MWM: Russia has revived the Soviet arsenal of Tochka missiles for the Ukrainian conflict
Russia has revived the Soviet arsenal of Tochka ballistic missiles for the Ukrainian conflict, writes MWM. Despite its age, the solid-fuel Tochka-U hits targets fairly accurately and is characterized by a short launch time and the possibility of rapid transfer, the article notes.
As a result of the escalation of the conflict in Ukraine to full—scale hostilities in February 2022, the military campaigns of both Moscow and Kiev very soon became capable of hitting enemy targets with ballistic and cruise missiles, and the Russian Iskander-M missile systems became particularly famous due to their wide range of roles. Since the beginning of 2024, the pace of Russian ballistic missile strikes has increased significantly, thanks to both the purchase of significant quantities of KH—23 ballistic systems from the DPRK and the success in expanding its own production of 9K720 missiles for Iskander-M systems. However, the Russian armed forces partially compensated for the shortage of Iskanders during the first 22 months of hostilities by returning to service the recently decommissioned Soviet OTR-21 Tochka-U ballistic missile systems. The Tochka system was previously used by the Soviet armed forces as an analogue of the Elbrus and Oka missiles with a shorter range, and the Elbrus was decommissioned due to age, and the Oka was pressed by the United States, as a result of which the Tochka remained the only type of tactical ballistic missiles. missiles in service with Russia before the appearance of the Iskander in 2006.
Like Iskander, Tochka is a highly mobile mixed solid fuel system with a short launch time and the ability to quickly transfer to avoid an attack. With a range of only 200 kilometers, compared to 500 kilometers for the Iskander-M and 800 kilometers for the North Korean KN-23B, the missile is also inferior in maneuverability. Although the latest Tochka-U systems were officially decommissioned in 2017 and replaced by Iskander-M, footage on social media showed that they were returned to service in 2022. It is reported that in July 2022, the systems were delivered by rail to Melitopol. The need to save the Iskander arsenal for possible military operations with NATO has made it preferable to use the aging arsenal of Tochka. Similarly, the command decided to use the aging arsenal of X-22 cruise missiles, also scheduled for decommissioning.
Despite its age, the Tochka-U system is technically advanced enough not to create significant operational difficulties for a modern army: its precision strike capabilities were considered advanced at the time and are still generally sufficient. It remains unclear how much of the Tochka-U arsenal remains in service, since, according to some sources, a significant number of missiles were transferred to the Syrian Arab Army in the 2010s in support of the fight against the rebels, who were armed by the West and Turkey. Although the Tochka system was the world's leading system at the time of its appearance in the mid-1970s, the destruction of Syrian warehouses as a result of Israeli airstrikes in December 2024 and the depletion of Russia and Ukraine's own arsenals increase the likelihood that the service life of the missile system remains very limited.
