• Kaplya [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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    7 months ago

    If the Patriots failed to shoot down Scuds designed in the 1950s, no way in hell they’re ever going to intercept a Kinzhal:

    Governments have overstated the effectiveness of missile defenses in the past, including against Scuds. During the first Gulf War, the United States claimed a near-perfect record in shooting down Iraqi variants of the Scud. Subsequent analyses found that nearly all the interceptions had failed.

    Intercepting a missile is not the same as an airplane that flies at a much slower speed and a much larger target.

    • multitotal@lemmygrad.ml
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      7 months ago

      Actually, the F-117A was shot down in part because when its bomb bay doors were open it can be seen on radar, and Serbs knew where it was going to be flying because the bombers followed the same flight path on every run.

      I never said Patriots can reliably shoot down kinzhals, I said that it is possible to get a lucky hit when the kinzhal is on its final approach to target, when it flies at subsonic speeds.