Ukraine's Long Neptune missile has all chances to strike Moscow

Ukrainian subsonic cruise missile Long Neptune could potentially strike Moscow, US-based 19FortyFive publication reports.

Photo: commons.wikimedia.org by Press Service of the Western Military District, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Missile strike

Columnist Isaac Seitz recalls that the Neptune missile, based on Soviet designs, was originally intended for targeting naval assets.

"The missile is powered by a Motor Sich MS400 turbofan engine and carries a 150-kilogram warhead. Its operational range exceeds 200 kilometers, with some variants reaching up to 1000 kilometers, and it travels at subsonic speeds," he wrote.

The missile uses inertial navigation for most of its trajectory, switching to active radar homing in the final phase. The model designed for land attacks is equipped with a new guidance system and was first deployed in 2023. This version, known as Long Neptune, has an extended range of up to 1,000 kilometers, which makes it possible to strike deep within enemy territory, including Moscow. However, the author doubts Ukraine would use it against targets in Russia's capital, given its strong air defenses. More likely, the missile will be used to target oil refineries and major manpower concentrations, the US columnist suggested.

Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that the Long Neptune had undergone testing and had been successfully used in combat.

Details

The Zvezda Kh-35 (Russian: Х-35 , NATO reporting name AS-20 'Kayak') is a Soviet turbojet subsonic cruise anti-ship missile. The missile can be launched from helicopters, surface ships and coastal defence batteries with the help of a rocket booster, in which case it is known as Uran ('Uranus', NATO reporting name SS-N-25 'Switchblade', GRAU 3M24) or Bal ( NATO reporting name SSC-6 'Sennight', GRAU 3K60). It is designed to attack vessels up to 5,000 tonnes.