Long-range Ukrainian weapons: effective guarantee of national security

This includes the Anglo-French Storm Shadow/SCALP cruise missile, with a range of up to 300 km, and the German TAURUS missile, with a range of up to 500 km.

German media report that Ukraine is very likely to receive the long-range TAURUS missiles, which Merz promised during his election campaign.

Meanwhile, Ukraine is scaling up the production of its own means of destruction: modernized Neptune missiles, modernized S-200 systems, the operational-tactical missile system Sapsan, and others.

"It is important to note that Ukrainian weapons are no longer just an alternative to Western means of destruction — they confidently surpass them in range and efficiency. Hrim-2, modernized Neptune, and S-200 — all these developments deliver precise strikes on Russian infrastructure."

Ukrainian-made long-range weapons can play a key role in the war between Russia and Ukraine. First and foremost, this concerns the missile rearmament program of Ukraine’s Armed Forces. It is worth remembering that as early as 2016, it became known that Saudi Arabia was negotiating with Ukraine about the purchase of Ukrainian Hrim-2 OTRK and financing project design work.

The Hrim-2 missile system is a development by the Pivdenne Design Bureau. It was created to replace the outdated Tochka-U missile systems. In April 2019, it was reported that two experimental samples of the system had been made. One as part of a foreign order from Saudi Arabia and the other for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

The Hrim-2 system was publicly presented at the military parade on Ukraine’s Independence Day in 2020. The developers call it an analog of the Russian Iskander missile.

According to open sources, the warhead of the missile weighs 480 kg. It can be made in either a monoblock or cassette scheme. The monoblock version uses fragmentation, high-explosive, or penetrating fragmentation warheads.

The missile's onboard guidance system is inertial, equipped with various navigation and guidance systems (radar, electro-optical, etc.).

The Hrim-2 can fly along an aeroballistic trajectory, making unpredictable "jumps," evading enemy missile defenses. This increases the chances of the missile overcoming the enemy's air defense. By the way, similar properties are found in the Russian Iskander missiles.

Based on available information, the actual range of the Hrim-2 system may be up to 500 kilometers. This is comparable with the technical characteristics of the German TAURUS missiles. Again, I emphasize: the tactical and technical characteristics of the American ATACMS missile — 300 kilometers. That’s half the range of the Ukrainian weapon.

Thus, according to the official firing range, it is sufficient to destroy any target on the occupied Ukrainian territory. And, if necessary, it would be enough to reach advanced airfields and military bases in neighboring countries.

Since 2022, the system has been intended for adoption by Ukraine's Armed Forces.

In March 2023, Russia’s Ministry of Defense reported that Ukraine had started using the Hrim-2 operational-tactical missile system. A spokesman for the Russian Ministry stated that the air defense allegedly intercepted one Hrim-2 missile.

“Within a day, one Hrim-2 operational-tactical missile, three rockets from the HIMARS multiple launch rocket system, and two Ukrainian drones were destroyed in the areas of the settlements of Novoandriivka and Zelenyi Hai,” the Russian department’s message said.

Another development  is the new Ukrainian missile system Vilha. It is based on the Smerch multiple launch rocket system (MLRS). The system is entirely domestically produced. It is worth noting that Vilha surpasses Smerch in all parameters.

The Vilha project was first made public on January 27, 2016, during a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine. The missile was developed by experts at the Dnipro-based Pivdenne Design Bureau.

The state enterprise Pivdenne Design Bureau was created in 1951 as a design department of the Pivdenmash (Southern Machine-Building) plant for the production of military missiles.

The strategic missile complexes R-12, R-16, R-36, etc., developed by Pivdenne, became the technical base for creating the Strategic Missile Forces of the former USSR. Among them are unique complexes based on heavy liquid missiles with monoblock, separable, and orbital warheads, as well as a combat railway missile complex with solid-fuel missiles.

"It should be noted that all components for the production of the Vilha missile are domestic, including the guidance system, new missile fuel, and the new warhead. Vilha is not just the creation of a missile, but also the design of a complete missile system."

I note that it is precisely Ukrainian production, the Ukrainian defense industry, that will enable the Ukrainian Armed Forces to maintain fire control over the rear infrastructure of the occupying forces.

And it’s not just on the territories of Ukraine occupied by Russia, but, first and foremost, on the territory of the Russian Federation and within the range of Ukrainian weapons. And this is not only Hrim-2. It’s also the modernized Neptune, the modernized S-200 air defense missile system from Soviet times, which, thanks to the efforts of Ukrainian arms manufacturers, now has the ability to strike ground targets.

The S-200 system was originally designed to combat aircraft, airborne command posts, jamming stations, and other piloted and unmanned aerial attack systems at altitudes from 300 m to 40 km, at speeds of up to 4300 km/h, at distances of up to 300 km. The system is capable of operating under conditions of intense electronic countermeasures.

In combat, these Soviet systems were used in several military conflicts across Asia and Africa. For example, in December 1983, Syrian S-200 systems shot down three MQM-74 drones from the Israeli Armed Forces. And in May 1986, Libyan forces, who had received these missile systems from the USSR, managed to shoot down two American aircraft using them.

It is worth noting that in 2013, it was reported that Ukraine had refused to use these systems.

However, there is a likelihood that the Ukrainian Armed Forces conducted some modernization of this system — and due to these changes, it may now be used in the current war.

First of all, the S-200 system uses semi-active radar guidance. This system was created for air target strikes, but over time, during the Soviet era, tests were conducted to strike ground targets. In 1982, tests at the Sary-Shagan range showed low effectiveness because of poor radar contrast of ground targets for the missile guidance system. These tests showed poor results, and the idea of modernization was abandoned at the time. Therefore, upgrading the guidance system became one of the key aspects of resurrecting this old Soviet missile system.

It is most likely that the warhead of the missile was changed. The warhead was rather modest — 220 kg, considering the 7-ton missile. Of these 220 kg, only 90 kg was explosive elements. The rest was made of striking elements.

Additionally, the engine needed to be changed as it was a liquid-fuel engine. Its engine, 5D12, worked with TG-02 and AK-27. Specialists assessed that there was an option to convert the S-200 liquid-fuel missile to solid fuel. This task was once assigned to Pivdenne Design Bureau. Work was conducted, but the S-200 complexes were decommissioned just before 2014.

It should be noted that the S-200 system was created in a stationary version. The positions of the air defense missile system require complex engineering constructions, with launchers moved along rails.

According to the Russian side, the chief of the Russian General Staff, Gerasimov, instructed to identify the storage locations of S-200 missiles in Ukraine and to plan missile strikes on them.

Since this task has been set at the level of the General Staff, the potential threat of their use by the Ukrainian Armed Forces is assessed by the enemy as potentially high.

I note that the development of Ukraine’s own means of destruction is a priority for Ukraine.

In July 2024, the president announced that Ukraine is close to using its own ballistic missiles. And on August 27, 2024, the president of Ukraine officially confirmed the successful tests of the first domestic ballistic missile. "There was a successful test of the first Ukrainian ballistic missile," the president said at that time.

In early May this year, during a meeting of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief’s Headquarters, the president of Ukraine instructed to accelerate the creation of the Ukrainian ballistic missile.

The war must be felt where it came from. And our long-range capabilities are a clear and effective guarantee of security for Ukraine.

Especially for Espreso

About the author: Dmytro Sniehyrov, military expert, co-chair of the Civil Rights Protection Group.

The editorial team does not always share the opinions expressed by blog authors.