Only three of eight Iskander-K missiles were shot down — but why did most slip through Kyiv’s air defenses?

Only three out of eight Russian Iskander-K cruise missiles launched at Ukraine on the night of 31 July were shot down. This raised questions about why Ukraine’s air defense, usually effective against Kalibr and Kh-101 missiles, failed to destroy most of them, Defense Express reports.

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The key reason is the element of surprise, say the military experts from Defense Express.

"Today’s launches of 'Iskander-K' were carried out from Russia’s Kursk Oblasy, practically right at the border, so there was very little time to react and deploy countermeasures," the analysis states.

The land-based Iskander launchers are harder to detect than ships launching Kalibr missiles or bombers carrying Kh-101s, since those require more flight time and are detected by intelligence before launch.

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What is known about these missiles? 

Iskander-K is a general term for cruise missiles launched from the Iskander tactical missile system. These include the 9M728 (R-500) with a range up to 500 km and the 9M729 with a range up to 1,500 km. Both have a 480 kg warhead and fly at speeds up to 900 km/h.

This year, Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate announced Russia’s approximate missile production rates. Currently, Russia can produce about 300 cruise missiles per month, including 20-30 Iskander-K.