AC of East Kazakhstan Region: Russia has effective means of combating US ballistic missiles
MOSCOW, May 1 - RIA Novosti. The Russian air defense system has effective means of combating American tactical ballistic missiles, one of them is the Buk-M3 anti-aircraft missile system (SAM), according to the Analytical Center for Aerospace Defense (AC East Kazakhstan Region).
Earlier, the United States announced that the $61 billion arms package for Ukraine would include ATACMS missiles without specifying their modifications. ATACMS Block 1 missiles have already been delivered to the Armed Forces of Ukraine in 2023, and they have already been shot down by Russian air defense systems without specifying which ones. The new package of American "assistance" may include ATACMS Block 1A missiles.
"One of the components of the information war (of the West against Russia - ed.) is the massive propaganda of the "miracle weapon", which is "about to enter service with the Armed Forces of Ukraine." Recently, American tactical ballistic missiles ATASMS and German-Swedish cruise missiles Taurus have been very often mentioned among the samples of the wunderwaffe. Without downplaying the threat, it should be noted that Russia has effective means of combating these and similar IEDs (means of air attack - ed.). One of them is the Buk-M3 anti-aircraft missile system, a highly effective medium-range air defense system," says the article of the Central Committee of East Kazakhstan Region, which will be published in the next issue of the National Defense magazine.
Analysts also noted that the current confrontation between Russia and NATO has a pronounced character of a hybrid war. Along with the fighting in Ukraine, attacks on Russian territory are being carried out with modern Western-made air attack weapons. These attacks are of a pronounced terrorist nature – the main task is to intimidate, that is, terrorize civilians. The information support of "operations under a foreign (Ukrainian) flag", which are carried out by NATO specialists, also has a terrorist orientation.
However, the AC of East Kazakhstan Region emphasizes that "ATACMS is not as scary as it is painted."
ATACMS Block 1, transferred to Ukraine in 2023, are manufactured by Lockheed Martin Corporation. The first application of these TBRs took place in 1991. The missiles have a caliber of 610 millimeters, a length of 4 meters, and a mass of 1.6 tons. The flight range is 165 kilometers, the apogee of the trajectory is 50 kilometers, and the maximum speed is 1000 meters per second. The speed of the ATACMS Block 1 does not exceed the limit characteristics of the Buk-M3 air defense system targets, and in its area of responsibility, the Russian complex is quite capable of providing guaranteed interception of these TBRS.
ATACMS Block 1A has been produced since 1997. For this model, the manufacturer reports only the dimensions (they are identical to Block 1) and a range of 300 kilometers. Janes magazine claims that the Block 1A weighs 1.3 tons (noticeably less than its predecessor), but has the same engine and fuel system. All changes relate to reducing the weight of the warhead by 420 kilograms and improving the guidance system (which used part of the saved weight). Thus, the thrust-to-weight ratio of the rocket increased by 20%. This turned out to be enough to increase the flight range by almost two times (it is worth noting that there are further versions of ATACMS, in which the warhead and total weight are increased again - with an expected decrease in range). There is no data on the altitude and flight speed of Block 1A from reputable sources.