Navy chief Evmenov spoke about the threat of American Tomahawk cruise missiles. report “red star”
“On the occurrence of threats to the military security of the Russian Federation <…> It is affected by key factors such as the constant patrolling at sea of ships carrying Tomahawk long-range cruise missiles. With the possibility of a major attack against targets in most of Russia” said the admiral.
He added that Russia’s security is threatened by the presence of “strong groups” of foreign navies in the Atlantic, Pacific oceans and the Mediterranean.
Potential threats also come from the Arctic; Evmenov believes that Western countries want to “violate Russia’s interests” in this region. The admiral noted that foreign countries have “plans and intentions” to review the status of the Northern Sea Route and open it to warships. The Navy chief also noted that the Arctic basin is “actively developing” British and American nuclear submarines; These states are also developing their military infrastructure in the Arctic.
Why is the Tomahawk dangerous?
cruise missile tomahawk family It is produced by the American company Raytheon Technologies (one of the world’s largest defense contractors). Approximately price one rocket – $1.45 million.
Tomahawk can be launched from ships and submarines against ground targets. rockets this family The US Navy received it in 1983. Since 2004, the Americans have been putting the Tomahawk Block IV into service. Tomahawk Вlock V is currently in the process of being completed; The US Navy received the first missiles of this type in the spring of 2021.
Last time The US used this weapon in 2018, when warships and submarines fired 66 missiles at targets in Syria. Now US Navy There about 4 thousand such missiles.
Tomahawk missiles can fly height 30–50 m at subsonic speed. Block IV and Block V are capable of hitting targets at ranges of up to 1600 km. Lock IV flies It develops Mach 0.74 (913.8 km/h) and carries a warhead weighing more than 450 kg. One of the key features of the Tomahawk is that the missiles can be guided in flight. They can roam a war zone for hours and change course instantly on command.
Tomahawk Вlock IV and Вlock V use INS, TERCOM, DSMAC systems, as well as GPS for guidance. Block V differs from its predecessor in terms of improved navigation and communications, and is also capable of hitting moving water targets and a “wider variety of ground targets.”
Even if you disrupt the GPS signal, the rocket I will not go astray for the purpose of. Its memory includes “extreme correction” based on clearly visible characteristic terrain objects. Additionally, the Tomahawk “knows” the contours of the target and checks them before hitting.
“These (Tomahawk missiles) are very difficult targets. I will say more, there are no longer enough effective electronic warfare systems to knock them off course or disable them not only in Russia, but also in the world.
You can only worsen the missile’s guidance accuracy or force it to rise to an altitude where it can theoretically be hit by air defense systems. <…> So far the most effective way to combat Tomahawks is Pantsir type anti-aircraft systems, – He spoke to Izvestia on condition of anonymity One of the leading Russian experts in the development of electronic warfare systems in 2017.
According to the expert, on average, Tomahawk falls on a target whose radius does not exceed 10 meters, and satellites increase the accuracy of the missile to 10 cm, so it can hit point targets, such as launching intercontinental silos. ballistic missiles.
Military expert retired Colonel Anatoly Matviychuk said on January 10 that Russian anti-aircraft missile systems (SAM) can now deal with the Tomahawk.
“We have modern air defense systems (air defense) – S-400, S-500 and for various purposes [зенитные ракетные комплексы] “Thor”, “Cube”. “They can easily deal with these cruise missiles as they are displayed quite well on our monitors,” he said.
“Our answer to American Tomahawks is Caliber missiles” stated Yuri Knutov, Director of the Air Defense Forces Museum (ADF). According to him, the “Caliber” is also extremely sensitive and uses a “special homing head” and GLONASS system.
Russian Armed Forces have repeatedly used Caliber in the Northern Military District. So, a frigate of the Black Sea Fleet at the end of November hit Four missiles against military targets of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In the spring, the Ministry of Defense reported that during the war year, Black Sea Fleet ships equipped with Caliber missile systems hit more than 180 critical targets of the Ukrainian army.