Solutions to win: Ukraine to modify Neptune missiles for enhanced performance

In Ukraine, they are working on creating a long-range version of missiles for the Neptune complex. This will be a modification of modern missiles.

The Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Lieutenant General Ivan Havryliuk, said this in an interview with "ArmyInform."

What is the problem?

Ivan Havryliuk noted that the Supreme Commander of Ukraine's armed forces, Valery Zaluzhnyi, defined a number of serious tasks that concern:

• increasing the capabilities of the defense-industrial complex for the production of various categories of weapons, military equipment, missiles, and ammunition;
• scaling up production and maximum localization of production in Ukraine of samples and military equipment needed by the Armed Forces.

State-owned and private enterprises are involved in this process, including those producing dual-purpose goods.

What is the solution?

Ukraine is currently working on a secret project – creating a new model of rockets, the so-called "long-ranged Neptunes."

"Now, work is underway to create the so-called long Neptune. This is a new modification of the missile for the Neptune complex. Active work is also underway … to strengthen the air defense system," he noted.

How does it work?

At the same time, he refused to disclose the details of the new development.

"At the moment, we cannot talk about this in detail; I will only say that work is ongoing on the modernization of the Buk and S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems," Havryliuk added.

Havryliuk noted that in the context of the development and expansion of the capabilities of the domestic defense-industrial complex, the Ministry of Defense closely cooperates with the Ministry of Strategic Industries.

For reference:

As Defense Express writes, it is most likely about the adaptation of the R-360 rocket of the Neptune complex to destroy ground targets. According to the publication, the probable range of such a missile can reach 400 km (against 300 km in the anti-ship version), and the warhead is 350 kg (against 150 kilograms). However, it is possible that these are not the final characteristics of the modified rocket.

In particular, according to the publication, at the end of August, it was reported that only a few dozen such missiles had been produced.

"As for the new Neptune variant, it was previously reported that the missile is equipped with a thermal imaging homing system, which enables it to locate and attack a target based on a pre-loaded image. Additionally, the missile utilizes the same launcher as the anti-ship version," the article reads.

Defense Express suggests that the work on "Neptune" is one of the items on the list of "missile weapons and ammunition" on which Ukraine should spend UAH 175 billion next year.

Photo: illustration/Facebook com General Staff ua

R-360 Neptune is a coastal missile complex capable of hitting targets at sea with cruise missiles.

After the annexation of Crimea, the Ukrainian fleet lost several ships, as well as anti-ship complexes "Rubizh," as a result of which Ukraine's armed forces did not have the opportunity to attack enemy ships effectively.

In this regard, in 2014, the Kyiv design bureau "Luch" began to create a new complex capable of striking ships at a long distance. The Neptune cruise missile can hit a target at approximately 300 kilometers. It has a subsonic speed (900 km/h) but flies at an extremely low altitude – just a few meters from the surface.

On the night of April 14, two Ukrainian Neptune missiles hit the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet of Russia with the most powerful weapons. For this, two missiles of the complex were used.

According to the National Security and Defense Council, only 58 people were rescued from the "Moscow" cruiser crew. Russian television devoted only 28 seconds of its newscast to the report about the alleged fire on the ship. At the same time, only one sailor was recognized as dead, and 27 more were considered missing.

As Rubryka previously wrote, the first combat use of the Ukrainian coastal mobile complex with Neptune anti-ship missiles was in the early days of the war. Then, the Ukrainian rockets failed to hit the targets, but they saved Mykolaiv from the Russian landing.

Cruiser "Moskva" became the most expensive military loss of Russia in the war with Ukraine.