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To me it looks like Russia is trying to test if their ICBMs will get through western air defense as they had troubles with their Kinzal/Iskander ballistic missi

To me it looks like Russia is trying to test if their ICBMs will get through western air defense as they had troubles with their Kinzal/Iskander ballistic missiles being shot down in some scenarios. There were also purges on Russian side because of this - https://mil.in.ua/en/news/russia-imprisoned-12-scientists-in-the-field-of-hypersonics-three-of-them-dead/ https://mil.in.ua/en/news/russia-imprisoned-12-scientists-in... I think there is no utility of using ICBM for targeting anything using conventional warhead. CEP is 100m and more, it is just waste of military resources. So my guess is a test / show of force / terror bombing. Probably all 3 at the same time.

myrmidon 2y ago
The weapon test aspect is a very interesting thought. My view so far was that ballistic missile defense in general is a complete gamble and basically impossible to get satisfactory coverage for a reasonable price. I wonder if that view has become obsolete already.
- red-iron-pine 2y ago
  when you're looking at national or global population annihilation, even a 10-20% reduction in missile hits means you're saving millions of people. someone has to rebuild.