SAMP/T, Patriot systems can down Russia's Zircon-type missiles – Ukrainian Air Force
The Ukrainian air defense system is capable of downing Russia's hypersonic missiles ZM22 Zircon, however, Ukraine needs more systems that can intercept ballistic missiles, Spokesperson for the Ukrainian Air Force, Major Illia Yevlash has said.
In an interview with Svoboda.Ranok, he said that hypersonic missiles feature a speed of more than 5 Mach, and 1 Mach is approximately 1,200 kilometers per hour.
"So, this is a very, very fast weapon. Speaking about the Zircons, they reach approximately 8-9 Mach. This is extremely fast. However, when these missiles enter the target trajectory, their speed declines and becomes subsonic of around 4.5 Mach. And exactly at that moment we can use our anti-ballistic systems. These are SAMP/T, Patriot systems which can strongly hit and shoot down even such type of arms," Yevlash said.
At the same time, he noted that experts of the research institute are yet to identify the type of missiles used to attack Kyiv on March 25.
"Thanks to our partners, we have the means of destruction [for ballistic missiles]. Of course, we need more such systems. We have a very long frontline and the enemy, unfortunately, has a lot of various missiles and its uses them rather intensively," the spokesperson said.