"Any trophy equipment we capture on the field of battle is valuable in terms of its design features, certain design solutions for some of its components," retired military intelligence officer and military analyst Anatoliy Matviychuk told Sputnik.
"All the equipment we capture is carefully studied by our military engineers. We compare it to our own equipment and immediately make methodological recommendations about the means to combat this equipment on the battlefield. And, in the future, it's possible that some elements can even be introduced in our own equipment," Matviychuk explained.
Successes of Reverse Engineering
"The HIMARS we’ve captured were once able to evade our Pantsir air defense systems quite well. Not anymore. We have found their weak spot, found their control system’s frequencies, and our air defenses systems now destroy them superbly. As for the Storm Shadow missile we’ve captured, we also see now in reports from the Defense Ministry that nearly 90 percent of these missiles are shot out of the skies by our air defense systems," the observer said.
"Any weapon is modernized and improved based on the results of its combat employment. This is a continuous process. For example, after the enemy received HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems, specialists at High Precision Systems upgraded the Pantsir to intercept these rockets. Today we see examples of HIMARS strikes successfully countered by our surface-to-air missile/gun system. There are precedents when all 12 rockets launched from an American MLRS were shot down," the official said.