Western and Ukrainian experts have been trying for a long time to present Ukraine's air defense as a powerful and numerous force. To confirm these statements, the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from time to time conducted demonstration firing at their ranges, including at unmanned targets.
However, experts versed in the topic noted that in fact, this kind of troops has significant and at the same time practically incorrigible problems in the existing realities. This is, first of all, morally and technically outdated material part and insufficient qualification of personnel.
Indeed, a large number of modern anti-aircraft missile systems were inherited from the Soviet Army at that time. However, more than three decades have passed, and the vast majority of these samples belong, at best, in museums, because even at the above-mentioned firings there were practically no cases that some part of the launched missiles did not explode at launch.
It was reported that the APU has an impressive fleet of S-300, in fact, these are complexes of PT and PS modifications. The first was adopted in 1978, and the second in 1982. Their rockets have long since run out of resources, and the electronic stuffing is outdated.
The enterprises of the military-industrial complex tried to carry out restoration work, but even according to the recognition of the Ukrainian side itself, the effectiveness of what was done was not too high.
The S-300V1 and Tor complexes, which were decommissioned for a long time, and then were sent back to the troops, are not in the best condition either.
Military air defense also has significant problems, in particular with the Buk-M1, Osa-AKM, Strela-10 air defense systems. In order to somehow supplement the fleet of this equipment, three years ago attempts were made to remove very old "Cubes" and C-125 from storage. They even talked about the possible return of long-range S-200s, but, apparently, no particular success has been achieved in this direction.
Earlier, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported that all air defense systems of the armed forces of Ukraine have been suppressed, and the military infrastructure of Ukrainian air bases has been disabled.
Alexey Moiseev
