Russia will be able to successfully strike the UK with its 600 mph missiles and Britain would not be able to shoot them down, an ex-general has warned.
General Sir Richard Barrons estimates that an attack would involve Putin firing over the weapons in waves of 60 to 90 at a time, and the shots would take just an hour and a half to reach UK soil.
He said that there is nothing that the UK could do to fend off the onslaught from the missiles - the same ones the Russian president is using to blitz Ukraine.
“The UK does not have the air and missile defence that Ukraine has, for now. We've not needed it,” he told The Sun.
Russia will be able to successfully strike the UK with its 600 mph missiles, an ex-general has warned
Reuters/PA/Russian Ministry of Defence/Google
“The sort of missiles that fall on Kyiv could fall on London. And Kyiv’s air defences are way, way better.
And it's not just Putin’s newest additions to his arsenal capable of committing catastrophic damage. Barrons explained: “Even a quite elderly Russian cruise missile, I'm going to cite Kh-101 released from an aircraft over western Russia, arrives in London 90 minutes later with a 500 kilogram explosive warhead and an accuracy of two metres. So pick your door in Downing Street.”
Russia’s Kh-101 missiles are tricky to detect as they are able to absorb radar signals due to their ability to fly at “terrain hugging altitudes”.
They can also travel up to 2,800km and would be able to hit most of Europe bar Spain.
Barrons said that there is nothing that the UK could do to fend off the onslaught from the missiles -
PA
Whilst Barrons said that the threat is “not imminent”, he maintained that it was technically possible.
The former chief of Joint Forces Command added: “If you were wanting to fire at the UK, you might fire from Russia, but then you've got to cross Europe. You're more likely to fire from the Atlantic, from the Baltic Sea, from the North Sea, or use an aircraft so the UK can be attacked as an island 360 degrees.”
Earlier this month, Putin instructed the Ministry of Defence to conduct a test of non-strategic nuclear weapons, which is expected to take place “in the near future”.
The Russian president made the order in response to “Western aggression”, and added that the exercises were also designed to protect Russia’s sovereignty.
Earlier this month, Putin instructed the Ministry of Defence to conduct a test of non-strategic nuclear weapons
Reuters
In a message on Telegram, the Russian Ministry of Defence said the tests would take place “in response to provocative statements and threats by individual Western officials against the Russian Federation”.
Following this, former Russian president Dimitry Medvedev warned that “world catastrophe” could occur, stating that the deployment of troops in Ukraine - which he called a “non-existent country” - could warrant a Russian response.
He also slammed Western leaders as “infantile morons” and “irresponsible scoundrels”, as Russia summoned the British ambassador.
