The escalation of struggle in Ukraine to a interval of full scale hostilities in February 2022 rapidly noticed ballistic and cruise missile strike capabilities acquire central significance to the struggle efforts of each Moscow and Kiev, with Russian Iskander-M missile methods gaining specific prominence for the big selection of roles during which they’ve been used. From early 2024 the Russian Armed Forces have been capable of launch ballistic missile strikes at considerably greater charges, primarily resulting from each the procurement of serious portions of KN-23 ballistic methods from North Korea, and successes in increasing manufacturing of the Iskander-M’s 9K720 missiles domestically. Missing ample Iskander-M missiles within the previous 22 months of hostilities, nevertheless, the Russian Armed Forces have been capable of compensate by bringing just lately retired Soviet OTR-21 Tochka-U ballistic missile methods again into service. The Tochka system was beforehand deployed by the Soviet Armed Forces as a shorter ranged counterpart to the Scud and Oka missiles, with the retirement of the Scud resulting from its age, and the Oka resulting from strain from the US, leaving it as Russia’s solely tactical ballistic missile class in service till the Iskander-M started to enter service within the 2006.
Just like the Iskander, the Tochka is a extremely cell system that makes use of a strong gas composite, making certain a brief launch time and the power to rapidly redeploy to keep away from being focused. With a variety of simply 200 kilometres, in comparison with the Iskander-M’s 500 kilometres and the North Korean-supplied KN-23B’s 800 kilometres, the missile’s vary and restricted manoeuvrability are significantly critical restrictions. Though the final Tochka-U methods have been formally phased out of service in 2017 and changed by the Iskander-M, social media footage confirmed that the methods have been introduced again into service in 2022. The methods have been reportedly taken by rail into Melitopol on flatbeds in July 2022. The necessity to preserve a big portion of the Iskander-M arsenal for potential hostilities with NATO made expenditure of the ageing Tochka arsenal preferable, mirroring the expenditure of the nation’s ageing Kh-22 cruise missile arsenal which was equally slated for retirement.
Regardless of its age, the Tochka-U system is sufficiently refined in order to not impose appreciable burdens on a contemporary military to function, with its precision strike capabilities having been thought-about forward of its time and nonetheless ample to make them extremely invaluable on the frontlines. It stays unsure what portion of the Tochka-U arsenal nonetheless stays in service, with vital portions of the missiles reported by some sources to have been transferred by the Syrian Arab Army within the 2010s to assist counterinsurgency efforts towards Western and Turkish backed insurgents. Though the Tochka system was world main when first launched within the mid-Nineteen Seventies, the destruction of Syria’s arsenals in Israeli air strikes in December 2024, and the expenditure of Russia and Ukraine’s personal arsenals, increase the numerous risk that the missile system’s time in service stays restricted.
