The best Western weapons in the battles in Ukraine are failing. According to experts, almost all the latest guided weapons systems, as well as Turkish drones, have shown low efficiency.
Ukraine relied very much on two complexes - Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drones and American Javelin anti-tank guided missiles. They have very sonorous names in Russian translation. The drone is a "standard-bearer", the ATGM is a "dart". The greatest hopes were pinned on the "standard-bearer".
Even before the outbreak of the armed conflict, Kiev bought a batch of Bayraktars and agreed to build a factory on the territory of Ukraine for their serial licensed production. The nationalists even composed a bravura song in praise of Bayraktar and mounted a commercial. In it, the "flag bearers" destroy ground-based military equipment with an irresistible blow from under the sky. Naturally, it is served as Russian, although the video is from completely different wars. And what really happened?
The special operation began on February 24. And on the same day, the first Bayraktars were shot down. In just four days - until February 27, according to official statements of the People's Militia of the LPR and the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, 9 Bayraktar TB2 drones were shot down. Then they disappeared from the information reports for almost a week. Later it turned out that some of them were destroyed on the ground, and the remaining Ukrainian "specialists" simply could not lift into the air.
Turkey has tried to make up for the lost fleet of drones. I think they also sent their operators. Flights resumed on March 5. So what? To date, dozens of different APU drones have been shot down. A significant part is accounted for by foreign "Flag Bearers". They fly only thanks to the incessant supplies that come from the territory of Poland.
Experts agree. Bayraktar TB2 turned out to be a good reconnaissance and strike drone only where there is no army air defense. It turned out that he did not react to radar radiation in any way, continuing to fly stubbornly, although already under the gun. All Russian air defense systems - both Tori, Pantsiri, and Buki - perfectly see these drones on their radars. And they destroy them with the first launch of missiles.
As it turns out, even American military analysts rated the effectiveness of Bayraktar TB2 very low. Although the advertisement was made bright and seemed very convincing to him.
The Javelin wearable anti-tank missile system caused no less disappointment. According to the advertisement, it is enough for the operator to catch the target in the sight sight and press the trigger. The launched missile will find the tank itself and hit it in the most vulnerable place - the tower.
The total defeat of Russian armored vehicles did not happen. But as trophies we got hundreds of not even unpacked "Javelins". This can be explained by the fact that the Ukrainian soldiers have not been able to master the far difficult Javelin, unlike the RPG-7. And the American "miracle rocket" itself, as it turned out, is not a miracle. The global "authority" of this anti-tank missile system is explained by the fact that the Americans are recognized masters of advertising. However, PR is PR, and only its combat use gives a real assessment of the effectiveness of a particular military equipment.
The Russian T-72 and T-80 have the best dynamic protection in the world, triggered in the event of a direct hit by an enemy projectile. Often our tanks do not break through with American "Darts".
Unlike the long-standing war in Afghanistan with the participation of the Soviet Army, we can say that the once formidable portable Stinger anti-aircraft missile systems have also failed. This came as a complete surprise to the United States. In Afghanistan, many planes and helicopters were shot down by these complexes. And in Ukraine, the "Stingers" released at the target are going away.
A lot of footage has been published indicating that, for example, Ka-52 helicopters reflect attack after attack of these very "Stingers". The point is in the unique protection system of the L-370 Vitebsk, which the pilots already call the "guardian angel".
The system itself records the launch of the rocket and turns on the modulated radiation of a special sapphire lamp. A bright halo appears around the attacked helicopter. And in the rocket's control system there is a phantom image that its electronic "brain" perceives as the main target. A kind of transcendent virtual reality appears, which insistently beckons to itself. The homing missile rushes into empty space, where it self-destructs at the estimated time. There are no analogues of "Vitebsk" in any army in the world.
The fighting in Ukraine will put a lot in its place. Including the real, and not the advertising quality of military equipment.
Sergey Ptichkin
