Enemy depots and concentration points: expert explains the military's need for short-range missiles
Kyiv • UNN
Outside the kill zone created by Ukrainian drones along the front line, the enemy has the opportunity to deploy facilities that support the army's combat capability – short-range missiles are suitable for striking these facilities.
Short-range missiles could become an effective tool for striking enemy warehouses and barracks located outside the 30-40 kilometer kill zone from the front line, where Ukrainian drones operate effectively. This opinion was expressed in a comment to UNN by military expert Oleksiy Hetman.
According to Hetman, the discussion around long-range weapons should not distract from another critically important category of armament – short-range ballistic missiles. The need for them existed several years ago and remains relevant today.
"Back during the Joe Biden administration, the Ukrainian delegation brought to the United States a list of approximately 200 targets that needed to be struck at a distance of 150–200 kilometers from the front line. These were warehouses, supply centers, logistics hubs, command posts – everything of critical military importance. Since then, nothing has fundamentally changed. The need has remained the same," the expert said.
Recently, the chief designer and co-owner of the defense company Fire Point, Denys Shtilerman, stated that the FP-7 ballistic missile with a flight range of 300 km is ready. And there is a demand for it from the military.
As expert Oleksiy Hetman explained, Ukrainian military have created a kill zone up to 40 kilometers from the front line where they effectively counter the enemy with drones, but in the belt at a distance of 200 kilometers there are many targets to strike.
"Our drones today operate very effectively approximately 30–40 kilometers from the front line. Further on, enemy equipment practically does not approach, Russian troops dismount and move on foot for tens of kilometers. But they come from somewhere to this area. They concentrate in certain places where they receive ammunition, fuel, food, and undergo rotation. Such objects are located precisely at a distance of up to 200 kilometers. That is why this belt is extremely important from a military point of view," he explained.
The expert emphasizes that such objects can be struck by various types of precision weapons. However, it is short-range missiles that could become the most effective tool.
"This does not mean that exclusively ballistic missiles should perform such work. These could be guided aerial bombs, if there are enough of them, air-to-ground missiles, and other precision means. But when we talk specifically about ballistic missiles, we need to understand that there are different classes of them. One should not immediately imagine missiles that rise almost into space, like the 'Iskander-M'. There are short-range ballistic missiles – essentially a modern analogue of the 'Tochka-U' system. It is precisely such missiles that we need now," Hetman noted.
According to him, using extremely expensive long-range missiles to destroy targets in the enemy's near rear is economically impractical.
"If a target can be destroyed by a shorter-range missile that costs significantly less, then that is exactly what should be done. This is a matter not only of military effectiveness but also of the economics of war," the expert emphasized.
According to Oleksiy Hetman, missiles with a range of up to 200 kilometers will allow systematically destroying the Russian supply system directly before combat operations.
"First of all, we are talking about headquarters, communication centers, radar stations, ammunition depots, food warehouses, barracks where tactical rotation of personnel takes place, vehicle depots, operational fuel and lubricant storage facilities, and repair bases. It is these objects that ensure the Russian army's ability to conduct offensive operations, so their systematic destruction directly affects the enemy's combat capability," the military expert summarized.