Destroying Russian missile launchers extremely difficult, expert warns
Iskander TEL and missile (Photo: Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters)
As Ukraine struggles under Russian ballistic missile
barrages due to a global shortage of PAC-3 interceptors, attempting to solve
this problem by destroying the launchers of Iskander
missiles remains an extremely difficult task, presidential adviser Serhii
Beskrestnov said on Aug. 5.
In a comment to Ukrainian TV broadcasters, Beskrestnov noted that Iskander TELs (Transporter erector launchers) are highly mobile. They move on wheeled chassis, travel along forest roads for about 3 to 5 hours en route to firing positions to avoid satellite detection, he said. Deployment and launch are very quick, and the launchers leave their positions immediately afterward.
He said Russian forces deliberately fire from roughly 140 to 150 kilometers from the border, beyond the effective range of Ukraine’s HIMARS rocket artillery, so other types of weapons are needed to strike Iskanders. Those strikes require air reconnaissance and satellite imagery, he said.
“Catching an Iskander on the march or at the position where it deploys is difficult,” Beskrestnov said.
“It’s the same when people say we must destroy Iskander production. We understand it is located deep underground and is not easy to attack.”
Beskrestnov said sanctions are also having little effect because Iskander missiles appear to be made entirely from Russian-sourced parts and electronics. An expert on radio electronics, he said he can recognize old Soviet transistors and gold-plated microchips on Iskander missile debris.
Earlier on Aug. 5, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said
international supplies of Patriot interceptors had fallen to one-third of what
they were in 2025.
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