The Ukraine-made missile is apparently capable of using GPS guidance in tandem with inertial guidance to improve its accuracy and uses an onboard active radar seeker to detect its target in its final stages before impact.
The missile threat to ships is an old one. What is new,however,is the growing number of actors that field them. In addition to Ukraine,both Hezbollah and the Houthis have utilised older Chinese-made anti-ship cruise missiles against expensive ones in their conflicts with Israel and Saudi Arabia.
The expanding suite of tools to track targets at sea,including commercial satellite networks,open-source data and relatively cheap capabilities like drones,mean that striking maritime targets at reach is no longer something only major powers can do.
Incidents such as the striking of the Moskva and the destruction of the Russian amphibious landing vessel Saratov,a supply ship,by a Ukrainian Tochka ballistic missile while in port on March 24 highlight this.
In some ways,this might be cause for celebration. Similar capabilities can be used by other targets of aggression such as Taiwan,for example.
However,it may be a mistake to assume that only adversaries will be challenged by these developments,which will make theatre entry harder for all major navies,even against sub-peer opponents.
To be sure,the Moskva has certain weaknesses that a Western ship might not. It lacked some of the electronic countermeasures such as the Nulka decoy,an Australian-designed rocket that lures on-coming missiles away,which vessels like the USS Mason used to defeat cruise missile attacks.
Moskva’s command and control systems may not meet Western standards and its crew may have proven lacking in alertness and discipline.
However,as the sinking of British ship HMS Sheffiel during the Falkland Islands war in 1982 should remind us,even well-trained crews can struggle to counter surprise cruise missile strikes which leave them with low warning times.
That short-lived 1982 conflict was the last significant sea battle the world has seen. In it,a number of ships were sunk,including the Argentinian ship the General Belgrano after it was hit by a British torpedo.
Over long campaigns,most crews will at some point be at risk of coming under attack when they are not alert.
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As the ability to strike vessels at sea with cruise missiles and to destroy them in port with ballistic missiles proliferates,the power of navies to expand their reach may become more difficult for all the great powers.
The Telegraph,London
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