Tricky comments. Ukraine's air defense update: 2х2 = 7, but still not enough
Acting President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko said he intends to restore the country's air defense system. And even allocate money for it. Whole 9 billion hryvnia. And, according to Poroshenko, the air defense system is in "unconditional priority".
Before discussing the question "Where is the money, Zin?" historical excursion to all the same 25 years ago.
In the inheritance from the Soviet Union, Ukraine got the 132 anti-aircraft missile division. It was quite enough to consider the main objects of the country protected.
Kiev also had C-200 air defense systems, even about thirty C-300 complexes. Plus seventy Buk medium range air defense systems.
And everything was beautiful in general. Air defense from the Ukraine was.
But time passed. Probably strange, but the complexes began to require repair. Missiles gradually began to expire. And in the beginning of 2000-x in Ukraine, they began to understand that something must be done. And preferably quickly.
But another staged Moscow. Modern air defense systems Russia has never sold to anyone. And Ukraine, with its flirtations with the West, exactly flew into this category.
Finally, the idea of buying air defense systems was buried by Ukraine in 2008. When it surfaced that besides tanks, guns and helicopters, Ukraine sold to Georgia and several Buk air defense systems.
According to experts, it was from these “Bukovs” that four Russian military aircraft were shot down: three Su-25 attack planes and one Tu-22 bomber.
More to the sale of modern weapons in Russia, no one returned, and the air defense system of Ukraine simply began to fall apart at an accelerated pace.
What is the air defense system of Ukraine today?
Today it is 11 really functioning complexes C-300 and about sixty "Bukov". With titanic efforts, the Ukrainian military conducted a modernization of two dozen C-125 Pechora-2D.
But 30 kilometers C-125 is nothing compared to 300 kilometers C-200. And C-200 is all ... in the past. And according to the available information, C-300 will also go into the “already all” category.
The situation is such that today Ukraine does not have an air defense system. Well, no offense, the industrial center of Russia, the city of Voronezh, where I live, covers X-NUMX C-12 complexes from air problems. That is more than the whole of Ukraine.
What to do?
Of course, there is some hope for America and their “Patriots”. And, perhaps, the United States would even be happy to place its air defense / missile defense installations near our borders. This is without a doubt the blue dream of American hawks.
But there are nuances ...
The question is: is Washington going to worsen relations with Moscow? The fact that this will be perceived by Russia as a direct threat to the country's security is a fact. And not the fact that the deterioration will be worth it.
And the second component. Yes, the one that Trump was talking about. This is money.
We return to the amount sounded in 9 billion hryvnia. What can I afford to buy with this money? Applying a calculator, we get from 9 billion hryvnia as much as 300 million dollars. About.
How much does Ukraine need the Patriots? Probably at a minimum of at least a dozen. And rockets.
How much is fat now?
If approximately, starting from the approximate prices in open sources, one battery of “Patriots” would cost Turkey 2015 a year in 600 million. The Turks were going to buy 13 batteries for 7,8 billion dollars.
So alas, but Kiev can afford half the battery. Is it possible to do this, hard to say. After all, the battery is not only launchers, a radar of guidance, a command post, a communications center, a TZM, etc. are also attached to them, according to the list. And besides PU, the missiles themselves are also needed. And the PAC-2 and PAC-3 rockets cost from $ 4 million to $ 6 million apiece ...
So you need 6-7 billion dollars. Not hryvnia.
And the second nuance. No less serious than cash. This is a question of the reliability of Ukraine as a partner in such games.
Counterbattering systems have already been installed. Yes, thank you, everyone liked it, they learned a lot in Russia in this topic, having studied it.
If Poroshenko, of course, finds such arguments that will force the Americans to believe that after some time someone else will not take his place, or the complexes simply will not “push” to the “other” side - then maybe something will grow together as a handout or loan.
And so - a very dubious prospect, to give the "Patriots" of Russia.
And, by the way, such thoughts not only appear in the Russian head. In the United States, too, sometimes not only eat. In early February, The Wall Street Journal reported that “NATO has postponed plans for a meeting with the Kiev authorities for negotiations on the use of a missile defense system in Europe.”
According to American journalists, "there is some political delicacy" in working with Ukraine, as this may cause an overreaction by Russia.
Is it a polite promise, or did it seem so to me?
They don’t take NATO, to become part of the European missile defense system, Ukraine doesn’t have any light either.
What remains? That's right, create your own. How they created the attack helicopter based on the Mi-2, how they created Oplot, Azov, and everything else.
Air defense is needed, but there is no money. Not at all. Of the required 7 billion, there are 300 million dollars, which means what should be done? That's right, you just need to steal this money, cut it, and bungle something “Azov-like” on the remains.
And everyone will be overwhelmed by the sight at the parade of some of the latest purely Ukrainian air defense system.
Unless, of course, succeed. The plants are getting worse and worse, day by day.
And then, well, even if it burns heavily, how can one Patriot battery help? If it burns a lot, one battery from the VKS of the aggressor country will not fight back.
That is the meaning of a fuss?
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