Asurge in Russian use of ballistic missiles with enhanced maneuvering capabilities has cut into the effectiveness of Ukraine’s Patriot surface-to-air missile systems, the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) has confirmed. Russian missile strikes, as well as drone attacks, had spiked in recent months, in general, but they have tapered off to a degree recently ahead of a meeting tomorrow between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.
Ukraine has received three Patriot batteries from the United States, as well as two from Germany, one from Romania, and another jointly supplied by Germany and the Netherlands. The Ukrainian armed forces have also received a variety of different interceptors to use with those systems. American authorities announced last month that they were working with European allies to get additional Patriot batteries to Ukraine’s military. Patriot currently represents the only robust defense Ukraine has against incoming ballistic missiles.
However, “the UAF [Ukrainian Air Force] struggled to consistently use Patriot air defense systems to protect against Russian ballistic missiles due to recent Russian tactical improvements, including enhancements that enable their missiles to change trajectory and perform maneuvers rather than flying in a traditional ballistic trajectory,” according to a Special Inspector General report released this week.
This particular passage is cited to “DIA, response to DoD OIG request for information.” The entire report, which was jointly put together by the Offices of the Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of State, and U.S. Agency for International Development, discusses U.S. government activities related to Ukraine and elsewhere in Europe between April 1 and June 30.
“For example, [a] June 28 attack included seven ballistic missiles, of which the UAF shot down only one,” the report adds. “A massed attack on July 9 – the largest air attack since the start of the war – included 13 missiles, of which the UAF shot down or suppressed 7.”
The Special Inspector General report does not offer any further details about what specific types of ballistic missiles are at the source of the issue, nor about the “enhancements” that have been made to them. Whether any specific Patriot interceptors have struggled more than others is also unknown.
However, Ukrainian Air Force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat did mention Russia’s domestically developed Iskander-M and North Korean-supplied KN-23s in passing when talking publicly about this issue back in May. The Iskander-M and KN-23 are both short-range ballistic missiles. These are also understood to be, by far, the ballistic missiles that Russia most commonly employs in strikes on Ukraine.
Hellbound and Down 