Ukrainian-designed Sapsan tactical missile system has not even entered the prototype testing stage yet, still remains at its development stage, says Ihor Krol, head of the "West-Ukrainian Union of Defense Industrial Enterprises" Association.
As long as the Association includes some of the enterprises that are involved in the development of the Sapsan missile, we can objectively take the information on the project's progress voiced by this public figure as verified.
Read more: Ukraine's Own Missile of Over 1,000 km Range: Perspectives, Prospects, Technological Basis and What It Will Be Able to Achieve
In the interview to Apostrophe TV, he revealed the current state of the project, the perspective of creating it altogether, and the industrial capacities that can take on producing the Sapsan system which is meant to carry and launch a ballistic missile with a range of 300 km and more depending on the modification. The version intended for the Ukrainian Army had a planned range of over 400 km.
Based on the information the Association representative shared, the development of the Sapsan short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) system is far from being over. Furthermore, the progress of development for its export version called Hrim-2, which uses a big portion of the design solutions of the original, is ¾, or 75%. Thereby, the progress of Sapsan SRBM is estimated at around 65-75%.
Ihor Krol also said that the information about the Sapsan readiness of 80% declared by Andrii Taran during his term as Ukraine's Minister of Defense, was an "overstatement." On the part of Defense Express we have to note that in 2021, the readiness level of not just the system but even of a fire unit prototype was estimated by Ukrainian officials at 70%. These claims suggested that the system would be ready by early 2022.
The first fire unit (battery) prototype was supposed to consist of two launch vehicles and two reloading vehicles, plus two fire control vehicles: for a division or a battery, respectively – so that the entire test cycle is completed within the shortest time possible.
Head of the Association refrained from speculations about how much time is needed to complete the development, prepare the assembly lines for serial production and manufacture first systems, as well as the planned volumes of mass production in the current conditions when the entire territory of Ukraine is within the reach of russian long-range weapons.
That is even though some of the works done by Ukrainian engineers are going on beyond the borders of the country. Though he hinted that it is a matter of not months at all. He evaluated the cost of the remaining work at USD 500 million.
Surely, this is hardly good news for Ukraine but this kind of information is important to understand the real state of affairs in respect to the capabilities of domestic arms manufacture and simply to not get caught in illusions about the Sapsan project.
This ballistic missile indeed can contribute to Ukraine's getting a tactical weapon with an attack range measured in hundreds of kilometers. In particular, Ukrainian current Minister of Defense Oleksii Reznikov recently said a missile with a range of over 1,000 km is being developed by the Ukrainian defense industry. Also, once Ukraine gets a weapon of such magnitude by its own effort, it may prompt allies to finally start supplying their longer-range weapons, too.
Read more: Assistance Package for Ukraine: Mysterious Details about Long-Range Missiles from Sweden
