Instead of Tomahawk USA can give Ukraine Barracuda: Will they help us

Photo: Gettyimages.com

The information that the US could put up to Tomahawk long -range strategic missiles has proved to be premature. According to Reuters with reference to the White House sources, Donald Trump administration is unlikely to be for sale to Tomahawk long -range missiles for use by Ukraine because their reserves are limited even in America itself. Instead, Ukraine can get other distant radius missiles.

Possible replacement Tomahawk can be Barracuda rockets from Anduril. According to the Military Analytical Site of Defense Express, these missiles are produced three options: Barracuda-100, Barracuda-250 and Barracuda-500. And they are very different in size and range:

Barracuda-100 has approximately 110 km when launching the lesion radius and up to 150 km-with air. Barracuda-250-about 280 km and 370 km respectively. And Barracuda-500 can affect the whole at a distance of more than 900 km.

Initially, Barracuda-500 was launched only from air platforms-fighter jets or according to the Rapid Dragon scheme when rockets were dropped from a transport aircraft on pallets. Anduril recently declared the adaptation of Barracuda-500 to land launch. The range decreased to about 600-700 km. The guidance system is likely to combine inertial navigation, GPS and relief orientation, but the company has not published official details.

When the disadvantages are more than the benefits The main problem of this type of weapon is the small combat unit, that is, a warhead. Even the most powerful Barracuda-500 carries only 45 kg of explosives. This approximately corresponds to the battle part of Dron-Kamikadze “Shahamed”. For comparison, Tomahawk carries a warhead weighing about 450 kg. Such relatively low power limits rockets against protected or large infrastructure. Given this, only Barracuda-500 looks efficient for blows in Russia’s depths.

In addition, despite the fact that Anduril declares the cheapness of its decision and simplicity of production scale, the Barracuda-500 missiles are not in service with the United States and are not in serial production due to lack of order.

The company plans to reach production of several thousand missiles a year (probably about 3000 units) only at the end of 2026, and only if a large order is received. This indicates the lack of stocks and the current “hot” production line.

Barracuda-500 can fly a considerable distance, but to Tomahawk’s farming. Photo: anduril.com

Our “meadow” is better In addition, Ukraine has its own missiles. And they, according to some, are better than American. These are “Palnyanyki” rockets that are launched from the ground platform. Its engine is turbouoable. The cost of a rocket-aroma is much lower than analogues, and work on cheaper and increase in production is ongoing.

According to open springs, thanks to the turbojet double -circuit engine, this managed ammunition can overcome a distance of up to 1000 kilometers, and its combat part can be up to 500 kilograms. To control such a rocket-the zero requires only the connection with the satellite.

But the main question is at what speed this drone flies. If the usual spiral drone flies at a speed of 100-200 km/h, then the jet can fly at least 400-500 km/h or even 800-900 km/h. This significantly complicates the whipping of such drone with anti -aircraft guns and machine guns. In fact, the enemy will have to rely on expensive anti-aircraft missiles and rather scarce anti-aircraft missile complexes.

Another important advantage of a jet drone is the calculated time. So far, the Russians managed to save their planes from shocks in aerodromes precisely because between the detection of Ukrainian drones and their actual flow took 2-3 hours. During this time, the planes managed to lift in the air.

However, when it comes to a reactive rocket at a much higher speed, the reaction time for Russians can be reduced to 45 or even 20 minutes. And this may not be enough to lift the planes from the aerodrome, which is about to fly the drone.

Source: kp.ua