How Russia turns its S-300 and S-400 air defense systems into terrorist weapons

From the first day of the full-scale invasion, the occupying Russian army has been using a number of long-range weapons to launch terrorist attacks on the territory of Ukraine from land, sea and air. However, the limited stockpile of missiles, which Russia is currently unable to replenish in the volumes it needs, has forced the invaders to use defensive weapons - S-300 and S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems - for terrorist attacks on Ukrainian cities.

The first air raids from the S-300

For the first time, the use of S-300 air defense systems by Russian troops for ground strikes became known in July 2022, when the head of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration Vitalii Kim said that the enemy had fired missiles from S-300 at Mykolaiv and its surroundings.

At the time, one might have been skeptical about this news, if not for one thing: the occupying forces had been training to fire their S-300s at ground targets long before the full-scale invasion. In particular, in 2017, anti-aircraft missile units of the Russian Eastern Military District conducted "electronic launches" from their S-300s at "armored vehicles of a conventional enemy." But in Belarus, such exercises were conducted even earlier - in 2011.

Russian S-300 air defense system, photo: gettyimages

In general, the S-300 received the function of defeating ground targets back in the Soviet era, but at that time, such a defensive weapon option was not seriously considered, as it was a very expensive pleasure, provided that the same operationally tactical missiles were available. However, as we can see, the Russians do not pay attention to the cost of missiles to fire them at Ukrainian cities.

S-300 and S-400 as weapons of terrorists

Subsequently, the occupiers switched to the massive use of their S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems in Ukrainian cities in Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, Donetsk, and other regions. First of all, it is worth noting the following: from a purely technical point of view, it is quite possible to hit a target with known coordinates with an S-300. The issue is that the missile guidance method is radio-command, which means that for a more or less accurate strike, it is necessary to have direct radar visibility between the radar and the missile, and in this case the effective range of the S-300 is about 25-30 km, which is actually within the range of our artillery systems.

The bottom photo shows a 5B55K high-explosive warhead launched by the Russian forces from their S-300

Therefore, Russians had a choice - either to risk their S-300s or to launch from much greater distances, when the missile is controlled only on the initial part of the trajectory, and then the missile flies "somewhere there." And in this case, the target is not a specific object, but the settlement as a whole.

Threat from the north

Despite the fact that initially the invading forces used their S-300/S-400 for strikes in the south and east of Ukraine, later they began to use for strikes on ground targets the air defense systems that the Russian army has deployed in Belarus. So, for example, on July 28, 2022, several dozen S-300/S-400 air defense systems were launched from Belarus over the Chernihiv region at a range of over 112 km.

For a long time, the enemy used 5B55 missiles for strikes from its air defense systems, which could hit ground targets at a distance of up to 120 km and 133 kg of warhead. However, later it became known that Russia also began using 48N6DM missiles from the S-400, which have more than twice the range of 250 km and 180 kg of warhead. This missile flies at an incredibly high speed, up to 2.5 km/s, so it can cover the maximum distance in a few minutes.

Launch range of the Russian S-400 from Belarus

Therefore, the issue of finding ways to counteract such a threat has become urgent, and in this matter there are actually a number of nuances that must be taken into account.

Countermeasure options

As we have already noted, the only currently available way to counter the S-300/S-400 threat is to destroy the launchers directly. We cannot yet directly destroy missiles launched from these air defense systems, since they fly beyond the ballistic territory, and therefore it is necessary to have anti-missile defense complexes to shoot them down.

Patriot air defense system, photo: gettyimages

As of today, Ukraine has no means that could effectively shoot down these missiles. At the same time, the situation should change with the delivery of such weapons as the Patriot air defense system in the PAC3 version with MSE missiles (our military is already undergoing training on the American air defense system, although it has not been announced at the moment which version Ukraine will receive), as well as the SAMP/T air defense system, which Italy and France should provide us. These two complexes will be able to effectively withstand strikes from Russian S-300/S-400 air defense systems.

Oleksii Levkov, Defense Express - specially for Espreso.