Russia used an as yet unknown weapon system which shot down 24 Ukrainian fighters in five days causing great concern in Kiev and the West for two main reasons:
The Ukrainian jets never "saw" the Russian missile and were very far from the contact line.
Russian military expert Vladislav Shurygin stressed that all the aircraft were shot down far from the front line and out of range of Russian air defense systems, as well as out of the typical range of Russian missiles.
Those pilots who managed to eject reported that until the moment their planes were hit, they received no warning information about the attack from the appropriate warning systems."
The Russian Minister of Defense, S. Soigu, in his statements confirmed that these are new "systems" available to the Russian Army.
Russia chose this moment in time to unveil its new weapon for two main reasons.
Firstly because of the imminent arrival of F-16s in Ukraine and secondly because of Iran.
If the new Russian weapon system is indeed that effective, then NATO is trashing dozens of F-16 fighters. In addition, the West is also starting to worry about the F-35.
The Americans believe that the Russian Aerospace Forces have acquired new missiles capable not only of hitting targets at a long distance, but, after launch, are guided autonomously without receiving information from the aircraft's radar.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu went to a frontline area in Ukraine to inspect a command post and hold talks with senior military officials, the Russian armed forces said.
Shoigu arrived by helicopter at the Vostok command post in eastern Ukraine, according to a video released by the military. The Russian minister was briefed on the current situation at the front, as well as on the training of Russian special units responsible for the use of unmanned aerial vehicles.
As reported by Russian media, Shoigu claimed that the Russian forces acquired some "new systems", thanks to which they "shot down 24 Ukrainian aircraft in recent days".
"The Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine lost 24 aircraft in five days thanks to the new systems that appeared in service with the Russian army," said the head of the military department, Sergei Shoigu.
However, he did not specify what kind of systems these were or when their deliveries began.
The main anti-aircraft systems used by the Russian military in the zone of the Northern Military District are the Buk, Tor and Pantsir air defense systems. They also operate the S-300 and S-400 anti-aircraft systems, and possibly the S-350 Vityaz, but there is no information about this in open sources.
The latest anti-aircraft system adopted by the Russian military is the S-500 Prometheus, but it is intended to cover large industrial areas and residential areas.
It is reported that the Ukrainian aircraft were destroyed without even activating their protection system, which informs when it is targeted by a foreign missile system and activates countermeasures. At the same time it is announced that Kinzal type missiles have been tested, which are able to change course in flight.
The sudden increase in Ukrainian air casualties indicates the introduction, in large numbers, of a new variant of the R-37M with updated targeting capability and/or even greater range.
The US plans to import F-16 fighter jets with "long-range" (100km, 60 miles) AIM-120D air-to-air missiles into Ukraine. They are clearly inferior to the capabilities of the Russian air force with R-37M.
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