Neptun Anti-ship cruise missile

Zarvan · Apr 29, 2018

The Neptun is a Ukrainian clone of the Russian Kh-35 anti-ship missile

Country of origin Ukraine
Entered service ?
Missile
Missile length ~ 4.4 m
Missile length (with booster) 5.05 m
Missile diameter ~ 0.4 m
Wing span ~ 1.3 m
Missile weight ~ 670 kg
Warhead weight ~ 145 kg
Warhead type HE-FRAG
Range of fire up to 280 km
CEP ?

The Neptun (Neptune) is a Ukrainian version of a Russian Kh-35 anti-ship cruise missile. It is being developed by Luch design bureau. It is generally similar to the Kh-35U, but has a longer body with more fuel, larger booster, and some other modifications. This missile was first announced in 2013. First examples were reportedly completed and tested in 2016. At the time this missile reportedly lacked guidance system. This missile is planned to have a range of 280 km. It is planned to be carried and launched from naval, land and air platforms.

Some sources report that before the collapse of the Soviet Union it was planned to produce the Kh-35 missiles in Ukraine. However missile's development predated the end of the Cold War and collapse of the Soviet Union. As a result the Kh-35 never entered Soviet service, and was first produced in Russia only in the mid 1990s. So Ukraine could have all the technical documentation for this missile. Furthermore Ukraine was producing engines and some other components for the Kh-35 missiles.

There is a very interesting thing about this missile. An exact copy of the Neptun was first observed in 2014, in North Korea. It is locally known as Kumsong 3 (Venus 3). Initially it was thought that North Koreans acquired the Russian Kh-35E, or Kh-35UE missiles. However after close examination it appeared that it is not a Russian missile, but is extremely similar to the Ukrainian Neptun. It made its first apparent test launch in 2015 and reportedly demonstrated a range of 200 km. In 2017, during another test launch, the Kumsong 3 demonstrated a range of 240 km. It is unclear how a missile, that was under development in Ukraine, was tested in North Korea even before its test in Ukraine. There is still some missing link in this whole story, how this North Korean missile was developed.

One of the explanations could be that Ukraine contributed development of the North Korean Kumsong 3 anti-ship missile. Ukraine is actually among Top 10 military producers of the world and has a far more developed weapons industry than North Korea. Also Ukraine supplied engines for North Korean ballistic missiles via Russia before. This fact was confirmed by Ukrainian space agency and South Korean intelligence.

In terms of performance the Neptun is generally similar to the Russian Kh-35U. It has a planned range of up to 280 km and carries a High Explosive Fragmentation (HE-FRAG) warhead, which weights around 145 kg. This missile should be efficient against vessels with a displacement of up to 5 000 t, such as frigates and smaller destroyers.

The Neptun will have and inertial navigation system with active radar homing on the terminal stage of its flight. Currently Ukraine is facing problems developing radar of this missile. The missile will travels 10-15 meters above the surface. In the terminal stage of the flight it will descend to 3-5 meters above the surface in order to overcome hostile defense systems.

This missile travels at subsonic speed. It is estimated that due to its subsonic speed that anti-ship missile can be intercepted rather easily, especially by advanced defense system.

A Ukrainian coastal defense missile system, that will carry Neptun missiles, is currently being developed. It is planned to be based on a KrAZ 8x8 military truck chassis, and carry 4 missiles per launcher vehicle. There were some proposals to reuse the ageing MAZ-543M heavy high mobility chassis, that are currently in storage, and repurpose them to carry the new Neptun missiles. There were proposals to reuse an old radar of the Rubezh coastal defense missile system. Overall the new Ukrainian coastal defense missile system could be an equivalent of a Russian Bal coastal defense system, though not as capable.

Variants

Kumsong 3 (Venus 3) is a North Korean name which is extremely similar to the Ukrainian Neptun missile. Though it a appeared a little earlier. It was first observed in 2014. This anti-ship missile is carried by vessels and land-based coastal defense missile systems. Its first apparent test launch was made in 2015, when the missile reportedly demonstrated a range of 200 km. In 2017, during another test launch, it demonstrated a range of 240 km.

Neptun
Anti-Ship Cruise Missile

Neptun
Anti-Ship Cruise Missile