Ukraine's 2500 km cruise missile will be financed by Germany – Horbulin, Badrak
In addition to Ukrainian long-range missile-drones and unmanned aerial vehicles, Germany will finance the development and serial production of cruise missiles with a range of up to 2,500 kilometers. This was reported in an article for LIGA.net by Valentyn Badrak, director of the Center for Army Research, Conversion and Disarmament, and Volodymyr Horbulin, first vice-president of the National Academy of Sciences and former secretary of the National Security and Defense Council.
At the end of May, it became known that Germany would support the production of Ukrainian "Bars" missile-drones and "Lutiy" drones, and together with the allocation of funds for scaling up interceptor drones, the subsidy would amount to 400 million euros, analysts said.
"This concerns the financing of the purchase of Ukrainian "Bars" missile-drones as part of a new package of military aid to Ukraine worth approximately 5 billion euros, which may indicate a high level of need for such weapons by the Defense Forces," the experts added.
According to them, a significant piece of evidence is that in early May, Ukraine contacted the German Ministry of Defense with a request to finance these particular missile-drones, as well as the long-range strike unmanned aerial systems "Lutiy" and the VB140 "Flamingo" interceptor drones.
Germany will provide this funding as part of a package supporting the development and serial production of cruise missiles with a range of up to 2500 km – and this indicates a comprehensive approach to the development of weapons that will have clearly defined roles during combined attacks, Badrak and Horbylin emphasized.
They added that the amount of German investment shows that the issue of missiles in general and missile-drones in particular has become even more acute and relevant against the backdrop of Ukraine's desire to achieve independence from partners in the creation and production of strike weapons.
"This thesis, of course, is dedicated to the political and technological difficulties in obtaining the German Taurus cruise missile, however, a decision to finance Ukrainian developments may prove to be no worse. Considering the ability of the private defense-industrial complex to develop and produce at an extraordinary pace," the analysts conclude.
- For comparison, the Neptune cruise missile, which has already been used against the occupiers, has a range of 1000 km. 2500 km is the distance from the front line to Siberia. In March, President Zelenskyy announced that Ukraine had tested a drone capable of traveling 3000 km, but so far there have been no strikes at that distance.
- Cruise missiles are more vulnerable to air defense systems, unlike ballistic missiles. At the same time, the Ukrainian "Sapsan" complex, which belongs to the latter, has a declared range of 500 km.
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