A confrontation between the American "shield" missiles and the Russian "Iskander" .. Who will prevail?

LONDON

- Russia justifies its military move on the border with Ukraine by its military fears that American missiles will approach its borders and reach the "doors of the Russian borders" in the words of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

By these missiles, Putin means: the American defense systems that have been deployed in Eastern European countries, and the United States says that their purpose is to confront any potential Iranian threat.

This American justification does not convince the Russians at all, which prompted them to move the latest defense system of the Russian army to the border with Ukraine.

And the lands in Eastern Europe turned into an arena for confrontation between two of the latest and most powerful missiles and defense systems owned by both the Russian and American armies. What are these defense systems?

American shield

The idea of ​​the American missile shield is based on establishing military bases, and equipping missiles and defense systems on land and at sea, to prevent any intercontinental ballistic missile from reaching the territory of the United States or one of its allies.

The United States has bases ready or in the process of being completed.

Among the largest US bases in Eastern Europe, there are more than 6 bases in Poland, where 5,500 US soldiers are distributed. Washington also retreated from establishing a base in the Czech Republic.

In 2016, the United States of America announced the establishment of a base in Romania at a cost of $800 million, the aim of which is to contribute to strengthening the American missile shield and to work alongside NATO forces.

In these two countries close to the Russian border, the United States has deployed two of its most famous and most powerful defense systems and its most advanced missiles, capable of intercepting the fastest attack missiles: the Aegis ashore system and the Thaad system.

missile hunter

The Aegis Ashore system is a ballistic missile drop defense system that is the ground-based alternative to the US Navy's Aegis system.

This system consists of 3 parts: the first is the AN/SPY-1 radar, which is a three-dimensional electronic scanning radar system, developed by Lockheed Martin, which is the component The main component of the Aegis Ashore defense system, which enables monitoring of ballistic missiles and warplanes.

This radar is placed in high launch towers for monitoring, or in the building where the launch missile control room is located.

Then there's the second piece, the Mark 41 VLS, a vertical launch platform that delivers rapid engagement with any hostile target.

There is the SM-3 interceptor missile, which is considered one of the most important defensive missiles owned by the US Army, with a value of about 10 million dollars, and it is capable of carrying an explosive mass of up to 2500 kilograms, and at a speed of up to 4.5 kilometers per second. With an explosive power equivalent to a train of a mass of 1,000 tons, it travels at a speed of 100 kilometers per hour.

This advanced defense system, the United States says, is a system to respond to any aggression, which is why it has been deployed in Poland and Romania.

On the other hand, Russia says that simple modifications in its systems make it able to launch missiles that reach Moscow within 10 minutes.

Missile killer

In 2019, the United States deployed the THAAD defense system in Romania, in order to cover up some faults that appeared in the Aegis Ashore system.

The THAAD system is considered one of the most important American missile defense systems. At the beginning of its manufacture in 2004, its purpose was to intercept Scud-style missiles and similar missiles, before being developed to be able to intercept ballistic missiles.

This missile system was manufactured by "Lockheed Martin", in addition to other companies, including "Boeing" and "Raytheon", and its development cost amounted to 700 million dollars in 2004. In 2008 the cost of the unit was 9 million dollars.

According to the definition of the "Lockheed Martin" fork, this system is effective in a circle with a diameter of 200 kilometers around the launch pads, and reaches a height of 150 kilometers, and "THAAD" was designed to be able to destroy any target at any stage of its flight, whether at a very high altitude. Or even while descending to a low altitude.

According to the producing company, the success rate of this system has reached 100%, and it is capable of launching 76 missiles at once to counter any potential attack.

big russian missile

According to Foreign Policy, the Russian military has sent Iskander missiles to the front lines on the border with Ukraine.

According to the same source, military experts confirmed that the missiles that appeared in some of the videos were Iskander missiles.

The "Iskander" missiles are the most powerful and most important missile system in the Russian army, and they are part of Russia's iron wall to defend its borders against any possible aggression.

These missiles are considered one of the fastest missiles of the 21st century, and their goal is to shoot down the enemy's air and missile defense systems, and they have a range of 500 km.

According to many military experts, the task of intercepting a missile is an impossible task, given its high speed and ability to maneuver on two levels to evade all existing defense systems, and its weight is 3 tons, and it is capable of carrying 400 kg of high explosive TNT. .