[oc] Russian Ground Attack Missile Threat Briefing
Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2022 2:24 am
I wrote this as a flavor Intelligence report for a scenario I am working on, and I wanted to share it here for comments and corrections. The scenario is a notional modern Black Sea / Southern MD conflict. Information is based on the game's database and Wikipedia.
Subj: Russian Threat Briefing
This brief report will provide an overview of Russian precision guided munitions (PGM) which may be encountered in this theater. While the Russia-Ukraine war caused Russia to expend a high number of PGM’s, we assess that Russia hold substantial reserve weapons for a NATO conflict contingency. Any Russia-NATO conflict is very likely to involve large numbers of PGM fires. In a Russia-NATO contingency conflict, Russia may use PGM’s in massed strikes, or to respond quickly to targets of opportunity.
Kalibr [3M14]: is a Russian Naval launched land attack cruise missile with a range of approximately 1300km. Nearly all Russian Naval units of Frigate size and larger, and nearly all Kilo-class submarines, are capable of launching the Kalibr. There are an unknown number of Kalibr reloads available to the Black Sea Fleet. This missile may be used individually or in small groups against land targets of opportunity, or part of massed strikes.
AS-23 Kodiak [Kh-101] is a Russian air launched cruise missile (ALCM) with a range of approximately 3000km. The AS-23 Kodiak is launched by Tu-160 BLACKJACK and Tu-95 BEAR bombers. In this scenario, there are approximately 300-350 AS-23 Kodiak reloads available to Russian Long Range Aviation. This missile will very likely be used for massed strikes against a range of Military and CIKR targets.
Iskander-M [9M723]: is a ground launched near-hypersonic ballistic missile with an approximate range of 500km. A SS-26 Stone battalion will field both Iskander-M and Iskander-K missiles. In this scenario, there are 16-32 Iskander-M missiles in the theater. This missile will likely be used to target high value land targets, as well as employed against difficult SEAD missions. The missiles short relative range limits its utility against targets deep within NATO territory.
Iskander-K [9M729]: is a ground launched subsonic cruise missile with an approximate range of 2500km. A SSC-8 Screwdriver battalion will field only Iskander-K missiles. In this scenario, there may be up to 200 Iskander-M missiles in the theater. This missile will very likely be used for massed strikes against a range of Military and CIKR targets.
Kinzhal [Kh-47M2]: is an air launched hypersonic air to surface missile, capable of striking land and naval targets out to 2000km. The Kinzhal is launched by MIG-31K fighters. In this scenario, there may be 30-40 Kinzhal missiles in the theater. This missile will likely be used to target high value naval and land targets. Use of this missile will be constrained by the limited number of MIG-31K’s in theater, and long turn-around times between missions.
Subj: Russian Threat Briefing
This brief report will provide an overview of Russian precision guided munitions (PGM) which may be encountered in this theater. While the Russia-Ukraine war caused Russia to expend a high number of PGM’s, we assess that Russia hold substantial reserve weapons for a NATO conflict contingency. Any Russia-NATO conflict is very likely to involve large numbers of PGM fires. In a Russia-NATO contingency conflict, Russia may use PGM’s in massed strikes, or to respond quickly to targets of opportunity.
Kalibr [3M14]: is a Russian Naval launched land attack cruise missile with a range of approximately 1300km. Nearly all Russian Naval units of Frigate size and larger, and nearly all Kilo-class submarines, are capable of launching the Kalibr. There are an unknown number of Kalibr reloads available to the Black Sea Fleet. This missile may be used individually or in small groups against land targets of opportunity, or part of massed strikes.
AS-23 Kodiak [Kh-101] is a Russian air launched cruise missile (ALCM) with a range of approximately 3000km. The AS-23 Kodiak is launched by Tu-160 BLACKJACK and Tu-95 BEAR bombers. In this scenario, there are approximately 300-350 AS-23 Kodiak reloads available to Russian Long Range Aviation. This missile will very likely be used for massed strikes against a range of Military and CIKR targets.
Iskander-M [9M723]: is a ground launched near-hypersonic ballistic missile with an approximate range of 500km. A SS-26 Stone battalion will field both Iskander-M and Iskander-K missiles. In this scenario, there are 16-32 Iskander-M missiles in the theater. This missile will likely be used to target high value land targets, as well as employed against difficult SEAD missions. The missiles short relative range limits its utility against targets deep within NATO territory.
Iskander-K [9M729]: is a ground launched subsonic cruise missile with an approximate range of 2500km. A SSC-8 Screwdriver battalion will field only Iskander-K missiles. In this scenario, there may be up to 200 Iskander-M missiles in the theater. This missile will very likely be used for massed strikes against a range of Military and CIKR targets.
Kinzhal [Kh-47M2]: is an air launched hypersonic air to surface missile, capable of striking land and naval targets out to 2000km. The Kinzhal is launched by MIG-31K fighters. In this scenario, there may be 30-40 Kinzhal missiles in the theater. This missile will likely be used to target high value naval and land targets. Use of this missile will be constrained by the limited number of MIG-31K’s in theater, and long turn-around times between missions.