Anti ship Missile: The Spear of Modern Naval Warfare
2024-07-08
Norwegian NSM anti-ship missile. The confrontation between Yangming warships is an indispensable combat style in the navy. Over 1000 years ago, rowing boats in the Mediterranean used catapults, crossbows, and other weapons to attack each other. In modern times, modern warships mainly rely on weapon systems dominated by anti-ship missiles to destroy enemy ships. The website of the German newspaper "Munich Courier" recently reported that Norwegian company Kongsberg Defense and Aerospace has officially signed a contract with German partner Deir Defense and the European Missile Group to jointly promote the development of "supersonic precision guided weapons" in Norway and Germany. And this weapon is a type of anti-ship missile called the 3SM "Tilfeng". It is reported that the 3SM "Tilfeng" is mainly used for anti-ship and can also be used for land-based attacks. It will serve as a supplement to the flagship product "Navy Strike Missile" of Konsberg. The plan is to equip troops from 2035 and install it on German and Norwegian naval ships. It can also be launched from land-based platforms, and the development of airlaunched models is not ruled out. Since its inception, anti-ship missiles have been powerful in terms of speed, concealment, and destructive power, continuously expanding the combat distance of naval battles, reducing the reaction time left for defenders, making naval battles more brutal and intense, and becoming a key weapon in naval confrontation. So, what is the development history of anti-ship missiles? What classic models have you had before? What are the development prospects? Please refer to the interpretation in this issue. The ancestor is "aerial torpedoes" - modified from aviation bombs, with core technology improving strike accuracy. The origin of anti-ship missiles can be traced back to World War II, referring to missiles launched from ships, shore or aircraft to attack surface ships. Speaking of the ancestor of anti-ship missiles, it is necessary to mention the HS-293 anti-ship missile, which was first designed and used by Nazi Germany. In 1939, the German company Henschel began by modifying ordinary aviation bombs and ultimately developed this type of missile. When the HS-293 anti-ship missile appeared, there was no term "missile" in the world, so the Germans named this weapon, which could be launched in the air, controlled and attacked surface ships through radio commands, as "aerial torpedoes". In November 1941, "aerial torpedoes" were put into mass production and equipped for the 100th Bombing Air Regiment stationed in the Mediterranean and the 40th Bombing Air Regiment stationed in France for ship attacks. After the aircraft is dropped, the operator visually observes a red light emitting tube on the tail of the missile to determine the trajectory of the torpedo in the air, and then uses a device similar to a game controller to guide the missile to attack the target. However, the range of HS-293 anti-ship missiles is not far, usually around 11 kilometers. Even if the range is not far, the performance of the HS-293 anti-ship missile is excellent. On August 25, 1943, the Nazi German Air Force's 40th Bombing Air Regiment used "aerial torpedoes" to damage two British warships and sank the British frigate "Egret". The tracking attack of the HS-293 series anti-ship missiles caused constant distress for the Allies. According to statistics, the German army used a limited number of anti-ship missiles to damage and sink dozens of Allied ships, including frigates, destroyers, and transport ships, as well as large tonnage cruisers. Allied officers and soldiers who witnessed the HS-293 anti-ship missile attack gave it a vivid nickname - "Charlie Chasing Me.". Upon careful examination of the birth and development of anti-ship missiles, it is not difficult to find that the main purpose of developing this series of weapons was to solve the problems of low hit rate and high attack risk when using aerial bombs to attack surface vessels at that time. From the perspective of developers, Nazi Germany often used various bombers to assist ships in combat on the European naval battlefield during World War II. Compared to large-scale fixed targets and densely armored targets on the ground, British ships that maintain mobility, possess anti-aircraft firepower, and have a small air visual volume are much more difficult to attack than bombing ground targets. The German Air Force's First Training Aviation Regiment once calculated the hit rate of target ships for horizontal bombing at an altitude of 8000 meters, which was only 0.6%. After a series of improvements, the HS-293 anti-ship missile has been able to increase its hit rate on warships to between 40% and 50% in an undisturbed state. At the same time, the anti-ship missile can be dropped at a maximum distance of about 16 kilometers at an altitude of 6000 meters, far exceeding the range of shipborne anti-aircraft shells, undoubtedly greatly improving the efficiency of aircraft attacks on surface vessels. With the development of science and technology, the integration of various technologies of anti-ship missiles has long exceeded the scope of only solving the accuracy problem of aircraft attacks on surface vessels. It has evolved into a weapon system that can be launched from various platforms such as ships, airplanes, submarines, and shore bases, with both long-range strikes, high-precision hits, and strong destructive power. It is reported that an anti-ship missile costing hundreds of thousands of dollars can even deliver a heavy blow to a warship costing billions or even billions of dollars, playing a crucial role in modern naval warfare. High cost-effectiveness - subsonic anti-ship missiles, due to their mature technology and cost advantages, still dominate the mainstream. Anti ship missiles were born in Nazi Germany, but developed and grew in the Soviet military. After the end of World War II, most of the information on "aerial torpedoes" was obtained by the Allies, but the United States did not immediately develop interest in anti-ship missiles. The first country to develop modern anti-ship missiles was the Soviet Union. In the 1950s, the Soviet army was the first to equip the P-1 Arrow anti-ship missile. This is the world's earliest shipborne anti-ship missile in service, and also the first anti-ship missile capable of loading nuclear charges. The huge volume gives the missile a range of 90 kilometers and a flight speed of 0.9 Mach at an altitude of 60-100 meters. However, this hastily crafted missile had many drawbacks and was quickly phased out. Subsequently, the P-15 subsonic anti-ship missile "Styx" was introduced, promoting subsonic anti-ship missiles to become mainstream weapons of war and stirring up the modern naval battlefield. The Styx can be launched from the air, as well as from land or sea, making it the world's first anti-ship missile extensively built and equipped. In the Third Middle East War, the Egyptian navy sank the Israeli destroyer "Eilat" using a speedboat equipped with Styx missiles. The strong attack of "Styx" has demonstrated excellent performance and cost-effectiveness, sparking a wave of research and development of anti-ship missiles in countries around the world. Around increasing range, improving accuracy, and enhancing penetration capabilities, various countries are constantly upgrading and evolving anti-ship missiles. France's "Flying Fish", Italy's "Sea Killer", and Britain's "Sea Gull" and other anti-ship missiles have successively entered service. Although the speed of subsonic anti-ship missiles is usually relatively low due to limitations in missile power, materials, and control technology, they are still widely used by navies around the world as conventional anti-ship weapons due to their mature technology and high cost-effectiveness. Representative examples include the following. Whaling Fork anti-ship missile - In the late 1970s, the United States began developing this type of missile, mainly equipped on ships and aircraft. It is an all-weather, subsonic anti-ship missile. Subsequently, the Whaling Fork anti-ship missile developed four main types of anti-ship missiles: ship to ship, air to ship, shore to ship, and submarine. Among them, the shore to ship anti-ship missile is widely used by more than 20 countries, including the United Kingdom, Japan, India, South Korea, and others. Subsequently, by adding rocket boosters and satellite navigation guidance modes, its range has reached 270 kilometers, and its hit rate has significantly improved. It has been half a century since the development of the Whale Fork anti-ship missile. Although it is still constantly developing and improving, with a hit rate of up to 95%, its various indicators and performance are relatively backward. So, the United States began research, testing, and demonstration of improved and long-range anti-ship missile projects for the Tomahawk BlockV anti-ship missile. "Flying Fish" anti-ship missile - In the late 1960s, France developed this subsonic sea skimming anti-ship missile. This type of anti-ship missile is mainly divided into four types: carrier based, air launched, shore based, and submarine launched. Each model has been sold to 35 countries and regions worldwide. "Flying Fish" is small in size and light in weight, with a large number of ammunition loaded on a single ship. It adopts a guidance method of "mid stage inertial navigation+active radar guidance at the end", and has strong anti-interference ability. Missile borne satellite navigation can improve position accuracy. When satellite navigation cannot be used, missiles can rely on inertial navigation for flight. When the missile approaches the target through a predetermined flight trajectory, it can carry out a final attack at an altitude of 2.5 to 5 meters. NSM anti-ship missile - the Norwegian NSM subsonic anti-ship missile, known as the "Navy Strike Missile," is the world's first anti-ship missile designed for stealth. The research and development technology of this type of missile is relatively mature, and the research and development manufacturer is Kangshibo Company mentioned earlier. The missile, which uses a French made turbojet engine, has good stealth performance. Its guidance system adopts a dual band wide field infrared imaging seeker, which has strong target recognition and anti-interference capabilities. The flight altitude of NSM anti-ship missiles generally does not exceed 60 meters, and after reaching the final cruising phase, they descend to below 10 meters for sea sweeping snake shaped maneuvering flight, and finally accelerate to attack the target. Future development direction - highlighting stealth technology and hypersonic technology, entering a new stage of intelligent development. The penetration ability of anti-ship missiles is an important indicator to measure their combat performance, mainly depending on the target ship's response time and interception efficiency against incoming missiles. Improving breakthrough capability can be achieved by increasing missile speed and compressing target ship response time, as well as by reducing missile radiation to radar electromagnetic waves and reducing the probability of target ship catching and discovering missiles. This also leads to different development paths for anti-ship missiles: one is the hypersonic development direction represented by Russia, which emphasizes the speed and destructive ability of anti-ship missiles; The second is the intelligent subsonic development direction represented by the United States, which focuses more on the stealth performance, maneuverability, and accuracy of anti-ship missiles themselves. Traditional anti-ship missiles are mainly subsonic anti-ship missiles, mainly using turbojet engines or turbofan engines, with cruising speeds typically around 0.9 Mach. With the maturity and use of ramjet engine technology, supersonic and hypersonic anti-ship missiles based on ramjet engines have become a choice for the development of new anti-ship missiles. As the country that was the first to study supersonic anti-ship missiles, Russia is leading in supersonic anti-ship missile technology, with high missile power and strong penetration ability. There are mainly 17 types of anti-ship missiles, including "Shadock", "Malachite", and "Granite". Among them, the "Zircon" hypersonic missile, improved from the "Gemstone" anti-ship missile, has a cruising speed of up to Mach 6 and a range of up to 500 kilometers. However, some studies have shown that blindly pursuing high speed can lead to problems such as larger missile volume and mass, and inconvenience in carrying. At the same time, the high temperature generated by the friction between hypersonic anti-ship missiles and the atmosphere at the end of flight may affect the detection of radar or infrared seekers, limiting the operational time of the seekers. In addition, excessive speed can also cause the missile's guidance system to have a short response time and be easily affected by the opponent's soft countermeasures. All of these have led to a doubling of the development difficulty and production cost of hypersonic anti-ship missiles. The stealth capability of anti-ship missiles is another key indicator affecting their penetration capability. According to the stealth principle, the stealth of anti-ship missiles includes external stealth, stealth coating stealth, and infrared stealth. In order to reduce the radiation of anti-ship missiles to radar electromagnetic waves, new missiles often reduce radar reflection by changing their exterior design, shielding the engine intake, and coating absorbing materials during the development process
Edit：Luo yu Responsible editor：Wang er dong
Source：81.cn
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