Russian forces reportedly uses Bal coastal defense systems in Ukraine.

According to a tweet published by Rob Lee on April 20, 2022, the Russian Ministry of Defense showed Bal coast defense systems launching Kh-35 missiles at targets in Ukraine.
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Bal Coastal Defense Systems launching Kh-35 missile (Picture source: Russian MoD)

The Zvezda Kh-35 is a Soviet turbojet subsonic cruise anti-ship missile. The missile can be launched from helicopters, surface ships, and coastal defense batteries with the help of a rocket booster, in which case it is known as Uran or Bal. It is designed to attack vessels up to 5,000 tonnes.

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 the 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.

Its ARGS-35E active radar seeker operates in both single and multiple missile launch modes, acquiring and locking on targets at a maximum range of up to 20 km. A new radar seeker, Gran-KE has been developed by SPE Radar MMS and will be replacing the existing ARGS-35E X band seeker.

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