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protected by at least one S400 air
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defense system and a state-of-the-art
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tombstone multi-roll radar Russia's Kino
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Airbase was the very definition of a
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hard
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target but on the night of 25 November
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Ukraine rained fire down on the air base
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and its
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defenses so how was Ukraine able to pull
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off the strike I'm former Seal Team 6
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Squadron leader Chuck far and this is
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the keev post point of
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[Music]
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impact US President Joe Biden has
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authorized Ukraine to use us supplied
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longrange missiles for strikes deep
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inside Russia just days after the US UK
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and France authorized Ukraine to use
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Western supplied missiles against
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Russian targets Kino would become the
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first air base on Russian territory to
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be hit with Ukrainian attacks this
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strike underscores the latest strategic
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inflection point in the war permission
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to strike Russian targets was a shift in
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Western policy which at least authorized
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Ukraine to defend itself by preempting
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strategic military locations within
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Russia
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[Music]
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Russia's Kino Airbase was used to launch
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air strikes against harv and Sumi as
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well as conducting close air support for
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Russian operations in KK
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oblast so let's take a look at the
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Target Kino Airbase is situated 7 km
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east of the city of K in Russia and
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approximately 50 km due north of the
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Ukrainian Frontier the proximity of Kino
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to the Ukrainian border makes it
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strategically important for Russian air
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operations in the region the base has a
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single 2500 M 8,200 ft Runway with
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several alert pads Fuel and ammo storage
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facilities accommodations for air crew
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command and Technical personnel as well
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as air defense troops kinao hosts the
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14th guards fighter Aviation regiment
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equipped with suco su30sm fighter
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bombers which are capable of carrying
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out long range Fab Glide bomb attacks
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Kino has long been a priority Target for
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Ukraine in December of 2022 long and
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mid-range Ukrainian strike drones set
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fire to Kino's Fuel Depot base support
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activities and commanding control
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facilities in
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2023 strikes damaged aircraft and air
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defense systems and again the base's
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command and control
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Personnel ironically several members of
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Kino's senior leadership were killed as
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they tried to conduct an inspection of a
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downed Ukraine
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drone following these attacks Russia
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installed an S400 Triumph air defense
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system at the base associated with the
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S400 was one of Russia's most advanced
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sensor systems the 92
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n6e Tombstone multiroll radar vital for
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the operation of the S400 in air
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intercept mode the tombstone also
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provides long range three-dimensional
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phased array radar in the sban frequency
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making it highly effective in detecting
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aerodynamic and Ballistic
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threats with a maximum detection range
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of nearly 300 km the radar can
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simultaneously track up to to 100
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targets Russia's proud to tell the world
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that this multitasking capability
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ensures that the S400 can respond to
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multiple threats in a highly Dynamic
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combat
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environment we'll see if that's true the
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tombstone also facilitated the Russian
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tactic of attacking Ukrainian civilian
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Targets in this role the tombstone was
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used to guide s300 and S400
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anti-aircraft missiles in ballistic
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trajectories to rain down on Ukrainian
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cities these strikes have killed
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hundreds of Ukrainian civilians in harv
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sui and other
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cities taking out this radar was mission
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critical here's what we know about the
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attack and there's a few aspects that we
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can guess the attack employed us-made
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attachm missiles equipped with cluster
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munitions
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specifically the
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MGM
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14b block 1A missile that deploys 950
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m74 dual-purpose improved conventional
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Munitions cluster
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bombs the Warhead dispenses high
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explosive dual-purpose submunitions over
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a wide area the use of cluster bombs
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targeted a proximate area of the airbase
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for Maximum Impact on Russian military
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assets with an advanced Russian radar
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alleged to be able to detect all
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Airborne threats within 300 kilm how did
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Ukraine carry out this attack to answer
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this we'll have to make some informed
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speculation based on previous attacks
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battle damage and Ukrainian standard
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operational
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procedures this is the base on this map
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you can see the runway way the limit of
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the Military
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Reservation the pads and revetments for
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alert aircraft
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taxiways and weapons handling
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facilities the builtup areas north of
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the runway house Technical and
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mechanical support
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areas base
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Administration quarters logistical
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support and command and control as noted
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are the revetments for anti-aircraft
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weapons and
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Radars it's been assessed that the
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base's principal defense and sensor
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complexes were located several
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kilometers to the
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east
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here these consisted of a single 92 n6e
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Tombstone multi radar and at least two
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S400 transport erection and launch
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Vehicles each carrying four S400 missile
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tubes as far as the Russians were
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concerned the base's infrastructure was
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adequately
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defended the Russians knew from
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experience that they could expect a
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Ukrainian attack from the
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south this is what's called a Threat
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Vector and the Russians were
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Vigilant but it turns out they were also
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dead
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wrong so how could Ukraine take on so
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formidable a
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defense the key key to Kino was its
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Tombstone
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radar though it is a multi-roll platform
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in this case it was acting as the main
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sensor associated with the S400 system
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protecting the
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base and here is where we speculate but
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based on previous Ukrainian attacks this
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is likely how The Kino hit went down the
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Russians expected an attack from the
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South but the first attack lightly came
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from the north
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in the hours before the hit Ukraine
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launched a wave of long range strike
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drones towards
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Kino these included a combination of
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Silent platforms like the Puma and
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brownmore
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c4i faster Strike weapons like the
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skyline an AQ 400
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scythe and decoys like the trata and
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topaz the attack was meticulously
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planned ranges and flight times of each
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of these different types were calculated
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so that they could be launched at the
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appropriate time to converge on the
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Target in a phased wave attack the
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slowest and quietest drones were
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launched first so they could cross the
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frontier Ingress the target area and be
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the first platforms to converge on the
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tombstone radar varying courses were
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plotted for each of the decoys the slow
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movers and the fast movers decoy drones
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were the first to appear on Russian
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Radars likely to the west of the air
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base this was done to divide Kino's air
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defenses as Russian attention was
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diverted when the strike platforms
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infiltrated from the East circled around
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and approached the tombstone radar and
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missile systems from the north these
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strike drones masked their appearance to
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the S400 in Tombstone using topography
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as cover they likely used the terrain
00:09:40
flying nap of the earth to mask their
00:09:42
approach as they closed in a few minutes
00:09:46
before the strike drones entered the
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target area the attachs were fired on
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their arcing ballistic trajectories as
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the attacks climbed to Max altitude 65 K
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or more than 200,000 ft above the Earth
00:10:04
they began to plunge in on the base
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that's when the strike drones arrived
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the tombstone S400 and other targets
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were engaged by the first wave of drones
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which took out the radar and Associate
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Vehicles thus blinding the
00:10:22
s400s and then later drones destroyed
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the missiles
00:10:27
themselves Ken Air Base was now blind
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and defenseless as the attacks plunged
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down at three times the speed of sound
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2,300
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mph approximately 200 ft above the base
00:10:44
4 to six attack missiles
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burst each scattering
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950 cluster bombs over the target the
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multiple explosions seen in this
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photograph taken during the attack you
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can see the area selectively targeted by
00:11:03
the Ukrainian strike preliminary reports
00:11:05
indicate that the attack destroyed at
00:11:08
least two S400 air defense systems the
00:11:12
destruction of the tombstone radar was
00:11:15
critical without the tombstone radar the
00:11:19
s400s could no longer conduct long range
00:11:23
Aviation or ground strike missions the
00:11:25
attack also served as a psychological
00:11:28
blow demon rating vulnerabilities in
00:11:31
what Russia considered a heavily
00:11:33
defended
00:11:34
Target this well-planned Ukrainian
00:11:36
strike demonstrates the evolving tactics
00:11:39
in Modern Warfare where
00:11:42
improvisation critical timing deception
00:11:46
and precision play pivotal
00:11:49
roles it also reflects the ongoing
00:11:52
willingness of Ukraine's allies to
00:11:55
escalate Military Support allowing the
00:11:58
use of more sist sophisticated
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Weaponry Ukraine's use of attacks on
00:12:03
Kino Airbase not only signifies a
00:12:06
tactical Victory but also marks a
00:12:09
strategic shift in the conflict
00:12:12
showcasing Ukraine's enhanced offensive
00:12:16
capabilities and the shifting dynamics
00:12:18
of international support for the war hey
00:12:21
for the Kei post I'm Navy SEAL Chuck far
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and I'll see you again at the point of
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impact
00:12:30
[Music]
