It is known that Ukraine has the old Soviet S-300 air defense systems, Buk systems, and others. With their help, Ukrainians have learned to shoot down more than half of all Russian missiles. This is already an outstanding achievement. But this is not enough. Sometimes a single Russian missile can cause great grief, as has happened more than once.
NASAMS is not the newest anti-aircraft weapon but one of the most effective in the world. This is evidenced by the fact that it is this anti-aircraft complex that protects the White House and the office of the President of the United States. The United States has a similar Patriot system, but the Norwegian NASAMS is considered more reliable.
This complex operates within a radius of 40 km and shoots down aerodynamic targets at an altitude of up to 15 km. NASAMS is capable of simultaneously tracking and hitting multiple targets. And its main advantage is the speed of response to an approaching target, which fluctuates within 10 seconds. The NASAMS complex consists of a radar station that can detect and track up to 60 targets simultaneously. And an anti-aircraft missile launcher, which is located on a highly passable chassis. The anti-aircraft missile flies 1000 meters per hour and is equipped with a high-explosive fragmentation warhead.
This complex can effectively fight against aircraft, helicopters, drones, and cruise missiles, that is, any aerodynamic targets. NASAMS is not designed for ballistic missiles. Appropriate tests by the developer were not carried out. Perhaps they will be tested for their ability to shoot down Russian Iskander ballistic missiles in Ukraine for the first time. It will be one of the most interesting duels.
The Russian Iskander missile is one of the most dangerous missiles in this war. It can become a real challenge for the Norwegian complex.
Iskander is an operational tactical missile system. It can launch two types of missiles, both cruise and ballistic, but the most dangerous are ballistic missiles of the 9M723 type.
This missile rises to a height of more than 100 km and can hit a target at a distance of up to 500 km. From a height, it heads towards the target at a speed of up to 7,000 km per hour. This minimizes the time that anti-aircraft missile systems have to intercept it.
In addition, the Iskander ballistic missile maneuvers before impact and drops decoys that look like the missile itself on the radar. This is what these decoys look like. They were found on the territory of Ukraine after one of Iskander's strikes. They can deceive air defense radars and thermal search missiles. The deception is stuffed with electronics. It emits radio signals that can drown out the radar of the enemy trying to find the Iskander missile. The decoy also contains a heat source to attract incoming missiles.
All this greatly complicates the interception of the Iskander missile.
One such missile weighs almost 4 tons and has a warhead weighing 500 kg, and the diameter of the missile is 920 mm, that is, nearly 1 meter. Accelerating and hitting the target, it causes great destruction. Warheads on a missile can be cluster, high-explosive, and even thermobaric. All of them cause enormous damage, either scattering submunitions over an area equivalent to two football fields, or leaving a crater 8-10 meters deep, or burning all life without a chance of salvation in diameter of more than 60 meters.
But as is often the case with Russian weapons, and as practice shows, Russian missiles are not very accurate and reliable. In general, the Iskander is an extremely expensive weapon, and the fact that Russia is shooting at residential areas with it is evidence of the hopelessness of the occupiers. We have repeatedly witnessed how Russian missiles refuse to work. They can abruptly change trajectory and fall right on the head of those who launch them. Here is an example of such a case.
One NASAMS complex should be enough to protect one city.
