Illustrative image. (The Finnish Defense Forces)
The Ukrainian Navy used Swedish-made RBS 15 anti-ship missiles in the April 6 attack on the Russian Sivash platform, a self-elevating jack-up some 60–80 kilometers northwest of Crimean coast, an official Kiev military statement revealed.
A video showing the nighttime launch of two missiles from a mobile coastal system was earlier released by the Ukrainian Navy.
The double exhaust plume emitted during the missile’s boost phase, a unique characteristic of the RBS 15, was clear in the footage. In addition, the mobile coastal system appeared to be strikingly similar in shape and silhouette to that of the RBS 15 launcher based on the Finnish built Sisu truck chassis.
It is still unknown when the RBS 15s were delivered to Ukraine, and who exactly they were delivered from as Finland, Sweden, Germany, Croatia, and Poland all operate the missile in some form, with Finland, Croatia, and Sweden operating mobile coastal systems.
The missile was developed in the 1980s by the Swedish company Saab Bofors Dynamics, which has since produced several versions.
The l Kiev military statement referred to the missiles used as the “Gungnir,” which is the codename of the missile’s latest version, the RBS 15 Mk. IV.
This version is equipped with a GPS-aided inertial navigation system with high-resistance to jamming, in addition to the J-band active radar seeker. It has a range of 300 kilometers and can be launched from ground, air or sea. This version has been only bought by Sweden so far.
It is also possible that the “Gungnir” codename was inaccurate used to refer to the RBS 15SF-3, a Finnish-Swedish modernization of the Finnish Mk. IISF with a range of over 100 kilometers.
Sweden does, at times, keep specific details of its military support to Ukraine secret, often citing security concerns, or the need to preserve the element of surprise.
Ukraine already produces a similar anti-ship missile, the R-360 Neptune. It has also received American-made Harpoon anti-ship missiles from the United States, Denmark, the Netherlands and other allies. Based on this, the RBS 15 adds nothing new to the capabilities of the country. The supplies of the missile do, however, enlarge the Ukrainian missile arsenal.
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time to start sinking the remaining russian fleet!
soon sweden and most of the rest of nato won’t have enough gas, oil, gasoline jet fuel etc. for their economies to function, it will be worse than the covid epidemic slump and the great recession put together. russia will go beyond donets, luhanks kherson, zaporizhzhia and and odessa.