Ukraine has created and recently successfully tested its own ballistic missile. This was stated by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a conversation with journalists, according to Komersant ukrainskyi
“Since we have come to this: what are the developments in Ukraine? I thought it was too early to talk about this, but I would like to see the public’s assessment of this… There was a positive test of the first Ukrainian ballistic missile. I congratulate our defence industry on this,”
– zelenskyy said.
The President added that he could not share details about the production of the missile.
Ballistic missiles
Ballistic missiles are a type of missile weapon that uses a ballistic trajectory to deliver a warhead to a target. After launching and initial acceleration, the ballistic missile shuts down its engine and flies by inertia along a ballistic trajectory, similar to an artillery shell. This trajectory involves the missile ascending to a high altitude (often beyond the atmosphere) and then falling towards the target under the influence of gravity. Ballistic missiles can carry both conventional and nuclear warheads.
Ballistic missiles are classified according to their range: short-range (up to 1000 km), medium-range (1000-3000 km), intermediate-range (3000-5500 km) and intercontinental (over 5500 km). They can be launched from a variety of platforms, including land-based launchers, submarines, ships and aircraft. Modern ballistic missiles are often equipped with guidance systems that allow them to adjust their trajectory to improve accuracy.
The advantages of ballistic missiles are their high speed (especially in the final part of the trajectory), long range, ability to carry powerful warheads, and difficulty in intercepting and destroying them, making them a powerful weapon.
Russia has one of the largest and most diverse arsenals of ballistic missiles in the world. The Russian army is armed with land-launched intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) such as the RS-24 Yars, as well as submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) R-29RMU2 Sineva and RSM-56 Bulava. In addition, Russia is armed with Iskander-M tactical missile systems with short-range ballistic missiles. In 2019, Russia announced the adoption of the Avangard hypersonic missile system, which uses an intercontinental ballistic missile as a carrier for a hypersonic cruise missile.