Russian S‑400s decimated as Ukrainian forces zero in on Crimean targets

The Russian Federation's army had to acknowledge the superiority of Ukrainian weapons. Defenders eliminated another valuable S-400 Triumf air defence system for the Russians in the Bakhchisaray region of Crimea. The destruction was confirmed in satellite images.

Recently, the S-300/400 air defence complexes have become one of the priority targets for Ukrainians. As a result, there are increasing public claims that targeting these Russian weapons with artillery systems is a form of preparation before the arrival of the F-16 in Ukraine.

Let's recall that the last Russian S-300/400 was destroyed during the June attack in the Belgorod region. Earlier, a successful attack on these complexes was carried out at the Dzhankoi airport in Crimea, where Ukrainian MGM-140 ATACMS missiles struck.

The most valuable air defence systems are dwindling at an alarming rate, and the Russians cannot rebuild losses in real time. This is because the process is expensive and time-consuming. Additionally, the Russian Federation's arsenal includes around 100 divisions equipped with the S-300/400, while their army needs ten times more, up to 1,000 divisions, for effective defence—previously calculated military analyst Oleksandr Kovalenko.

The reserves of the S-400 in Russia continue to shrink – Ukrainians report another successful attack in which a Triumf complex, namely the 92N6 radar and the 51P6 launcher, was destroyed. Ukrainian armed forces did not specify which weapon was used for the shelling. It is known, however, that the attack occurred in Crimea, in the Bakhchisaray region near Sevastopol.

Let's recall that the history of the S-400 dates back to the 1970s when the USSR, armed with the S-300P system, initiated work on a new tool to counter all air threats, including aircraft, helicopters, and various types of missiles. Development began in the next decade. Engineers planned to develop a weapon with an increased range compared to its predecessor (up to 400 kilometres or 250 miles).

The task was accomplished, as the S-400 Triumf was adapted to shoot 40N6 missiles with long-range ranges reaching up to 400 kilometres or 250 miles. Furthermore, the new design can handle the missiles used by the older S-300PMU2 Favorit (48N6E, 48N6E2) system.

The missile arsenal adapted for the S-400 complex also includes single-stage 9M96E (range 40 kilometres or 25 miles) and 9M96E2 (range 120 kilometres or 75 miles) rockets. These missiles were designed to counter aircraft and are characterized by high strike accuracy. The probability of hitting an aircraft with these missiles is 0.9 and 0.8 for unmanned aerial vehicles. The maximum altitude of the 9M96E and 9M96E2 is 35 kilometres or 22 miles.