Defense Express military expert Ivan Kyrychevsky said that the Defense Forces of Ukraine could shoot down the Russian Tu-22M3 aircraft with an air defense system developed by its own hands.
What could have shot down the Russian Tu-22M3
If there were no official confirmations, I would say that there was simply a technical failure with the plane. Perhaps our unknown, latest development, which is still produced in very small numbers and reserved for such special promotions, was used here. After all, if we proceed from the statement about shooting down at a distance of more than 300 kilometers, we do not have such an anti-aircraft weapon. Patriot strikes at 160 kilometers, S-200, with its passport range, at 285 kilometers. Both are not suitable, said Kyrychevskyi.
He also noted that although the DIU showed a video of the Russian aircraft's shoot-down, it did not report the means of defeat so that similar successes would continue. In addition, according to Kyrychevsky, there is only one complex in the world capable of hitting air targets at such a distance.
The only tool that comes to mind is the American Typhon complex, simultaneously adapted for land-based use and as an anti-aircraft missile. There, in theory, there is a firing range of 370 kilometres. However, the Americans themselves only have two batteries for these devices. And no one would give them to us, — explained the analyst.
Also, in his opinion, realising that it would not be able to get this type of missile, Ukraine could develop its own long-range weapons against Russian aircraft.
China has prospects of creating a hypersonic anti-aircraft missile at a range of 2,000 km to shoot down strategic bombers, so we are no worse than the Chinese. Therefore, I think that over time we will learn about something fundamentally unknown to world science, which was created by our defense industry, said the expert.
What is known about the Russian Tu-22M3 fall?
On the night of April 19, the Russian invaders launched Tu-22M3 bombers, which are carriers of Kh-22 cruise missiles. Later, it became known that one of the planes was shot down — this happened for the first time since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation.
Subsequently, this event was commented on by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, where it was announced that the bomber was shot down at a distance of about 300 kilometers from Ukraine by the same means that were previously used to shoot down the Russian A-50 long-range radar detection and control aircraft. In addition, according to intelligence information, after being shot down, another Tu-22M3 aircraft was forced to turn around and did not launch missiles.
