Tactical ballistic missile 9K714 Oka will join the war in Ukraine is the scenario being mentioned, will this come true?
After reports of the depletion of the stockpile of offensive weapons, the West believes that Russia is planning to restore the 9K714 Oka tactical ballistic missiles from the Soviet era for use in the Ukrainian battlefield.
Before the above development, the Russian side issued a statement: “The Oka tactical ballistic missile system that was decommissioned in 1987 will not be revived; another Russian weapon, the Iskander-M complex has been taken over its functions”.
The above very remarkable statement was made by the head of the Missile and Artillery forces of the Russian Army – Lieutenant General Mikhail Matveevsky, thereby ending all speculation from NATO about this weapon.
In fact, NATO’s recognition that Moscow has such a plan is not a coincidence. Back in 2017, the Russian Defense Ministry itself announced that it intended to use the Oka complexes that were in storage for a number of new roles.
The 9K714 Oka tactical ballistic missile system, named in the West as SS-23 Spider, was officially put into combat in 1983, it was once seen as the pride of Soviet designers.
The Oka system was developed at the Kolomna Mechanical Design Bureau, at the time, it was considered the only tactical ballistic missile system in the world capable of breaking through enemy defenses.
The high mobility of the self-propelled launcher vehicle chassis when capable of swimming, along with the high accuracy of the missile, capable of carrying out an attack at a distance of 400 km makes it very dangerous for the enemy. with NATO.
The 9K714 system is considered a further development of its predecessor 9K79 Tochka, it only served in the Soviet Army for only 4 years and was phased out in 1987 under the Treaty of Medium and Long-Range Nuclear Forces. short (INF Treaty).
It is noteworthy that the Oka system was not officially included in the terms of the agreement, since it had a range of only about 400 km, which is below the elimination limit, but Mr. Gorbachev – who was in power at the time in the Soviet Union approved the removal.
After 1987, all Oka tactical ballistic missile complexes were decommissioned, and some shells and self-propelled launchers were put into storage, but most of them were destroyed.
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, some 9K714 Oka missile complexes were still in service in the countries of the former Warsaw Pact, but they were gradually phased out, 8 base vehicles and 24 missiles were eventually retired and destroyed by Bulgaria in 2003.
Compared to the Iskander-M, it is clear that the Oka missile system is inferior in all basic tactical parameters, from range to accuracy, the number of bullets ready to launch on the vehicle, and the method of fooling the system. enemy air defense system.
Recently, the Russian Ministry of Defense also said that it will re-equip all of its missile brigades with the Iskander-M system, which is also the most accurate answer to the information “restored 9K714 Oka”.
However, analysts also warn that the possibility of Oka missiles should not be completely ruled out on the Ukrainian battlefield, in the name of weapons recovered by the eastern militia.
