Почему Patriot и SAMP-T не способны перехватить "Орешник": разъяснение от Defense Express.

The Patriot and SAMP-T air defense systems have demonstrated excellent performance in Ukraine by intercepting various targets. However, the Russian medium and intercontinental range missile "Oreshnik" may prove to be beyond their reach.

This information comes from RBK-Ukraine citing Defense Express.

According to the publication, each air defense system has its specific purpose. However, the Patriot PAC-3 and SAMP-T are unable to intercept the "Oreshnik" as they were designed to counter tactical ballistic missiles with a flight range of up to 1,000 kilometers.

Defense Express reminded that the flight path of medium and long-range ballistic missiles occurs at altitudes over 100 km. The entry speed into the atmosphere is about 3-4 km/s for medium-range ballistic missiles and 5-7 km/s for intercontinental ones.

This is why the Patriot PAC-3 and SAMP-T could theoretically engage the warheads of such targets that are already within the atmosphere. However, their actual effectiveness remains in question.

Currently, the main challenge for these air defense systems is that the "Oreshnik" features a separate warhead with individual guidance blocks. This Russian weapon carries up to six warheads and decoys. In contrast, the number of targets that the Patriot and SAMP-T can simultaneously engage is limited. Therefore, they will not be able to intercept all the warheads of the "Oreshnik" at once.

Defense Express believes that even the THAAD system would struggle with this task. Despite being designed to intercept medium-range ballistic missiles, it still has limitations on the number of targets it can engage simultaneously.

For this reason, the most effective method of intercepting such a missile is to destroy it before the decoy deployment process begins, requiring only one target to be hit. This capability is provided by the American SM-3 guided missile, which is used from Aegis-equipped ships or in the stationary land-based version Aegis Ashore.

Russian Missile "Oreshnik"

Recall that on November 21, the Russians launched the "Oreshnik" missile for the first time during the full-scale war against the city of Dnipro. At that time, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin stated that Russia was conducting tests of this type of weapon.

Earlier, British intelligence analyzed the "Oreshnik" missile. More details can be found in the RBK-Ukraine article.