Sounds farfetched, there must be oh so many ways this can go wrong. The operator failing his window, the straps nor releasing quickly enough etc. but this war has shown that farfetched projects my work, so I guess it is possible. Still they will soon use up all their Verbas if they send 200 per night. So whether this really works in practice I don’t know. But the threat might be enough as you say. The Ukrainians might have to change their tactics. Could be expensive.
Hi Hans, you are right. Technically, this setup is fragile. The operator has a narrow timing window, seeker cooling takes time, the geometry has to be just right, and any mechanical hiccup means the missile never leaves the rail. This is not a reliable, mass-production air-to-air system. But wars reward good enough. Russia does not need this to work often. It only needs it to work once in a while to force Ukrainian pilots and helicopter crews to fly higher, stay farther back, and burn more expensive interceptors instead of using guns.
On the stockpile point, you’re also right. Russia cannot afford to fire Verbas at the same scale it launches Shaheds. That strongly suggests selective use, mixed loads, or trial deployments rather than 200-per-night saturation. The real value here is deterrence and disruption, not attrition. So yes, it may be clumsy and rare. But even a low-probability threat can drive costly tactical changes. That is the part Russia is aiming for.
Sounds farfetched, there must be oh so many ways this can go wrong. The operator failing his window, the straps nor releasing quickly enough etc. but this war has shown that farfetched projects my work, so I guess it is possible. Still they will soon use up all their Verbas if they send 200 per night. So whether this really works in practice I don’t know. But the threat might be enough as you say. The Ukrainians might have to change their tactics. Could be expensive.
Hi Hans, you are right. Technically, this setup is fragile. The operator has a narrow timing window, seeker cooling takes time, the geometry has to be just right, and any mechanical hiccup means the missile never leaves the rail. This is not a reliable, mass-production air-to-air system. But wars reward good enough. Russia does not need this to work often. It only needs it to work once in a while to force Ukrainian pilots and helicopter crews to fly higher, stay farther back, and burn more expensive interceptors instead of using guns.
On the stockpile point, you’re also right. Russia cannot afford to fire Verbas at the same scale it launches Shaheds. That strongly suggests selective use, mixed loads, or trial deployments rather than 200-per-night saturation. The real value here is deterrence and disruption, not attrition. So yes, it may be clumsy and rare. But even a low-probability threat can drive costly tactical changes. That is the part Russia is aiming for.
I am afraid I have to agree with you on that
too many ducks have to be in a row for the manpads to be sucessfull, ok it may take down one or two helies but thats its lot