Patriot's effectiveness drops from 42% to 6% as Russia upgrades ballistics, says General Romanenko
Former Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine General Ihor Romanenko said. effectiveness of Patriot air defence systems in countering Russian ballistic missiles significantly decreased.
«Previously, Patriot intercepted about 42% targets, but now it intercepts only 6%. This is the result of the modernisation of Russian missiles and the use of new guidance schemes,» Romanenko said.
Russia improves missile trajectory and manoeuvrability
According to Gen, Russians have changed the flight profile of their missiles, making them more difficult to intercept even by high-precision air defence systems.
We are talking about new modifications of missiles «Iskander-M» and «Dagger», which manoeuvre in the final phase of flight.
«The upgraded missiles have a complex trajectory and travel at ultra-high speeds. This complicates the work of Patriot, which is focused on classical ballistic trajectories» he explained.
The need to adapt air defences
Romanenko stressed that Ukraine urgently needs to update the algorithms of Patriot systems і integrate them with other air defence systems, to restore the effectiveness of the protection.
Coordination with the IRIS-T, SAMP/T and NASAMS systems is required, as well as constant software updates. This is the only way to achieve a high level of intercepts again.
Context.
The Patriot system is a key element of Ukraine's air defence, capable of intercepting ballistic missiles at high altitudes.
However, Russia is actively modifying its munitions to adapt them to the conditions of confrontation with modern air defences.
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