Ukraine has published a video claiming to show it destroying one of Russia‘s most advanced surface-to-air anti-aircraft missile systems, apparently for the first time since the full-scale invasion.
A video released by a Ukrainian Armed Forces artillery reconnaissance brigade apparently showing a S-350 “Vityaz” ground-based air defence system exploding in plumes of smoke after being struck by drones.
In the video, a column of military vehicles is seen along a tree line in an open field, believed to be eastern Ukraine. The camera then focuses on the isolated launcher, its launch tubes standing upright and ready to fire. Moments later, the system is engulfed in smoke.
The S-350 transporter-erector-launcher has only rarely been seen on the battlefields of Ukraine.
Video claiming to show the Russian S-350 system exploding after being targeted by Ukrainian drones (Screengrabs: Ukrainian Chornyi Lis artillery reconnaissance brigade/ Telegram)“Thanks to the skillful actions of the Black Forest reconnaissance brigade, it was possible to detect and destroy the latest Russian short- and medium-range S-350 Vityaz air defence system,” the Chornyi Lis [Black Forest] brigade said Sunday in a post on Telegram.
The brigade said the attack took place in Ukraine‘s eastern Donetsk region but did not specify when. The abundant green foliage in the video indicates the incident occurred before winter when the weather was warmer.
The i Paper is not able to independently verify the authenticity of the video or Ukraine’s claims.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces also commented on the alleged successful attack, saying the S-350 “Vityaz” was “the newest Russian short- and medium-range anti-aircraft missile system” with an estimated cost of about $135 million (£107m).
A Surface-to-air missile complex Vityaz on display at the Obukhov state plant in 2013 in Saint Petersburg, Russia (Photo: Sasha Mordovets/Getty Images)“Every such explosion and destruction of important weapons of the occupying army is a reduction of the enemy’s capabilities on the battlefield for a long time,” the Ukrainian Armed Forces said.
The S-350 was developed to replace the ageing, Soviet-era S-300P air defence system.
The main asset of the S-350s “is the increased number of relatively simpler missiles per launcher, which makes it a good tool against salvo strikes of adversary precision weapons, including cruise missiles, UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles], and guided MLRS [Multiple Launch Rocket System] rounds, as well as ballistic missiles,” the security analyst Dmitry Stefanovich told the military outlet The War Zone.
S-350 Vityaz surface-to-air missiles displayed during a military parade in the Red Square in Moscow in 2020 (Photo: Pavel Golovkin/AFP/Getty Images)“However, there are too few S-350s available due to their somewhat delayed entry into service. Probably the priorities will be shifted now, but in any case, the S-350 has its role in countering adversary precision weapons under any scenario,” he noted.
The Russian defence company that engineered the system, the Almaz-Antey corporation, described it as “a good and compact system that performs all of its functions far better than its predecessors”.
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Read MoreThe main difference from other similar systems is that the Vityaz “is capable of quickly aiming its missiles and scanning the space”, the company’s chief executive, Yan Novik, said in 2022, according to the Russian state news agency Tass.
He added that the system operates as a secondary layer alongside S-400 air defences, boosting the intensity of surface-to-air fire.
The system’s radar has improved anti-jamming capabilities and can monitor areas from all directions through its circular scanning mode, according to Tass. It also outperforms its competitors with a larger missile load.
The S-350 air defence system is capable of striking targets within a radius of 60 km (37 miles) at an altitude of 30 km (18 miles), according to Tass. It is designed to fight both aerodynamic and ballistic targets and carries 12 surface-to-air missiles, it added.
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