Russia to double guided missile production, Moscow says
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Russia is upping its production of guided missiles as the country seeks to inflict further damage in light of the Ukraine war.
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Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile system launchers roll during a rehearsal for the Victory Day military parade which will take place at Dvortsovaya (Palace) Square on May 9 to celebrate 77 years after the victory in World War II in St. Petersburg, Russia, Thursday, May 5, 2022 (AP Photo, File)
A surface-to-air missile manufacturing company owned by Russian defense giant Almaz-Antey will be doubling its production effort to bolster the country's air defense capabilities, the Russian Defense Ministry said Wednesday.
"The general director of the enterprise briefed the Russian defense minister [Sergei Shoigu] on ongoing programs for expanding production capacities to provide Russian troops with modern air defense systems," the ministry said in a statement. "The creation of new production capabilities will double the opportunities of the enterprise," the statement added.
Shoigu inspected the company's factory to make sure that the state procurement project was running on schedule. The minister said the Russian S-300, S-400, and S-350 missile systems had proven their ability to take out airborne targets in Ukraine.
This comes after the Institute of the Study of War reported that the Russian armed forces integrated new tactics to surpass Ukrainian missile detection systems.
The US-based think-tank highlighted the 4 recent "Kalibr" missile attacks by Russian forces on Ukrainian positions in the city of Nikolaev, which killed one militant and injured 23 others according to Reuters.
Ukraine’s Operational Command South which is part of the Ukrainian Armed Forces says Russia employed tactics including the utilization of “location features and trajectory changes,” to successfully target the Ukrainian position and avoid detection.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said on Telegram that "a concentrated strike" originating from the Black Sea, successfully hit "all assigned objects."
ISW claims the attacks might bring forth an upcoming operation to disable Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
"Russian forces maintain the capability to renew their missile campaign if they desire, and Russian forces may employ these tactics in order to conserve their stocks of high-precision missiles in the event of a renewed missile campaign," ISW underlined.
Meanwhile, Ukraine supposedly boosted its air defense capabilities in April when it announced that Patriot surface-to-air missile systems arrived for Kiev to utilize in the conflict.
However, the Pentagon leaks show that Ukrainian air defense capabilities are under deep pressure as supplies of Soviet-produced S-300 and Buk-M1 ammunition, which make up 89% of Ukraine’s anti-air capabilities, run low, while Western-produced systems such as the Patriot batteries are experiencing low stockpiles.
Moreover, Russia is deploying electronic warfare against Ukraine, increasingly employing electronic jammers to distort the precision of Ukraine’s High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems.
The jammers distort the mobile rocket by throwing off the targeting system’s GPS guide causing the rockets to miss their targets.
US-manufactured HIMARS have been Ukraine’s key weapon in the war: described as the "most revered and feared" weapon in Ukraine's arsenal. Ukraine currently employs 18 American HIMARS with another 20 anticipated to be received soon, with a steady influx of GMLRS shells (which serve as munition for the HIMARS) from the US’ routine packages of military aid.
The rocket systems have been pivotal for Ukraine’s deterrence capacity: allowing them to fire salvos of six successive missiles with only a 3-meter margin of error in precision targeting sites as far as 80 kilometers away.
However, over the past few months, Russians have mastered the art of jamming technology rendering the American masterpiece increasingly less effective.
Russia’s use of electronic warfare potential has increased exponentially since the onset of the war. The tactic which is cheap and easy to implement proved to be highly effective in incapacitating Ukraine’s prized possession weapon: significantly stifling Ukraine’s advancement efforts.
The jamming of the mobile HIMARS was assessed to be very "significant" to the development of the war by a drone pilot on the eastern front, ever since the Russians had started doubling down on jamming efforts last November.
