The development of cruise missiles is closely related to the work of Soviet scientists. Rocket weapons, precisely as the main strike weapon, first appeared on the warships of the Soviet Union at the turn of the 50-60s of the last century. Other countries did not appreciate it at first. But after October 1967, the situation changed. During the Arab-Israeli conflict, which lasted six days, an Egyptian-class missile boat Komar, which was equipped with Soviet anti-ship missiles, destroyed the Israeli destroyer Eilat in the first attack.
This event had a great impact on the countries' rethinking of their weapons. Leading naval powers began to actively develop this type of naval tactical weapon. The most famous examples of this class of weapons were created at that time: the French Exocet missile (started development in 1968) and the American Harpoon (started working on the project in the late 60s). During this period of time, the first developments by the Soviet Union of an anti-ship missile (ASM) of a similar class appeared - the 3M-24E (the aviation analogue of this weapon is the Kh-35E). It is noteworthy that all three samples are practically identical from the point of view of military-technical ideology.
These missiles are similar in the principle of targeting. On all these types, an inertial guidance system is used in combination with a radio altimeter, which has high accuracy, and an active radar homing head (later, a satellite navigation system was used, but on some samples a passive method was used). For the most part, detection of anti-ship missiles is difficult due to subsonic flight and low altitude (3 to 5 meters).
When the United States and France were just developing the first subsonic anti-ship missiles, the Soviet Union was already successfully working on the creation of guided missiles that had high performance characteristics. These were the Moskit-E shipborne complex (3M-80E missile, flight speed is about 800 meters per second) and the Kh-31A aircraft anti-ship missile (flight speed reached 1000 meters per second). Due to the high speed of movement, the time when the missile is in the so-called zone of the enemy's anti-missile defense systems is reduced. Thus, the risk of destruction by the enemy of these missiles is reduced. The creators of these samples, experts say, have made a real breakthrough in the development of technology, which, mainly, became possible thanks to the introduction of a combined propulsion system of a new type. It included a ramjet engine and a solid-fuel booster unit. Even now this technology of Russian developers is not used by any foreign company. France is only working on some possible options for its implementation.
Now Russia is successfully implementing these two directions of development of anti-ship missiles: both small-sized subsonic and supersonic ones.
Recently, several more Russian samples of supersonic anti-ship missiles of the Club system have appeared with 3M-54E (TE) and 3M-14E (TE) missiles, which was developed by the Novator Design Bureau, and Yakhont with the 3M-55E anti-ship missiles developed by NPO Mashinostroyenia . In terms of their combat capabilities, these systems are an operational-tactical class of anti-ship weapons. It should be noted that during the creation of the latest anti-ship missiles, some original technical solutions were applied, thanks to which the Russian design school of anti-ship missiles is rated as the best in the world.
Due to the crisis of the 90s, the 3M-24E (Kh-35E) rocket was tested and refined for a long time. But as soon as it appeared on many carriers, it immediately established itself as a versatile and effective weapon. Within the framework of military and technical cooperation, the Uran-E shipborne complex with the 3M-24E anti-ship missile system is supplied to some countries. Naturally, Russian ships are also armed with this complex. Having shown excellent results of state tests, the mobile coastal complex "Bal-E" with such a missile is now entering service with the Navy. One of the first complexes has already been sent to protect the Caspian coast. Experts believe that Bal-E has a good export perspective. Already now, applications for its purchase are received from many countries. The Kh-35E - the aircraft version - has also been tested on some types of aircraft. This missile is part of the armament of the MiG-29K and MiG-29KUB carrier-based fighters, which enter service with the Indian army, namely the aircraft carrier Vikramaditya (this ship is an improved Admiral Gorshkov).
In the second half of the last century, they have already demonstrated the effectiveness of anti-ship missile systems in a number of military operations. The most notable moments of the use of anti-ship missiles are associated with the military conflict between the two countries: England and Argentina fought for the Falkland Islands from April to June 1982. Then the British government sent a large operational formation to the South Atlantic, which included two-thirds of the combat strength of the Navy. The ships were equipped for those times with perfect weapons and new technical means. The crews underwent combat training in full. But the Argentine Air Force still sank the British container ship Atlantic Conveyor and the destroyer Sheffield with their Exocet AM.39 missiles. The war ended in victory for Great Britain.
In February 1983 and until mid-summer 1984, during the hostilities between Iran and Iraq, it was recorded that Iraqi anti-ship missiles hit the ships 112 times. In 60% of cases, the targets attacked were either badly damaged or sunk.
In the past ten years, anti-ship missiles have not been used in military clashes. But this does not mean in any way that they have ceased to be a formidable and powerful weapon. Experts ask themselves what are the prospects for the development of the RCC in the near future? Since the collapse of the USSR and the end of the Cold War, there has been a continuous revision of military and naval doctrines by the leading powers. Of great interest are some points in the US naval strategy, according to which instead of battles in ocean and sea waters against enemy fleets, that is, "war at sea", the emphasis is on "war from the sea." In other words, goals change in possible naval operations. Now they are boats and ships of the enemy in coastal waters. Objects located on the shore. Objects that are located in the depths of territories and which need to be attacked from the sea. Already created in the United States littoral warships, which are designed to conduct military operations in coastal zones.
The military-political situation in the world cannot but affect the re-equipment and development of weapons, including anti-ship missiles. We can say that anti-ship missiles are being transformed from a means of fighting on the water into a weapon for fighting in coastal and coastal zones. The latest domestic and foreign RCC developments confirm this idea. They are capable of successfully delivering accurate strikes not only against targets in the open sea, but also against ships and coastal targets located in harbors, including those remote from the coast. Such missiles are usually equipped with satellite navigation systems.
For example, a family of Exocet-type missiles is being developed in this direction, in which an improved version of Block III has been modified specifically for firing at coastal targets. The latest developments in Harpoon Block II Plus missiles provide software support that not only controls the flight path at low altitude, but also allows you to bend around the terrain. Harpoon Block III is equipped with means that recognize targets.
Today we can say with confidence that a new class of naval missiles has appeared, which, unlike anti-ship missiles, can hit any targets, not just naval ones. One of the first examples of this class is the Russian 3M-14E (TE) missiles. For accurate destruction of targets on the coast, the missile is equipped with a warhead intended for this. The seeker is capable of identifying even subtle targets of small size on the surface.
We can say with confidence that the development of anti-ship missiles of Russian specialists not only does not lag behind the best Western models, but even surpasses them in the originality of technical solutions.
New aspects of modern naval strategies greatly increase the importance of mobile coastal universal missile systems in them. They are capable of inflicting damage on enemy ships that are in different stages of an offensive operation, and can also strike at landing troops, objects on the coast and territories captured by the enemy. With characteristics such as mobility and the ability to “hide” in the terrain, coastal missile systems can provide effective protection of coastal areas, while not being prohibitively expensive. These are the functions performed by DBK "Bal-E". For the creation of the Bal-E DBK, the specialists who worked in the Tactical Missile Armament Corporation were awarded state awards by the decree of the President of the Russian Federation.
At present, the Russian Tactical Missile Armament Corporation is the developer of the Russian anti-ship missiles of the Kh-35E (3M-24E) type. She says she is ready for the production of the Kh-35UE, a new missile of this class. It will surpass the prototype in terms of basic tactical and technical characteristics by two or even two and a half times. In the new version of the anti-ship missile system, there is no doubt about this, the latest achievements of domestic rocketry are used and those features of the development of anti-ship weapons characteristic of new models that are produced by the world's leading companies are taken into account.
After analyzing the global trends in the development of anti-ship missiles, experts came to the conclusion that now this type of weapon does not lose its significance. In the near future, its improvements will concern an increase in the number of targets hit, as well as maximum standardization of its carriers.
As for the choice of flight modes, today the following are equally successfully implemented:
• speeds that do not exceed the speed of sound, combined with a low flight altitude of the rocket;
• speeds that exceed the speed of sound, combined with the minimum probable altitude of the rocket;
• rocket flight to the object along a combined profile at subsonic and supersonic speeds.
Subsonic missiles are believed to have some advantage in coastal operations. It consists in less visibility, higher than that of supersonic missiles, maneuverability and the presence of more ammunition.
For Russia, the development of coastal defense systems also remains relevant. This task can be solved by a sufficient volume of deliveries of the Bal-E ballistic missile system in combination with the newly created coastal operational-tactical complexes Bastion (developed on the basis of 3M-55E) or Club-M (developed on the basis of 3M-54KE and 3M-14KE) into potentially hazardous coastal areas.
