One of the primary reasons Russia’s violent incursion in Ukraine has so far failed to capture the much smaller nation is its shoddy weapons, which fail 60 percent of the time, according U.S. officials interviewed by Reuters.
Normally a 20 percent rate of failure would be considered “high,” an unnamed U.S. weapons expert said. A rate that is three times as much explains why Russia has not been able to capture Ukraine, which has a significantly smaller military capability.
Since invading Ukraine on Feb. 24, Russia has depended on air-launched cruise missiles, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies Missile Defense Project, cited by Reuters. The failures could be abandoned or misfired launches or malfunctioning of the missiles not detonating on impact.
