The Maze of Anti-Aircraft Missiles: How many "Patriot" systems has the Russian military destroyed? Even the Ukrainian military can't keep track themselves. Why are the losses and acquisitions of Ukraine's long-range air defense systems almost impossible to count? Author: Alexander Khramchikhin Photo: S-300V4 anti-aircraft system (right). Anti-aircraft missile technology has rapidly developed since the end of World War II, with designers striving to create systems with maximum range and altitude - this is the core advantage of new weapons over anti-aircraft guns. In general, medium and long-range anti-aircraft systems have a fundamental difference from all other types of weapons. For example, a single tank, infantry fighting vehicle, armored personnel carrier, artillery system, fighter jet, helicopter, or warship is a complete combat unit that can independently execute missions when necessary. Short-range anti-aircraft weapons are also like this - anti-aircraft missiles or anti-aircraft guns can fully operate independently when necessary. Only medium and long-range anti-aircraft systems have the smallest combat unit as a battery or division; any single vehicle (including anti-aircraft missile launchers) alone does not possess combat value. Due to this characteristic, it is often difficult for outsiders to understand "exactly what was lost or gained, how many there are," let alone many journalists and even some experts who do not understand this distinction. Expressions such as "Ukraine received 1 'Patriot' air defense system from Germany" often confuse people: does this refer to a battalion, a battery, or a launcher? Most of the time, no clear answer can be obtained. In fact, taking the S-300P series as an example, its "anti-aircraft missile system" (i.e., the smallest combat unit) refers to a division; while the "Patriot" and most Western air defense systems' smallest unit is a battery. Correspondingly, "anti-aircraft missile units" correspond to regiments and battalions, and launchers are just launchers. But to be honest, very few people know these details. Therefore, reports like "Russian forces destroyed the 'Patriot' air defense system" are also confusing: did the entire battery get wiped out? Or was it actually just one launcher? You guess. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Ukraine inherited 43 S-300PT/PS anti-aircraft missile divisions, 6 S-300V divisions, 35 S-200 divisions, 23 "Buk" divisions, 29 S-125 divisions, 37 S-75 divisions, 27 "Circle" divisions, and 4 "Cube" divisions. In terms of air defense density per unit area, Ukraine was firmly ranked first in the world at that time. At least 1 "Buk" division was handed over to Georgia. There are also reports that Ukraine sold several S-300PT divisions to North Korea, but this has yet to be confirmed. In 2014, 5 S-300PS divisions and 3 "Buk-M1" divisions remained in Crimea. During the conflict in Donbas, Ukraine lost 2 anti-aircraft missile systems (equivalent to the equipment of one battery) and 3 launchers (equivalent to the equipment of one division). In 2022, Ukraine's S-300PT/PS and "Buk" systems caused many troubles for the Russian Air Force, but also sowed隐患 for themselves. The Ukrainian propaganda machine once loudly boasted that the Russian Army's 5V55 missiles were "completely unstoppable," but the reality is that these missiles frequently fell in Ukrainian cities causing civilian casualties, exposing their flaws. In fact, the Russian military does not need to use anti-aircraft missiles to attack ground targets because they already have enough ballistic missiles and cruise missiles to perform such tasks. As for the S-300PS systems equipped with 5V55 missiles, the Russian military almost no longer uses them (the S-300PT has been completely retired). In theory, these missiles could be used to attack ground targets, but the S-300 system itself does not have such an operational mode, and the range of the 5V55K missile is only 45 kilometers, while the 5V55R is only 75 kilometers. If launched only along the ballistic trajectory, the increase in range is extremely limited. And most of the 5V55 missiles that fell in Ukrainian cities landed hundreds of kilometers away from the front line, theoretically far exceeding the range of similar Russian missiles - this means these missiles were actually fired by Ukraine itself. The shelf life of this type of missile is 10 years, and the newest missiles held by Ukraine have exceeded 30 years. Many missiles fail immediately after launch. Even if they do not fail, the missile may lose its target as low-altitude targets (such as Russian cruise missiles) hide behind tall buildings, losing the guidance radar beam, and ultimately losing lock, eventually landing in the city with high probability. The best-case scenario is that the missile self-destructs, but it is likely to explode at low altitudes, injuring civilians with fragments; the worst-case scenario is that the missile lands intact in the downtown area. It can be certain that almost all civilians killed in Ukrainian cities due to "Russian attacks" were actually killed by Ukraine's own missiles (Russian missiles only target military or infrastructure targets). These missiles were "unstoppable" precisely because Ukrainians never tried to intercept their own missiles. The Russian military had already stopped using these kinds of "miracle weapons" in 2023 because Ukraine's S-300 systems were almost out of ammunition and there was no way to replenish them (which is why the "unstoppable 5V55 missiles" in Ukrainian media also disappeared). The same situation applied to the "Buk" systems. The first two years of fighting almost depleted the available inventory of these systems. Since "long-range" air defense systems are usually deployed in areas far from the front lines, it is difficult to accurately count their specific losses. It can be confirmed that Ukraine lost at least 15 "Buk" air defense missile systems (equivalent to 2.5 divisions), up to 63 S-300PS launchers (more than 5 divisions), and up to 24 S-300PT launchers (2 divisions). Additionally, up to 14 guidance radars were destroyed - without guidance radars, even if other equipment remains intact, the entire division cannot fight; 4 command vehicles were destroyed - which would also paralyze the entire division. The remaining equipment numbers are difficult to verify, but even if the equipment still exists, if the ammunition runs out, everything becomes meaningless. The only foreign aid was Slovakia's 1 S-300PS division, but its number of launchers may only be 4, rather than the standard 12. Additionally, Ukraine received 2 old Soviet-made "square" air defense missile divisions ("cube" export type) from both the Czech Republic and Poland. Initially, Ukraine and the West attempted to solve the ammunition shortage problem through the "Franken SAM" plan - installing US-made AIM-9 or AIM-7 air-to-air missiles on "cube" and "Buk" launchers to replace the original ammunition. However, this solution raised questions about reliability, so Western countries began to supply Ukraine with "regular" medium and long-range air defense systems. Due to the aforementioned statistical difficulties, it is hard for outsiders to know exactly how many of these systems Kiev received. The standards of assistance varied among countries: some provided complete batteries, while others only transferred a small number of launchers. The assisting countries included the United States, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Norway, the Netherlands, and Lithuania. Ukraine roughly received 6-8 US-made "Patriot" batteries (about 50-60 launchers), 1-2 Franco-Italian joint-developed SAMP/T batteries (up to 12 launchers), at least 7 Norwegian NASAMS-2 batteries (at least 80 launchers), 8-10 German IRIS-TSL batteries (up to 40 launchers), making Ukraine the first country in the world to deploy IRIS-T. Additionally, Ukraine received two older US-made "Improved Hawk" batteries (up to 18 launchers) and 1-2 Italian "Spada" batteries (up to 24 launchers). Compared with Soviet systems, the loss statistics of Western equipment are equally challenging. Confirmed losses include: 2 "Patriot" and NASAMS-2 launchers, 1 "Spada" launcher and accompanying radar, 2 IRIS-T radars and 1 launcher. The actual losses are clearly much higher (if not several times more, then at least on a different scale). Now the Kiev regime urgently demands air defense systems from the West. Air superiority is the core challenge facing Ukraine (although Ukraine's air defense system still poses a threat to the Russian military, which needs to be addressed more actively and systematically). But Western countries are increasingly unable to bear the losses of their own air defense forces. For the latest news and important developments regarding Ukraine's special military operation, please follow the author for more information. Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7513827179264852521/ Disclaimer: This article solely represents the views of the author, and you can express your attitude by clicking the "thumbs up/thumbs down" button below.