Russia’s failed military-industrial complex is on display in Ukraine
Jon Sweet Mark Toth
Russia is continuing its drone and missile barrage against civilian targets in Kyiv. But many of its weapons are being shot down by Ukraine.
Russia’s capacity to terrorize Ukraine’s noncombatant population centers is being significantly degraded by the United States and NATO-supplied integrated air defense systems. These weapon systems, which include Patriot missile batteries, are proving capable of downing Russian Kh-47M2 Kinzhal hypersonic air-launched ballistic missiles, Kalibr cruise missiles, S-400 missiles, and Iskander-M ballistic missiles, as well as Iranian-supplied Shahed and Orlan-10 drones.
Loudly touted as indefensible by Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Kinzhal missile has failed to deliver, as have the Russian S-300 and S-400 missile systems and the T-14 Armata main battle tank. Three Russian academics, Anatoly Maslov, Alexander Shiplyuk, and Valery Zvegintsev, are already under arrest and charged with treason. Perhaps for the Kinzhal’s failure to perform as advertised?
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Top line: U.S. military technology is continuing to prove vastly superior and is costing Russian soldiers their lives. In August 2022, a successful Ukrainian strike on the Saky military base in the Novofedorivka region of Russian-occupied Crimea was attributed to HIMARS. The Russian S-400 Triumf, once described as the “most capable air defense systems in the world,” failed miserably and put Russian air force assets, command and control centers, and ammunition and fuel depots at risk. Furthermore, its ineffectiveness likely struck hard at the psyche of Russian soldiers who had put their faith in this platform for protection.
Now, nine months later, the S-300 and S-400 air defense systems, manufactured by Almaz-Antey, are still failing in Ukraine. These missile systems were supposedly guaranteed to take out planes, helicopters, and most notably, HIMARS missiles. They are doing neither. Throughout Putin’s war, Russian armor, the mainstay of Russian ground forces since World War II, is proving equally ineffective. According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, 3,771 tanks and 7,365 armored personnel carriers have been destroyed — many of them by U.S.-supplied weapon systems, including the Javelin shoulder-fired anti-armor system and Switchblade drones.
Every Russian type of tank has fallen victim — including museum pieces such as the T-55 as well as the T-62/64, T-72, T-80, T-90M, and the T-14 Armata. Corruption within the Russian defense industry is beginning to take a decisive toll on Putin’s war effort. Russian soldiers are losing confidence in their weapon systems; videos frequently show tank crews abandoning their steel coffins upon contact with Ukrainians.
Now, the men in charge of manufacturing those failed weapons systems are feeling the pressure as Putin blames them for his failures in Ukraine.
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Jonathan Sweet, a retired Army colonel, served 30 years as a military intelligence officer. Follow him on Twitter @JESweet2022.
Mark Toth is a retired economist and entrepreneur who has worked in banking, insurance, publishing, and global commerce. Follow him on Twitter @MCTothSTL.