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Ukraine burns scarce R-60 AAMs against Banderoль drones, deepening cost imbalance

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A Russian-side engineering analyst reports Ukraine used a Soviet-era R-60 air-to-air missile — a stock Ukraine cannot domestically replenish — to intercept a Banderoль cruise drone, a weapon class normally conserved for more expensive threats such as Kalibr or Kh-101 cruise missiles. The same commentator warns this creates a compounding exchange problem: every R-60 expended against a cheaper kamikaze reduces what is available against the harder threats, mirroring the Patriot cost-exchange problem documented earlier. Russia’s broader shift toward mass-produced jet UAVs is framed by the same source as deliberately exploiting this asymmetry, forcing expensive or irreplaceable intercepts at increasing volume.

Sources — 2 posts

  • Русский инженер (Russian Engineer) adversary Open the post
  • Русский инженер (Russian Engineer) adversary Open the post
Topicsmissilesdronesinterceptors

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