The head of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Andriy Taran said that the country in 2022 will be able to work on the creation of its own "missile shield".

“In 2022, the Ministry of Defense will have the opportunity to work on the creation of a domestic missile shield.

First of all, we are talking about the resumption of work on the operational-tactical complex "Sapsan", - quotes the statement of the minister, the Ukrainian defense department.

Taran also said that by the beginning of next year, Kiev expects to complete work on the creation of a high-precision Alder missile with improved characteristics for the Smerch multiple launch rocket system.

“It is planned to adopt the new Typhoon-1 missile for the Verba multiple launch rocket system and to fine-tune the Hurricane multiple launch rocket system using the Typhoon-2 ammunition,” the minister added.

As Taran emphasized, the president's control over the state of affairs in the security and defense sector "gives reason to expect significant progress in the development of Ukraine's military capabilities."

The minister also commented on the increase in the country's defense budget for 2022.

According to him, this initiative of the Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky "will provide an opportunity to implement important long-term programs in the field of defense."

"Among other things, the Ministry of Defense will receive funding for the development of missile weapons, the Ukrainian Navy and new scientific and research and development work in the field of high technologies," the minister said.

On the eve, Zelensky put into effect the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC) to increase the defense budget for 2022.

Prior to that, the President also took part in a meeting of the NSDC, at which such a decision was made.

“Based on the results of the consideration (of the security and defense sector budget for 2022

- RT

), the NSDC decided to recommend to the government, when preparing the draft state budget for next year, to increase funding for the security and defense sector to 5.95% of GDP, or UAH 319.4 billion ( from 5.93% of GDP in 2021), ”the press service of the Ukrainian leader’s office said.

  • President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky

  • © AP Photo / Ronald Zak

Previous attempts

It should be noted that Ukraine has previously tried to create an operational-tactical missile system (OTRK) "Sapsan".

However, work on this project, which was carried out by the Yuzhnoye design bureau and the Yuzhmash plant, was discontinued in 2013.

“We have abandoned the program for the development of the Sapsan complex.

For several years, the enterprise that carried out this work spent more than 200 million hryvnia and did not issue not only a prototype, but also design documentation, ”said the then Minister of Defense of Ukraine Pavel Lebedev in June 2013.

The fact that it is necessary to analyze the state target program for creating a multifunctional missile system "Sapsan", said in 2016 the then President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko.

In the same year, he announced the resumption of funding for this project, and the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau informed about the start of work on the experimental development of this OTRK.

In February 2021, Andriy Taran announced that the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine plans to sign a contract for the manufacture of the first experimental battery of the Sapsan operational-tactical missile system this year.

In addition to work on the Sapsan, Kiev is also engaged in a project to create a high-precision 300 mm Alder-M missile with improved characteristics for the modernized Soviet Smerch multiple launch rocket systems.

As Taran said in July, the creation of Alkhi-M is at the final stage of state tests.

In addition to Sapsan and Alder, Kiev is also developing a new Typhoon-1 122 mm rocket for the BM-21U Verba multiple launch rocket system.

According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, this weapon was successfully tested in the summer.

“The Ministry of Defense continues to implement the strategy of rocket-reactive weapons of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The results of the Typhoon-1 tests will be used in the development of the Typhoon-2 220 mm missile for the modernized Hurricane multiple launch rocket system, Andrey Taran said in July.

  • Ukrainian military

  • Reuters

  • © Valentyn Ogirenko

It is worth noting that the Hurricane system was used during the recent Ukrainian exercises on the border with Crimea, the command of the joint forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported on 22 September.

According to Kiev, during the maneuvers, a fire defeat was inflicted on the infantry and armored vehicles of the conditional enemy, located at a distance of more than 30 km.

It is noted that the training took place in an environment as close as possible to the real one.

"Justify your inaction"

As noted by military expert Alexei Leonkov, Ukraine often talks about innovations in the field of weapons, but so far all this remains for the most part "in the plane of fantasies."

“Kiev regularly declares that it is developing missile weapons.

But at parades, the Ukrainian side mainly demonstrates models of such "novelties", they also try to show something during firing, but the samples that are there are not supplied to the troops.

And therefore, there is no need to talk about any strengthening of Ukraine's defenses, "the expert said in an interview with RT.

In particular, as Leonkov noted, Kiev's "grandiose plans" to equip its troops with the Sapsan operational-tactical missile system and the Alder-M high-precision missile are "doomed to failure."

“In order to produce such weapons on a large scale, you need to have a correspondingly developed military-industrial complex, which is absent in Ukraine.

What Kiev inherited from the Soviet past is systematically falling apart as a result of the activities of Ukrainian officials, who turned the military-industrial complex into a feeding trough and a means of personal enrichment, included this sector in their corruption schemes, ”the analyst said.

According to Leonkov, the maximum that the Ukrainian military-industrial complex is capable of in its current form is to produce samples that can be shown on tests.

“We are talking about small batch production, which cannot be called serious.

Such products will not be in demand either on the arms market or on the real battlefield.

Therefore, everything that the Minister of Defense of Ukraine says is exactly the same that came from the lips of his predecessors after 2014 - propaganda, ”he said.

Alexey Podberezkin, director of the Center for Military-Political Studies at MGIMO, shares a similar opinion.

According to him, “on the remnants of the Soviet military-industrial complex,” Ukraine will not be able to recreate production facilities.

“To do this, you need to restore everything that was sold and plundered: buy expensive equipment, create your own design schools, but Ukraine has no money for this.

In this regard, we can conclude that Kiev will not be able to produce operational-tactical missiles and other samples of military equipment on a serious scale, "the expert explained in an interview with RT.

As Leonkov noted, against the background of the deplorable situation in the Ukrainian military-industrial complex, Kiev often passes off as new items samples of Soviet equipment that remained in their warehouses, which were slightly modified.

“Most often these are manipulations with finished products, which, for example, the Ukrainian side painted in a different color or replaced a part.

But all this is positioned as a new development.

In fact, these are such handicraft handicraft industries, you cannot call it any other way, ”the analyst said.

  • Rocket "Alder-M"

  • © Ministry of Defense of Ukraine

According to Podberezkin, even if Ukraine increases spending on the army even more than it is expected in 2022, Kiev will not be able to create and then supply its troops with modern, advanced and technologically advanced weapons that would meet international standards.

“A slight increase in the defense budget is a kind of move to demonstrate that Kiev is allegedly concerned about the development of the military-industrial complex.

By this, the authorities want to justify their inaction and inefficiency.

They intend to achieve the same by spinning up old initiatives that had previously been recognized as unprofitable.

But nobody prevents Kiev from fantasizing, ”the expert said.

In turn, Leonkov noted that all the military initiatives of Kiev sound against the background of the fact that the Ukrainian authorities in literally every program document set themselves the main goal - to oppose Russia.

We will remind, on September 17, Zelensky approved the Strategic Defense Bulletin of Ukraine, developed on the basis of the country's national and military security strategies.

The document defines "the main directions of the implementation of Ukraine's military policy, a promising model of the Armed Forces", as well as the capabilities of the defense forces, "which must be achieved."

According to the bulletin, the country's "military policy" is being implemented in several directions.

The first is called "ensuring the rebuff and deterrence of armed aggression" by Moscow against Ukraine, "restoring the sovereignty and territorial integrity" of the country "within the state border, preventing military conflicts with any foreign states."

We will remind, Kiev accuses Russia of allegedly participating in the conflict in Donbass.

However, Moscow has repeatedly stressed that it is not a party to this armed confrontation and hopes for an early settlement of the situation.

“Ukraine has been at war with its own population for seven years.

At the same time, he says that he is fighting the Russian Federation.

But there was not a single Russian soldier on the territory of Donbass.

All this is done to the public, as well as reports about "new items" in military equipment, as well as recent exercises near Crimea, where the "Uragan" system was used.

However, Russia is ready to repel any provocations from the Ukrainian side, if Kiev can agree to them, ”concluded Aleksey Leonkov.