According to Defense Express, the successes of Ukrainian rocket production and plans to create a sovereign satellite constellation, which Venislavsky spoke about, should be understood “not only in the context of the space program.”
Defense Express drew attention to the people’s deputy’s words about the launch of missiles by soldiers of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense (GUR MO) at altitudes of 100 km and 204 km during the performance of “combat missions” and to his phrase that Ukraine has missiles that almost no one knows about, but which are capable of striking enemy territory at a distance of up to 100 km. According to the media, this “does not mean that these were the same missiles.”
The author of the publication noted that the words about “hypersonic speeds” should not be taken in the context of the development of a hypersonic missile, because ballistic missiles, which can cover a range of about 500 km, usually accelerate to speeds of more than Mach 5 (1700 m/s).
“This also means that Ukraine already has ballistic missiles of this class, although obviously not in significant quantities. At the same time, exactly when and for what purposes, as well as with what result, these launches were carried out is still unknown,” the article says.
Commenting on Venislavsky’s information about launching the power steering of a launch vehicle from a transport aircraft at an altitude of approximately 8 km, the portal noted that launching a ballistic missile from an aircraft allows one to immediately overcome the most difficult beginning of the flight, when atmospheric resistance is greatest. Thanks to this, the existing rocket can fly much further, although its dimensions and weight will be limited by the capabilities of the carrier. Exactly how much the range will increase is determined by what type of “air launch” is used.
