Iran has just launched a hybrid strike against Israel with drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles, and the penetration efficiency is rather dismal, leading some to question the combat effectiveness of ballistic missiles. Almost at the same time, there was a scene of ice and fire on the battlefield in Ukraine, where several S-400 and S-300 anti-aircraft missile launchers and radar systems deployed by the Russian army at the Koi base in the Crimean war were hit by ballistic missiles and exploded violently, and the strike was completed by the US Army tactical missiles launched by the Hippocampus rocket artillery system.
Judging from the subsequent release, the Ukrainian army simultaneously launched 12 ATACMS tactical missiles, which accurately hit the Russian anti-aircraft missile position and caused a violent explosion, which is the first time in the past 2 months that the S-400 has been confirmed to be directly destroyed by a ballistic missile. Footage taken by American satellites shows that a total of 6 fires broke out at the Ukrainian army's anti-aircraft missile positions, some of which were still burning five hours later. It is speculated that a total of five Russian anti-aircraft missile launchers have been destroyed, and the other is a logistics and maintenance center for anti-aircraft missiles. Russian media said that a total of 22 servicemen of the Russian army were killed or missing, while the Ukrainian side said that the Russian army had 110 dead and wounded, and a total of 30 people died.
Previously, a set of S-400s that were not deployed were destroyed by Ukraine, also in Crimea, but the weapons launched by the Ukrainian army at that time were supposed to be Storm Shadow stealth cruise missiles. As a high-end air defense and anti-missile system, the S-400 is understandably deficient in countering low-flying stealth cruise missiles. Especially when the AWACS aircraft of the Russian army is weak and does not have strong detection capabilities for low-flying targets, the S-400 also needs protection from other air defense systems. However, it is almost inconceivable to say that the S-400, which is on duty in combat readiness, was disabled by 12 ATACMS with a range of only 160-290 kilometers in the field of defense against short-range ballistic missiles, which it is best at, and there is no record of successful interception of a single shot.
We must exclude the statement that the S-400 air defense system itself does not have anti-missile capabilities. Because the S-400 has always been called the most advanced air defense and anti-missile system in the world by Russia, and it has also been exported to China and India. For China, which is already very strong in anti-aircraft missile technology, if the S-400 has no merit, we will not purchase it at all.
Then there is another biggest possibility: the Russian air defense forces are careless again and are not at the highest level of combat readiness. If it's a human factor, then it's possible to have a lot of things happen. The advantages and disadvantages of the Russian weapon system coexist, the advantage is that the physical flight performance of the missile weapon is very good, for example, the maximum range of the S-400 can reach 400 kilometers, which is far beyond the American-made Patriot. However, the Russian-made weapon system is limited by the backwardness of its electronic industry technology, or the performance of the radar and the degree of response of the entire weapon system, which is far behind the similar equipment of China and the United States. Therefore, we cannot rule out that the S-400 was quickly struck by army tactical missiles launched by the Ukrainian army.
Once Ukraine chooses such a tactic, it will further approach the S-400 position with ballistic missiles, such as launching an attack operation 160 kilometers away, at which time it will only take about 5 minutes for the ballistic missile to lag behind the position of the Russian army. At this time, the flight altitude of the ballistic missile will also become lower, and the S-400 will be limited by the lax combat readiness, or the reaction speed of the entire combat system is too slow, and can only watch 12 missiles fall from the sky, and finally suffer a humiliating defeat.
Some netizens will ask, China also has the S-400 imported from Russia, will we have such a situation? In fact, China's use of the S-400 has an advantageous condition that Russia does not have: our ability to grasp the battlefield situation is much stronger, and it is almost impossible for the opponent to launch ballistic missiles at such a close distance. As long as the S-400 air defense deployment obtains intelligence in advance and carries out anti-missile air defense operations, its ability to intercept ATACMS tactical missiles is still reassuring. In general, judging from the situation on the battlefield in Ukraine, we must objectively look at the advanced nature of the Russian air defense system, and even more importantly, recognize the strong strength of the Chinese army in the field of land-based medium-range missiles. Only by making the most of our strengths and avoiding our weaknesses can we bring into full play the effectiveness of various weapon systems, and there is no need to deny our own superiority just because of a certain combat operation of other countries.