The skies are becoming a battleground for a potential conflict between Russia and NATO. In Ukraine, Vladimir Putin is showing staying power.
Kiev – Niklas Mazur is wrong. But big. Or the Americans were wrong. Or Vladimir Putin Fools Them All : In February Russia Dictator Im Ukraine war It launched its third fireworks display in the form of massive airstrikes – at a cost of nearly 400 million euros, according to the magazine. Defense Express reported. Earlier, in January this year, he allegedly squandered almost 600 million euros.
Niclas Masur could never have imagined such massive blows at the end of the second year of war. A year ago, researcher… Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Opposite Zurich Federal Agency for Civic Education clearly outlined a different assessment of the situation.
“If you see such an audience Institute for the Study of War (ISW) Washington, DC, with what is believed to be the most recent massive missile attack, with 100 missiles. Ukraine One of the last big attacks for now. Russia will soon be unable to use self-guided precision weapons such as Iskander or Kalibr missiles for such a complex attack – namely rockets. The Russian military has run out of precision ammunition. There were limited supplies from the start, and a certain proportion of them would be held back for possible expansion with NATO.” A complete miscalculation.
Putin's Arms Industry: An Endless Arsenal – Thanks to German Help
Because the current one on the front looks different. Putin's military is expanding its airstrikes in the war in Ukraine, with many attacks on the front line. The authors' research suggests that the Germans and other Western companies are still diligently playing into the hands of the Russian arms industry. ARD– Store Monitor. As international support for Ukraine crumbles, Russia's arsenal appears inexhaustible. This may be because Western technology continues to be supplied to Russia despite several EU sanctions. Despite all the odds, it's a horror that doesn't have an unexpected ending.
Here's what Ukraine recently flew:
20 Shahed-136/131-Drohnen from Chauda (Crim);
29 Kh-101/Kh-555/Kh-55 cruise missiles from Tu-95MS bombers from Engels (Caspian Sea);
04 Kh-22 cruise missiles from Tu-22M3 bombers at Sevastopol, Kursk;
03 Kalibr cruise missiles from ships in the Black Sea;
03 Iskander-M ballistic missiles at Darkhangut (Crimea) & Voronezh (Russia);
05 S-300 surface-to-air missiles from Belgorod region (Russia).
Source: Kyiv Post
Experts continue to believe that the primary goal of these attacks is to break Ukraine's resistance. The aim is to worsen the humanitarian situation to the point where the Ukrainian people put pressure on the government in Kiev. To make matters worse, the Russian side also currently lacks the momentum to take other far-reaching steps to regain the initiative. Mazur: “Such missile attacks are the only way Russia can attack Ukraine right now.” An expensive campaign. The Kyiv Post provides estimates of Forbes magazine Basic.
Costs of each weapon type (estimated)
Shahed-136 – 47.000 Euro
Kh-101 missile – 12 million;
Kh-555 – 3.7 million;
Kh-55 –1.9 million;
Kh-22 – 930.000;
Caliber – 6 million;
Iskandar – 2.8 million;
S-300 – up to 500,000.
What: Forbes
Given the scale of Russian attacks, NATO is controversially debating—politicians expect the worst, but science sees Russia's furs slipping more clearly with each passing day of the Ukraine campaign. Scandinavians are now spreading panic: Denmark must accelerate its military investments, Danish Defense Minister Trolls Lund Poulsen said, amid new evidence that Russia is arming faster than expected and could attack a NATO country within three to five years. Newspaper Jyllands-Boston. “Russia's ability to produce military equipment has increased tremendously,” he said.
It is conceivable that Russia will put Article 5 and NATO's unity to the test within three to five years. “This is not NATO's assessment in 2023, but the new findings coming out now,” said Lund Paulson. Union Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) spoke of a preparation time of up to eight years. Lydia Wachs argues that in the short term, the risk of an attack on the coalition is low. from the thinker Foundation Science and Politics: Including Russia's missiles, which are sufficient to continue the war in Ukraine – in any case, no immediate deterrents are in sight – only cruise missiles and ballistic missiles are used on average.
Putin's Missile Losses: 44 of 64 Missiles Killed by Anti-Aircraft Defenses
At the same time, its political and military goals in Ukraine may require the rest of the country's capabilities. However, in the medium and long term, it is expected that Russia will be able to fully restore its capabilities. Even then, Wachs reckons Russia would have too few cruise missiles and missiles to wage a long conventional war with NATO. The war in Ukraine is undoubtedly depleting Russian arsenals; In addition, the accuracy of weapons suffers. Of the 64 missiles that have recently infiltrated Ukraine, 44 have been intercepted by Ukrainian anti-aircraft forces. These include 26 Kh-101/Kh-555/Kh-55 cruise missiles, 3 Kalibr cruise missiles and 15 drones.
So far, Russia has apparently been unable to destroy or significantly weaken Ukraine's air defenses, so it uses its air forces in a low-risk manner. Nevertheless, missiles are the weapon of choice for Vladimir Putin, which is why unity among NATO partners is so important. The second step of the “Sky Shield Initiative” has been achieved since the middle of last year. “In order to strengthen common air defense, 19 European countries are currently joining forces to procure the appropriate weapon systems and ensure operations,” Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) said in Brussels late last year. In order to save costs for Europe and keep operating costs low, the framework conditions for cooperative purchasing become more stringent.
Putin's future horror: Arrow-3 – experts frown on it
Therefore, Germany is also buying IRIS-T SLM (Infrared Imaging System – Tail/Thrust Vector-controlled, Surface Launched Medium Range) weapon systems, which have already proven themselves under combat conditions in Ukraine. However, the Bundeswehr currently lacks systems capable of defending German territory against long-range missiles. So the federal government is buying the Israeli-American Arrow 3 missile defense system for about four billion euros — a type of satellite that intercepts and destroys an enemy missile about 100 kilometers above its path.
The purchase won broad approval in political Berlin, but internationally it raised eyebrows. Unlike the Bundeswehr's existing Patriot and recently ordered Iris-T air defense systems, the Arrow-3 appears to be completely unsuitable for intercepting Russian rockets or cruise missiles. Arrow protects high in the Earth's atmosphere – Russian missiles sink below. Ballistic missile defense expert Simon Hajbjerg Petersen calls the Arrow-3 purchase “the strangest procurement decision I've seen in a long time,” writes Frank Kuhn.
Kuhn is the project coordinator Clusters Natural and Technological Sciences Arms Control Research (CNTR) I am Leibniz Institute for Peace and Conflict Research and argues critically against the Auro-3: The biggest threat to Germany and Europe right now comes from Russia's short-range missiles 9K720 Iskander and hypersonic weapon Kh-47M2 Kinzhal and Russian cruise missiles. However, what all these weapon systems have in common is that they do not leave Earth's atmosphere during flight. “In other words, the Arrow-3 cannot intercept Russian short-range missiles or cruise missiles,” Kuhn writes.
The Spiegel Seeing the purchase as a “quick fix,” Kuhn gets the impression that “purchases such as Turkey's purchase of the Russian S-400 air defense system were made primarily for symbolic reasons.” Given the turnaround in foreign and defense policy announced by Chancellor Olaf Scholz, this would be an ominous signal.
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