Russian Banderol Cruise Missile Enters Moldova

On the evening of August 17, the Russian Banderol missile crossed the border near Transnistria and flew toward central Moldova.

At 5:40 p.m., the Ukrainian Air Force reported the incident.

Moldova’s Ministry of Defense said it had detected an unidentified aerial object traveling along the Kuchurgan-Tiraspol route.

After that, the central sector of the country’s airspace was closed for 15 minutes. According to preliminary information, the object disappeared from radar in the area of the village of Talmaza.

Later, footage emerged showing specialists from the relevant authorities inspecting fragments of the aircraft at the site and working to establish all the circumstances of the incident.

Russian forces regularly launch S8000 Banderol missiles from temporarily occupied Crimea at targets in Ukraine’s Odesa region.

Previously, Defense Intelligence of Ukraine told Militarnyi that Russia is capable of producing around 80 such missiles per month.

A month ago, a new launcher designed to fire Banderol missiles was revealed.

Previously, the known platforms for launching S8000 missiles were the Orion UAV and the Mi-28 attack helicopter. The emergence of a ground-based launcher could potentially enable wider use of these missiles, as they can now be launched from the ground as well as from the air.

Meanwhile, it can be assumed that the missile itself may have been modified, for example by installing a more powerful engine or reducing the weight of the warhead. Otherwise, when launched from the ground, the missile would expend significantly more energy than when launched from the air, which would inevitably reduce its range.

S8000 Banderol

The Russian company Kronstadt is the developer of this missile. Its stated range is up to 500 km.

As its propulsion system, the Banderol uses a Chinese Swiwin turbojet engine weighing 8.5 kg. It can produce up to 81.6 kgf of thrust at a maximum rotational speed of 65,000 rpm.

The missile’s maximum speed is 620-650 km/h, while its cruising speed is 520-560 km/h.

The missile is equipped with an OFBC-150 high-explosive fragmentation warhead weighing 114.3 kg, of which 49.5 kg is the explosive charge.