Ukraine attacks land targets with upgraded anti-ship Neptune missiles – Newsweek
Ukraine is adapting its domestically produced Neptune anti-ship missiles for long-range strikes.
Source: Newsweek
Details: Western experts have reached this conclusion after Kyiv used its "completely modern" weapons in Russian-occupied Crimea.
An unnamed Ukrainian defence official told The War Zone that Ukraine used an upgraded version of its Neptune missile, and the attack "was 100 percent carried out by a modified Neptune".
Ian Williams, Deputy Director of the Missile Defence Project at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, believes that in an ideal world, modern anti-ship missiles, which are specifically designed to sink heavily armoured warships at sea, would not be used for land-based missions. However, since Ukraine faces a real shortage of systems for striking deep behind the lines, Williams believes that Kyiv is using these missiles.
He said Ukraine does not have access to the US-made ATACMS tactical ballistic missile system or the German-made Taurus long-range cruise missile. Both Washington and Berlin have refused to provide Ukraine with these systems, albeit that London and Paris earlier this year gave Ukraine the Anglo-French Storm Shadow long-range cruise missile, also known as SCALP.
Williams believes that Ukraine is adapting and using what it has at its disposal, but this should not be seen as a long-term solution for long-range strikes.
Sidharth Kaushal, a defence research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, stated that the strike on Cape Tarkhankut in western Crimea late last month "did prove that Ukraine can use Neptune in a land-attack mode and thus hold Russian assets at risk in previously safe rear areas".
Hitting a relatively small target, like the S-400 anti-aircraft defence system, capable of intercepting air threats, suggests that Ukraine has high-quality intelligence and that the surface-to-surface Neptune could hide behind obstacles to approach undetected by Russia, Kaushal said. It may further indicate that the Neptune could use countermeasures against detection or be used in conjunction with jamming equipment, he added.
"All of this would point to fairly sophisticated coordination of capabilities by the Ukrainians," although there are many unknown factors, Kaushal believes.
Kaushal added that one of the likely differences between the surface-to-surface version of Neptune and the anti-ship version will be the guidance system.
Experts struggle to estimate how many Neptune missiles Ukraine might have at its disposal, but it is unlikely to be a large arsenal. Kaushal pointed out that even in peacetime, it is challenging to mass-produce this type of weapon, and Russia has made much effort to hit Ukraine's military-industrial base.
Background: On the morning of 23 August, Defence Intelligence of Ukraine reported that a Russian long- and medium-range S-400 Triumph air defence missile system had been destroyed near the village of Olenivka on Cape Tarkhankut. Russian sources claimed the destruction of an S-300 air defence system and a petrol tanker.
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