Statements about the possibility of intercepting the Russian "Oreshnik" missile in space raise serious technical doubts. Creating such a system requires technologies, resources, and production capacities that Ukraine currently officially lacks. This was stated in a comment to UNN by military expert Oleksiy Hetman, commenting on the words of People's Deputy Fedir Venislavsky about promising Ukrainian developments.
According to the expert, such statements require clear explanations, as they concern extremely complex technological processes that cannot be implemented without a powerful missile program.
Is it realistic to shoot down a missile in space?
Hetman emphasized that to hit a target at an altitude of about 200 kilometers, an interceptor missile must have characteristics close to those of a space launch vehicle. This means enormous speed, super-powerful engines, and a significant fuel supply.
As a person with a technical education, I want to ask - how can this be done? For a missile to lift a payload to such an altitude, it must practically enter orbit, and this requires cosmic velocity. These are very high demands on engines, design, and fuel supply.
He added that even global space programs use large multi-stage rockets to reach orbit, so creating a compact interceptor seems an extremely difficult task.
Look at any space launch. These are large rockets, complex systems, enormous resources. And here we are talking about a supposedly compact means that should quickly launch and hit a target at cosmic altitude. This raises big questions for me.
The idea of launching from an aircraft also raises doubts.
Separately, the expert commented on the assumption that such a missile could be launched from an aircraft, which would act as the first stage of the launch vehicle. In his opinion, air launch indeed exists as a technology, but this does not solve the main problem - the need for powerful acceleration to ultra-high speeds.
Launching from an aircraft gives a certain advantage in terms of launch altitude. But this does not cancel the laws of physics. A powerful engine and a large amount of fuel are still needed. Simply suspending a missile under an aircraft is not enough.
Do such systems exist in the world?
Hetman noted that missile defense systems capable of operating at high altitudes do exist in the world, but these are isolated and extremely expensive strategic-level complexes.
There are elements of missile defense that can intercept targets at very high altitudes. For example, such systems were created around Moscow. But this is the result of decades of development and colossal resources. This is not something that can be done quickly and simply.
Clarifications from the authors of the statement are needed.
Hetman emphasized that he does not accuse the author of the high-profile statement of untruth, but believes that society needs more specifics.
I'm not saying it's impossible in principle. Perhaps there are some details that have not been voiced. But in the form in which it was presented now, it bears little resemblance to a real technical concept. If it's about a serious development, clear explanations are needed. We'll see.
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Context
As reported by the media, People's Deputy, member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defense, and Intelligence, Fedir Venislavsky, answering a question about Ukraine's ability to shoot down Russian "Oreshnik" missiles, stated that units of the Main Intelligence Directorate twice launched carrier rockets from the territory of Ukraine into space during the full-scale war. Technical means recorded reaching altitudes of over 100 and 204 kilometers.