Cited on HN 3 times, 2022, never outright recommendedscore 0
Years with an HN recommendation, 2007–2026
Used as a joke whenever a stray or malfunctioning Russian munition is in the news.
A short clip, published by The Sun, of a Russian surface-to-air missile that appears to turn around after launch and hit its own launch site. It was reportedly filmed in Alchevsk during the 2022 war in Ukraine.
On paper, certainly. But a lot of those missiles have been stored somewhere in Siberia for 40+ years. Their condition is probably less than stellar. Who would regularly inspect and maintain random ammo dumps located five timezones away from Moscow in the middle of nowhere? I suspect that at least some of those missiles are outright out of commission and others are unstable enough to be a danger to the Russians themselves. Also, see this anti-aircraft gun in action: [this video]
There have been a few cases of Russian missiles being launched then after 50 metres or so turning round and targeting their own launch site. So you’re not far off Here’s one: [this video]
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