Reuters: Russia repurposed training missiles for attacks on Ukraine

Russian forces are increasingly using modified RM48U target missiles to launch ballistic strikes against Ukrainian territory, attempting to overwhelm Ukraine’s air defense system. These munitions, originally designed as training targets for air defense crews, are being converted at specialized plants into fully operational strike weapons. The modernization includes equipping the missiles with high-explosive warheads and additional guidance modules. The use of converted target missiles allows the Kremlin to conserve expensive high-precision systems such as the Iskander and Kinzhal, while continuing to maintain a high intensity of ballistic attacks against key Ukrainian infrastructure facilities. Source: Reuters

The primary purpose of using RM48U munitions is to deplete stocks of Western-made surface-to-air missiles, particularly those for Patriot and NASAMS systems protecting major cities. According to military analysts, the converted targets have high speed and a ballistic-type trajectory, forcing Ukrainian air defense crews to expend full-fledged interceptor missiles to bring them down. At the same time, because of the low accuracy of the improvised guidance system, such missiles pose a critical threat to civilian facilities, as they often deviate from their original course and crash into residential neighborhoods.

According to expert estimates, Russia’s defense industry has more than doubled the volume of RM48U missile conversions and the conversion of S-400 system missiles for use against ground targets. This points to Moscow’s long-term strategy of reducing the density of Ukraine’s air defense shield ahead of the winter season.

Military specialists emphasize that countering such tactics requires not only uninterrupted supplies of munitions from allies, but also preventive strikes against the assembly sites and launch positions of these missile systems.

It was previously reported that China supplies Russia’s military factories with machine tools, specialty chemicals, and gunpowder.