The Ukrainian army’s “dot” - U tactical ballistic missile is one of its few “strategic weapons”.
According to RIA Novosti reported on March 4, Donetsk civil armed forces posted on social media that the Ukrainian army used the “dot” - U tactical ballistic missile to open fire on the “Asian speed battalion” headquarters in Mariupol, killing more than 20 “Asian speed battalion” armed personnel. Ukrainian officials have not responded to the reports of Russian media, but the report has also attracted attention to the Ukrainian army’s long-range strike capability.
Ukrainian equipped “dot” - U tactical ballistic missile.
Ukrainian military missile attacks Russian front-line Airport
In addition to this appearance, the Ukrainian army’s “dot” - U tactical ballistic missile also attacked the Russian front-line airport.
On February 25, the Ukrainian army’s tactical missile brigade launched several “dot” - U tactical ballistic missiles and attacked the Russian army’s front-line military airport in milerovo, north of stov state. At least one su-30m2 fighter was destroyed.
Videos taken by Russian soldiers on their mobile phones showed smoke and flames in the airport. A fire broke out next to a su-30m2 fighter. There was no official response from Russia and Ukraine.
When the Soviet Union disintegrated, Ukraine inherited not only intercontinental missiles equipped with nuclear warheads, but also some tactical ballistic missiles, including the “dot” - U missile used in the battlefield this time. At present, the Ukrainian army has a tactical missile brigade, designated as the 19th zaporoje independent missile brigade, which governs four missile battalions, has about 24 launch vehicles and is equipped with about 120 missiles. However, due to the consumption of the conflict in eastern Ukraine, the reserve is less than 120.
The Russian front-line airport was hit by missiles.
The “dot” missile (NATO code name: ss-21, nicknamed “Scarab”) is the second generation of short-range tactical surface to surface missile developed by the Soviet Union in the 1960s. The development work is in the charge of the Soviet machinery manufacturing and Design Bureau. It is mainly used to replace the 9k52 (frog-7) tactical rocket used by the army. The missile was tested in the 1970s and equipped with the army in 1975. Like the frog-7 tactical rocket, “dot” is also used as a brigade level fire support equipment. Each missile brigade is equipped with 18 vehicles, and each vehicle is equipped with 2-3 missiles.
The “dot” missile system is equipped with a 9m79 missile. The missile adopts a solid rocket motor with a launch mass of 2000 kg and a maximum range of 70 km. It adopts inertial guidance. The circular probability error is about 150 meters. The warhead weighs about 482 kg. The conventional warhead mainly includes high explosive and sub cluster bombs, filled with 120 kg high explosive and a killing radius of 42 meters, The killing radius of fragments is about 100m; The child mother warhead is equipped with 50 9n24 high bursting disc killing submunitions, each with a charge of 1.45kg, which can kill effective forces and light equipment in a large area. According to the loss of the Russian military airport, the Ukrainian army is likely to use the missile of the sub parent warhead, because the hit accuracy of the “dot” - U missile is not high. If the model of the high explosive warhead is used, it is likely to hit the open space of the airport, causing less damage. Instead, you can take a chance with the sub parent warhead.
In the later stage, the Soviet Union developed an improved version of 9m79-1 of 9m79 missile. The missile range was increased to 150 kilometers. At the same time, the inertial system was improved, and the hit accuracy was increased to about 90 meters. The whole system was named “dot” - U.
The child and parent warhead of the dot missile.
The “dot” series missile adopts the transportation erection launch integrated vehicle (TEL) code named 9p129, which uses the baz-5921 high motorized wheel chassis. The front of the vehicle is four operators including the driver, and the rear is the missile launch box. Each launch vehicle is equipped with a waiting bomb. When launching, the cover plate of the launch box will be opened, and the hydraulic launch guide rail will be erected to launch the missile.
Like “Scud” ballistic missiles, the “dot” series of tactical ballistic missiles have also been exported to many countries, including Yemen, Syria, Bulgaria and other countries. After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, many participating countries have also received many such missiles. The “dot” missile was first used in the civil war in Yemen in 1994, while the Russian army used it in the second Chechen War, the Russian Georgian war and the military conflict. In the 2008 Russia Georgia war, the Russian army launched 15 “dots” - U and several “Iskander” ballistic missiles to strike important military targets in Georgia, suppress the main military targets in the Georgian missile corps and aviation corps, and lay a foundation for the follow-up war.
“Dot” - U tactical ballistic missile is one of the few “strategic weapons” of the Ukrainian army.
“Thunder” that can’t go to the battlefield
As mentioned above, when the Soviet Union collapsed, Ukraine inherited many ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons. In fact, in addition to these missiles, Ukraine also inherited many missile industries and technologies from the Soviet Union, and has the ability to develop and produce ballistic missile and cruise missile technologies.
For example, the southern Design Bureau, a well-known Soviet missile design unit, is in Ukraine. Founded in 1954, the southern design bureau is a joint military industry enterprise in Ukraine during the Soviet era and one of the world’s largest missile and rocket manufacturers. The founder of the Bureau was once known as the “father of intercontinental ballistic missiles of the Soviet Union”. 62% of the Soviet Union’s surface to air missiles and 42% of its strategic missiles are produced independently by the design bureau or in cooperation with other military enterprises.
The southern Design Bureau has developed several series of launch vehicles for the Soviet Union, with considerable strength in rocket and missile research and development. The main models include the famous “universe” series, “cyclone” series and “zenith” series. In terms of missiles, it has developed intercontinental ballistic missiles such as R-12, r-14, R-16 and R-7, and also designed a series of solid rocket motors for missiles, Such as 15d15, 15d122, 15d207, 15d305, 15d365, etc.
Thunder-2 missile launcher is equipped with two missiles.
Sitting on such a strong missile industry and technology foundation, but after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Ukraine did not come up with a tactical ballistic missile that could replace the “dot” - u for a long time. Most of the time, it was supporting Russian missiles until 2014