(Dan Tri) – Military experts say that with the US providing Ukraine with AGM-88 anti-radar missiles, Russia may face the risk of its air defense shield being destroyed or disabled.
US AGM-88 anti-radar missile (Photo: US Army).
Earlier this month, Russian media posted a number of images of a fragment believed to belong to an AGM-88 missile appearing in an area controlled by separatist forces in Eastern Ukraine.
Afterwards, Mr. Colin Kahl, US Deputy Secretary of Defense in charge of policy issues, said that the US had sent a number of anti-radar missiles to help the Ukrainian air force deal with Russian radar systems.
According to Business Insider, the US’s silent transfer of the AGM-88 to Ukraine could bring an advantage to Ukraine on the battlefield, because this missile line may cause the Russian side to consider carefully before activating active radars.
Radar is an important device on the battlefield with Russia.
AGM-88 is a product of Raytheon manufacturing corporation.
AGM-88 HARM has been in service with the US Air Force and Navy since 1985. It is capable of targeting high-frequency radars, and is considered the US’s main weapon in air defense suppression.
The US once suppressed enemy defenses with the AGM-88 in Libya, Iraq and Yugoslavia.
Anti-radar missiles are not a very powerful weapon, but if deployed properly, they can become very useful.
On the other hand, anti-radar missiles can be considered a psychological warfare weapon.
In Ukraine, anti-radar missiles do not help the air force much because Kiev does not have enough modern fighters to deploy.
These counter-battery radars play a very important role for Russia, as they can quickly calculate the trajectory of Ukrainian artillery shells fired towards Moscow, then detect the exact location of the Ukrainian fire system.
Suppressing Russian counter-battery radar can help Ukraine protect heavy weapons, which are already far inferior to Russia in quantity, especially the HIMARS multiple launch fire systems that the West provides aid to Kiev.