SS-N-22 Sunburn / Kh-41 (ASM-MSS) Moskit

Tactical nuclear weapons

The MOSKIT Shipborne Missile System is intended to engage surface ships. It consists of an anti-ship cruise missile, a launcher, automated control system, and ground equipment. As soon as the missile reaches the target area, the onboard missile guidance system autonomously searches, selects and locks on the target which meets the pre-set engagement criteria. The shipborne fire control system determines the flight mission profile using target designation data, carries out the pre-launch checks and controls the missile's launch procedure.

The unique characteristics of the MOSKIT anti-ship cruise missile, i.e. its supersonic speed and extremely low flight altitude at mid-course and final trajectory, highly efficient penetration of the hostile air defences, enhanced anti-jamming protection of the seeker, advanced and powerful warhead add to the formidable combat efficiency of the MOSKIT anti-ship missile system.

The Moskit missile has the typical missile shape, with "X" scheme wings at mid-fuselage and "X" all- moving control surfaces in the rear. The missile is powered by a ramjet-type, liquid-fuel sustainer and a solid-rocket booster, which is used in the first four seconds of flight. The missile's range is 120 km (high-low profile) or 80 km (low profile), or 160 and 120 km, respectively, for the 3M82 Moskit-M version. These ranges include maneuvers, so theoretically a missile could reach longer distances if it flew directly. The missile's speed is Mach 2.6 (2,800 kmph) at high altitude and Mach 1.5 (1,800 kmph) at low altitude. At 10 km from its target, the time until impact is less than 20 seconds, leaving little opportunity for reaction. Also, the passive radar mode enables the missile to detect active jamming sources and use them for homing. This and other features of the missile's radar seeker make it very ECM resistant.

The NATO designation SS-N-22 ‘Sunburn’ is believed to be designated P270 Moskit, the air-breathing variant of the naval missile 3M80 (the designation 3M80 apparently referring to the Mach 3 speed of 1980 weapons). It may have been designed originally to enhance the effectiveness of Missile Cutter Brigades (that is, units of missile-equipped FACs) and Destroyer Brigades hitherto dependent upon the Malachit or SS-N-9 ‘Siren’. It is used on "Sovremennyy" destroyers (eight missiles on each) and on "Tarantul [Tarantula] III patrol ships (four missiles on each). A high supersonic speed was specified to reduce the target’s time to deploy self-defense weapons, indeed the weapon was designed specifically to strike ships with the Aegis command and weapon control system and the SM-2 surface-to-air missile. The Moskit (3M80) is a ramjet-powered missile with a slim forward body and ovoid nose, and a fatter rear half with four divided air intakes. There are four clipped delta platform wings and four smaller tail surfaces of similar shape organized in cruciform configuration around the fuselage. All the wings and tail surfaces are folded when the missile is in the launcher. Internally the radar seeker is in the nose with the guidance system, batteries and radio altimeter in the remainder of the front compartment, and the 300 kg semi-armor-piercing warhead immediately behind. A fuel tank, presumably with a kerosene-type fuel, occupies the area to the leading edges of the wing and the area almost to the rear edges is occupied by the ramjet. Much of the rear of the missile is occupied by a solid propellant booster through which runs the ramjet nozzle. Actuators are to be found below the tail surfaces. The 3M82 "Mosquito" missiles have the fastest flying speed among all antiship missiles in today's world. It reaches Mach 3 at a high altitude and its maximum low-altitude speed is M2.2, triple the speed of the American Harpoon. The missile takes only 2 minutes to cover its full range and manufacturers state that 1-2 missiles could incapacitate a destroyer while 1-5 missiles could sink a 20000 ton merchantman. An extended range missile, 9M80E is now available.

When slower missiles, like the French Exocet are used, the maximum theoretical response time for the defending ship is 150-120 seconds. This provides time to launch countermeasures and employ jamming before deploying "hard" defense tactics such as launching missiles and using quick-firing artillery. But the 3M82 "Mosquito" missiles are extremely fast and give the defending side a maximum theoretical response time of merely 25-30 seconds, rendering it extremely difficult employ jamming and countermeasures, let alone fire missiles and quick-firing artillery.

The air-launched version, officially called ASM-MMS and apparently also Kh-4, is intended specially for Su-27K (Su-33) carrier-based fighter aircraft. It was for the first time shown to the CIS leaders in February 1992 in Machulishche and then to the public in August 1992 at the Moscow Air Show in Zhukovskiy. The missile is propelled by a dual (rocket-jet) engine operating by the same principle as the Kh-31 engine. The missile, suspended under the aircraft, has a folding wing. The missile is guided by an autopilot during the initial fight stage, with possible correction by the aircraft pilot, and by active radar during the final flight stage.

The 3M80/82 Moskit system is one of the most successful Russian anti-ship missiles. It is designed to be employed against smaller NATO naval groups in the Baltic Sea (Danish and German) and the Black Sea (Turkish) and non-NATO vessels in the Pacific (Japanese, South Korean, etc.). The other main targets were to be NATO amphibious groups. Against the latter, small vessels were to conduct attacks in groups of two to four ships in hit-and-run-type attacks, firing eight to 16 missiles in a coordinated salvo. The Moskit's computerized mission-planning system enables a given salvo, fired over a period of time, to have routes preset so that the entire salvo arrives at the target area at the same moment. Similar tactics were to be used against transport ships in coastal waters, although fewer missiles were to be fired (two to four against a single target).
Destroyers armed with the Moskit were intended to operate in larger naval attack groups formed around cruisers. The purpose of such groups during the Cold War was to protect the Northern Area (the so-called "Bastion") against penetration by US submarines and carrier groups, to support Soviet amphibious operations, and - in favorable conditions - to engage trans-Atlantic shipment and disrupt sea lines of communication between the US and Europe. Presently, in the Russian Navy, the Moskit-armed destroyers are intended to fight ships such as cruisers, destroyers, and frigates that are part of a carrier group or, more frequently, operating separately in groups. Although the Cold War is over, the US Navy is still treated as an adversary by the Russian Navy. It is also commonly understood that if the Russian Navy is able to counter US fleet elements, it is able to defeat any other enemy.