Despite the fact that the United States views Russia as its main adversary, they are in no hurry to start a war with it, because they know that they are "powerless" against its missiles. This is stated by analysts of the Chinese edition of Baijiahao. Military observer Mikhail Khodarenok studied their arguments. Baijiahao analysts write: “Russian missiles are so powerful that they can destroy an entire city in a matter of seconds.” As examples of such power, they cite the ground-based intercontinental ballistic missile SS-18 "Satan" (R-36M2 "Voevoda"), which is capable of hitting targets at a distance of up to 16 thousand km. The Chinese portal claims that if it hits a target, "Satan" can instantly wipe out a city from the face of the earth. The missile is capable of simultaneously carrying ten warheads, which allows you to create a colossal destructive force.
“The United States does not want a war with Russia, they are powerless against its missiles and will not be able to oppose them,” the publication claims.
In addition to "Satan," Baijiahao continues, Russia also has short-range ballistic missiles in service, which are designed for heavy use in conventional combat operations, which are "no less terrible." What is the Tor anti-aircraft missile system worth, writes the Chinese portal.
“This is a multi-purpose system that can be used not only for air defense and field operations, but also for intercepting missiles. The vehicle has a tracked chassis that improves mobility, as well as durable bulletproof armor,” writes Baijiahao.
Let's start with the fact that the portal mixes two types of the Armed Forces and three types of troops of the Russian Armed Forces into one whole at once - the Strategic Missile Forces (calling them missile forces), the anti-aircraft missile forces of the Aerospace Forces, the Air Defense Forces, as well as the Rocket Forces and Artillery with their completely different tasks, as well as operational and combat capabilities.
Let's clarify that the R-36M2 "Voevoda" intercontinental ballistic missile is in service with the Strategic Missile Forces, "short-range ballistic missiles" (tactical and operational-tactical missile systems) are in service with the Missile Forces and artillery of the Ground Forces, anti-aircraft missile systems "Tor » various modifications are on the equipment of the Military Air Defense of the SV Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
And if the Strategic Missile Forces of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation can really destroy the United States, then the tasks of the ZRV VKS and the Military Air Defense are still completely different.
Since a significant part of the Chinese material is given to the description of the Tor anti-aircraft missile system, it is necessary to dwell on the characteristics of this air defense system in more detail.
Baijiahao writes that Thor is "a multi-purpose system that can be used not only for air defense and field operations, but also for intercepting missiles."
This is not entirely accurate. Anti-aircraft missile system "Tor-M2" is designed for air defense of the most important military and government facilities from attacks by aircraft, helicopters, cruise missiles, anti-radar and other guided missiles, gliding guided bombs and unmanned aerial vehicles within the zone of destruction of the complex, day and night, in difficult meteorological and interference conditions. The developer of the complex does not talk about the use in some "field operations".
Baijiahao claims that the Thor has "a tracked chassis that enhances mobility as well as tough, bulletproof armor." But this is also not entirely true.
For example, the 9A331ME Tor-M2E air defense system is mounted on a tracked chassis, the 9A331MK Tor-M2K air defense system is on a wheelbase, and the Tor-M2KM anti-aircraft missile system is a container version. This version of the "Torah" can be used stationary or in a mobile version when placed on a car chassis, trailers, semi-trailers and other platforms of the appropriate carrying capacity.
As for "durable bulletproof armor", the manufacturer is also silent about these characteristics of the anti-aircraft missile system.
Finally, it would be necessary to say about some important features of Thor. This air defense system provides a circular view of space in a given sector in terms of elevation, detection and identification of air targets, analysis of the air situation, and automatic selection of the most dangerous targets for firing. At the same time, the search, detection and identification of air targets are carried out while the combat vehicle (BM) is moving or on the spot, and the transition to tracking targets and launching missiles are carried out from a short stop.
The Tor air defense system proved to be especially good in the course of combat operations on the air defense of the Russian air base Khmeimim in Syria, detecting and successfully hitting low-observable and low-speed UAVs of terrorist formations. The capabilities demonstrated by the complex turned out to be even higher than those previously announced by the developer.The text of the Chinese portal Baijiahao, with some assumptions, can still be taken as an advertisement for Russian weapons and military equipment. But it was made without understanding the technical features and tasks of this technique.
The opinion of the author may not coincide with the position of the editors.
Author biography:
Mikhail Mikhailovich Khodarenok - military observer, retired colonel.
Graduated from the Minsk Higher Engineering Anti-Aircraft Missile School (1976),
Military Command Academy of Air Defense (1986).
Commander of the S-75 anti-aircraft missile battalion (1980–1983).
Deputy commander of an anti-aircraft missile regiment (1986–1988).
Senior officer of the Main Staff of the Air Defense Forces (1988–1992).
Officer of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff (1992–2000).
Graduate of the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces (1998).
Columnist for the Independent (2000–2003), editor-in-chief of the Military Industrial Courier (2010–2015).
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