Russia's Tor-M2 air defense missile system fires (Photo: Russian Ministry of Defense ).
Moscow praises "UAV killer" Tor-M2
The Kyiv Post reported that the Kremlin praised the technical and tactical capabilities of the Tor-M2 air defense missile system (NATO designation SA-15 Gauntlet) in shooting down small Ukrainian drones without mentioning the huge costs involved.
In its November 22 war situation update, the Russian Defense Ministry boasted about shooting down a Ukrainian drone over the Donetsk region with a Tor-M2 missile that costs $800,000 each, about 30 times the target price.
The report praised the performance of the missile system in service with the 5th Combined Arms Army of the Russian Vostok Group of Forces during operations in Ukraine. The combat crews "continued to perform tasks of destroying air targets and protecting the troops of the special military operation from enemy air attacks in the southern part of Donetsk."
TASS praised the technical capabilities of the Tor-M2 missile system, which is undoubtedly a short-range, low- to medium-altitude, all-weather surface-to-air missile system capable of engaging four targets simultaneously.
What both agencies failed to mention is that the cost of each 9M338K missile is equivalent to $800,000, while Ukraine's most expensive UAV costs around $30,000.
The Tor-M2 itself costs around $25 million, and both Russian agencies also point to Ukraine’s cheaper FPV drones destroying at least six of these missile systems this year. A similar number of Tor-M2s have been destroyed by Ukrainian artillery and HIMARS strikes.
Ukraine destroyed the Russian Tor-M2 air defense missile system (Source: UTDF).
What's so scary about this air defense system?
Named Tor - the mythical Thunder God Thor - this army air defense missile system has proven its power and has no rivals, maintaining its position as one of the most powerful low-altitude air defense weapons in the world for decades.
The system is designed to protect combat forces and ground targets from air attacks using precision-guided weapons and delivery vehicles such as fighter aircraft, armed helicopters, cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles.
The system has the following outstanding advantages:
Firstly, this is a short-range self-propelled air defense missile system with advanced features, effective countermeasures against negative and positive interference, as well as the ability to operate independently in all weather conditions.
All components of the complex are mounted on a high-cross-country tracked vehicle. In addition, depending on customer requirements, Tor can use a wheeled chassis.
The Tor-M2 version is famous for its short deployment and recovery time (about 3 minutes). Currently, no other air defense weapon system in the world can do this. This is an important factor in improving the survivability of the system in mobile combat conditions.
In combat mode, the complex only takes 1 to 3 seconds to react to flying targets, including low-flying and low-radar-reflecting targets. The complex can simultaneously track 144 targets at a range of 32km and direct fire at the 4 most dangerous targets. Meanwhile, the control crew consists of only 2 people.
Due to its vertical launch method and high combat effectiveness, similar to the S-300 missile complex, Tor has been nicknamed the "mini S-300".
Fourth, the 9M338 missile allows the ability to shoot down flying targets at a distance of 16km, with a ceiling of 10km.
Each launcher carries 16 missiles in a launch tube that doubles as a storage compartment. The missiles are rated to have an accuracy rate of up to 97% and can reach a flight speed of up to 1,000m/s, equivalent to 3 times the speed of sound.
Source
Comment (0)