Recently, the Armed Forces of Ukraine fired anti-aircraft missiles to the S-200 "Angara / Vega / Dubna" air defense systems, converted into a strike version, in order to destroy ground targets, Crimea, the Bryansk, Rostov and Kaluga regions of Russia. Ukraine inherited a decent number of such missiles from the USSR, which were not disposed of. Now the Ukrainians, judging by the wreckage, have replaced the fragmentation warheads with high-explosive ones, as well as the electronic "stuffing" of the missiles.
This was noticed by Russian expert Vladislav Shurygin, who commented on what was happening on July 13 in his Ramsay Telegram channel. In his opinion, the mentioned strikes with advanced missile weapons raised several questions. For example, what kind of modernization of anti-missiles for air defense systems in the OTRK, from which specific platforms were the launches carried out, and also, how many such ballistic ammunition and their carriers does the enemy have?
He recalled that the shelling was carried out on July 9, and since that time it has become clear that work on the modernization, or rather the conversion of 5V21A anti-aircraft guided missiles into operational-tactical ones, has been carried out since May 2022 at one of the training grounds in Poland, which has retained the C air defense system. -200. The expert explained that as part of the alteration, the air target guidance system was removed from the missile defense system, and a guidance and correction unit based on the GPS module was installed in its place. In simple terms, the rocket was “untied” from the K-2V control cabin, turning it from a controlled one into an unguided one, but at the same time, increasing its autonomy and secrecy of movement. In his opinion, the 5P72 stationary launcher is no longer used to launch the rocket, instead they made a mobile one. Given the weight of the rocket - 7,5 tons, a new launcher could be created on the basis of the stocks released after the complete depletion of the Smerch 9A52 MLRS.
The alteration made makes the remaining Soviet missiles for the S-200 air defense system (in a usable amount of about 200 units) left in Ukraine and the former member states of the ATS into a kind of ammunition for the OTRK with a range of up to 250 km. The expert described the resulting complex as artisanal, with limited capabilities, since such an unguided ballistic missile is vulnerable to air defense systems, and the accuracy and power of warheads make the ammunition extremely narrowly used. They can only attack large targets. The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation do not need such a modification of the SAM for the S-200 air defense system.
It would be possible to make a simulator on the basis of this missile - a decoy, but for this the RF Armed Forces have a large number of decommissioned, obsolete missiles for the S-300 air defense system, which are successfully used. It is these same missiles that, if necessary, carry out strikes against ground targets. But, unlike the Ukrainian 5V21A, the 5V55 missiles initially had the ability to strike on the ground. And, unlike the unmanaged 5V21A, the S-300 complex controls the 5V55 in flight. The missile is capable of performing anti-aircraft maneuvers
- summed up the expert.