Posted on 09/17/2010 3:01:47 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
Russia to honor deal to sell P-800 anti-ship missiles to Syria
Russia will honor the contract to sell the P-800 Yakhont supersonic anti-ship cruise missiles to Syria, Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said.
"It is the 2007 contract. The issue of selling the missiles to Syria was raised during the talks with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates... Undoubtedly, it [the contract] would be fulfilled by the Russian side," the Russian minister said.
Israeli media said in late August that the country was working to thwart Syria's plans to get the highly accurate missiles, which Israel considers a threat to its navy vessels in the Mediterranean Sea. Kremlin aide Sergei Prikhodko dismissed the media reports.
The P-800 Yakhont missiles (known as P-800 Oniks in Russia) have a range of 300 kilometers, carry a 200-kilogram warhead and feature a unique ability to cruise several meters above the surface, making it difficult to detect and intercept them.
WASHINGTON, September 17 (RIA Novosti)
I just posted a simialr story from Haaretz. These new missiles will find their way to Hezbollah.
Well those ought to take care of any oil shipments out of Israel.
Nice work, putting “Russia” and “honor” in the same sentence.
Probably not much use to Hezbollah. These are dedicated antiship missiles - very sophisticated ones at that. No-one is going to waste them firing at some Kibbutz. No, the main threat here is from Syria. P-800 would be a formidable weapon against Israel’s seaborne interests, (providing the Syrians can target Israeli vessels). However, if the Russkies provide improved radar and electronics as well, this could be a major security threat for Israel.
The Yakhont is also capable of hitting fixed land targets; the Russians have also talked of a dedicated land-attack version, which may or may not exist.
http://www.defence.pk/forums/military-photos-multimedia/559-look-2.html
I don’t deny it is capable of hitting fixed land targets. I just wonder why anyone would bother. Any missile or unguided rocket can do that - why use an expensive, supersonic missile with sea skimming capabilities and terminal active radar homing on a fixed land target? You’re effectively wasting all that sophisticated electronics.
Umm, most of the ‘tactical’ missiles and rockets that folks like Syria have don’t go as far as the Yakhont or are nowhere as accurate. The point to note is that Israel is not the biggest country in the world and a mid-range weapon like the Yakhont would be a force-multiplier given likely targets in the vicinity of the northern border.
And as you mentioned, Syrians may not have the technology to effectively target or update the Yakhont in the anti-ship role so it will almost certainly be limited to a coastal defense role. And none of their surface ships or subs let alone aircraft can carry the Yakhont without extensive modification.
If I were a Israeli navy commander, I’d use two or maybe one sub to blockade Syria and probably do it very effectively.
The C-802 anti-ship missile was funneled from a Chinese/Syrian deal to Hez during the 2006 conflict. Can’t see anything different happening with this system. Hez allegedly has been trained and provided SCUDs by Syria. You can bet their personnel will be sitting in on the instructions for this latest weapon’s use.
If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.
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An open blockade against Syria and a Russian ship would not be in Israel’s best interests. It would be an open invitation to the area’s worst (Syria/Hez/Iran) as a cause for war. Now, if something “happened” to the vessel and/or its cargo on the way, that’s another story.
Thanks sukhoi-30mki and thanks edpc for this one:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2590873/posts
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