Upgraded missile ship Smerch fires Kh-35 cruise missile during trials.

The project 12341 modernized small missile ship Smerch of the Russian Pacific Fleet has launched a Kh-35 anti-ship cruise missile of the Uran missile system for the first time in the phase of factory running trials in the Sea of Japan. The missile was test-fired at a sea target, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

The Zvezda Kh-35 UE at IMDS 2011 (Picture source: Army Recognition)

"The Kh-35 cruise missile hit a drifting surface target successfully at a distance of more than 50 kilometres. About 10 warships and auxiliary vessels, as well as aircraft of the Pacific Fleet naval aviation, were engaged in the trial," the ministry went on to say.

Earlier, the Smerch small missile ship fired missiles from the new universal 76-mm automatic cannon AK-176MA and a 30-mm modernized small-calibre anti-aircraft artillery system AK-630.

The repairs and modernization of the Smerch small missile ship took place at the JSC North Eastern Repair Center in Kamchatka as well as the Dalzavod ship repair centre in Vladivostok. Over that period of time, the Smerch was rearmed with the Uran anti-ship cruise missile system, which replaced the old Malakhit missile system, and with new artillery weapons.

The Kh-35 missile is a subsonic weapon featuring a normal aerodynamic configuration with cruciform wings and fins and a semisubmerged air duct intake. The propulsion unit is a turbofan engine. The missile is guided to its target at the final leg of the trajectory by commands fed from the active radar homing head and the radio altimeter.

The Kh-35 can be employed in fair and adverse weather conditions at sea states up to 5-6, by day and night, under enemy fire and electronic countermeasures. Its aerodynamic configuration is optimized for high subsonic-speed sea-skimming flight to ensure stealthy characteristics of the missile. The missile has low signatures thanks to its small dimensions, sea-skimming capability and a special guidance algorithm ensuring highly secure operational modes of the active radar seeker.

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