are completely different. But structurally, it is the same short-range missile with a solid-fuel engine,” explained Ukrainian aviation expert Valeriy Romanenko. He assures that, unlike the Russian Iskander, the Ukrainian Sapsan was supposed to have improved guidance systems. Due to this, accuracy is increased and missile consumption is reduced. “At the final stage, it had a high-precision radar guidance system with a 3-millimeter long-wave radar, that is, it allowed the missile to be guided to an object with an accuracy of up to two meters,” Romanenko added.
The development deadlines for the Sapsan were constantly postponed. And under President Viktor Yanukovych (2010-2014), work on the new complex was unexpectedly stopped altogether. They refused to finance the project when Pavel Lebedev was the Minister of Defense of Ukraine. He is currently wanted for treason and, according to Ukrainian investigators, is hiding in Russia-annexed Crimea. “Russia did everything it could to hinder our missile program because it understood how dangerous it would be for them when we were armed with long-range weapons,” says military expert Oleksiy Getman.
In 2016, it became known that the project had been revived, and two years later, the launcher was shown at a military parade on Khreshchatyk. In February 2021, Defense Minister Andriy Taran said that the Sapsan was 80% ready and “it was necessary to take the final step” – to complete the first prototype of this weapon. But Zelensky announced the final step only three and a half years later.
“The President said that the missile was already a complete system, that it had been tested as a product, and that individual components had been tested even earlier. And it is known that the FSB had an agent in the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau who reported that work on the project had been resumed at an accelerated rate at the beginning of 2022. And flight tests were required to be conducted even earlier than ground tests, that is, without fine-tuning the engine on the ground,” explained Valery Romanenko.
The Times newspaper published a map showing objects that can be hit by British Storm Shadow missiles on Russian territory. Air bases, an oil refinery, and the headquarters of the Southern Military District of the Russian army. The range of the British missile is up to 300 kilometers. According to the manufacturers, the Sapsan missile has a range of 200 kilometers longer. That is, it can even reach the center of Moscow.
“Russia has virtually no Patriot-type systems capable of shooting down ballistic missiles. These are systems from the Moscow defense system, and possibly the new Russian S-500 system, which is currently in the testing stage. That is, with the creation of a Ukrainian ballistic missile, Russia is turning into a naked emperor,”– says aviation expert Romanenko.
Alexey Getman adds that if Ukraine has enough of its own ballistic missiles, then it will not need to ask anyone for permission to strike Russian territory: “We do not violate anything with our missiles, all military facilities on the territory of the Russian Federation are our legitimate targets.”
According to Ukrainian experts, if the Ukrainian missile is used successfully, the Russian army will be forced to remove its aviation 450 kilometers from the border. It will also have to relocate headquarters, repair units, ammunition and fuel depots. All this will affect the combat capability of Russian troops.
“Alexey Getman adds that if Ukraine has enough of its own ballistic missiles, then it will not need to ask anyone for permission to strike Russian territory.”
In other words, the murder and rape victims won’t have to ask their friends if they can fully defend themselves … if they can strike back at the weapons their vile enemy is using to slaughter innocent civilians every night and day, which are enjoying protection from those same friends.
It’s sickening that Ukraine must follow its own path to defend itself rather than adhere to the one its allies are dictating, which is the same as a slow, painful death.
[…] the introduction of the Sapsan missile into Ukraine’s arsenal could significantly alter the strategic landscape. Jermak’s assertion that russia should prepare for “surprises” hints at the potential impact of this new weapon. The Sapsan represents a crucial step in Ukraine’s efforts to bolster its defense capabilities through domestic production [[1]]. […]