Iskander-M launch-to-hit time is 300 seconds, missile isn't detected immediately - military expert

He said this on Espreso TV.

Regarding the flight time of projectiles fired from the Russian Iskander-M operational and tactical complex, Katkov said: "Usually, when it comes to an attack with ballistic missiles, the flight time is measured at 300 seconds at a range of 300 km - an average. Because, again, it flies along a ballistic trajectory, depending on the area. In any case, we are talking about several hundred seconds, i.e. several minutes.”

The expert explained that this refers to the time since the missile was launched, not to the detection or activation of an air raid alarm.

"That is, from these conditional 300 seconds, we need to subtract the time it takes to detect an air target, transmit the command to declare an air raid alert, and in general, objectively, maybe a minute remains at best. Quite often, there are situations when, for example, air and missile defense systems are operating in the capital first, and the air alert is announced amid this," Katkov said.

The editor-in-chief of Defense Express added that Iskander missiles can be intercepted by Patriot and SAMP/T air defense systems, but there are currently very few of them in Ukraine.

• Russian troops attacked Odesa with missiles on the morning of Friday, March 15: a medic and a rescuer who came to provide assistance after the first explosion were among the 19 people killed, more than 70 people were wounded.