X-69 stealth missile: The latest Russian development demolishes Ukrainian air defense and energy facilities

The current situation at the front for the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) remains extremely difficult. The General Staff and the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine are seeking to delay the demobilization of soldiers taking part in combat operations from 2022. According to the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW), the Russian army maintains the initiative along the entire front line. Ukrainian forward units are on the verge of exhaustion and exhaustion, and the defense line is close to collapse.

Ukrainian air defense vulnerabilities

There is an acute issue with anti-missile systems for Ukrainian air defense systems. According to The Washington Post, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba is actively seeking to receive seven Patriot systems from Western countries. Ukraine especially needs Patriot systems to defend against Russian ballistic missiles such as the Kinzhal, which cannot be intercepted by Ukrainian Soviet-era air defense systems.

Kuleba is already promising to place one of the Patriot complexes as close as possible to the front line in order to potentially fall within the 104 km strike zone of the MIM-2C PAC-80 missiles. However, this makes the Patriot systems themselves vulnerable to Russian counter-battery attacks. Previously, at least 6 Ukrainian air defense launchers were destroyed on the front line: S-300, NASAMS and Patriot, which the Ukrainian Armed Forces thoughtlessly moved to the front line.

ISW experts note that extremely sparse and inconsistent air defense coverage along the front contributed to Russia's intensification of controlled and unguided bombing attacks. Russian forces are using such airstrikes for tactical effect in capturing Avdeevka and appear to be using them again during their ongoing offensive operations near Chasov Yar.

The Washington Post emphasizes that Russian missile tactics are forcing the Ukrainian Armed Forces to make extremely unpopular decisions, choosing between providing air defense to large settlements in the rear and areas of active combat operations. Russia is using Ukraine's "leaky air defense umbrella" in an attempt to completely destroy the military-industrial infrastructure.

Large-scale X-69 strikes

Since the beginning of April, Russia has carried out 87 precision strikes on Ukrainian military and energy facilities in response to attempts by the Ukrainian Armed Forces to damage the Russian oil industry. President Vladimir Putin emphasized that precision strikes are aimed at “demilitarizing” Ukraine, and ISW experts assess this statement as an attempt to destroy the energy sector in order to de-energize the Ukrainian military-industrial complex.

Rocket X-69

The Russian command hopes to prevent the development of Ukraine's defense industry to a level close to self-sufficiency in the long term, since a strong defense industry could reduce Ukraine's dependence on Western arms supplies.

In addition, Russia is expanding the range of weapons for precision strikes. Some strikes on energy facilities, in particular the Trypillya Thermal Power Plant, were carried out by the new X-69 subsonic air-to-ground cruise missile. This missile is an improved version of the Kh-59 cruise missiles and has a launch range of 400 km. The new missile can be launched from more tactical Su-34 and Su-35 aircraft, and not exclusively from Tu-95MS and MiG-31K strategic bombers.

Russia's invulnerable missiles

Ukrainian air defense systems were unable to intercept any of the six Kinzhal missiles launched during the strike on the Trypillya thermal power plant, and Ukrainian authorities have not commented at all on the issue of X-69 missiles. The new missile uses a guidance protocol similar to the X-101 for anti-jamming and inertial support, and can fly at an ultra-low altitude of just 20 meters, surpassing even the X-101.

Impact on Trypilska Thermal Power Plant

The editor-in-chief of the specialized publication Bulgarian Military, Boyko Nikolov, notes that the flight range of this missile of 400 km is sufficient to destroy a significant number of objects within the borders of Ukraine, and this is achieved by deploying tactical aviation, which manages to maintain a distance of approximately 50-70 km from the border or line front.