The Russian S-400 missile system is designed for air defence, but Russia is so desperate to destroy Ukraine that even S-400 missiles are adapted to destroy ground targets. The head of the President’s office of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak, reported that Kyiv was attacked with 48N6 ballistic missiles launched by S-400 systems in the early morning of December 13.
Russia has hundreds of S-400 launchers and thousands of missiles for them. Image credit: Mil.ru via Wikimedia (CC BY 4.0)
The S-400 is a missile system capable of using several different types of missiles. The S-400 entered service in 2007, and since then Russian engineers prepared several modifications of missiles. S-400 missiles are expensive and are rarely used to attack ground targets. Previously, various objects in Ukraine were repeatedly attacked by S-300 systems.
Now, on December 13, it was reported that Kyiv was attacked early in the morning by as many as 10 ballistic missiles launched by S-400 systems. They were all shot down, but the falling debris still did damage to residential areas.
The head of the President’s Office of Ukraine Andriy Yermak revealed that the Russians attacked Kyiv with reprogrammed 48N6 missiles. Such a missile weighs 1.84 t and has a 180 kg warhead.
Also, since it is ballistic – it flies on a ballistic trajectory – it reaches a very high altitude and then dives towards the target at a speed of 2.8-4.8 metres per second. Because of that, ballistic missiles are much more difficult to shoot down than cruise missiles.
The 48N6 missiles have several modifications, and Yermak did not reveal exactly which type of missiles were launched into Kyiv by the Russian S-400 systems. Obozrevatel.com writes that their range is up to 240 km, but some 48N6-type missiles (for example, 48N6E2) have a range of 200 km, others don’t fly even that far.
The biggest problem is not their range – everyone knows that Russia uses long-range weapons anyway – but the large warhead and debris, which even after the missile is shot down is very dangerous. As a result, Ukrainians are always strongly urged not to ignore the alarm signals and to take cover.
Why is Russia using air defence missiles to attack Kyiv? Well, the answer is simple – because they have a lot of these missiles. They have thousands of air defence missiles that can be reprogrammed to engage ground targets.
In January 2023, analysts at the Jamestown Foundation in the United States noted that the Russian military industry produces several times more anti-aircraft missiles per year than cruise missiles.
Anti-aircraft missiles are useful, of course, but since Ukrainian drones rarely appear in Russia’s skies and Russian territory is generally not attacked, Russia is better off using them as conventional ballistic missiles to destroy ground targets in Ukraine.
Written by Povilas M.
Sources: Obozrevatel.com, Wikipedia