Ukraine's air defense hit hard: Critical S‑300 system loss
Ukrainians recently lost a critical air defense system in the Sumy region, which protected the airspace over the area facing the Kursk region. Here, we present what was lost and how it occurred.
Footage has surfaced online from a Russian drone showing elements of the Ukrainian S-300 air defense system battery in the Sumy region. It appears that either an Iskander-M ballistic missile or a Tornado-S system missile with a cluster warhead struck the S-300P system launcher. This is suggested by the large explosion in the air that preceded explosions on the ground. The Ukrainian launcher was completely destroyed, as indicated by the explosion of transported rockets and dense white smoke.
The S-300 systems: The core of Ukraine's defense, lacking missiles
In the first two years of the war, Ukrainians managed well in countering Russian ballistic and cruise missiles. However, the situation drastically worsened in the third year because the supply of missiles for the S-300 systems was practically exhausted, and the deliveries of Western Patriot and SAMP/T systems were inadequate to meet the demand.
Currently, functional S-300P and S-300W system batteries are rare, as the only producer of missiles for them is located in Russia. Although Ukrainians received an S-300P system battery from Slovakia and missiles for refurbishment from Bulgaria, these supplies are limited. The only other option would be Greece, which has repeatedly refused to transfer its stockpiles or manufacture new missiles with help from Western partners.
The S-300 systems: One of the few means Ukrainians have to counter ballistic missiles
The S-300 systems were designed in the 1970s in P and W versions. The S-300P was developed for the Air Force and Navy, focusing on combating aircraft with an added capability to intercept ballistic missiles. Meanwhile, the S-300W system, introduced to the army a few years later, was more optimized for combating ballistic missiles.
After the dissolution of the USSR, the S-300P family of systems became more popular due to being noticeably cheaper despite slightly worse parameters. It allows for targeting aircraft at distances up to 93 miles and altitudes up to 15 miles, and ballistic missiles at distances up to 25 miles, depending on the missiles used.
All the applied missiles require continuous guidance by illuminating the target with a fire control radar beam until impact, significantly limiting defense capabilities in simultaneous attacks from multiple directions.
Despite the inconvenience, this is an old but still effective method in many air defense systems. The system uses a fragmentation warhead weighing about 330 pounds with a proximity fuse to destroy targets.
