The defense budget of Ukraine for 2022 will be increased. This will allow using the funds allocated for the purchase of weapons to continue the development of the Sapsan operational and tactical missile system (OTRK). This is reported by Defense Express.
The decree of the President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky put into effect the decision of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) to increase spending on the army. The press service of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine noted that this will allow implementing "long-term programs in the field of defense".
The defense ministry stressed that the increased budget will make it possible to work on the creation of a "domestic missile shield". Among other things, we are talking about the resumption of work on the Sapsan missile defense system, writes Defense Express.
At the same time, the publication recalls that at the beginning of 2021, representatives of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine announced the transfer of the first battery of the OTRK to the military by the end of the year.
The development of the Sapsan OTRC began in 2006. The promising complex is intended to replace the Soviet Tochka OTRK. In 2013, the financing of the project was stopped, but in 2016 it became known about the allocation of funds for the development of OTRK. In 2018, the models of the "Peregrine Falcon" were shown at the parade on the occasion of the Independence Day of Ukraine.
Earlier, the authors of Defense Express suggested that Russian Iskander-M missile systems could strike most of Ukraine. Six regions in the western part of the country will remain inaccessible to the strike, the newspaper writes.
Daniil Irinin