Zmeevik / Serpentine Anti-ship ballistic missile
Work on the Zmeevik / Serpentine Anti-ship ballistic missile project was suspended in September 2023. "Work on Zmeevik has been frozen, because now all efforts of the defense industry are aimed at improving all missile weapons that have already flown" TASS news agency reported, according to an unnamed source in the country's military-industrial complex. This may be due to lack of funds or more rational use of funds. According to an agency source, the decision to freeze the development of the Zmelvik missile was a stopgap measure to focus all efforts on modernizing the missile.
According to interlocutors of the agency, "Zmeevik" is supposed to be a response to the "Dark Eagle" hypersonic missile being developed by the United States. However, the Pentagon encountered some difficulties in manufacturing this missile, which also caused the Snake project to be temporarily frozen. The source did not name the organization developing the new project, but Reutov NPO Mashinostroeniya, part of Tactical Missile Corporation, which plays a key role in Russia's hypersonic program.
The TASS news agency published on March 12, 2022, the first, and indeed the only, information about the project with the code "Snake" (possibly referring to the serpentinite mineral). The information was received from two unnamed sources close to the Ministry of Defense and the military-industrial complex. Meanwhile, organizations capable of handling new projects did not comment.
The mineral serpentine, also known as malachite, received this name because of its appearance: it is very reminiscent of snake skin. In the literature, the crystal was called serpentinite, since “serpent” translated from Latin means nothing more than “snake”. There are a large number of legends around this stone. One relates that the serpentine is a fossilized part of the skin of a fiery serpent named the Great Snake. Once in ancient times, this monster was placed in front of a cave to protect treasures from people. Serpentinite was believed to driveaway illnesses, evil spirits and restless dreams.
Armor fabric was previously woven from serpentine threads, like chain mail, which was the basis of armor in the time of Peter I. Serpentine is a group of minerals of the layered silicates subclass. In nature, serpentines are found in the form of dense masses of leaf or fibrous structure. A homogeneous, lightly colored, often translucent variety of high-density serpentine is called noble serpentine and is mainly used as an ornamental stone. Serpentine is not a precious or semi-precious stone, but it is widely used in jewelry.
The word "Smeevik" has other meanings, such as coil, a long metal, glass, porcelain (ceramic) or plastic tube, bent in some regular or irregular way. Possibly the name corresponds to the intended flight path in the termal homing phase. Many anti-ship ballistic missile designs are equipped with a MaRV (Maneuvering Reenty Vehicle). The imagination of Russian weapons developers when naming products had run to a collection of flower plants of different artillery systems, such as acacias and carnations. Peonies, cornflowers, etc. Now it seems they have decided to continue the Minerals and Geology series. There used to be "Basalt", now there will be "Serpentine".
According to TASS sources, development of the Serpentine project began a long time ago. The goal is to create an anti-ship complex equipped with ballistic missiles and hypersonic combat equipment. This anti-ship missile can serve in the missile force of the Navy's coastal forces. Whether surface ships or submarines will be able to receive it has not yet been determined.
Complex performance characteristics, even approximate ones, are not named. However, sources mentioned that in terms of its parameters, the Russian "Zmeevik" will be similar to similar Chinese systems DF-21D and DF-26, with a claimed flight range of up to 4 kilometers. The warhead will be able to hit large surface targets, including aircraft carriers.
Oddly, the 2022 TASS report remained the only source of information about the Serpentine project. No new information has been received about the project in the future, either official or anonymous. Apparently this is due to the general secrecy surrounding the work and other aspects of advanced weapons manufacturing.
Aircraft carrier killer is a common name that has been widely used in military news reports by mass media . It generally refers to military weapons that can effectively attack aircraft carriers. It is also called anti-aircraft carrier weapons , aircraft carrier nemesis , etc., and often refers to anti-ship ballistic missiles,
The idea of developing "anti-ship ballistic missiles" originated from the Soviet Union and began as early as the Cold War in the 1960s. The Soviet Union began to develop the world's first anti-ship ballistic missile, the R-27K. The R-27K is improved from the R-27 submarine-launched ballistic missile. The length of the first-stage rocket power section is greatly reduced, and a new second-stage rocket engine is used. It still uses a nuclear warhead as the warhead and is equipped with a passive radar for guidance.
In December 1973, the Soviet Navy's K-5 diesel-electric submarine launched a ballistic missile, and the warhead accurately hit the target ship. The launch was part of a test of the D-27 naval missile system. R-XNUMXK became the first ballistic missile in history capable of hitting moving surface ships. Several tests were conducted in the 1970s, and one of them directly hit the target ship. However, after the test was completed, the R-27K was not put into use.
Due to the installation of a large number of electronic equipment and computers for terminal guidance, the range of the P-27K has dropped significantly from the P-27's 2,500 kilometers to only 900 kilometers. The test results were very unsatisfactory - P-27K The circular error probability (CEP) of the missile is actually in the range of 2,700 to 3,000 meters. However, even a nuclear warhead with the equivalent of 1 million tons of TNT has a damage radius of just 2,700 meters for surface targets.
The Russian military is using the Tu-22M3M "Backfire" bomber to test-fire the latest X-32 cruise missile. This hypersonic missile, known as the "super carrier killer", continues the hard-core style of Russian anti-ship missiles, which can accurately strike enemy surface ships at ultra-long distances and break through existing missile defense systems.
According to a People's Daily report on August 28, 2020, Hong Kong's South China Morning Post was the first to report relevant news. The report quoted "a source close to the Chinese military" as saying that the People's Liberation Army launched two missiles into the South China Sea on the morning of the 26th. Issued a "clear warning" to the United States. It is said that the two missiles are the "Dongfeng-26" medium-range ballistic missile launched from Qinghai, and the "Dongfeng-21D" medium-range ballistic missile launched from Zhejiang. The source said the two missiles landed in the area between Hainan and the Paracel Islands. "Dongfeng-26" and "Dongfeng-21D" are both anti-ship ballistic missiles. "Dongfeng-21D" has a range of 1,800 kilometers, and "Dongfeng-26" can hit ship targets 4,000 kilometers away.
Russia does not have much technical difficulty in developing anti-ship ballistic missiles based on the "Dagger". The real technical difficulty lies in the effective reconnaissance and monitoring of the ocean, as well as the precise guidance of long-range missiles, especially the ability to correct terminal targets. This is the technical difficulty of anti-ship ballistic missiles. In order to develop anti-ship ballistic missiles, China built three optical satellite systems: the ocean surveillance satellite system, the Beidou navigation and positioning system, and the Skylink data link transmission system. With Russia's current level of national power, it cannot even maintain the "GLONASS" system. Building three different satellite systems is tantamount to wishful thinking.
The Agni-P missile is an Indian version of the anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM). Its research and development goal is to equip a land-based anti-ship missile with a range of 1,500 kilometers, which can be launched from most parts of India, covering the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea, to enhance India's future maritime capabilities against aircraft carrier battle groups in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). It can be seen from India's research and development goals that this seems to be an Indian version of the Dongfeng-21D anti-ship missile.
On 24 March 2022, Ukraine’s Tochka-U hit the Russian Crocodile-class landing ship Saratov anchored in the Port of Berdyansk and detonated the cargo on the ship, causing it to sink. As a result, the Tochka-U became the first ballistic missile to sink a surface ship in actual combat.
On 04 March 2022 information emerged in Russia about the development of a new coastal missile system equipped with the Zircon hypersonic missile. According to people familiar with the matter, a prototype of the mobile launcher for the Zircon hypersonic missile had been developed and was being tested. The development of the "Zircon" hypersonic ballistic missile system was in full swing, and the launcher was already "on hardware" and ready for preliminary testing. The source said that the mobile complex was similar to the Onyx-equipped Bastion ballistic missile system; it is also placed on a four-axle chassis and carries two missiles.
According to a report by the American "Drive" website on 13 July 2022, news reports from Russia stated that Russia is the latest country to develop anti-ship ballistic missiles. Anti-ship ballistic missiles are a class of weapons known as "carrier killers." Russia’s previously unknown missile program – dubbed Serpentine by Russia – could add a powerful boost to the Kremlin’s anti-access/area denial strategy, which already includes a variety of coastal defences. missiles and hypersonic anti-ship missiles under development.
This missile combines the characteristics of a ballistic missile with the characteristics of a maneuverable hypersonic glide vehicle in the final flight phase. TASS said its main purpose is to attack large surface warships, including aircraft carriers. Sources said the "Serpentine" missile is similar to China's Dongfeng-21D and Dongfeng-26B anti-ship ballistic missiles, with a range of about 2,500 miles (approximately 4,000 kilometers).
The report did not mention the details of the current development work of the "Serpentine" missile, but the TASS news agency said it contacted the Russian Machinery-Building Scientific Production Joint Corporation for comment, which indicates that the company is likely to be the missile's design agency. Notably, the company also manufactures Zircon hypersonic anti-ship missiles for surface ships and submarines, Vanguard hypersonic glide vehicles that can be carried by intercontinental ballistic missiles, and Bastion equipped with Onyx supersonic missiles. "Coastal defense system.
According to reports, the basis of the "Zmevik" complex will be ballistic missiles equipped with hypersonic combat equipment. At the same time, the missile's structure, flight profile and methods of obtaining and using hypersonic flight speeds are unknown. Its tactical and technical characteristics and the combat potential of the entire complex depend on these characteristics of the product. However, all possible architectures and variants of such complexes have their advantages and allow you to effectively deal with ground targets.
It could be a "conventional" medium-range or shorter-range ballistic missile. According to the usual ballistics of such devices, the warhead generates hypersonic speeds during the descent part. The warhead is controllable and has active maneuverability. In this case, the rocket will become a quasi-ballistic rocket and gain additional capabilities.
The American "War Zone" website interviewed Dmitry Stefanovich, a researcher at the Center for International Security at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and asked him to express his opinion on the prospects of the "Serpentine" missile.
Stefanovich said: "It seems that the development work on the project has indeed been carried out for some time. Although no relevant tests were mentioned or observed, this does not mean that prototype tests were not carried out. For the Soviets and the Russian It's pretty traditional for people to make fast anti-ship missiles, and ballistic missiles are an excellent choice."
However, Stefanovich also pointed out some shortcomings of the missile concept, at least for the Russian Navy. "Given their range and speed, strong intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities and targeting capabilities are required, as well as terminal guidance capabilities. Maneuvering reentry vehicles, and as a subcategory of them, hypersonic glide vehicles, have every reason to be major payload types, but there are clear gaps in Russia’s intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities,” he said. Stefanovich said: "Of course, we don't know the actual deployment timetable (of the missile), so it is possible that US weapons such as the long-range hypersonic weapon 'Black Hawk' or the medium-range weapon system 'Typhoon' will be earlier Arriving in Europe or Asia.”
According to the report, although there is no detailed information on what launch platform the Serpentine missile will use, a high-mobility truck chassis used by other Russian mobile coastal defense missiles seemed likely to become the launch platform.
Such missile systems require guided or gliding warheads. Russian industry has the technology and expertise to manufacture such products, and samples of such products are already in service. It can be assumed that borrowing finished blocks from other projects would be impossible or impractical, and the Serpentine tank would receive its own combat load.
Regardless of the specific technical characteristics of the flight profile, hypersonic equipment will be distinguished by its high combat qualities. Therefore, it will reduce the time to attack and hit the target, incl. to the maximum extent. In addition, the kinetic energy of a warhead with a speed exceeding 5M is enough to cause serious damage to the target. Warheads the size of modern Russian anti-ship missiles are capable of damaging or even disabling a large ship, or even an aircraft carrier. At the same time, it can carry warheads to enhance the impact on targets.
It is said that "Zmevik" can be a coastal missile system. This option to deploy new anti-ship missiles has aroused great interest. Thanks to him, the naval coastal forces will have defense systems with special combat characteristics. In key parameters, Zmivik surpasses modern coastal complexes, including state-of-the-art fortresses equipped with Onyx missiles. The presence of several different missile defense systems and missiles will make it possible to create a more effective layered defense system capable of keeping the enemy a long distance from the coast.
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