{"id":1300520,"date":"2025-10-02T14:11:40","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T11:11:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/moscow-has-changed-the-rules-of-the-game-new-missile-maneuvers-penetrate-air-defenses\/"},"modified":"2025-10-02T14:11:40","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T11:11:40","slug":"moscow-has-changed-the-rules-of-the-game-new-missile-maneuvers-penetrate-air-defenses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/moscow-has-changed-the-rules-of-the-game-new-missile-maneuvers-penetrate-air-defenses\/","title":{"rendered":"Moscow has changed the rules of the game: new missile maneuvers penetrate air defenses"},"content":{"rendered":"

Months of intense strikes have shown that Russian missiles have become more difficult to intercept, allowing them to more often penetrate Ukrainian air defenses and hit targets in the rear. According to Ukrainian and Western officials, this is a consequence of tactical and technical changes in the use of ballistic and cruise missiles that have reduced the effectiveness of Patriot systems.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is stated<\/a> in the Financial Times article, which contains interviews with Ukrainian and Western officials and an analysis of fatal cases.<\/p>\n

Officials say the Russians have been particularly targeted this summer at drone manufacturing facilities, strikes that serve as examples of Moscow\u2019s new capabilities. Analysts say the improvements have affected both the Iskander-M ground-based mobile system (up to ~500 km) and the Kinzhal air-to-air ballistic missile (up to ~480 km).<\/p>\n

The key change is that the missiles began to perform maneuvers at the final stage of their flight: after a standard trajectory, they abruptly change course, dive at a steep angle, or perform unpredictable maneuvers that “confuse” Patriot interceptors, writes the FT. This allows some of the shells to avoid destruction and hit their targets.<\/p>\n

Ukrainian Air Force data and a tally compiled by the London-based Information Resilience Center show fluctuating interception rates, with the rate rising to 37% in August over the summer, but falling to around 6% in September despite fewer launches. On Wednesday, the Air Force said all four Iskander-M missiles in the latest attack missed and hit their targets.<\/p>\n

The Financial Times also mentions large-scale strikes: on August 28, a facility producing Turkish Bayraktar was attacked, and two missiles from that attack were directed at the offices of a company supplying components for UAVs; the offices of the EU delegation and the British Council were also damaged nearby. Earlier, on June 28, Russia launched seven ballistic missiles – Ukraine shot down only one; on July 9, 13 missiles were launched, of which seven were destroyed, the publications say.<\/p>\n

The report by the special inspector general of the US Defense Intelligence Agency states: Ukrainian armed forces have had difficulty consistently employing Patriot against ballistic missiles due to Russian tactical improvements that allow them to change trajectory and perform maneuvers instead of traditional ballistic flight.<\/p>\n

Kyiv is providing Patriot observations to the Pentagon and manufacturers Raytheon and Lockheed Martin so they can make updates to the software and interception tactics. But officials warn that these improvements often lag behind Moscow\u2019s pace of tactical changes.<\/p>\n

Experts suggest that much of the upgrade did not require expensive hardware changes, but rather adjustments to the software and guidance systems. Oslo-based rocket researcher Fabian Hofman noted that the Iskander-M is capable of aggressive maneuvering in the final leg of its flight, and that a \u201csteeper final trajectory\u201d is something that can be reprogrammed into the missile, making it more difficult to intercept.<\/p>\n

The consequence of these changes is both operational and strategic challenges for Ukraine: on the one hand, the decrease in the percentage of interceptions increases the risk of destruction of critical infrastructure and production sites; on the other hand, it requires accelerating the supply of interceptors, updating air defenses, and adapting defense tactics. At the same time, Western manufacturers and military analysts continue to analyze the data obtained in order to promptly respond to new enemy maneuvers.<\/p>\n

As a reminder, large-scale Russian attacks and a slowdown in American deliveries have threatened Ukraine with a shortage of air defense equipment.<\/a> Ammunition stocks for Patriot, NASAMS, and Stinger systems may run out in the near future, jeopardizing Kyiv’s ability to withstand new strikes.<\/p>\n

As reported, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrsky, reported that the Defense Forces are actively strengthening their capabilities to counter Russian Shahed attack drones. An echeloned air defense system is being created, new crews of interceptor drones are being formed, and the development of innovative technologies to protect Ukrainian skies continues.<\/a><\/p>\n

Also follow \u201cPryamim\u201d<\/strong> on Facebook<\/a> , Twitter<\/a> , Telegram<\/a> , and Instagram.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Months of intense strikes have shown that Russian missiles have become more difficult to intercept, allowing them to more often penetrate Ukrainian air defenses and hit targets in the rear. According to Ukrainian and Western officials, this is a consequence of tactical and technical changes in the use of ballistic and cruise missiles that have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":958950,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[76871,76872,76874],"class_list":["post-1300520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-2","category-news-feed","category-war"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1300520","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1300520"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1300520\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/958950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1300520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1300520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}