Defeat of Konstantin Olshansky ship testifies that Ukraine modernized Neptune missiles

The successful defeat of the large landing ship Konstantin Olshansky in the bay of occupied Sevastopol by the Neptune anti-ship missile testifies to the new capabilities of this weapon.

The Defense Express portal reports this.

The author of the material believes that the choice of the Neptune missile on the ship with a high degree of probability means that Ukraine has modernized the missile.

The first aspect is the range of the missile. According to the “official” data, the range of Neptune is 280 kilometers. But it is barely enough to launch a missile in a straight line from coastal positions without laying the possibilities for maneuvering and bypassing air defense zones.

At the same time, the author of the material notes that the official name of the missile – R-360 – hints at the real range of Neptune.

The second, much more important, aspect is the choice of the missile target during the attack. According to public information, the Neptune missile is equipped with an active radar homing head, which can recognize and attack ships that, conditionally, are divided into the categories “small,” “medium” and “large.”

In addition, the missile is designed to hit ships that are at sea. This means significantly less requirements for the guidance system, as opposed to the conditions when it is necessary to hit a ship standing near the dock or in the dock.

It should be noted that Konstantin Olshansky was in a bay protected by various air defense and electronic warfare systems.

“In addition, the extremely important requirement of such an attack is the distribution of targets between missiles, because other targets in the same bay were simultaneously attacked. And the distribution of targets in a simultaneous attack is a very difficult task to ensure a successful multiple launch, because otherwise all missiles may well hit the same ship,” the text says.

This, the author believes, says that the Neptune missile guidance system has been modified over the past years.

As Ukrainian News Agency reported, earlier today the spokesman for the Naval Forces Dmytro Pletenchuk said that during the missile attack of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in occupied Sevastopol on March 24, the Konstantin Olshansky landing ship was hit.