According to Ukrainian officials and military experts, the Russian military has upgraded Iskander ballistic missiles by equipping them with optical and radar homing heads. As reported by The Telegraph, the new systems allow the missile to adjust its trajectory in the final seconds of flight and hit targets with an accuracy of up to several meters. Kyiv claims that such missiles have already been used during recent strikes on bridges in the capital.
How the New Guidance System Works
According to experts, the optical and radar heads, which are likely a recent Russian development, perform radar scanning of the terrain mere seconds before the warhead detonates. This reportedly allows the missiles to bypass Ukrainian electronic warfare systems. Serhii «Flash» Beskrestnov, an adviser to the Ukrainian president, specified that the margin of error for such missiles is only a few meters and that they were precisely the ones used in recent attacks on Kyiv bridges.
The "Split in Half" Strategy
Ukrainian officials attribute the modernization to a broader Moscow strategy aimed, they say, at "splitting Ukraine in half" along the Dnipro River. This past weekend, four ballistic missiles reportedly struck the Northern Bridge in a single night, and in the weeks prior, Russia attempted to target eight major Kyiv bridges using jet-powered drones. Experts estimate that the strikes did not destroy the sturdy Kyiv crossings, but they disrupted transport links between the left and right banks and paralyzed public transport, causing multi-hour traffic jams.
Energy "Island Mode"
A Ukrainian official stated that Moscow's plan also involves disrupting the electricity transmission system from west to east, which could leave millions of people without power. GLOBSEC research fellow Maksym Beznosiuk explained that Russia has increasingly targeted bridges, while attempts to split Ukraine's energy system into two parts along the Dnipro began as early as December of last year. According to him, the Kremlin is implementing the so-called "island mode" (islanding): the goal is to fracture the power grid into isolated segments that are forced to operate autonomously and lose the ability to redistribute electricity from active generation plants to where it is needed. Attacks on energy infrastructure have left a significant part of the city without electricity, heating, and water.
Expert View: Advantages and Limits of Accuracy
Professor of military strategy and technology Mauro Gilli noted that the peculiarity of ballistic missiles lies in a certain margin of error since they travel along a parabolic trajectory: in the initial phase, the flight is corrected by an onboard computer, while on the final stretch, the missile moves essentially under the influence of gravity alone. In his assessment, the new homing heads can help Russia solve a number of serious tactical challenges it has faced since the beginning of the war. Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that the campaign of strikes on bridges and energy infrastructure aims to divide Ukraine along the Dnipro and make life more difficult for Ukrainians.
