Deep Strike rockets: a club over the main base of the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol and the Western Military District
One such tool is the promising small-size operational tactical ballistic missile Deep Strike (Deep Strike), also known in the Western press under the acronym PrSM (Precision Strike Missile).
This aerospace attack tool is being developed by the American company Raytheon as part of the promising LRPF (Long-Range Precision Fire) program to complement, and then completely replace, ATACMS family tactical ballistic missiles (MGM-140B and MGM-164B) having a range of only 300 km and a sufficiently large radar signature (about 0,2 sq. m), which makes it possible to detect by means of surveillance radars 91N6E and 96L6E (S-400 Triumf complexes) at a distance of 160-240 km. To date, the main range of work has been completed: in July 2018, the Deep Strike prototype was integrated into a previously developed transport launch container of a new type (with a smaller caliber than the standard 610 mm container for ATACMS), as reported news and the military analytical edition "Jane`s". From now on, the Deep Strike missiles, which are undergoing the latest refinement of onboard radio-electronic equipment (including inertial navigation systems, optoelectronic correlation sensors and aerodynamic rudder drives), will be adapted for use from self-propelled tracked PU M270 MLRS MLRS, as well as wheeled launchers M142 HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems.
No one will be surprised if in the coming 3 — 5 years PrSM missiles enter into numerous contracts concluded between the European member states of the NATO bloc and Raytheon in the area of foreign military sales (FMS), after which they replenish the ammunition of the Romanian and Polish MLRS. It would be nothing if it were not for the “Deep Strike” range, which can reach 450 — 500 km, as well as the effective reflecting surface (the electromagnetic wave reflected by the body), which, in comparison with the ATACMS rocket, will decrease by 2 — 4 or more times (up to 0,1 — 0,05 sq. m) due to the smaller diameter of the rocket body and the wider use of composite and radio absorbing materials in the hull structure. What does this mean?
Firstly, the armament of the Romanian army, as well as the artillery units of the US Navy HIMARS MLRS, equipped with Deep Strike missiles in addition to the M31A1 guided missiles, can reach not only the north-west coast of Crimea, including Evpatoria, but also to the southwestern and central regions of the peninsula, including the main naval base of the Black Sea fleet Russian Navy in Sevastopol. Operational-tactical ballistic missiles of the ATACMS Block IIA version with a firing range of 300 km did not have such capabilities.
Secondly, due to the smaller radar signature «Deep Strike», a range of "capture" by radar guidance systems S-300V4 and C-400 «Triumph" (pointing radars 9S32M and illumination 92N6E) will be only about 100-140 km With the “Deep Strike” speed in 1700 — 1800 km / h, the C-300В4 / 400 calculations covering military facilities of the VKS and Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Navy in the Republic of Crimea will remain only 55 — 80 with to intercept these missiles. Of course, if we take into account the fact that each C-400 Triumph and C-300B4 divisions are able to simultaneously intercept 10 and 24 targets, respectively, it becomes clear that several of these complexes will easily repel even the massive “Deep” ballistic missiles. Strike ”/ PrSM; especially since they will be complemented by such anti-aircraft missile systems like the C-300PM1, which also protect the aerospace above the Western Crimea. Moreover, the presence of C-300В4 systems of new anti-aircraft 9М82МВ missiles with active radar homing heads makes it possible to destroy Deep Strike even at the moment of approach at an angle of 95 degrees, when the radar of the air defense missile system cannot see the rocket due to insufficient view in the vertical plane. But there is one unpleasant snag here.
Obviously, operational and tactical ballistic missiles “Deep Strike”, unlike ATACMS, will be sharpened for the execution of anti-aircraft maneuvers with overloads of more than 20 units. (like our "Iskander-M"). Consequently, even two-stage 9М82МВ anti-aircraft missiles, two combat stages of which are able to maneuver with overloads near 30 units, may not intercept the maneuvering PrSM OTBR; for we all know that in order to destroy a maneuvering ballistic object, an interceptor must have its own overloads 2,5 — 3 times.
The only interceptor missile that is suitable for hitting such "nimble" aerospace "guests" is the 9М96Х2 / DM, which received a "belt" from transverse-controlled gas-dynamic engines. But judging by the long silence of military diplomatic sources and the media regarding the adoption of the Vityaz air defense missile system, these missiles have not been brought to the level of initial combat readiness, and this is not encouraging. It is worth considering the fact that without the 9М96DM anti-aircraft missiles in the C-400 arsenals, the American OTBR Deep Strike will pose a noticeable threat not only to strategically important facilities in the Crimea, but also to the military infrastructure of the Russian army in the western regions of the Russian Federation having common borders with Poland , Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.
Information sources:
http://forum.militaryparitet.com/viewtopic.php?id=22484
http://rbase.new-factoria.ru/missile/wobb/atacms/atacms.shtml
http://rbase.new-factoria.ru/missile/wobb/c300v/c300v.shtmlhttps://asc.army.mil/web/portfolio-item/ms-prsm/
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