Senior Russian navy officers have disclosed new particulars relating to one of the crucial profitable durations of the Russian Aerospace Forces’ air defence operations throughout the struggle in Ukraine, revealing that S-400 long-range surface-to-air missile techniques destroyed 24 Ukrainian plane within the area of a single week in 2023 utilizing a beforehand undisclosed over-the-horizon engagement tactic. The knowledge was printed within the newest version of the Russian Defence Ministry’s journal Voyennaya Mysl, in an article co-authored by Main Common Alexander Romanenkov, Chief of the Air Defence Missile Forces of the Russian Aerospace Forces. This included the taking pictures down of ten Ukrainian MiG-29 fighters in a single day, after Ukraine had surged its fighter operations having acquired vital numbers of recent MiG-29s as donations from NATO member states.
Somewhat than positioning long-range air defence batteries in typical defensive places, Russian forces reportedly deployed S-400 launchers in hid ahead “ambush” positions able to participating Ukrainian plane virtually instantly after take-off. By exploiting long-range goal designation from exterior sensors, the launchers have been capable of fireplace at plane past the radar horizon, dramatically increasing the efficient engagement envelope of the system. Whereas ground-based air defence techniques are usually constrained by the restricted engagement ranges of ground-based radars, Russia’s pioneering of recent over-the-horizon engagement capabilities for the S-400 particularly, utilizing concentrating on knowledge from different sensors equivalent to these on A-50U AEW&C techniques, was reportedly key to permitting it to inflict heavy losses on hostile air energy.
The situations described stay believable, since fighters might have given air defence techniques a large berth, however taken main losses as soon as techniques displayed unexpectedly lengthy vary concentrating on capabilities. Alongside the ten MiG-29s, the sorts of the remaining 14 plane destroyed weren’t specified. The figures correspond intently with feedback made by then Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu in October 2023, when he introduced that newly launched employment strategies for Russian air defence techniques had resulted within the destruction of 24 Ukrainian plane inside 5 days. Though the MiG-29 is without doubt one of the world’s most manoeuvrable fighter varieties, variants in Ukrainian service are a long time previous obsolescence, with lack of stealth or trendy digital warfare capabilities leaving them extremely weak if working inside concentrating on vary. Sustaining distance from Russian air defences has been a main consideration for Ukrainian fighters all through the air marketing campaign.
Though the authors acknowledged that the tactic has now been completely analysed by Ukrainian forces, and is unlikely to attain equally dramatic ends in future, they argued that the idea stays operationally worthwhile. The article concludes that wherever attainable, long-range missile launchers ought to proceed to be deployed in positions permitting hostile plane to enter engagement zones instantly after departing their airfields, minimising the time accessible for evasive motion or mission execution. The S-400 was particularly designed for over-the-horizon air defence engagements, with the 40N6 missile, which the system started integrating within the late 2010s, having a spread of 400 kilometres, and designed to climb to excessive altitudes earlier than descending in opposition to their targets utilizing concentrating on knowledge from offboard sensors. This has been examined extensively within the Ukrainian theatre.
The publication of the brand new particulars in Army Thought can be notable as a result of the journal is extensively thought to be one of many Russian navy’s principal boards for analysing operational classes from ongoing conflicts. Articles printed by senior officers typically present perception into doctrinal developments earlier than they seem in official discipline manuals or force-wide rules. Romanenkov’s dialogue due to this fact means that over-the-horizon ambush ways have grow to be a longtime element of Russian air defence doctrine, even when the precise situations that enabled their preliminary success are unlikely to be replicated.
Whereas the S-400 was first utilized in fight in February 2022 throughout the initiation of Russian operations in opposition to Ukraine, it additionally performed a central function within the Indian air marketing campaign in opposition to Pakistan in Might 2025, and was credited with taking pictures down 5 plane throughout the temporary engagement. CEO of the Almaz-Antey Group liable for growing the system, Yan Novikov, in December 2025 harassed “the big modernisation potential of the S-400 air defence missile system, which permits us to shortly mitigate rising threats throughout the particular navy operation. Owing to this potential, the Triumph has acquired new capabilities and properties which might be typically uncharacteristic of air defence techniques.”
