As part of the Arms and Security 2019 exhibition in Kiev, the Ukrainian defense industry presented its new product - the Neptune missile system based on the KrAZ off-road truck chassis. The exhibition will run in the capital of Ukraine from 8 to 11 October. For the first time, the Neptune anti-ship cruise missile was demonstrated in Kiev back in 2015. But it is now that the complex is becoming more and more the Russian analogue of the mobile coastal missile systems "Ball", only on the chassis of the new Ukrainian four-axle KrAZ trucks.
Soviet legacy of "Neptune"
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukraine got a fairly powerful military-industrial complex. True, as in the military-industrial complex of the Republic of Belarus, it had one feature - a low share of the final development of weapons and military equipment. In the USSR, Ukraine's share in such developments was only 7 percent, according to the article "Choice for Ukraine" the all-Russian weekly newspaper "Military Industrial Courier" (issue of June 17, 2009). Like the military-industrial complexes of other union republics, the Ukrainian military-industrial complex was primarily tied to cooperation with the Russian military-industrial complex with the supply of a number of components and components for the assembly of finished products. This, along with the general economic crisis and political instability in the post-Soviet period, led to the deplorable state of the defense-industrial complex of independent Ukraine.
At the same time, Kiev, of course, is able to independently develop and produce a wide range of weapons and military equipment: from automatic weapons and trucks to tanks and various light armored vehicles, as well as missiles of all types and even warships. Another thing is that the restoration of the military-industrial complex, as well as its development and the creation of new enterprises and design bureaus will require great efforts from the military-political leadership of Ukraine. In the meantime, many developments of Ukrainian military companies, one way or another, are based on the common Soviet heritage of our states. In this regard, the new Ukrainian anti-ship missile R-360 is no exception.
Like the Russian X-35 missile from the Bal coastal missile defense complex, the Ukrainian Neptune is designed to engage surface targets with a displacement of up to 5,000 tons. That is, this cruise missile can be used to combat enemy destroyers, frigates, cruisers and transports, as well as landing ships and tank landing ships and barges operating both as part of individual ship groups and landing detachments, and independently. In addition, the Ukrainian side reports that the missile can also be used for strikes against coastal radio-contrast targets. The use of the rocket does not depend on weather conditions and time of day.
One glance at the new Ukrainian missile is enough to understand that it has a lot in common with the Soviet Kh-35 anti-ship missile, which was put into service in Russia in 2003. At the same time, tests of this cruise missile have continued since 1983. A layman looking at photographs of two products is unlikely to be able to distinguish one missile from another. Today, the Russian Kh-35 missile can be used both from ships (the Uran missile system) and as part of the Bal coastal missile systems. It is also possible to use with air carriers. The Ukrainian side also declares the R-360 missile as a universal one, and has announced the possibility of using it from ground-based launchers (test launches are already underway), from ships and aircraft.
For the creation of a new Ukrainian anti-ship missile, engineers of the state Kiev design bureau "Luch" are responsible. The Motor Sich Association is responsible for the development of the engine. Experts have no doubt that the new Ukrainian missile is an adaptation of Soviet and Russian developments in the X-35 to the new Ukrainian realities. Considering that the USSR expected to deploy the assembly of the hulls of new X-35 anti-ship missiles in Kharkov on the basis of the Kharkov Aviation Plant, and the Russian Federation, starting in 1993, continued cooperation with Ukraine on the X-35 missile project, there is no reason to doubt that the Ukrainian the party possessed the necessary set of technical documentation. In addition, back in 2002, Kiev received from Russian partners a reference sample of the new Russian X-35 missile.
If we talk about the power plant of the new Ukrainian missile, then it also leads its way from Soviet developments. At the heart of the MC400 bypass turbojet engine manufactured by the Zaporozhye company Motor Sich are similar Soviet engines TRRD-50 and R-95-300, which were originally developed for installation on various types of subsonic aircraft: cruise missiles, target missiles and drones. Naturally, progress does not stand still. If for the R-95-300 the declared dry weight was 95 kg, then for the MC400 it decreased to 85 kg, while, in principle, these are the same engines with the same thrust and overall characteristics, simply made at a different technological level, primarily in terms of materials used and methods of processing them.
The composition of the rocket complex "Neptune"
The composition of the new coastal defense missile system is already known and has been published in Ukrainian publications. The complex RK-360MTS includes:
1. Mobile command post RCP-360, designed for automated control of parts of the coastal defense complex, crew - 5 people. The maximum deployment time on the ground is no more than 10 minutes.
2. Directly the anti-ship missile R-360 itself in the transport-launch container TPK-360. For the rocket, the manufacturer declared the following characteristics: weight - 870 kg, warhead weight - 150 kg, rocket diameter - 380 mm, firing range - from 7 to 280 km, flight height above the wave crest - from 3 to 10 meters. The features of the missile include the fact that it can be used for strikes and against ground targets.
3. The USPU-360 unified launcher based on the chassis of the KrAZ-7634NE four-axle vehicle with an 8x8 wheel arrangement. The installation is intended for placement, transportation, temporary storage, as well as the launches of the R-360 anti-ship missile themselves. Each launcher carries four of these missiles.
4. Transport and loading vehicle TZM-360, which is designed for temporary storage, transportation and reloading of four TPK-360. The declared deployment time is 10 minutes, the missile reload time is up to 20 minutes, the calculation of the vehicle is 3 people.
5. Transport vehicle TM-360, designed for temporary storage, placement and transportation of TPK-360.
6. A set of ground equipment.
The proposed structure of the coastal defense missile complex RK-360MTS "Neptune": command post; three starting batteries with two universal launchers in each (6 USPU-360 and 24 ready-to-launch missiles); technical battery and support units. The technical battery includes 6 transport-charging and 6 transport vehicles (one special vehicle for each launcher). Taking into account the TPK equipped with R-360 missiles, the total stock of missiles of one complex with three starting batteries is 72 anti-ship missiles. Thus, the complex is able to simultaneously fire up to 24 missiles at surface targets, the interval for launching missiles in a salvo is 3-5 seconds. After a volley, the complex can change its location. The announced deployment time of the complex in new positions does not exceed 15 minutes.
Currently, the Neptune complex is undergoing a factory test stage. In April and May 2019, in the Odessa region, R-360 anti-ship missiles were fired from the USPU-360 universal launchers. The tests are carried out at the state test range of the Armed Forces of Ukraine "Alibey". According to a press release from the state-owned company Ukroboronprom, a missile equipped with a homing head was tested in May. However, the fact that the test missile was generally equipped with a homing head is doubted in the specialized military blog bmpd, which is an informal publication published under the auspices of the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies. The bmpd blog believes that the launch of the rocket, as in April 2019, was carried out along a given trajectory without aiming the P-360 at a real surface target.
KrAZ trucks for "Neptune"
The Ukrainian side chose KrAZ trucks as a base for its missile system. At the exhibition in Kiev, new USPU-360 launchers based on the KrAZ 7634NE four-axle chassis with an 8x8 wheel arrangement were demonstrated. As well as the mobile command post RKP-360 and the transport-loading vehicle TZM-360, the base for which was the well-proven three-axle KrAZ 6322 with a 6x6 wheel arrangement. A distinctive feature of all the vehicles presented is the presence of an armored cab, the development of which was the responsibility of the specialists of the enterprise "Ukrainian armored vehicles". We are talking about armored cabins similar to those that are installed today on Ukrainian wheeled armored vehicles with mine protection SBA "Varta". Armor "Warta" provides the crew with protection from small arms fire - up to armor-piercing bullets of caliber 7, 62x39 mm inclusive.
Of greatest interest is the new Ukrainian KrAZ-7634NE chassis. For the first time, this model was presented only in January 2014. The vehicle is a four-axle cross-country vehicle of a cabover configuration with a rather unusual layout, in which the cab is located in front of the engine. The first and second axles of the vehicle are controlled. The off-road chassis can be used both in the civilian sector and for military purposes, as a carrier of various weapons systems. In addition to the use as part of the Neptune missile system, it is known about plans to use this cross-country chassis as part of the Ukrainian MLRS Alder being developed. The mounting length of the frame, which is 8080 mm, and the high carrying capacity (at the level of 27 tons) allow the installation of various types of modern weapons on the KrAZ-7634NE chassis.
Initially, it was planned to install a Yaroslavl 8-cylinder diesel engine YaMZ-7511.10 with a capacity of 400 hp on the car, working with a clutch and a gearbox also made in Yaroslavl. However, this version is likely to remain as an option for vehicles sent for export and civilian versions of the car, while the Ukrainian military will switch to vehicles with foreign engines. In 2019, KrAZ has already presented these vehicles with a more powerful new engine (460 hp) and an automatic gearbox. In particular, KrAZ has previously installed Ford-Ecotorq 9.0L 360PS engines on three-axle models of trucks, as well as Chinese engines from Weichai.
