Search results for ""Author Mihajlo S Mihajlovic""

During the Cold War, the Soviet Union invested heavily in its air defence systems. As a result, Russia now possesses the most advanced air and ballistic missile defence systems in the world. Russian air defence systems are also highly proliferated and are currently in use by many countries. Since the end of the Cold War and the breakup of the USSR, it has become increasingly possible to study Russian air defence, but Russia is by no means an open book on defence-related subjects. Some information circulates in the media, but for the time being, air defence systems are still subject to a degree of speculation. Air and ballistic missile defence programs in the Soviet Union and Russia have a very long history. Soviet engineers started working on both programs in the 1950s, and by 1960 they had built the first successful systems able to intercept enemy aircraft and intermediate-range ballistic missiles. Current Russian air defence doctrine follows a layered multi-level approach providing in depth coverage from any aerial or ballistic missile attack. This layered system allows Russian air defence forces to create zones that can be very difficult to penetrate. The highest level of these defensive networks uses long-range systems providing air defence umbrellas potentially up to 500+ km. The second level includes medium-range systems like the S-350 and Buk variants (infamous for downing Malaysian Airline's flight MH17 over the Ukraine in 2014). This medium-range level is intended to provide air defence zones which are also covered under the long-range systems but are more cost-effective in this envelope. The third level presents mobile short-range systems which are intended to provide extra protection for the long-range systems as well as stationary objects. These systems, along with highly mobile systems like the Buk are often also attached to ground forces formations such as armoured and mechanized divisions and brigades. What are the abilities of these systems against NATO? President Putin emphasized the need to strengthen the country's air defences amid NATO's military activities near Russia's borders. One of the key new concept developments is counter-stealth detection and interception. The other is to counter future hypersonic missile threats. It is, as the author reveals, Russia that is leading the way in these races.

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In the Russian-Ukrainian war, both sides depended heavily on rockets and missiles. Some of these date from Soviet times and some are very modern, being deployed in warfare for the first time. The outbreak of the civil war in the east of Ukraine in 2014 showed that rockets and missiles, beside the artillery, are among the decisive factors in both regular Ukrainian military, and paramilitary nationalistic formations as well as in the separatists’ bodies. For eight years hardly any day passed without these weapons being fired. On 24 February 2022, Russia unleashed a ‘limited military operation’ (as President Putin defined it) with a barrage of new equipment – cruise missiles and tactical ballistic missiles – pounding Ukrainian targets. The West responded with a pledge to supply modern weapons to the otherwise outdated Ukrainian military to counter the Russian threat, especially armour. Ukraine was turned into a vast depot for NATO ammunition and weapons including short-range air defence systems and antitank rockets. Western stocks gradually shrank while numerous cargo lanes transported these weapons to Poland to be hauled by trucks and railways to the Ukrainians. In the meantime, Russia pounded these locations and large quantities of the Western aid disappeared in flames and explosions – as yet more equipment pourerd into Ukrainian hands. The sheer amount is hard to estimate but large quantities were captured by the Russians and occasionally turned against the former owners. This book is a comprehensive guide to all missiles and rockets used by both sides as well as their effect on both military and civilian targets, including Russian ship-borne weapons and anti-ship missiles used so effectively by Ukraine against the Russian cruiser Moskva. Besides the numerous ex-Soviet, Ukrainian, and Russian anti-armour rockets (RPGs) and missiles, of particular interest are the anti-armour missiles and rockets supplied by NATO which includes Javelin and British NLAW, and Brimstone. The war in Ukraine was a full-scale conventional war between the two largest armies in Europe. But without modern weapons, Ukraine’s ability to hold out for an extended period was limited. Its only hope was help by the West. Yet NATO supplies were precisely tracked and often destroyed immediately after unloading. Nevertheless, the Russian-Ukrainian war allowed manufactures and military experts to assess the true effectiveness of their weapons in the most realistic setting of all – the battlefield. In his examination of the weaponry used in the conflict, the author toured the Ukraine as the conflict unfolded, to photograph and report on the first major war of the twenty-first century.

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