Марія Бровінська Weapon 21 November 2024, 10:19

This morning, for the first time, the Russians attacked Ukraine with an intercontinental missile. We are probably talking about RS-26 "Rubyezh". What kind of weapon is this and is it possible to knock it down?

This morning, the Russians launched an intercontinental ballistic missile over Ukraine for the first time, the Air Force reports. It is not known whether it was shot down, however, the use of such weapons carries a much greater threat of destruction than winged ones. The exact type of PS missile is not named. However, it is known that the Russians have an RS-26 «Rubyezh» missile, which can hit at a distance of up to 6,000 km. We tell you what kind of weapon it is. Most likely, it was used in the morning attack on the Dnieper.

dev.ua has collected all known facts about this weapon.

What is it

RS-26 «Rubezh» is a new development of the Russians, which has been under development since at least 2006. However, it is difficult to assess the actual readiness of this missile. It is believed that the project was completed in 2015 and in 2017 this missile was supposed to be put into service. But in 2018, the RS-26 was apparently thrown out of the weapons program, preferring the Iskander-K missile.»

Defense Express writes that the RS-26 «Rubezh» missile was created on the basis of two stages of the Topol-M intercontinental missile. The missile was developed by the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering, which created other Russian missiles of the same class — Temp-2S, Pioner, Topol, and Yars. Votkinsky Plant, which in particular manufactures Iskander ballistic missiles, is called the direct manufacturer.

«Rubyezh» looks like this.

Characteristics

Analysts assume that the launch weight of the rocket is from 40 to 50 tons, and the flight range is up to 6,000 km.

In case of launch, the Russian intercontinental ballistic missile RS-26 «Rubyezh» will reach Kyiv in 8-10 minutes, said the former deputy chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, an expert in the field of air defense Igor Romanenko.

The mass of the warhead of such a missile reaches 1,200 kg, which is equivalent to almost three Iskander-M ballistic missiles. Military expert Pavlo Narozhnyi says that the main warhead can be divided into parts, each of them will weigh more than 100 kg, which will cause a significant impact on areas.

The method of basing is RGRK (mobile ground-based missile complex).

The missile’s armament can consist of four separate combat units with a capacity of 0.3 Mt each, that is, similar to the RS-24 «Yars». It is also believed that the missile may have a hypersonic planing unit.

Is it possible to knock down «Rubyezh»

Romanenko believes that Ukrainian air defense equipment will not be able to shoot down a missile in the upper layers of the atmosphere, because this requires THAAD systems, the transfer of which has not even been discussed. But combat units can be shot down by the Patriot complex.

«Conventionally speaking, we are dealing with non-nuclear weapons. The missile itself is much more powerful than conventional ballistics, but air defense specialists have learned to shoot down Daggers. Now a new missile has appeared, the Russians want to use it to influence the „decision-making centers“ in Ukraine. The probability of a launch taking into account the global situation is high,» the analyst told the Focus publication .