The Best Anti-Ship Missile?

**Master Chief** · 22 Aug 09,, 18:13

In your own opinion. What is the best ASM, and why?

Harpoon,Exocet,Sunburn SS-N-22 or what ever one you think is the best. But rember please tell why?

**Loke** · 22 Aug 09,, 19:57

The Naval Strike Missile:

Naval Strike Missile - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The state-of-the-art design and use of composite materials is meant to give the missile sophisticated stealth capabilities. The missile will weigh slightly more than 400 kg (880 lb) and have a range of at least 185 km (100 nm). NSM is designed for littoral waters ("brown water") as well as for open sea ("green and blue water") scenarios.

Like its Penguin predecessor, NSM is able to fly over and around landmasses, travel in sea skim mode, and then make random manoeuvres in the terminal phase, making it harder to stop by enemy countermeasures. While the Penguin is a yaw-to-turn missile, NSM is based on bank-to-turn flight (see flight control).

The target selection technology provides NSM with a capacity for independent detection, recognition, and discrimination of targets at sea or on the coast. This is possible by the combination of an imaging infrared (IIR) seeker and an onboard target database. NSM is able to navigate by GPS, inertial and terrain reference systems.

After being launched into the air by a solid rocket booster which is jettisoned upon burning out, the missile is propelled to its target in high subsonic speed by a turbojet sustainer engine—leaving the 125 kg multi-purpose blast/fragmentation warhead to do its work, which in case of a ship target means impacting the ship at or near the water line.

The air launched variant has somewhat longer range (more than 150 nm, 280 km).

I suggest this one because it uses a combination of stealth features (both shaping and materials), as well as the "random manouvres" in the terminal phase -- I believe it also offers some sophisticated jamming capabilities.

If this brand-new missile works as announced it should be significantly more difficult to intercept than the previous (non-stealthy) generations of subsonic missiles like Exocet, Harpoon, etc... and therefore also a candidate to "the best".

L

**classical1939** · 22 Aug 09,, 20:02

why not the brahmos?? its a missile with 290km range and 200 kg warhead. most importantly it has a cruise speed of mach 2.6-2.8 and should be extremely hard to intercept...

**Skywatcher** · 22 Aug 09,, 22:24

Originally Posted by classical1939

why not the brahmos?? its a missile with 290km range and 200 kg warhead. most importantly it has a cruise speed of mach 2.6-2.8 and should be extremely hard to intercept...

Range is a bit wanting, and there are Russian missiles which fly further and I think faster as well.

A little secret to AShM effectiveness is actually in the amount of fuel left when the missile hits the target. Aeronautic fuel burns very hot and does all sorts of fun things to the superstructure and hull.

**~~SnowLeopard~~** · 22 Aug 09,, 23:33

AS-4 Kitchen.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raduga_Kh-22

That thing bugged the heck out of us during the Cold War in that how to stop it if it was launched.
________________________________________
("Airwolf's in steep dive, blacked out."--Morella, (wtte), Airwolf "Moffet's Ghost")

**Loke** · 23 Aug 09,, 09:16

Originally Posted by Skywatcher

Range is a bit wanting, and there are Russian missiles which fly further and I think faster as well.

BrahMos - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Though India had wanted the BrahMos to be based on a mid range cruise missile, namely P-700 Granit, instead Russia opted for the shorter range sister of the missile, P-800 Oniks, in order to comply with MTCR restrictions, to which Russia is a signatory.

AFAIK MTCR restrictions limit warhead to 500kg and range to 300 km -- don't know if there is anything on speed?

L

**Loke** · 23 Aug 09,, 09:44

Originally Posted by SnowLeopard

AS-4 Kitchen.

Raduga Kh-22 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

That thing bugged the heck out of us during the Cold War in that how to stop it if it was launched.
________________________________________
("Airwolf's in steep dive, blacked out."--Morella, (wtte), Airwolf "Moffet's Ghost")

I thought the automatic AEGIS system was built in part to handle such threats? And computers are even faster today than during the cold war?

A mach 4 missile will arrive at 1360 m/s. If it's detected by the SPY-1 radar 50km out that gives 36 seconds for the automatic system to track and launch an ESSM. Modern computers can do quite a lot of thinking in 36 secs...

SPY-1D is claimed to be able to detect and track golf-ball sized objects at 165 km (provided they are flying quite high I assume).

Sea-skimming missiles are impossibleto detect and track at long distances...

According to Wiki the abovementioned missile could go in a low level mode of "under 500 m" -- which should still make it easy to track at quite a distance since it will be well above the horizon for quite some time. My guess is that the Brahmos may be more difficult to deal with than this one, but I could be wrong...

L

**Skywatcher** · 23 Aug 09,, 19:22

Originally Posted by Loke

BrahMos - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

AFAIK MTCR restrictions limit warhead to 500kg and range to 300 km -- don't know if there is anything on speed?

L

AS-4 is Mach 4. That's a lot of kinetic energy.

**kato** · 23 Aug 09,, 21:02

Originally Posted by Loke

Sea-skimming missiles are impossibleto detect and track at long distances...

Any wave-hugging seaskimmer (<7m altitude) will be picked up on the radar horizon at around 33-35 km. Even at Mach 4 in a straight line, that gives 25 seconds to react. Enough for firing a pair of ESSM even before RAM, decoy and subsequently Phalanx envelopes are entered.

**treasure44** · 23 Aug 09,, 21:55

Originally Posted by Skywatcher

Range is a bit wanting, and there are Russian missiles which fly further and I think faster as well.

A little secret to AShM effectiveness is actually in the amount of fuel left when the missile hits the target. Aeronautic fuel burns very hot and does all sorts of fun things to the superstructure and hull.

Yes thats correct, one of the Exocets in the falklands didnt detonate but still wrote off a type 42

**Skywatcher** · 24 Aug 09,, 01:12

Originally Posted by kato

Any wave-hugging seaskimmer (<7m altitude) will be picked up on the radar horizon at around 33-35 km. Even at Mach 4 in a straight line, that gives 25 seconds to react. Enough for firing a pair of ESSM even before RAM, decoy and subsequently Phalanx envelopes are entered.

On the other hand, if there's multiple AS-4s headed your way, like twenty...

**Gun Grape** · 24 Aug 09,, 02:06

Originally Posted by Skywatcher

On the other hand, if there's multiple AS-4s headed your way, like twenty...

Then you shoot more than a pair of ESSMs.

And fry their radar guidance.

Or better yet we target those big Bears that are carrying them before they launch.

But what country has that capability?

**Gun Grape** · 24 Aug 09,, 02:19

My nominee for best antiship missile is the Hs-293. More ships were sunk by them than any of the other antiship missiles.

Nothing says "effective" like results.

**zraver** · 24 Aug 09,, 02:34

My entry will be the P-700 Granit SS-N-19 Shiprwreck. massive range, very fast sea skimming, huge warhead, cooperative guidance, anti-jamming technology, active guidance or anti-radiation homing. Its a very nasty missile that is big enough to wreck a carrier and has a long enough range to leave the firing platform outside the range of carrier based air power. It can attack in groups of 4-8 that all attack the same target. A Kirov class battle cruiser carriers 20 of them and the Oscar II class SSGN carries 24 of them.

**dundonrl** · 24 Aug 09,, 06:03

hmmmm, does this include future missiles, since if it does, I'd include the upcoming TASM.. yes, they are going to make the TACTOM into a anti ship missile..