Click to see full-size image
On August 29, the Russian Ministry of Defence declared the interception of Ukrainian subsonic cruise anti-ship missile Neptune. This missile was included in the list of the military equipment destroyed by the Russian military for the first time.
“By means of air defense, two HIMARS multiple rocket launchers, a Neptune anti—ship missile and two HARM anti-radar missiles were intercepted,” the report reads.
The R-360 Neptune is a Ukrainian subsonic low-altitude anti-ship missile designed to destroy ships with a draught of up to 5,000 tons, as well as ground targets. The rocket was developed on the basis of the Soviet X-35 missile, in the development and production of which Ukrainian enterprises took part.
The Ukrainian military received prototypes of the Neptune missile in March 2021.
In October last year, the Russian Aerospace Forces struck the workshops of the Kommunar defense enterprise in Kharkiv, where the warheads of these missiles were produced.
The fact that the AFU began to use Neptune missiles for the attacks on ground targets indicates a shortage or even the absence of other means of destruction previously used for attacks on the Crimea, including drones, Grim-2 missiles and modernized missiles for the S-200 air defense systems. Naptunes could also be used in the recent attack on the Russian air defence system deployed on the Cape Tarkhankut. LINK
