As of: March 28, 2024, 3:27 p.m
By: Victoria Krumbeck
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Press
Split
The development of a Russian missile could worsen the situation in the Ukraine war. Ukraine is already in a critical phase.
Moscow – Ukraine is attacked by Russian drones and missiles almost daily. Because of Ukraine's lack of ammunition, the defenders in the Ukrainian War are on the defensive on many sectors of the front. Now there are reports that suggest that Ukraine could be facing a new challenge: Russia apparently wants to modernize the dangerous Oniks missiles.
Russia is modernizing Oniks missiles – new danger for Ukraine
The Russian P-800 Oniks supersonic cruise missile for the Bastion mobile coastal defense system is being re-equipped. An active homing device will hit Ukrainian ground targets with greater precision in the future, a source from the Russian defense industry told the Russian news agency Tass. “Originally designed as an anti-ship missile, Oniks has been equipped with a new active homing device that allows it to hit enemy facilities on the ground with greater precision,” Tass quotes the source as saying.
The Russian supersonic cruise missile P-800 Oniks is to be modernized – a threat to Ukrainian defense. © Photomontage Efrem Lukatsky/dpa/ITAR-TASS/IMAGO
Work is also underway to make the Oniks missiles superior to Ukrainian electronic warfare, another Tass source reported. An official confirmation was still missing at the time the report was published. The cruise missile, also known as Yakhont, can be fired from Bastion coastal defense missile systems, surface ships and submarines. The rocket has a range of 300 kilometers and reaches supersonic speeds of around 3,000 kilometers per hour, as
Newsweek
writes.
Ukraine is at the “critical period” in the Ukrainian war – Russia is modernizing missiles
The Oniks missile was developed to attack ships and coastal targets in the electronic warfare environment. They are used regularly in Ukraine - and they have also been used in Syria. The missile's flight profile also makes it dangerous for Ukraine, as it flies very high after launch and can hit its target with an accuracy of up to ten meters. It also has techniques to evade enemy air defenses.
Modernization at this point could present Ukraine with new challenges. The ammunition situation for Ukraine remains tense, especially because there is still a lack of aid from the USA. The current period is particularly important for the course of the Ukraine war, as two anonymous sources from US circles told
ABC News
in mid-February. “The tipping point is starting now and it will get worse throughout the spring and into the summer. “So this period we are entering is a critical period,” a senior U.S. defense official said. An upgrade of the Oniks missiles and the lack of war aid could therefore force Ukraine further on the defensive.
(vk)