During the three weeks of the Russian war against Ukraine, everyone has become accustomed to the sound of air raid sirens – they know how they sound, what they warn about and how to act. Speaker of the command of the Air Force of Ukraine Yuriy Ignat told ICTV Facts about the algorithm for turning on the air raid alert, the attack on airfields in the first days of the war and the fight against rashists in the sky of Ukraine.
The Air Force received a heavy blow on the 24th – this is the first target of the invaders — destroy to control the air
Identification of hostile targets is a whole air defense system that operates in our country in the Air Force, detecting, first of all, radar units, reconnaissance, and other means are also involved in the current conditions. Because we, the Air Force, as you know, received a heavy blow on the 24th, when a full-scale invasion began, it began with a massive missile attack on the Air Force, precisely on three components – these are radar units, anti-aircraft missile forces, military aviation , airfields.
This is the first goal of the occupiers – to destroy in order to control the air. We received a serious blow to those facilities, but we were ready for this, we considered such a scenario and now we have to work in the realities that we have, we are somehow getting out of this situation, we must control the sky.
Enemy targets are visible and we can predict their flight path
We see enemy targets, information reaches us. For example, cruise missiles that the enemy fires at us and missiles of operational-tactical systems, such as Iskander, there is a different technology for these missiles, and we can fix these missiles more at the start, when they are launched from the Black Sea, from the territory of fraternal Belarus often it flies to us, so you can detect it at the start, predict the trajectory of its flight, through which areas it flies, along the trajectory of this flight, an air raid alarm is gradually turned on. Either it's a rocket, or a plane flying in a certain direction triggers an alert system that you hear several times a day in the regions.
The rocket flies at a speed of about 800 km per hour, you can calculate where it flies and when it will be approximately
We see the launch of the rocket itself and see approximately its direction. Then the rocket falls on course, flies very low – about 50 meters – and we can lose the fixation of its flight, but knowing approximately its direction, the algorithm is calculated. The rocket flies at a speed of about 800 km per hour, you can already calculate where it flies and when it will be approximately. If it takes off, say, from Belarus, flies through the Zhytomyr region, flies further to the Kiev region, then it can have its own goal in any region. We don't know this, we only know the direction of the missile, so alarms go off across the country in that direction.
Missiles can change trajectory
These are smart missiles, expensive ones, which Russia, according to the Pentagon, has already used about a thousand. That's why they were created to be subtle, to be programmed on a certain course so that we would not notice them. Let's say they can fly along the riverbed, that is, very low, disappear from all radars, then abruptly change course – to the right, to the left, as was the case with the shelling of the Vinnitsa airport. Actually, at first we did not determine where they were flying from, it turned out that missiles were fired from the aircraft, because it is very difficult to fix it from the aircraft, it simply separates from the strategic bomber, falls to the lowest course and flies along the river. Then it turns to the right, to the left, where it needs to.
I emphasize that this is a very subtle target, a very difficult target, but every time we get better and better at shooting them down. Not only from Air Force anti-aircraft missile systems, there are already cases when cruise missiles were hit by fighters, also just yesterday (March 17, — Ed.) from a portable anti-aircraft missile system was shot down in the Kiev region cruise missile.
More than 10% of missiles are intercepted
This is a very difficult target, and since the enemy launches a dozen missiles at once, let's say, the Yavorivsky training ground, when it was fired, we are talking about 30 missiles that were fired at them, and in total we are talking about more than 70 missiles fired at that night, in a very short period of time. Considering the enemy’s cunning, so he does it at night, when people are sleeping, he does it from several directions at once, we must react, the target is difficult, then more than 10%, now it can be more, the dynamics has gone, we manage to intercept them. But I note that this is a very difficult target for us.
ReadRussian aviation is not capable of conducting complex air operations – Arestovich
Information about a detected target is transmitted immediately so that sirens turn on
For example, the Kh-101 missiles, which have already been fired several times, have a flight range of 5,500 kilometers, this is a huge range, they can launch them both from the Caspian Sea and from the depths of Russia, but the main thing is the fact of fixation. Therefore, we use the sources of information that are available to us today, and when we see that she is flying, of course, the siren will be turned on in accordance with the algorithm that we adhere to, local authorities will be notified and people must be in time for shelter.
Time to take cover depends on where the missile is fired from
Situations are different. If we say that a rocket was fired from the depths of Russia or the Black Sea, we can calculate the speed with which it flies – 800 km per hour, it needs a certain time. But if a rocket is fired from the Belarusian border and flies towards Kyiv or the outskirts of Kyiv or Zhytomyr, these are completely different time parameters. Therefore, there is no need to delay. We need to hide as soon as possible, in such realities today we are at war with the occupier.
The enemy has few missiles left, but he resorts to bombing with unguided bombs
We have been talking about closing the sky for more than a week now, we are asking and begging our partners to do this at least partially, at least to protect our nuclear facilities, power plants, two of which have been captured by the enemy today. He can also make a provocation from the ground – set them on fire and some kind of explosion.
But still the enemy is bombing us from the air with unguided means. They have very few missiles left, the General Staff and intelligence are already reporting that the enemy is not so actively using missiles, he has already resorted to bombardment with unguided bombs of 500 kilograms or more, and these objects can also be hit.
However, as we can see, if we return to the issue of closing the sky, there were statements by virtually all the key leaders of the world who said that they could not do it, they could not protect it, they did not want to enter into a confrontation, into a direct military conflict with Russia, since they will be forced to hit targets, and these are Russian aircraft. Therefore, we are talking about providing assistance to Ukraine. First of all, these are air defense systems, like Soviet models, but we would also like to have more modern models from Western countries, which are more technologically advanced and more efficient. We would also like to have fighters like from the Soviet fleet – these are the MiG-29, Su-26, Su-24, which today have some of the Warsaw Pact countries. We would also like to have planes from Western countries, these are, perhaps, F-15s, F-16s of various modifications, which will not be particularly inferior, and perhaps even win, with the planes that are today the occupier.
As you know, the enemy in the sky today has an advantage both in quantitative and qualitative terms, because his equipment is of the highest generation. Therefore, in order for us to confront them at the level, we need aircraft from Western countries. Perhaps some mechanism can be found, either leased or provided as military-technical assistance. And we see that some shifts are underway, the negotiation processes, so we will expect that, after all, the Ukrainian people will not be sacrificed, because it will be very difficult to win without a closed sky.
