Tests have proved that the Ukrainian "Haimas" rocket artillery has insufficient bridge-blowing capability. According to the Global Network, on July 19 and 20, the Ukrainian army used the "Haimas" high-mobility rocket artillery to continuously hit the Antonov Bridge across the Dnieper River in Kherson Oblast. The Ukrainian army attacked the bridge, one is to cut off the Russian supply line, and the other is to test the bridge bombing capability of Haimas.
On July 19, the Ukrainians fired six M31 precision-guided rockets, but some of them were intercepted or missed. Two rockets hit the bridge with precision, but the effect was not good, and the bridge was only slightly damaged.
The Antonovsky Bridge, which crosses the Dnieper River in Kherson Oblast, was completed and put into use in 1985 with a total length of 1366 meters, a width of 25 meters and a bridge span of 30 bridges. The bridge has now temporarily closed the passage of heavy vehicles, and heavy cargo traffic between Kherson and the south bank of the Dnieper River requires a detour around the Kakhovka Reservoir Dam.
However, the bridge did not collapse, and the M31 rocket only blew out two large circular holes in the bridge deck. There is no bearing structure that destroys the bridge, so the bridge should be open for traffic soon after repairs.
In the early morning of July 20, the Ukrainian army again used a Salvo of Haimas rockets to strike the Antonov Bridge in New Kahorv, Kherson Oblast. Eight rockets hit the bridge deck. The bridge deck has more than 8 large holes, and they are not far away, which is very dense. There are also vehicles passing on the bridge, indicating that the bridge has not been completely destroyed and can be repaired after repairs.
The main reasons:
One is that the warhead of the M31 rocket fired by The Hippocampus is too small to destroy the entire bridge. The explosive warhead of the M31 rocket is only 90 kilograms, which is about equivalent to 2 to 3 155 mm lethal explosive grenades, and the ability to strike strong targets is still a little poor.
The destructive power of the missile has a lot to do with the accuracy of the hit. The damage of the explosion is proportional to the 3rd to the last of the explosion point from the center of the target. In other words, if the distance between the detonation point hit by the warhead and the center point of the target is shortened by half, the explosion damage can reach 8 times the original power.
Therefore, during the Cold War, the Americans desperately tried to improve the accuracy of intercontinental missiles, and finally increased the CEP accuracy of the Trident II missile to 90 meters, so that the Soviet missile silo could be hit with a 300,000-ton TNT equivalent nuclear bomb, which could achieve the same damage effect of the original 1 million-ton equivalent nuclear warhead.
The design concept of advanced small-diameter guided bombs and precision-guided long-range rockets is closely related to hit accuracy, mainly using precision to enhance the lethality, can reduce the weight and size of the projectile, small diameter bombs about 100 kg, guided long-range fire warhead is also about 100 kg. But the warhead of about 100 kilograms is still a little smaller to use against targets such as the bridge.
Second, The accuracy of Hippos is not enough to destroy the bridge. Blowing up bridges is the most difficult strike mission. This kind of reinforced concrete poured bridge, if it is not blown up in the bearing point, or the bridge deck is blown into a honeycomb, the bridge will not collapse.
You can also see it from the bounce point. The salvo rockets of the Ukrainian army hit the same aiming point, and the landing of the Haimas rocket artillery was very dense, and all the landing points were between 10 and 15 meters, which was in line with the CEP10 to 15 meters indicator of the M31 satellite-guided rocket, which was worthy of the "large sniper rifle".
This shows that the "firing intensity" of the Hippos precision-guided rocket is better, and the landing point of the falling bomb is very dense. However, the rocket only hit the bridge deck and failed to cause damage to the bearing beams and columns of the bridge. This shows that the accuracy of the Hippos rocket of 10 to 15 meters is still not enough to hit the bearing point of the bridge.
To blow up the bridge, precision-guided munitions with meter-level accuracy are needed to be delivered to key nodes of the bridge. Otherwise, the missile blew up the bridge deck and was easy to repair. For example, several bridges in Ukraine that Russia used air-launched cruise missiles to strike were repaired in a short period of time.
Generally speaking, to strike a bridge, you need a laser terminal guidance with an accuracy of 1 to 2 meters. Only the laser-guided bomb dropped by the attack aircraft, or the Chinese kind of long-range fire with laser-assisted terminal guidance, using a laser for end irradiation, and the end strike accuracy of the guided ammunition is about 1 meter, can it be so accurate that it can completely destroy the key bearing point of the bridge.
Like the Beidou satellite-guided long-range rocket developed by China with semi-active laser terminal guidance, it can accurately hit beams and columns with a width of more than one meter, which is very suitable for blowing up bridges.
The M31 rocket fired by the "Haimas" rocket adopts inertia + GPS satellite guidance, and the end accuracy is about 10 to 15 meters. This accuracy can strike large targets such as command posts, fortress fortifications, or ammunition depots, but it cannot hit key bridge nodes unless dozens or hundreds of them are fired.
"What a pity, what a bridge!"