Tough Competition on the Market of Anti-Ship Missi

Competition on the Market of Mobile Anti-Ship Missile Systems is Getting Tough
 by Vladimir Scherbakov

    The article provides thorough comparative analysis of two modern coastal anti-ship missile systems, i.e. the Club-M and the Moskit-E, designed by Russian enterprises and demonstrated at LIMA 2005 exhibition. Efficient against emeny’s ships and landing forces such weapons are getting more and more popular among the island states or the states having long coastal border lines.
    The Club-M mobile coastal missile system is designed by Novator Engineering Design Bureau (Ekaterinburg) on the basis of the Club integrated missiles system. It is a unique multi-purpose system equipped both with subsonic and supersonic missiles (3M54E1 and 3M54E respectively) to engage sea targets and 3M14E cruise missile to engage ground targets.
    The Moskit-E mobile coastal anti-ship missile system is designed for export purposes by Raduga State Engineering Design Bureau (making part of Tactical Missiles Corporation) on the basis of 3M80E supersonic anti-ship missiles. China is one of its potential buyers, because the Moskit-E ship-based missile system also equipped with 3M80E missiles is already operational with China’s Navy.
    According to the author, Novator’s missile system is more universal. It is equipped with six missiles while Raduga’s system has two. Some of the Club-M performance characteristics (for example,  launch range and warhead weight) are superior to those of the Bal-E mobile coastal missile system with the Kh-35E missiles, widely known both in our country and abroad. The greatest advantage of the Bal-E is that it is a thoroughly tested system which has already undergone state acceptance. Raduga’s and Novator’s products are still being developed. A coastal missile system on the basis of the Bramos anti-ship missile is the other competitor on the market.