During scary war drills, Russia has been showcasing its formidable weapons by "invading" NATO countries Poland and Lithuania. In a show of might to its Western-leaning neighbors, Vladimir Putin's military has linked up with Belarus, a former Soviet republic. The drills concluded in Russia conquering the countries to fend off a massive attack by a "mock enemy."
Moscow and Belarus have allegedly increased their military displays while Vladimir Putin has gone into self-isolation following the contracting of COVID-19 by a close aide. While Russian President Vladimir Putin is avoiding meetings, the footage shows S-400 anti-air missile systems and Pantsir-S air defense missile-gun complexes in operation.
Russia started Zapad military drills
The action is part of an alleged plan to stave off a massive walkout at the end of the exercises, as per The Sun. The drills, which featured the Triumph air defense system and were held in the Astrakhan area, were part of this year's war games.
The Kremlin began the Zapad-2021 drills - or West-2021 in English - a few days ago as a warning to the West. They include 200,000 troops, 80 airplanes and helicopters, and 760 pieces of military equipment, including 290 tanks, 240 pieces of artillery, multiple launcher rocket systems, and mortars. Another video depicts a barrage of fire from Russian and Belarusian soldiers near the Belarusian border city of Brest.
Per National Interest, the Sprint was a small, conical missile interceptor designed by the United States in the 1960s that could accelerate to Mach 10 and 100 G in five seconds. The Sprint, which would be pushed out of the silo by compressed air, would kill oncoming ICBM warheads by detonating its neutron-bomb payload between 5,000 and 100,000 feet in the sky.
Though the test was praised by Russian media as a spectacular display of Russian military might, it is unclear why.
A one-minute video of a rocket launch from Kazakhstan's Sary-Shagan test facility was broadcast on Russian television. The footage shows a canister being hauled on a flatbed truck and then lowered into a hole, probably with the missile inside. The launch, which was captured from several perspectives, shows a rocket erupting from a silo so quickly that all that is seen is a flash of flame and a rust-colored cloud of smoke.
Anti-ballistic missile system aims to defend Moscow
The anti-ballistic missile system is in service with the Russian Aerospace Forces, according to the Ministry of Defense. Its purpose is to defend Moscow against air and space assaults.
In late August 2021, the Kalashnikov Concern revealed a new anti-tank missile called 'Vihr-1' during the "Army 2021" military expo outside of Moscow. The missile is designed to negate the capabilities of all modern tank armor sets, making it the ideal weapon for shooting down heavily armored vehicles in any future 21st-century battles.
The Vihr-1 is a modernized version of anti-tank missiles that were previously built in Russia. Engineers at a Kalashnikov subsidiary specializing in helicopter projectiles compare it to its direct equivalent, the 'Ataka' missile, and claim that the new projectile has more firepower and range than existing anti-tank missiles on the Russian market.
The new one has a range of ten kilometers, almost double that of the Ataka, and was designed to pierce even the active armor set off an "Abrams" tank. The weapon can burn through 150 mm of tank armor and is expected to be able to destroy even the most sophisticated weapons on the market, as per RBTH.
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