From "Bal" to the ship …
As early as last year, the Ball coastal missile system entered service with the Pacific Fleet, designed to destroy enemy ship groupings. This newest missile system has replaced the outdated Redoubt, which is going on a well-deserved rest, having faithfully served its years in the defense of the shores of the Fatherland.
From the moment the Ball complex entered service with the Pacific Fleet, the personnel of the missile division studied the materiel, trained in deploying the complex "in the field", and conducted the so-called "electronic launches". And now a combat training task was set: to make a 140-kilometer march, during which you need to overcome two mountain passes, turn around in an unequipped position on the seashore, find a target ship, issue target designation to launchers and fire a rocket salvo.
Everything went as if written - it was not in vain that the coastal missilemen spent so much time on combat training.
The control vehicle took up a position on a hill, and two self-propelled launchers stood right on the beach - some fifty meters from the sea coast. At the same time, sailors of the Primorsky flotilla of heterogeneous forces completed the "cleaning" of the firing area, blocking a significant section of the Sea of Japan. In the center of this area, a ship was slowly drifting, a former floating workshop, which has been serving as a target at the Pacific Fleet for the fifth year now. It would have sunk long ago, but this ship is saved only by the fact that the missiles that are periodically launched by naval missilemen are devoid of a warhead and only pierce the ship above the waterline from side to side - through and through.
The combat mission has been brought to the attention of the personnel. Target detected. The package with container pipes rises to the starting angle. The crew sitting in the launcher only controls the automatic passage of the commands that are sent from the control machine. The complex is so automated that it can operate without a crew at all. The calculation only needs to bring the machines into place, turn on the equipment and leave. Today people are on the ground, because this is the first launch.
A minute, then another, and the open lids of the missile container clap loudly. Two seconds later, the force of fire of the powder accelerator bursts out of the pipe, hits the beach sand, raising sand dust, small stones and coastal debris into the air. The Kh-35 missile exits the container beautifully, opens its wings, and licks the roof of the launcher with fire, sharply gains altitude, leaving behind a smoky trail.
Moments later, the booster separates and the rocket launches a turbojet engine. The Kh-35 makes a "slide", then descends to a height of five meters and quickly disappears from the field of view. Two minutes later, she will come to the target area, find a drifting floating workshop, after which another hole will appear in the side of this long-suffering vessel.
What can "Ball" do?
The main task of the Bal coastal missile system is to prevent an enemy amphibious convoy from reaching our shores. The Balov battery consists of two control vehicles, four self-propelled starting vehicles and four transport-loading vehicles. The launch vehicles each carry eight combat-ready missiles, and eight more missiles each are on the transport-loading vehicles. In total, the battery can fire a 32-rocket salvo at enemy ships, then, if necessary, the battery will recharge, and after half an hour it will be able to deliver a second missile strike. 64 missiles will be enough to disrupt ANY landing operation, if the adversary against Primorye thinks such.
The range of the Kh-35 is 260 km (one third of the Sea of Japan), which is more than twice the firing range of its predecessor, the Redoubt coastal missile system with the P-15M anti-ship missile, which belongs to the second generation of missiles, and is known for the fact that With the combat triumph of the P-15 missile (such a missile destroyed the Israeli destroyer Eilat in 1967), a real boom in the design of this revolutionary type of anti-ship weapons began throughout the world.
The advantages of the Kh-35 over anti-ship missiles of the second and third generations lie in the expanded capabilities for delivering a group missile strike: a more flexible logic of target distribution is embedded in the missile's "head" when attacking a group target. Low flight altitude, combined with scanty radar signature (the missile is made mainly of composite materials), make the X-35 almost irresistible for the air defense of enemy ships. Such a missile is difficult to detect, but even if it is "illuminated" by the ship's locator, the X-35 writes such "snakes" in front of the ship both horizontally and vertically, which makes it very difficult to shoot it down. But even if some of the missiles are hit by the anti-missile defense of enemy ships, the rest of the missiles will still do their job - the enemy convoy will burn with a bright flame, and no one will care about the continuation of the landing operation.
Bala's launching positions are usually selected at the water's edge, but the complex allows you to shoot missiles from the depths of the coast. With a certain terrain, the launch position can be located at a distance from the sea up to 10 km, which to a certain extent contributes to the secrecy of the complex and will ensure the surprise of a missile strike.
The battery can move along the coastline, choosing the most convenient position - the range of vehicles exceeds 700 kilometers. If the situation requires, the battery can embark on a landing ship and land, for example, on one of the islands of the Kuril ridge. And from there, "Ball" will be able to control the main routes along which the enemy can launch an amphibious operation. The complex is unique in everything. He can detect targets both himself and receive target designation data from third-party reconnaissance means - aviation, radio engineering, radar and space. The launch operator only needs to know in which area the target or group of targets is located. The X-35, having arrived in the area, will find the target by itself …
Afterword
Of course, today the Russian Pacific Fleet has received a powerful weapon capable of solving the most important tasks. As the second largest fleet in terms of size and combat potential (of the four available in Russia), the Pacific Fleet is the guarantor of the inviolability of our maritime borders. With its St. Andrew's flag, the Pacific Fleet demonstrates its strength to all our Asia-Pacific partners, as if reminding us that in matters of international politics one should not flirt with Russia before armed conflicts. This will be very fraught for any enemy.
At the Victory Parade on May 9 along the main street of Vladivostok, the heroes of today's shooting - the combat vehicles of the Bal coastal missile system - will pass. The rocket sailors of the 72nd coastal missile and artillery brigade, following the glorious military traditions of their fathers and grandfathers, will worthily carry their banner at the Victory Parade.
