MOSCOW, August 28. /TASS/. Ukraine has conducted the first tests of its own ballistic missile, President Vladimir Zelensky said on August 27.
"There have been positive tests of the first Ukrainian ballistic missile," he told a news conference broadcast during the telemarathon Ukraine-2024-Independence. "I cannot share any more details about this missile."
He emphasized the importance of this achievement and congratulated the country's military-industrial complex enterprises, which, he believes, have done an "important job" in this field. Ballistic missiles can have a range of hundreds to thousands of kilometers.
Zelensky’s statement followed his own announcement on August 24 the Ukrainian military for the first time used in the combat zone the "long-range rocket drones" Palianytsia, which combine the features of rockets (such as a small turbojet engine JetCat P400-PRO) and of barrage munitions. The Ukrainian media says that the Palianytsia carries a 20-kg blast fragmentation warhead similar to the capacity of the US-made AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missile.
According to The Defense Post portal, which has studied photos of the Palianytsia "in terms of aerodynamic design the autonomous platform looks like a traditional rocket with a central body, forward-positioned wings, and a detachable tail section" consisting of four stabilizers.
A video review of the drone, released by United-24 Media on August 25, says the Palianytsia’s body is made of wood and optical fiber. A capacious fuel tank provides for a long range of flight.
It is also noted that the Palianytsia can reach targets at a distance of up to 600 kilometers. It is resistant to the effects of electronic warfare and has a satellite communication module, ensuring its use at long distances. The media resource points out that this "drone" can be launched from armored vehicles, its cost is lower than that of weapons of a similar class, and its potential is higher than that of Western models, as it can operate in places "where Western weapons cannot be used."
The developers of the Palianytsia told United 24 Media that it took them 18 months to develop the product.
As for ballistic missiles, the Army Recognition portal notes that currently, Ukraine possesses the Soviet-era Tochka tactical ballistic missile, which has a range of 120 km but lower accuracy. Ukraine has also developed the Grom-2 (Thunder), or Sapsan - a short-range ballistic missile system capable of targeting stationary individual and group targets at distances ranging from 450 to 500 km (the export version’s range is 50 to 280 km). For Ukrainian military needs, the system's range has been extended to 700 km.
Due to the lack of specific details concerning the ballistic missile, which according to Zelensky was tested on August 27, it is impossible to say with certainty whether the missile in question was an upgraded Grom-2. Also, as Army Recognition recalls, at the end of 2023, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry stated that the country had the capability of producing missiles with a range of 1,000 km. This project is allegedly financed exclusively by the national budget, and only Ukrainian defense enterprises are in charge of its development.
The Russian Foreign Ministry’s special envoy Rodion Miroshnik said on TV Channel One on August 27 that, in his opinion, Ukraine was unable to produce a ballistic missile on its own.
"Although the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau remains on the territory of Ukraine and is controlled by Kiev, first of all, it never had the full cycle of creating such a missile, because the control systems were supplied from outside. Their task was actually assembly work. They can hardly make a missile on their own," he said.
"Secondly, there will be a Western trace here in any case. We know quite a few cases in history of some countries that lacked expertise in physics making sudden breakthroughs in nuclear power," Miroshnik said. "This is precisely the case in which Ukraine will never be able to do anything without Western supporters.".