Ukrainian air defense faces uphill battle against Iranian missiles
Aviation industry expert Konstantin Krivolap, in an interview with the portal Kyiv24, claims that Ukrainian air defense systems will face significant challenges in the near future when combating Iranian missiles launched by the Russian Federation. This is another instance where Ukrainians have made similar assessments regarding the Fath-360 missiles.
Let us recall that in recent days, the topic of transferring Iranian Fath-360 missiles to Russia has been increasingly discussed. The first reports about the plans to deliver this weapon appeared in August 2024 and were quickly confirmed by an Iranian politician. The deliveries are also confirmed by an analysis conducted by Sky News, where experts traced the route of a ship from Iran that arrived in the Russian Federation with over 200 Fath-360 missiles.
"It will be too late to shoot them down"
Thus, Ukrainians will soon face a daunting challenge. Konstantyn Krywołap stated outright in an interview with Kyiv24 that "Ukrainian air defense forces will face difficulties when dealing with Iranian ballistic missiles." He believes the problem can be tackled by destroying the missiles while they are still on the ground.
– When Iranian missiles are in the air, it will be too late to shoot them down. Even the Patriot system will find it difficult to intercept such a missile. I don't know if it's even possible – Krywołap warned. The expert believes that Ukraine should destroy these weapons before Russia launches them on the defender's country.
In his opinion, the easiest way is to do so at the storage location or during transportation. These missiles are stored somewhere and will be distributed, he said, noting that the Russian army will use Fath missiles from various locations to which they will have to be transported. This, in turn, is an opportunity for Ukrainians to eliminate the threat.
A difficult target for Ukrainian air defense
Fath-360 missiles represent an advanced weapon system with a length of approximately 17 feet and a just under 1.3 feet diameter. The weight of each missile is around 1,764 lbs.
Fath-360 missiles can hit targets up to 75 miles away from their launch site. Thanks to advanced GNSS and GLONASS satellite guidance systems and inertial navigation, these missiles are highly precise. The speed they reach upon hitting the target can be as high as Mach 4.
The introduction of modern technologies, such as precise satellite guidance and the ability to reach high speeds, significantly complicates defense systems' counteraction of missiles.
