The downing of a russianso-called KAB near Zaporizhzhia on January 6 was officially confirmed. Moreover, the Ukrainian Air Force confirmed that this was not the first case, but it was not disclosed how it was done.
It should be recalled that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi announced in April 2024 that developments were underway to counter long-range russian bombs. Moreover, as of July 2024, Ukrainian volunteer Serhiy Prytula announced the imminent appearance of Ukrainian weapons against russian KABs. At the very least, it was being tested at that time, and if proven effective, production was expected to begin shortly.
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At the same time, the unofficial report on the destruction of the russian bomb contained information about the use of "experimental weapons" that resulted in the bomb falling somewhere on the outskirts of the city.
The Ukrainian Telegram channel Soniah provided some clues as to what could be used to bring down this bomb. The post states that some Ukrainian anti-aircraft gunners shot down russian long-range bombs using ZU-23-2 autocannon.
It should be noted that this is not about the unique capabilities of the weapon, but about the exceptional skill of Ukrainian soldiers and their military spirit. It is stated that this is a certain tactic and obviously a certain Ukrainian solution that will be gradually scaled up.
On behalf of Defense Express, we can note that the use of anti-aircraft artillery for such purposes is a pragmatic solution for point defense, as its effective range is up to 2.5 km. It is also about the minimum time needed to hit a target.
However, there are a number of solutions that allow for the modernization and even automation of these anti-aircraft systems, addressing the issue of accuracy dependence on the skill of the anti-aircraft gunner.
As an analogy, we can recall one of Rheinmetall's developments - Skyguard Air Defense. It involves the integration of several 35-mm GDF007 anti-aircraft guns with a detection, guidance and control station into a single automated system.
At the same time, the extent to which Ukraine's search for a solution to counter russian KABs follows the same path will obviously become clear later.
Earlier, Defense Express reported that russians moved air defense from Crimea deep into russia due to Ukrainian strikes.
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