The Russians began to modernize the S-300 anti-aircraft missile system with GPS navigator replacing GLONASS guidance kits.
Using the Telegram instant messaging service, Vitaly Kim, the governor of Mykolaiv Oblast, introduced the claim about the S-300, without specifying which versions are being used.
Russia has been losing a significant number of missiles in the Ukraine war to missed targets, including $5 million Kalibr cruise missiles hitting beach toilets due to an inaccurate GLONASS guidance system.
Developed by the Soviet Union, the S-300 was designed and built to intercept cruise missiles and fighter jets, but it’s cruise missiles that destroyed the S-300 questioned its actual capability in combat. Seven weeks later, the Russians have knocked out at least 21 of the S-300 launchers that outside analysts have confirmed with photos or videos.
According to Kim, the Russians equip anti-aircraft missiles with GPS navigators. The inaccurate GLONASS guidance system was the primary reason Russian missiles failed to hit targets in various cities of Ukraine. Russian-made semi-active radar guidance seeker and early radar could be responsible for such a poor result in actual combat.
The Russian army has long been testing the capabilities of the S-300 surface-to-air missile system to destroy ground targets. According to the Russian military, the missiles can be used to destroy headquarters, radar stations and hangars at a distance of up to 120 kilometers when launched on a ballistic trajectory.
The Russians may have run out of precision munitions and these missiles have no other purpose. Fourthly it is convenient, and easier to fire a low-cost s-300 with a GPS guidance package than use a more expensive cruise missile when a target is out of artillery range.
Russian bombers have likely been launching 1960s-era heavy, anti-ship missiles meant to destroy aircraft carriers with nuclear warheads against land targets in Ukraine, UK intelligence report said.
About S-300 SAM
The S-300 is a medium-range anti-aircraft missile system (SAM). It was adopted in the USSR in 1979. It is designed for the defense of large industrial and administrative facilities, military bases, and control points from strikes of enemy air and space attacks.
The S-300V uses 9M83 and 9M82 missiles to target ballistic warheads across a 40 km radius. The 9M83 is 7.5 m long, 0.5 m wide, and can target aircraft at 75 km. The 9M82 is 10 m long, 0.85 m wide, and can target aircraft at 100 km. The export missile variant, the Antei 2500, is similar to the 9M82, but extends the anti-aircraft range up to 200 km.
All three missile variants carry 150 kg fragmentation warheads with inertial guidance systems and semi-active radars to find their targets.
The system is capable of destroying missile targets. S-300 became the first anti-aircraft missile system that can follow up to 6 targets and launch up to 12 missiles.
An S-300 launcher can lob a two-ton, proximity-fuse missile as far as 125 miles, depending on the model.
An S-300 brigade includes several battalions, each of which oversees multiple batteries. A battery usually includes separate acquisition and engagement radars, a command vehicle and up to a dozen launchers each with four ready-to-fire missiles. As such, an S-300 brigade might field a hundred or more launchers and more than 400 ready missiles.
The S-300 system is operated by Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, China, Greece, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, Slovakia, Syria, Ukraine, Venezuela, and Vietnam. The S-300V is operated by Egypt, Iran, Russia and Venezuela.
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