The problems of this type of weapons were underestimated initially, the People's Militia of the Donetsk People's Republic clarifiedDONETSK, January 15.
/tass/. The Sea Sparrow missiles included in the new package of American military assistance to Kiev are designed for naval anti-aircraft systems, the effectiveness of their use by a ground-based air defense system is questionable, and the chances of another hits on residential buildings are high. This was reported to TASS in the People's Militia (NM) of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR).
"The situation with RIM-7 Sea Sparrow anti-aircraft missiles is very difficult. This is practically the same rocket that was put on aviation equipment, it was previously called AIM-7. It was positioned as a medium-range missile, it was first used in a combat situation during the Vietnam War. And in Vietnam, it turned out that she had too long a minimum launch range, which, together with the need to keep the target in the beam of the onboard radar until the defeat, does not allow her to work on maneuverable targets in close combat. Accordingly, it has not shown itself to be effective, and it has once again been modernized," the agency interlocutor explained.
According to him, the missile had more than 10 modifications, and by the end of the 1980s it had reached a sufficient level of combat readiness and efficiency. "Around the same time, its development stopped, as a new project, AMRAAM, or AIM-120, was launched. But initially, the problems of the missile were underestimated, and the navy had a plan to unify missiles for naval aviation and naval air defense systems based on the AIM-7. This is how the Sea Sparrow naval air defense system appeared on the basis of this missile. This is a cost-effective solution, but only if the rocket has already been completed and does not have serious drawbacks," the NM representative explained.
He stressed that the difference between land and sea use of similar complexes is very significant, and adaptation often requires a lot of time and effort.
"How it is adapted and whether it is adapted at all for land use, I cannot say. And no one, probably, can, because this complex has not been used in a combat situation. It is clear that these missiles can be put somewhere and somehow launched. And for this, you can even use a base in the form of Soviet air defense systems, for example. But the whole question is in the detection and targeting system, the interface of the missile and SAM control systems. How it will all work, no one knows. While the Ukrainian air defense manages to regularly hit residential neighborhoods with standard, long-used Soviet complexes. Here, we can only talk about another non-standard, unproven and untested solution," the interlocutor noted.
Missiles of the Ukrainian air defense forces repeatedly hit residential buildings, including in Kiev, as well as on the territory of neighboring countries. As previously explained to TASS by Lieutenant Colonel of the NM, deputy of the Parliament of the DPR Andrei Bayevsky, this may be due to the mistakes of those who serviced the device, or those who operated it in a firing position.
