Anti-ship missile

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

An anti-ship missile is a military missile designed for use against naval surface ships^[1]. Most anti-ship missiles are of the sea-skimming, subsonic or supersonic, type and use a combination of inertial guidance and radar homing. The typical acronym for the phrase is ASM, but AShM can also be used to avoid confusion with air-to-surface missiles.

Contents 1 History 2 Use 3 Countermeasures 4 List of AShMs 4.1 World War II 4.2 NATO countries 4.3 USSR/Russia 4.4 India and Russia 4.5 Pakistan 4.6 People's Republic of China 4.7 Taiwan (Republic of China) 4.8 Japan 4.9 Iran 4.10 Others 5 Notes 6 Missiles in action 7 External Links

[edit] History

Anti-ship missiles were among the first instances of short range guided missiles during the Second World War. The German Luftwaffe used them to some effect against Allied shipping and sank or damaged some large warships successfully before the Allies devised countermeasures (principally radio jamming).

[edit] Use

Anti-ship missiles can be launched from a variety of platforms:

• Warships (surface combatants)
• Submarines
• Fixed wing aircraft
• Helicopters
• Ground vehicles

AShMs are a significant threat to modern warships and were used extensively in the 1982 Falklands War. In 1987, a US Navy guided-missile frigate, the USS Stark, was hit by an Exocet AShM fired by an Iraqi Mirage F-1. The Stark was damaged but was able to make it to a friendly port for repair. The next year, AShMs were fired by both US and Iranian forces in Operation Praying Mantis in the Persian Gulf. During this naval battle, several Iranian warships were hit by US AShMs (and by Standard SAMs doing double-duty in this role). Also, in October 1987 an American-owned tanker under the Liberian flag and a Kuwaiti tanker under the US flag, the Sea Isle City, were hit by Iranian HY-2 missiles.

In 2006, Hezbollah forces fired a Chinese C-802 AShM at the Israeli corvette INS Hanit, inflicting heavy damage and spilling a huge volume of oil into the marine environment. A second missile in this salvo sunk an Egyptian merchant ship, as well.

[edit] Countermeasures

Countermeasures against AShMs include:

• Anti-missile missiles (such as the Sea Sparrow, SA-N-6 Grumble, SA-N-9 Gauntlet, RAM, Standard or Sea Wolf missile)
• Anti-aircraft guns such as the Mk. 45 or the AK-130
• Close-in weapon systems (CIWS)
• Deception Jammers (such as SLQ-32)
• Decoy systems (such as "chaff" and "flares")

Passive countermeasures against AShMs include the use of stealth features in the design of modern warships to reduce their radar cross section (RCS) which reduces the ships radar signature and also measures to reduce their infra-red and acoustic signatures too. The aim of making the ships stealthly is to reduce the risk of detection and to make them harder targets for attacking AShMs. Examples include the US Arleigh Burke class destroyers and the French La Fayette class frigate.

[edit] List of AShMs

[edit] World War II

• Ruhrstahl/Kramer SD 1400 X (Fritz X) — Germany
• Henschel Hs 293 — Germany
• Henschel Hs 294 — Germany
• Blohm + Voss BV 246 (Hagelkorn) — Germany (prototype)
• Igo - Japan
• Ohka piloted suicide missile - Japan

[edit] NATO countries

(All missiles based on radar homing unless otherwise noted.)

• AGM/UGM-84 Harpoon missile – United States; made by Boeing/McDonnell Douglas
• AS.34 Kormoran 2 – Germany; used on Tornado IDS (INS and radar guidance)
• AGM-119 Penguin – Norway; made by Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace (KDA) (infrared homing)
• AGM-123 Skipper – United States; developed by the U.S. Navy
• AS.12 – France; built by Aérospatiale/Nord Aviation (visual guidance, wire controlled SACLOS)
• BGM-109 Tomahawk (TASM version) – United States; made by Raytheon/General Dynamics
• RBS15 MK3 – Sweden/Germany
• Exocet – originally France; made by Aérospatiale, now joint European; made by MBDA
• Teseo/Otomat – originally Italian; made by Otomelara, now joint European; made by MBDA
• Martel – United Kingdom/France; made by BAe/Matra (radar and video guidance variants)
• Naval Strike Missile (NSM) – Norway; made by KDA (imaging infrared)
• Sea Eagle – United Kingdom; made by BAe
• Sea Skua – United Kingdom; made by BAe
• Sea Slug - UK, Hawker Siddeley (secondary role)
• RIM-67 Standard Missile 2 - USA (also used by Canada, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Spain and Poland), Raytheon (secondary role, has both semi-active radar and infrared homing in newer versions)

[edit] USSR/Russia

(Listed by official Soviet/Russian name, followed by GRAU designation and NATO reporting name in parentheses.)

• P-1 (GRAU: 4K32, NATO: SS-N-1 Scrubber)
• P-5 (GRAU: 4K34, NATO: SS-N-3 Sepal/Shaddock)
• P-15 Termit (GRAU: 4K40, NATO: SS-N-2 Styx)
• P-70 Ametist (GRAU: 4K66, NATO: SS-N-7 Starbright)
• P-80 Zubr (GRAU: 3M82, NATO: SS-N-22 Sunburn)
• P-120 Malakhit (GRAU: 4K85, NATO: SS-N-9 Siren)
• P-270 Moskit (GRAU: 3M80, NATO: SS-N-22 Sunburn)
• P-500 Bazalt (GRAU: 4K80, NATO: SS-N-12 Sandbox)
• P-700 Granit (GRAU: 3M45, NATO: SS-N-19 Shipwreck)
• P-750 Grom (GRAU: 3M25^[2], NATO: SS-N-24 Scorpion)
• P-800 Oniks (GRAU: 3M55, NATO: SS-NX-26 Oniks/Yakhont)
• P-900 Alfa (GRAU: 3M51 ^[3], NATO: SS-N-27 Club) (ASW, ASuW and land-attack versions) [1])
• R-27K (GRAU: 4K18, NATO: SS-NX-13)
• RPK-2 Viyuga (NATO: SS-N-15 Starfish) (ASW)
• RPK-3 Metel (NATO: SS-N-14 Silex) (ASW with ASuW mode)
• RPK-6 Vodopad (NATO: SS-N-16 Stallion) (ASW)
• RPK-7 Vorobei (NATO: SS-N-16 Stallion) (ASW)
• RPK-9 Medvedka (NATO: SS-N-29) (ASW) [2]
• X-35 Uran (GRAU: 3M24, NATO: SS-N-25 Switchblade)
• Buk (GRAU: 9K37, NATO: SA-N-7 Gadfly) (Secondary role)
• M-11 Shtorm (GRAU: 4K60, NATO: SA-N-3 Goblet) (Secondary role, but had a dedicated ASuW version)
• S-300 (NATO: SA-N-6 Grumble) (Secondary role)
• Tor (GRAU: 9K330, NATO: SA-N-9 Gauntlet) (Secondary role)

[edit] India and Russia

• BrahMos

India and Russia jointly developed the Supersonic cruise missile BrahMos with a range of 290 km.

[edit] Pakistan

• Babar Cruise Missile (Antiship Version)

The antiship version of the cruise missile is under development.

[edit] People's Republic of China

• SY-1 (SS-N-2 Styx) - Shang You 1 is a Chinese copy of the Soviet P-15 Styx ship-to-ship missile, initially produced in 1960s under license with Soviet-supplied kits. After the Sino-Soviet Split, production resumed with Chinese-made components. [3]
  • SY-1A - Improved SY-1 missile with mono-pulse terminal guidance radar
• SY-2 (CSS-N-5 Sabot) - Also known as Fei Long 2, radar-guided ship-to-ship missile produced in 1990s as replacement for the SY-1. Similar to SY-1 in size, the SY-2 can be launched from existing SY-1 launchers. [4]
  • SY-2A - Extended-range version of the SY-2 with new turbojet engine and GPS guidance, can be deployed from air as air-launched anti-ship missile.
  • SY-2B - Improved SY-2A anti-ship missile with supersonic speed and low-level flight.
  • FL-7 - Land-to-ship version of SY-2, for export only
• HY-1 (CSS-N-1 & CSS-N-2 Silkworm) - The Hai Ying 1 isn extended range anti-ship missile based on the SY-1 design. [5]
  • HY-1J - Ship-to-ship version of HY-1 missile
  • HY-1JA - Improved HY-1J with new radar and better ECM & range
  • HY-1A - Land-to-ship version of HY-1JA
  • HY-1B - Target drone for HQ-2A SAM
  • HJ-1YB - Target drone fro HQ-61 SAM
  • YJ-1 - Also known as the C-101, a ramjet powered upgrade to the HY-1. The YJ-1 never entered production, but the engine was used in HY-3.
• Silkworm missile
• HY-2 (CSS-C-3 Seersucker) - Also known as the C-201, the Hai Ying 2 is a land-to-ship missile developed from the HY-1. [6] Generally considered obsolete, no ship-to-ship version was built.
  • HY-2A - IR-guided version of HY-2
  • HY-2AII - Improved version of HY-2A
  • HY-2B - Improved HY-2 with mono-pulse radar seeker
  • HY-2BII - Improved HY-2B with new radar seeker
  • C-201W - Extended-range version of HY-2 with turbojet engine, for export only.
• HY-3 (CSS-C-6 Sawhorse) - Also known as C-301, the HY-3 is an active radar-homing land-to-ship missile with ramjet engine. Developed in 1980s based on HY-2 and YJ-1 technology. [7]
• HY-4 (CSS-C-7 Sadsack) - Turbojet powered version of HY-2, the HY-4 is a land-to-ship missile with mono-pulse radar. [8]
  • XW-41 - Air-launched land-attack version of HY-4 under development.
• YJ-6 (CAS-1 Kraken) - Also known as the C-601 air-launched anti-ship missile, developed from HY-2 in 1980s [9]
• YJ-7 - also known as the C-701, the Ying Ji 7 is a lightweight anti-ship missile developed in 1990s. This missile can be launched from land, air, or sea, with TV, IR image, and millmetre radar guidance. However this is a light anti-ship missile with only 29 kg warhead and 15-20 km range, it was not accepted into service by the PLAN. [10]
• YJ-8 (CSS-N-4 Sardine) - The Yingji 8 series anti-ship missiles is also known as the C-80X. Unlike previous missiles, the YJ-8 series is developed based on western design concepts, rather than the original Soviet Styx. The YJ-8 is more similar to the French-made Exocet Anti-ship missile. [11] The YJ-8 can be launched from sea, land, air, and even submarines. [12]
  • YJ-8A (C-801A) - YJ-82 with folded wings
  • YJ-8K (C-801K) - Air-launched version of YJ-8 anti-ship missile [13]
  • YJ-8Q (C-801Q) - Submarine-launched version of YJ-8
  • YJ-82 (CSS-N-8 Saccade) - Also known as C-802, extended range (120 km) land-to-ship missile
  • YJ-82A (C-802A) - Improved YJ-82 showcased at DSEI in 2005, with published range of 180 km.
  • YJ-82K (C-802K) - Air launched version of YJ-82 [14]
  • YJ-83 (C-803) - Extended range version of YJ-82 developed in mid 1990s
  • YJ-83K (C-803K) - Air-launched version of YJ-83
  • YJ-85 (C-805) - Land-attack cruise missile (LACM) version under development
• YJ-62 - The Yingji 62 is a long-range (280 km) subsonic anti-ship cruise missile [15]

[edit] Taiwan (Republic of China)

• Hsiung Feng I - Brave Wind I is a subsonic ship-to-ship developed by CIST in 1970s, said to be based on the Israeli Gabriel missile.
• Hsiung Feng II - Brave Wind II is an improved subsonic HF-I missile with ship-to-ship, surface-to-ship, and air-to-ship versions.
• Hsiung Feng III - Brave Wind III is a new supersonic (Mach 2 - 2.5) ramjet ship-to-ship missile currently in development by CIST

[edit] Japan

• Type 80 Air-to-Ship Missile (ASM-1)
• Type 88 Surface-to-Ship Missile (SSM-1)
  • Type 90 Ship-to-Ship Missile (SSM-1B)
  • Type 91 Air-to-Ship Missile (ASM-1C)
• Type 93 Air-to-Ship Missile (ASM-2)

[edit] Iran

• Noor (ASM)
• Raad (ASM)
• Kowsar (ASM)
• Kosar1 (ASM)
• Kosar3 (ASM)
• C-801 (ASM)
• C-802 (ASM)

[edit] Others

• Al Salah-Ad-Din- Iraq
• Babur – Pakistan
• Gabriel – Israel; made by Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI)
• RBS15 – Sweden; made by Saab Bofors Dynamics
• SSM-700K ROK

[edit] Notes

1. ^ Although AShMs are primarily designed for attacking ships, several recent missiles have also been made for, and marketed as, being capable of attacking coastal targets such as military harbour facilities. Others, such as the Tomahawk, are multi-target made from the outset.
2. ^ (Russian) NPO Mashinostroeniya rockets
3. ^ (Russian) 3M51 Alpha

[edit] Missiles in action

During the Falklands War, the HMS Sheffield, a 4,820 ton Type 42 Destroyer was struck by a single Exocet anti-ship missile and sunk. It was reported that the Exocet missile failed to explode, but its rocket fuel set the ship ablaze and sunk the Sheffield anyway.

Years later, during Operation Praying Mantis, the US Navy hit the Iranian light frigate IS Sahand with 3 Harpoon missiles, 4 AGM-123 Skipper rocket-propelled bombs, a Walleye laser-guided bomb, and several 1,000 lb bombs. Despite the large number of munitions and successful hits, the 1,540 ton IS Sahand did not sink until fire reached its munitions magazine, causing it to explode. [16] However, in the same engagement, US warships fired 3 RIM-66 Standard missiles at an Iranian corvette - the corvette sunk low enough in the water that a Harpoon missile arriving several minutes later had nothing to lock on to.

[edit] External Links

• Warship Vulnerability (tabulated shipping losses)