The Ukrainian Armed Forces have already fired a new missile over 700 kilometers and it’s not a Strizh
This is a new missile, which is being developed to achieve even greater range and accuracy.
Brigadier General Serhiy Baranov, Head of the Main Directorate of Missile Forces and Artillery and Unmanned Systems of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said that Ukraine already has a missile that has successfully hit targets at a range of 700 km.
He said this in an interview with KYIV NOT KIEV, noting that “there are already prototypes, tests are underway.” And this missile is completely new and its capabilities will be increased, both in range and accuracy.
This was in response to a direct question about Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s announcement on August 31, in which he said that Ukraine’s long-range weapons had been successfully used at a distance of 700 kilometers.
At the same time, this message was rather vague, as long-range weapons also include kamikaze drones, such as the Beaver, which has a similar range. Ukraine has also already used a converted Tu-141Strizh for the same distance.
But Sergey Baranov said that it was a completely new missile. And so the only question left is whether it’s a new ballistic missile or a new cruise missile.
Moreover, this information correlates with a report from former Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov about the development of a missile with a range of 1,000 kilometers. Given that Ukraine is unlikely to have two separate missile projects, it is obviously a single missile that is already flying at 700 km and should reach 1,000 km.
The development of this missile is of more than strategic importance, especially in a positional war, as it allows, if the number of missiles is sufficient, to achieve relative parity in the ability to conduct long-range warfare and to hit most of the defense enterprises of the Russian Federation, as well as other critical facilities.
In addition to this extremely important weapon, Ukraine is working on the development and production of a trailed gun. Given that the program of rearmament of the Rocket Forces and Artillery of Ukraine provides for a complete transition to 155 mm from 152 mm, it is most likely a 155 mm system. The production ofBohdan self-propelled artillery systems and domestic mortars will be expanded in parallel.
Production of ammunition is also expanding. According to the Head of the Main Directorate of Missile and Artillery Forces and Unmanned Systems, Ukraine currently covers 20% of its ammunition needs on its own, and 50% for some types, and these figures are increasing.
Equally important is the fact that the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ repair units have already mastered the average repair of Western artillery, and in the event of a shortage of original spare parts, similar spare parts are manufactured by the Ukrainian defense industry. This means a significant reduction in the time required to return an artillery unit to the front.
