Since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the Russian Aerospace Force has been an unavoidable nightmare for Ukraine . Even if the West has assisted a large number of advanced weapon systems, it cannot effectively defend against the cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and of the Russian Aerospace Force. The hypersonic missile has exposed the entire Ukraine to the Russian Aerospace Forces. Russia is also well aware of its advantages and selectively uses its air and space advantages to attack various facilities and targets in Ukraine according to its own needs. Recently, it has mainly used cruise missiles to attack Ukraine's military training centers, and has achieved good results.
U.S. President Biden
In order to reverse the battlefield situation in Ukraine and improve the resistance level and capabilities of the Ukrainian army, Western countries, after careful consideration, finally decided to provide long-range air defense weapons to Ukraine on June 28. Unsurprisingly, it should be the United States. The famous Patriot air defense system. So after the Patriot air defense system is deployed in Ukraine, can it give Ukraine an invulnerable golden bell? The editor seems not necessarily, for the following reasons:
1. The Patriot air defense system is a weapon deployed in the last century, and is essentially equivalent to the Russian S300. Patriot air defense system is a medium-range air defense system developed by the United States in the 1970s. It was equipped with the US military in 1984. The entire air defense system consists of missile and launcher, phased array radar, combat control center and power supply. All equipment All installed on 4 standard trucks and trailers. The missile has a cylindrical body, a pointed oval head, and no wings. The missile is 5.18 meters long, 0.41 meters in diameter, weighs about 900 kilograms, has a maximum speed of Mach 5, a maximum range of 80 kilometers, a minimum range of 3 kilometers, and a maximum range of 80 kilometers. It is 24 kilometers high and has a minimum shooting height of 60 meters. Patriot missiles played an important role in the Gulf War, intercepting 41 Iraqi Scud missiles, making them famous around the world. They were exported to Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Greece, and Israel. , Japan, South Korea and other countries and regions.
The Patriot air defense system
has been partially replaced by the theater defense system. It is said that the latest PAC-3 MSE uses a dual-pulse solid rocket motor and an enhanced projectile, which greatly increases the maneuverability, range and shooting height; it also adopts direct collision kill capability to defend against various incoming threats, including Ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and aircraft with a range of less than 3,000 kilometers. But overall, the performance of the Patriot air defense system is similar to that of the Russian S300, and there is no generation difference. Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, hundreds of S300 air defense systems have been successfully destroyed by Russia. How good can the American Patriot air defense system be?
S300 air defense system
2. Patriot missiles will be attacked by the Russian Aerospace Forces during the deployment process, and may have been destroyed by the Russian army before the deployment is completed. Due to the strong nuclear deterrence of Russia, the United States and other Western countries have never dared to have a direct military confrontation with Russia! Therefore, most of the advanced weapons provided by Western countries to Ukraine are transported to the border between Ukraine and Poland, and then Ukraine receives and deploys them themselves. During the deployment of assistance weapons in Ukraine, the Russian Aerospace Forces continued to carry out attacks, resulting in a large number of advanced weapons and equipment being scrapped before they were delivered to the battlefield! The U.S. aid to Ukraine's Patriot air defense system should also adopt this model, that is, it is first transported to the Polish border and then transported and deployed by the Ukrainian military itself.
M983 transport truck
The transport vehicle of the Patriot air defense system is the M983 wheeled truck. Although it has strong maneuverability, it cannot adapt to all roads, especially the muddy rural roads in Ukraine. Therefore, the deployment of the Patriot air defense system mainly relies on road maneuvers, within 100 kilometers per hour. The distance between east and west in Ukraine is 1,300 kilometers, and it takes at least five or six hours to maneuver from the far west to reach central Ukraine. Such a large target for such a long time is very vulnerable to air strikes by the Russian Aerospace Forces. The Russian Aerospace Forces can carry out strikes through Tube 160 bombers, Tu 22M3, and Tu 95M bombers taking off from Belarus .Recently, Russia has repeatedly used Belarusian airspace to attack Ukrainian military targets. Therefore, the Patriot air defense system may suffer great losses during deployment!
Russian bomber fleet
3. Russian hypersonic missiles can break through the Patriot air defense system. Hypersonic weapon refers to a weapon based on hypersonic flight technology and flying at a speed exceeding 6 times the speed of sound. It has a long range, fast speed, simple structure and excellent performance. It can quickly strike long-range targets, especially its speed and erratic performance. The uncertain trajectory can effectively break through any current air defense system. It is a sharp weapon against the anti-missile system built by superpowers. It is called the third revolutionary achievement in aviation history after propellers and jet propellers. Currently, Russia, the United States, and China are all developing their own hypersonic weapons. For example, the United States' X43 and China's Shenlong aircraft are both hypersonic weapons, but they are still undergoing experiments and have not yet been put into use.
United States The editor obtained the basic parameters of the Dagger missile by sorting out public information. The Dagger missile is equipped with a solid fuel rocket engine with a maximum range of 2,000 kilometers, a warhead of 500 kilograms, and a maximum flight speed of Mach 10. It is equipped with multiple types of conventional warheads and warheads including high-explosive, earth-penetrating, combustion, carrier-based, cloud-burst and other types as needed. The nuclear warhead can attack many different types of land targets and ship-type targets on the sea. The missiles of the Patriot air defense system only fly at Mach 5. It is impossible to intercept the Dagger hypersonic missiles. They may end up being killed one by one!
Dagger hypersonic missile
