Russia attacked Ukraine with a rare 4-tonne anti-ship cruise missile P-35. It entered the series production back in 1962, but is still in limited service.
Defense Express reports that the wreckage of a rare P-35 missile has been found in Ukraine. This might be the first case when the Russians used such a cruise missile against Ukraine. When in a good shape, this missile is fairly easy to identify by its shape and size, but debris can be deceiving.
The length of this missile is said to be 10 meters and its launch weight is more than 4 tonnes. The P-35 cruise missile was developed in the 1950s and entered service in 1962.
The P-35 is an old Soviet turbojet cruise missile. It is quite large – its launch weight is over 4 tonnes. Image credit: karel291 via Wikimedia (CC BY 3.0)
By design, the P-35 is an anti-ship missile. This is a version of the P-5, a member of the same family as the P-6, P-7, and probably several other cruise missiles. The standard P-5 entered service in 1959 and was intended to arm submarines. The P-35 is a surface-launched, radar-guided version of the P-5. Russia apparently tried to use it against some targets in Southern Ukraine, but the missile either crashed or was taken down somehow by the Ukrainian air defence systems.
The P-35 can be difficult to identify from a wreckage, but this missile has a fairly specific wing design, so experts have little doubt about what they see in those pictures. In addition, this was confirmed to journalists by the sources of the Ukrainian forces.
“Despite its age, the P-35 is still in service in the Russian Federation. Mainly in coastal defence systems Redut”, Defense Express wrote.
The Redut is a launcher for P-35 cruise missiles on a ZIL-135KM chassis. In the past, Russia certainly had such a system in Crimea, but it is not known whether it is still there. It is possible that Russia launches P-35 missiles by other means as well.
Russia likely used a rare 4-ton P-35 anti-ship missile from the 1960s to strike Ukraine, marking the first known case of its use. The missile, despite its age, is still in service and was likely aimed at objects in southern regions. The P-35 has characteristic wings, and images… pic.twitter.com/ESf8ose0Xx
— NOELREPORTS 🇪🇺 🇺🇦 (@NOELreports) January 18, 2024
Although old, the P-35 is a dangerous cruise missile. Yes, its turbojet engine is not the best and its guidance system is not modern, but the P-35 has a 560 kg warhead and has a range of 350-460 km. It can cause huge devastation if it hits a residential area or a mall or something like that.
By the way, the Soviets had also developed a 20-kiloton nuclear warhead for the P-35 missile. Of course, it was the one used against Ukraine, but this little factoid shows that the P-35 was an important project for them.
What does it mean that Russia is now using such antique weaponry against Ukraine? One would like to think that Russia is starting to run out of more modern cruise missiles. However, it is possible that they are simply getting rid of old weapons – why write off and dispose of them, if you can employ them against Ukraine?
One thing it definitely does is waste the time and resources of Ukraine’s air defence. And that might be the goal of Russia at this point – to force Ukraine to use up its air defence to make itself vulnerable to future attacks.
Written by Povilas M.
Category: Censor.net, Wikipedia