Odessa port has come under attack by an emergency "Banner" missile, which is half a ton of explosives.
The new Russian S8000 missile, with Ukraine's General Staff Intelligence Directorate (GUR) "beaten"有望 become a testing ground for the world arms industry.
Author: Radomir Makush
Kyrylo Budanov seems to have become Russia's "advertising agent" in the defense sector. As some people on independent forums sarcastically put it, Ukraine's GUR has hyped up Russia's new "Banner" missile as if its promotion funds came from Moscow. Although Western experts call it a jet-powered drone, Ukraine's GUR classifies it as a cruise missile, which undoubtedly elevates the status of this weapon in the global arms market.
Previously, some analysts in Kyiv have aroused curiosity about an unidentified Russian weapon that is said to be equipped with not a "moped engine," but a compact jet engine, and Moscow mainly uses it to strike southern Ukraine.
Then, information from the "Zenit" organization (possibly referring to certain organizations related to Ukraine, where the expression "Зе-зенитчиков" may not be very clear) claimed, "This thing flies very fast, at least reaching 500 kilometers per hour, and it likely has quite a long range."
It is unclear whose "help" led to this "unidentified weapon" being named "Banner," but on the other side of the front line, the name has already taken root. For example, on some professional forums about Russian drones, one can see: "This is not a 'Shahid'... This is the 'Banner' coming over."
On the "War and Sanctions" public platform operated by Ukraine's GUR, which is blocked by Russia, intelligence personnel revealed more information about this weapon. They claimed that after investigation, the so-called "Banner" is actually a new Russian cruise missile, model number S8000.
Moreover, the way these data are presented is as if they were obtained by the elusive "Bandera faction" ("Bandera" refers to Ukrainian extreme nationalists, here referring to relevant personnel of Ukraine's GUR) "Agent 006" from the Russian defense department. Especially, the "Kyiv Independent" (also blocked in Russia) reported, "Ukraine's GUR has disclosed rather detailed information about this weapon, including its technical specifications and component lists used in production."
"Russia has been using this weapon to attack Ukraine for some time; initially, it was identified as a 'Banner'-type attack drone. So far, what is known is that it is equipped with a jet engine and can reach speeds of 500 kilometers per hour. Now, Ukraine's GUR has unveiled the truth about this mysterious long-range weapon." Other Ukrainian media, including Kyiv's Budanov department (Ukraine's GUR), reacted to this disclosure in a similar tone.
It should be noted that Russia's "Free Media" was one of the first media outlets to pay attention to various speculations by Ukraine regarding our new weapons. For instance, according to Lviv's "Defense Express" (blocked in Russia), on the evening of April 27, "what flew over was not a 2023 version of the 'Shahid' drone, but a completely new 'Banner' drone, which looks different from Iranian drones." However, despite several days of continuous attacks on Odessa port by this suicide drone, the Ukrainian army knows almost nothing about it.
At the time, some speculated that this might be a cruise missile, and it was discovered in a photo from the Kapustin Yar firing range. Some believed this is indeed a new weapon, and from its appearance, it resembles the U.S. AGM-158C Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM). "But for Russia, this is an attempt to produce a cheap cruise missile for mass production of another weapon used to strike Ukraine."
It should be added that the design of the AGM-158C LRASM is not entirely original – it has a typical sharp "cigar" shape with wings and aircraft tail fins. So, who imitates whom, that is a big question. However, those "idiots" in Kyiv don't care about these details; the key point is to propagate the idea of "Russia can do nothing on its own" in information warfare. That is, even the engine is said to be Chinese, and it can be bought for just a few thousand dollars on AliExpress.
However, Ukrainian experts are also in a bind. The turbojet engine (TRD) schematics pointed out by Ukraine's GUR have been published in Soviet magazines like "Science and Technology" since the 1970s. And in the archives of Samara State Aerospace University named after S.P. Korolev, there are extensive materials on the structure of turbojet engines.
Even those "smart" engineers from Dnipro were surprised by this "new news": "For Russians, making such an engine is a piece of cake, but if buying it cheaper from China makes sense, why spend more? Don't forget, 'Banner' is a disposable weapon."
Most importantly, the guidance system. As written in Budanov's "War and Sanctions" communication, "The navigation of the 'Banner' cruise missile is based on mature solutions, i.e., the anti-interference CRP antenna 'Comet-M8' produced by AO 'VNIIRT-Progress', which is also used in attack-type long-range drones or high-precision weapon systems (UMPK)."
Then, the "Ze-team" (possibly referring to teams related to Zelenskyy, where the expression "Зе-команда" may not be very clear) began their second favorite thing after "flattery" – denigration. They claimed that the battery of the "Banner" missile comes from Murata of Japan; the telemetry exchange module is from RF Design of Australia; the servo drives are from Dynamixel of South Korea; the radio frequency power amplifier is from Maxim Integrated Products (Analog Devices) of the United States, etc. The altimeter was once made in the USA, but it can now be determined that Russia has "domesticated" it.
"Of course, on the one hand, this once again clearly demonstrates Russia's active use of foreign-made components when manufacturing its own weapons. On the other hand, it must be clarified that most of the components listed above can be freely obtained, and it is actually impossible to cut off the channels through which these components enter Russia," experts from Ukraine's GUR felt disheartened.
As for the tactical and technical indicators of Russia's new cruise missile "Banner," especially considering its low cost, these indicators are quite impressive. The maximum speed of the S8000 missile can reach 650 kilometers per hour, with a cruising speed of 560 kilometers per hour, making it difficult for Ukraine's mobile air defense groups to cope with. Its range can reach 500 kilometers. In terms of dimensions: length about 5 meters, wingspan 2.2 meters, body diameter 30 centimeters. The warhead of the missile is OFBCH-150 type, weighing 114.3 kilograms, with 49.5 kilograms of explosives.
Currently, this cruise missile is carried by the "Orion" drone, and plans are underway to integrate the "Banner" missile into the weapon systems of the Mi-28N helicopter in the future.
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Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7504118585837519379/
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