Yesterday
morning, ships of the Russian Navy Caspian Flotilla launched 26 cruise
missiles at targets of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist organization
in Syria, with IS being banned in Russia, Russian Defense Minister Sergei
Shoigu reported to President Vladimir Putin in a meeting.
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"Intensive
intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance efforts have developed
numerous IS installations over the past two days, including control
centers, ammunition dumps, combat vehicles and militant training camps.
In addition to the [Russian] aircraft [operating in Syria],
Caspian Flotilla ships have been used on today’s morning to
eliminate them. Four guided missile ships fired 26 Kalibr [NATO
reporting name SS-N-27 Sizzler] sea-launched cruise missiles at
11 targets in Syria. All of the targets have been destroyed; no civilian
facilities have been damaged," Shoigu said.
"The results produced by the attack have proven the high effectiveness
of the missiles at long range - almost 1,500 km," the minister
emphasized.
Chief
of the General Staff main operational directorate Colonel-General Andrei
Kartapolov said that the Russian troops were using up-to-date precision
weapons in Syria. "The circular error probable equals five
meters," he added.
"As many as 26 Kalibr cruise missiles were launched from the
deployment area in the south-western part of the Caspian Sea from Caspian
Flotilla ships against targets of the Islamic State and Jabhat Al-Nusra
terrorist organizations [outlawed in Russia]," he said at
a briefing conference.
He
also said that the missiles had been launched from the deployment area
in the south-western part of the Caspian Sea.
The missiles were launched by the Project 11661 Gepard-class Dagestan
guided missile ship and three Project 21631 Buyan-M-class small guided
missile ships - the Grad Sviyazhsk, the Uglich and the Veliky Ustyug.
Russia agreed in advance with its partners on launching Kalibr cruise
missiles against terrorist facilities in Syria from the south-western
part of the Caspian Sea, Kartapolov said.
"We have reached an agreement in advance with our partners
on delivering cruise missile strikes," the general added.
According to him, the Russian military have already said that they plan
to ratchet up strikes against facilities of the Islamic State and Jabhat
Al-Nusra terrorist organizations. |
The
Caspian Flotilla includes several Project 21631 Buyan-class guided missile
craft and the Project 11661K Gepard-class Dagestan guided missile ship.
The ships in these classes carry Kalibr-NK (SS-N-27 Sizzler) VLS missile
systems. The Kalibr-NK is equipped with various types of missiles, including
the 3M54 antiship and 3M14 land-attack missile families and 91RTE2 antisubmarine
missiles as well.
The ammunition load of the Kalibr-NK (NATO reporting name: SS-N-27 Sizzler)
missile system comprises a family of the 3M-14 cruise missile, including
the baseline missile with a high-explosive warhead, various training
missiles and full-scale prototypes.
The 3M14 missile is a derivative of the 3M10 equipping the Granat system
- a Russian opposite number of the US-made Tomahawk. According to the
Russian Defense Ministry, the 3M14 naval version has a range of at least
2,600 km.
The Dagestan carries a 3S-14 VLS launcher with eight Kalibr launch tubes.
The Project 21631 ships operated by the Caspian Flotilla have similar
eight-tube launchers. The flotilla uses three ships of the class - the
Grad Sviyazhsk, Uglich and Veliky Ustyug. Thus, in all probability,
the IS targets in Syria have been hit with 3M14 land-attack cruise missiles
of the Kalibr family.
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Project
11661K Gepard-class Dagestan frigate