Cruise Missiles
- April 14, 2022
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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Cruise Missiles
Subject: Science & Tech
Section: Defence
Context- Ukraine, via a Telegram post late Wednesday, claimed to have severely damaged the Russian Black Sea Fleet Flagship ‘Moskva’ off the coast of Odessa via a missile strike on the ship.
Concept-
What is the type of cruise missile that hit the Moskva?
- The Ukrainians claim that the Moskva was hit by two anti-ship cruise missiles called the Neptune.
- Ironically, the design of this missile is based on a Russian Kh-35 cruise missile which goes by the NATO name of AS-20 Kayak.
- According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence, the Neptune is a coastal anti-ship cruise missile which is capable of destruction of naval vessels in a range of 300 km.
What is Moskva, the ship that was hit by the missile?
- Moskva is a guided missile cruiser of the Russian Navy named after the city of Moscow. It has a displacement of 12,490 tons.
- It is the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Navy and carries a crew of around 500 personnel.
- The Moskva was originally commissioned as the Slava in 1983. It was recommissioned in 2000 as the Moskva with refurbished weapon systems and electronics.
About Cruise Missiles:
- A cruise missile either locates its target or has a preset target.
- It navigates using a guidance system — such as inertial or beyond visual range satellite GPS guidance — and comprises a payload and aircraft propulsion system.
- Cruise missiles can be launched from land, sea or air for land attacks and anti-shipping purposes, and can travel at subsonic, supersonic and hypersonic speeds.
- Since they stay relatively close to the surface of the earth, they cannot be detected easily by anti-missile systems, and are designed to carry large payloads with high precision.
Cruise Missile vs Ballistic Missile:
Cruise Missile | Ballistic Missile |
Follows a straight trajectory of motion. | Travel in projectile motion and trajectory depends on gravity, air resistance and Coriolis Force. |
The flight path is within the earth’s atmosphere. | Leave the earth’s atmosphere and re enter it. |
Short range missiles (range upto 1000 km) | Long-range missiles (300 km to 12,000 km) |
E.g.BrahMos missiles | E.g. Prithvi I, Prithvi II, Agni I, Agni II and Dhanush missiles. |