Russia has fired more missiles in the first three months of its invasion of Ukraine than any army since World War II, but the accuracy of those munitions are so poor, they’re hitting fewer than half of their targets an analysis of data by Newsweek shows.
According to Ukrainian defense officials, Russia has fired a little less than 2,300 “smart” cruise missiles in the last three months, equal to the amount the United States has launched since it introduced the cruise missile in 1990. Each missile–either Russian or American version–costs about $1 million each.
However, the various sea-, air- or ground launch missiles fired by Russia have largely proved ineffective for various reasons: many have failed to launch; others have gone off-course in flight. When they have hit at or near their targets, they’ve inflicted lighter damage than expected.
Among the armaments Russia has launch have been about a dozen of the high-tech Kinzhal hypersonic aero-ballistic missiles, an air-launched missile that reportedly can reach cruise speeds of Mach 12.
“If you look at the launches overall, we are talking well under half of all Russian missiles hitting their aim points,” says a senior Defense Intelligence Agency official told Newsweek. “Right now, we’re holding Russian missile success at just below 40 percent.”
Ukraine says it has shot down 140 Russian cruise missiles as well as 200 Russian planes. Russia claims to have destroyed 150 Ukrainian planes.