Ukraine’s air defences are struggling to cope with supersonic anti-ship missiles Russia has begun to use in night raids on the port city of Odesa KieronMonks reports
But they are largely concentrated around Kyiv and key military installations, leaving much of the country vulnerable.also appealed for new air defences in the wake of attacks on Odesa. “Ukraine needs a full-fledged sky shield,” he said on Sunday. “We need more air defence systems for our entire territory, for all our cities and communities.”
But miltary analysts believe even the most advanced air defence systems may not be foolproof against Onyx missiles. “The difficulty is that you need to be able to detect them and there is only a small window of opportunity to do so given the low altitudes they fly at,” said Dr Marina Miron of the Defence Studies Department at King’s College London.The P-800 series was developed as an anti-ship missile during the Soviet era and has been a popular export model for the past 20 years.
Pieter Wezeman, an arms trade researcher and missile specialist at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, says the missiles have limitations that may have constrained their use until now.
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