Russians have about 7,000 missiles for S-300 systems, US is increasing production of munitions: Serhii Zgurets' column

The Ukrainian Air Force' effective work

The command of the Air Force of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported on the record results of the activity of the Ukrainian air defense - in a week, 8 Russian aircraft, 2 helicopters, 4 cruise missiles, and more than 10 unmanned missile complexes were destroyed. On September 19, anti-aircraft missile forces of the Ukrainian Air Force shot down a Russian Su-25 attack aircraft and an Kh-59 guided air missile in the Kherson region. The Ukrainian Air Force works extremely efficiently despite all the limitations regarding the technical capabilities of air defense systems and fighters. In total, to date, more than 250 Russian aircraft and 200 helicopters have been destroyed.

The Russians have 7,000 more missiles for S-300 systems

This day is indicative of the number and types of missiles used by the invading Russian forces. Firstly, there were a small number of missile launches, but one of them was a dangerous missile strike on the industrial zone of the South Ukrainian nuclear power plant. The Operational Command South reported that after midnight, a missile, previously Iskander, was directed at the nuclear power plant, which hit 300 meters from the nuclear reactors. Of course, this is another manifestation of missile terrorism on the part of the Russian Federation.

As for other conditional long-range attacks, the Russian enemy used only S-300 anti-aircraft guided missiles for strikes. There were three such shellings during the night - in Siversk, Serebrianka, and Kramatorsk. This is all the Donetsk region. Previously, the Russians used the S-300 air defense system to attack Kharkiv and Mykolaiv. Missiles up to S-300 have been in storage for more than 30 years, and their shelf life has already expired for the use of air-to-air missiles. The Russians have about 7,000 such missiles. They are not always effective against ground targets, but the Russian invaders use everything they can.

The US is increasing the production of munitions to support Ukraine

We expect the help of the US and Germany in speeding up the supply of modern air defense systems such as NASAMS and IRIS-T, which should reach Ukraine's Armed Forces in the fall. Accordingly, it is essential to significantly raise the bar for shooting down Russian aircraft and missiles. In general, the aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine became a significant impetus to the fact that the production of weapons is actively expanding in the West. In the American specialized publications, rather interesting Pentagon data were published regarding the expansion of the production of artillery ammunition, high-precision projectiles for HIMARS, MANPADS Stinger, and anti-tank Javelin. These are the very weapons that became the basis of Ukraine's constant support. In particular, the US Army, with the support of Congress, is working to increase the production of 155 mm ammunition. As of September 8, the American side sent 807,000 such ammunition to Ukraine despite the fact that the rate of production of ammunition in this caliber is 15,000 per month. It was announced that they should be produced three times more. Similar steps are being taken with regard to HIMARS missiles, which the US has transferred to Ukraine by the thousands. It was decided to double the production rate of projectiles for HIMARS, and before the war they were produced up to 5 thousand per year.  All these decisions, according to the Pentagon, are forward-looking steps, based on an understanding of the long-term perspective of supporting Ukraine, to replenish supplies and create conditions for supporting other allies.

New self-propelled guns for Ukraine from Germany

We still hope for constant foreign aid, and the next step is the actions of Germany, which we usually criticize for its stingy supply of weapons. Today, the German Ministry of Defense announced that "despite its own difficult financial situation, the Bundeswehr will provide Ukraine with 4 more Panzerhaubitze 2000 with an additional package of ammunition." This will increase the number of guns supplied by Germany to Ukraine to 14, and together with those supplied by the Netherlands, the number of such howitzers in the Ukrainian army will already be 22. Before that, Germany finally agreed to sell 18 modern RCH-155 self-propelled artillery systems to Ukraine. This is actually the same Panzerhaubitze 2000, or rather its turret with a gun, which is mounted on the chassis of the Boxer armored personnel carrier. It's both mobility and firepower in one package, but these howitzers won't be produced until three years later. The main company that manufactures these systems is also ready to supply Ukraine with new Gerard A7 tanks in three years although the German government maintains a taboo on the supply of tanks to Ukraine.