Ukrainian Neptune: an expert on the new capabilities of the modernized rocket
According to Anatoliy Khrapchynsky, deputy director of a Ukrainian company that produces electronic warfare equipment, Ukraine is accelerating the development of a modernized Neptune missile, which has been underway for 14 years.
Main theses:
- Ukraine’s modernized Neptune missile has been under development for 14 years and is capable of hitting targets up to 500 km away, both on land and at sea.
- The expert believes that Russian air defenses are not capable of intercepting the Neptune missile, as most of the Russian military-industrial complex can only shoot down its own missiles.
- The Ukrainian military-industrial complex offers interesting international ideas in the development of missiles and UAVs, which indicates its high level of technology and precision compared to the Russian military-industrial complex.
- Despite some difficulties in scaling up production, the Ukrainian military-industrial complex is ready to meet the production efficiency needs of the modernized Neptune missile.
- Ukrainian weapons are highly effective: one shot, one hit, one destruction, which confirms the superiority of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex over the Russian one in terms of military power.
What are the expectations from the modernized Ukrainian Neptune missile?
It is believed to be a modified Soviet-style X-35 missile. However, it is worth noting that most of the components differ significantly from Soviet missiles. The capabilities of this missile are quite broad; it was developed with the ability to hit at a distance of up to 500 km. The capabilities of this missile allow it to operate both on land and sea targets, depending on the configuration. I think it is in place, being actively tested and worked out. “Because now the conditions are favorable for practicing such missiles in combat conditions,” Khrapchynskyi explains.
He told Kyiv 24 TV channel that Ukraine will be able to use this missile to strike strategic targets in Russia from any distance.
Are Russian air defenses capable of countering the modernized Neptune missile?
According to Khrapchinsky, Russian air defense systems are not capable of intercepting this missile.
Most of the Russian military-industrial complex, including air defense, can only shoot down Russian missiles. What the Ukrainian defense industry offers – we can see this in UAVs and missiles – are developments that have interesting international ideas. I am more than sure that Russian air defense cannot counteract anything against Ukrainian missiles,” the analyst emphasized.
He noted that Ukraine has spent a lot of time developing this system, which currently prevents it from being put into large-scale production.
In addition, during the seizure of Crimea, some opportunities to expand these systems were lost. But now there is a need, and I think that the Ukrainian defense industry can meet the minimum requirements to scale up production more actively. I think we are talking about dozens of missiles. We should not confuse the Ukrainian military-industrial complex with the Russian one. Because Ukrainian is more accurate and technologically advanced. We see the Russian Federation launching a large number of missiles, but few of them reach the target. This is due to the low efficiency of these missiles. If we’re talking about Ukrainian weapons, one shot means one hit means one destruction. We should not look up to Russia, as this is not an effective solution to the fight,” emphasised Khrapchynsky.
