Notes: Onyx (or Oniks) is Russia's non-export, supersonic missile. One of the slower, low-range export versions ( Yahkont) is shown below. A submarine-launched encapsulated version known as Bolid also exists. LINKS TO AUTHENTIC IMAGINES OF the more top--secretive Bolide (Submarine version) are INVITED from ASTUTE READERS. Bold and color text emphases were added by M.E.'s:
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Sleep well, complacent souls, atuned to 'reality' TV and sports pages, but consider this unsettling Q&A regarding
[U.S.] Naval defenses to counter P-800 Oniks and SS-N-22 (older technology), source
Defence Talk Forum
QUESTION
"The Fifth Fleet was involved with the Millennium Challenge 2002 live
exercises and computer simulations. The operations were one of the
largest wargames ever conducted. At the end of the exercises, designed
to test defences from new anti-ship cruise missiles such as the P-800
Oniks and the SS-N-22, the Fifth Fleet was sunk. ... 2. Do we have the technology now (2008-2009) to counter these ship sinkers yet?"
partial RESPONSE
"
...What was important is the red force was able to achieve complete
surprise against the blue force with a massive barrage of sea skimming
missiles. That is the first thing they knew about it was lots of
missiles in the air and the blue force was not postured to deal with it. ..."
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Mar 19, 2012 -
3M55 Oniks / P-800 Yakhont / P-800 Bolid / SS-N-26
by Global Security.org
"The
P-800 Bolid is the encapsulated, submarine launched version of Yakhont.
An air-launched version of the missile with the take-off weight of
2,500 kg (5,507 lb.) was also developed. The closest American
counterparts, the Tomahawk and Harpoon missiles, are subsonic; the best
French antiship missile, the Exocet, has a range of only 45 miles." ...
"The
homing head is an onboard two-channel active/passive radar with a
complex wide-band coherent signal with a phase-code manipulation in
compliance with the random law both during surveillance and tracking in
an active operation mode. The homing head re-adjusts frequencies and
time parameters. It is highly immune to various active countermeasures
that affect the operating range and angle coordinates."
August 9, 2013 - Yasen-class nuclear attack submarines to give Russia major edge
by Dmitry Litovkin
'Wolf pack’
But it’s not its high speed or the protection of its homing device against electronic countermeasures that makes the Onyx a super-modern weapon.
Once it is launched from the submarine, the missile finds the target by itself. After determining their coordinates, the missiles ‘wait’ until the last one is out of the launch tubes and then line up, just like a wolf pack, and begin to ‘home in on their prey’. The designers are not really advertising this point, but it’s the missiles themselves that decide which missile attacks which target and how. The missile ‘[wolf]pack’ decides these targets, classifies them in terms of importance, and selects the tactics for the attack and the plan for its execution.
Jun. 17, 2014 Russia Just Christened A Top-Secret Nuclear Submarine
by Alexander Korolkov, Russia Beyond The Headlines
"A multiple launch of 24 of these missiles could present a serious problem even for a U.S. carrier force with a powerful air defense system."
Submarines are always silent and strange.Labels: countermeasures, missile, P-800 Bolid / SS-N-26, range, sea skimmers, supersonic, wolf pack, Yasen class subs
