RuZZia FAILED again – as they usually do.
“A Ukrainian-operated Patriot air defense system — the most advanced air defense system in the U.S. arsenal — was damaged in the recent attack, a U.S. official said Tuesday, speaking on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue. The extent of the damage is unclear, the official said, but it is unlikely that Ukraine will need to ship it to another country for repair.”
“The US-made Patriot air defense system could not be destroyed by a Kinzhal missile, Yurii Ihnat, spokesperson for Ukraine’s Air Force Command, has told Ukrainian TV.
Inhat said Ukrainians should “not worry about the fate of the Patriot,” as it is made up of components that are not all positioned in the same location. Hence, a single missile could not destroy the whole system.
“This is how it works on air targets,” he explained. “It can operate in three modes: manual, semi-automatic and automatic. It is Patriot’s automatic mode that allows it to shoot down air targets without human interference, as it did last night. Next, there is a radar that provides information, it is located at a distance, and up to 8 launchers, each with four transport and launch containers, which are also located at a certain distance and do combat work – launching missiles,” Ihnat said.”
“How Ukraine turned the tables on Russia’s aerial assault with these Western weapons”
“It’s the big question that has Russian military commanders scratching their heads: What’s made Ukraine’s air defenses so impenetrable all of a sudden?
This month alone, Russia has launched eight waves of missile attacks on the Ukrainian capital, the latest of them a bombardment in the early hours of Tuesday that involved at least 18 missiles of various types and a swarm of drones.
Yet Kyiv claims to have escaped with barely a scratch, denying any of the missiles or drones hit their targets.”
https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/17/europe/ukraine-kyiv-air-defense-weapons-intl-hnk-ml/index.html
Here's the score card:
The three missiles in the lower right were supposedly Iskanders. So, there were 9 hypersonic missiles shot down.
The damage was most likely debris falling on one of the launchers.
I would expect extra launchers would be included in the "spares" package.
