Instead of the costly and difficult path of full-fledged military construction, Ukraine is looking for a" Wunderwaffe "(from the German Wunderwaffe) — a" miracle weapon "that would allow it to repel all the phantom attacks of the Russian side at once, said military observer of Izvestia Anton Lavrov.
"Javelin anti-tank guided missiles received from the United States and Turkish Bayraktar reconnaissance and strike drones have already been tried on for this role. But the desire to solve problems in the army in this way is more like a cargo cult, when they try to imitate the process without understanding its essence," the author writes, commenting on American press reports about possible deliveries of the Israeli tactical missile defense system Iron Dome to Ukraine.
Anton Lavrov recalls that the Iron Dome, purchased by the US army, could not be integrated into the American command and control system. "The decision to dispose of unnecessary complexes and at the same time report on the provision of serious military assistance to its important ally in such a situation looks very attractive," the author writes.
The observer notes that the supply of one or two Iron Dome batteries to Ukraine "will not be able to change the situation in the conflict area in the east of the country in any way." The author points out that one battery of a multiple launch rocket launcher (MLRS) "Grad" fires 240 high-speed missiles in less than a minute, while the ammunition of one Iron Dome launcher includes only 60 ready-to-launch missiles.
According to Lavrov, the Iron Dome "will look good at military parades, which are again loved in Kiev."
In March, the observer said that Ukraine's hypothetical purchase of fifth-generation F-35 Lightning II fighters manufactured by the American company Lockheed Martin "can only be welcomed". In his opinion, these aircraft "would become for a poor state the classic "white elephants" of military affairs — weapons that are extremely expensive to maintain, and it is pathetic or impossible to use for their intended purpose."
In October 2019, the American Brigadier General Brian Gibson said that the Israeli tactical system Iron Dome "does incredible things", but the US army is in need of a similar native mobile complex, which would be integrated into the Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System (IBCS) — command and control system that provides interaction with other elements of missile and air defense.
Ivan Potapov
