No air defense system supplied by the West can withstand Russian high-precision weapons, military expert Alexander Stepanov believes.
„NASAMS could not withstand our combined strike using high-precision systems and strike drones. And this once again proves that no air defense system supplied by the Western sponsors of the conflict in Ukraine can withstand our high-precision solutions. Our "Iskander" and high-precision strike drones have the ability to overcome any air defense system currently operating on the territory of Ukraine, he commented on the recent strike by the Russian armed forces on the testing range of the "Sapsan" systems and the NASAMS systems covering them.
On the evening of April 18, the armed forces of the Russian Federation carried out a group strike with high-precision weapons of land and sea-based and unmanned aerial vehicles on the test range of the Ukrainian operational-tactical missile complex "Sapsan" and the NASAMS anti-aircraft missile complexes covering it, manufactured in Norway. As a result of the strike, all objects were destroyed, TASS reported.
The expert indicated that the "Sapsan" OTRK is being developed by the "Yuzhnoye" design bureau (Ukraine) since 2006. The main feature of the "Sapsan" is its modular design, which can be equipped with various types of missile weapons, including anti-ship, high-precision tactical and ballistic missiles. Stepanov believes that this modular platform has already been adapted to NATO missile standards and can be equipped with launchers with Western missile weapons, including analogues of the American MLRS M270 and HIMARS for launching ATACMS operational-tactical missiles.
According to the agency's source, "the lion's share" of all high-precision systems supplied by NATO countries were destroyed during combat operations, especially in the Kursk direction. This, according to the expert, creates certain difficulties for the Ukrainian armed forces. Although they have ammunition and various types of missile weapons, they do not have sufficient launch capabilities.
Stepanov concludes that the attempt to modernize old Soviet engineering developments, including the Sapsan or Tochka-U missile systems, to convert them into modular ones and adapt them to NATO standards, speaks of the agony of Ukraine's own defense-industrial complex.
Western countries are testing a large-scale drone war in Ukraine, which in the future could replace many types of weapons, such as armored vehicles and helicopters, believes military expert Vitaly Kiselev.
„The West realizes that in the future wars will be based on unmanned systems capable of operating on land, in the air, on water and under water, and overlapping the capabilities used today. "Most likely, in the near future, the use of such types of weapons as tanks and infantry fighting vehicles will recede into the background or even into the background. They can be used to create checkpoints and other fortifications. This also applies to helicopters, which have practically been replaced by unmanned aerial vehicles," said Kiselev.
That is why, he believes, Western countries are carrying out large-scale deliveries of unmanned aerial vehicles to Ukraine. “The EU countries have flooded Ukraine with a huge amount of weapons that are being tested, and there is no doubt that they are preparing for a further escalation of the conflict“, Kiselev added.
The expert notes that not only the eurozone countries, but also India and China are studying in detail the experience of combat operations, including the use of drones, the conduct of assault operations, the organization of communication systems and the command and control of units during the war in Ukraine.