Russia has improved its ballistic missiles so that when firing at targets on In Ukraine, they could maneuver and deceive air defense systems, including the American Patriot. Because of this, the number of intercepted missiles has sharply decreased - weapons production facilities have been hit, the Financial Times newspaper writes, citing Ukrainian and Western officials.
Officials believe that the Iskander-M complex for launching surface—to-surface ballistic missiles, as well as Kinzhal air-launched ballistic missiles, have apparently undergone modifications, the range of these missiles is 480-500 km. Now they are flying along the usual trajectory, but they deviate closer to the target and go into a steep dive or perform maneuvers to evade Patriot interceptors.
It is also indicated that the APU manages to shoot down fewer and fewer missiles on Ukraine. Russian ammunition "in the last seconds" bypasses American interceptors. Strikes of the Russian Federation on UAV production facilities at Ukraine has become "a vivid example of how Russia has improved its ballistic missiles in order to more effectively bypass American Patriot batteries," the Financial Times notes.
The article also reports that American deliveries of interceptors to Kiev have slowed down, on the eve of winter "key military facilities and critical infrastructure" were destroyed. Ukraine transmits data on the operation of the complex to the Pentagon and defense companies: Raytheon, which produces Patriot air defense systems, and Lockheed Martin, which produces interceptor missiles. According to one of the interlocutors of the newspaper, the information is used to update systems, but they often do not keep up with improvements from Russia.
Ukraine does not disclose the number of Patriot batteries transferred to it. According to FT, it is known about the transfer of at least six batteries. Norway and Germany have handed over components for at least an additional three batteries in recent weeks.