Ukraine’s HIMARS and Vilkha-M guided rocket artillery was declared almost ineffective against Russian air defenses.
Russian air defense systems on October 16, 2022, intercepted 21 rounds of the HIMARS multiple launch rocket system together with the Vilkha-M of the Ukrainian Army, the press information of the Russian Defense Ministry said.
In addition, the notice also noted that two AGM-88 HARM high-speed anti-radar missiles launched from Ukrainian warplanes were also shot down in the Kherson area.
“21 rounds of the HIMARS and Vilkha-M multiple launch rocket systems were shot down in the air in the Vladimirovka settlements of Donetsk, Olgovka, Nikolaevka, Novaya Kakhovka, Veseleye and Otradokamenka in the Kherson region,” the press service said. said.
In addition, Russian air defense systems are reported to have destroyed nine UAVs of the Ukrainian armed forces over the territory of the Donbass, Kharkiv, and Kherson regions, although there are no images to support this claim.
In the notice of the Russian Ministry of Defense appeared very interesting information, that the domestic multiple-launch rocket launcher Vilkha-M of Ukraine is still at the war, which means that the weapon is being produced to meet the needs of the Russian Defense Ministry. battlefield bridge.
It should be emphasized, Vilkha-M is a comprehensive upgrade from the BM-30 Smerch multiple-launch rocket launcher born in the Soviet era, but Ukraine’s weapons are said to have a much longer range and accuracy.
The Villa-M complex can launch all 12 missiles in just 45 seconds, the total weight of the shell is 800 kg, and it reaches a range of 70 km if fitted with a 250 kg warhead, or 120 km if the reduced warhead is down to 170 kg.
Thanks to the application of the global positioning system, the error circle of rockets belonging to the Vilkha complex has been reduced to only 30 m, this parameter of the BM-30 Smerch is up to 50 – 70 m while the range is only 90. kilometer.
The General Staff of the Ukrainian Army explained that Vilkha-M is a project to create high-precision 300 mm tactical missile shells with a maximum range of more than 100 km.
Previously, a representative of the Ukrainian defense industry stated that “each missile in the launcher is capable of targeting a specific target and can be controlled in flight”.
During the test at the Odessa training ground, the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC), Alexei Danilov on his Facebook page said that the Luch Design Bureau had completed the preliminary evaluations very well. set for Vilkha-M.
According to Danilov, the combat range as well as the radius to destroy the target meet all tactical and technical requirements, and the missile’s flight range reaches more than 110 km.
It is expected that in the near future Ukraine will complete the development of a new generation ballistic missile variant fired from the Vilkha-M complex, with the ability to hit targets at a distance of 200 km or more.
Faced with the above situation, the Russian press is urging the Ministry of Defense of this country to accelerate the production of Tornado-S domestic multiple-launch rocket systems, which are still advertised as “beyond HIMARS”, and launch a new war. field to demonstrate ability in the field.
