Moskit SS-N-22 Sunburn anti ship missile

P-270 Moskit (SS-N-22 Sunburn) In the early 1970s, it became obvious that the P-15 family no longer met the requirements of the current naval battlespace, which called for better penetration capabilities and longer range. To meet the new requirements, a team from MKB Raduga (Dubna) started working on a new, supersonic, sea-skimming anti-ship missile that would be designated the 3M80 Moskit (SS-N-22 Sunburn), which is also referred as the P-270 system in numerous Russian sources.

The P-270 (3M80) Moskit is a medium-range high-supersonic anti-ship missile with sea-skimming capability that came into service in the 1980s and was designed to attack ships with a sophisticated command-and-control system. Earlier versions were designated P-80 Zubr. Its guidance is by an inertial system with final-stage homing by an active radar seeker. The latter has a home-on-jam capability. Associated with the Moskit is the Band Stand radar, which operates over the frequency ranges from D to F and acts as an air and search radar, with a secondary tracking function for anti-ship missiles. As with several of the Russian long- and medium-range missiles, the fire-control system also receives data from the ship's helicopters using the I/J-band Big Bulge radar to provide radar pictures for mid-course guidance updates if necessary. The Moskit is a ramjet- powered missile with a slim forward body, ovoid nose, and a fatter rear half with four divided air intakes. There are four clipped delta-platform wings and four smaller tail surfaces of similar shape, organized in a cruciform configuration around the fuselage. It is a main armament of Sovremenny- class destroyers.


A new active/ passive radar-guidance system was developed by GosNPO Altair. The radar works in switchable modes, from active search to passive track of the target's radar and electronic-countermeasures (ECM) signals (home on jam). The Moskit missile has the typical missile shape, with "X" scheme wings at mid-fuselage and "X" all- moving control surfaces in the rear. The missile is powered by a ramjet-type, liquid-fuel sustainer and a solid-rocket booster, which is used in the first four seconds of flight. The missile's range is 120 km (high-low profile) or 80 km (low profile), or 160 and 120 km, respectively, for the 3M82 Moskit-M version. These ranges include maneuvers, so theoretically a missile could reach longer distances if it flew directly. The missile's speed is Mach 2.6 (2,800 kmph) at high altitude and Mach 1.5 (1,800 kmph) at low altitude. At 10 km from its target, the time until impact is less than 20 seconds, leaving little opportunity for reaction. Also, the passive radar mode enables the missile to detect active jamming sources and use them for homing. This and other features of the missile's radar seeker make it very ECM resistant. Work on the Moskit missile started in 1973, and it was accepted into service in 1981 in its initial 3M80 / P-80 version (93 km range) and in 1984 in the subsequent 3M80M / P-80M (3M80E in export) version (120 km range). The final version of the missile is the 3M82 Moskit-M / P-270 , with the range extended to 150-160 km. It is fired from the KT-190M launcher. Series production of the missile continues at the AKK Progress factory in Arsenyev. The 3M80 and 3M80M missile systems were introduced to service with "Project 956" Sovremenny- class destroyers, while the 3M82 entered service on slightly modified later ships of the type. In total, 18 of both sub- variants were commissioned between 1980 and 1999 for the Russian Navy (one was reportedly stored, incomplete due to a lack of funding). Two more have been built and commissioned in from 2000 to 2001 by the Chinese Navy (with 3M80E systems). Each destroyer is armed with eight launchers, in two KT-190 boxes of four launchers each. The Mineral (NATO: Band Stand) ire-control system consists of a radar set integrated with a passive radio/ radar receiver.

In the 1980s and 1990s, the Soviet and later the Russian Navy also received 34 small ships of the "Project 1241.1RZ" Molnya-M class (NATO: Tarantul III), 28 of which remain in Russian service today. One was transferred to Ukraine in 1997, and five were decommissioned due to a lack of funds. The ships are a modified version of the "Project 1241.1" Molnya class (Tarantul II), which were armed with four launchers for P-15M Termit missiles. Under Project 1241.1RZ, these were replaced with four launchers for P-270 Moskit missiles: two KT-152 boxes with two launchers each. The ships also have the smaller Titanit (NATO: Band Stand) fire-control system, also of the active/passive type. The last type of ship that employs the 3M80 Moskit system is the "Project 1239" Sivuch (Bora / Dergach -class) small missile air-cushioned vessel, of which two were commissioned (in 1989 and 1992). The Bora-class is armed with eight launchers, similar to Sovremenny-class destroyers. One of these ships serve with the Russian Baltic Fleet (41st Brigade), and one serves with the Russian Black Sea Fleet (36th Brigade). The 3M80/82 Moskit system is one of the most successful Russian anti-ship missiles. It is designed to be employed against smaller NATO naval groups in the Baltic Sea (Danish and German) and the Black Sea (Turkish) and non-NATO vessels in the Pacific (Japanese, South Korean, etc.). The other main targets were to be NATO amphibious groups. Against the latter, small vessels were to conduct attacks in groups of two to four ships in hit-and-run-type attacks, firing eight to 16 missiles in a coordinated salvo. The Moskit's computerized mission-planning system enables a given salvo, fired over a period of time, to have routes preset so that the entire salvo arrives at the target area at the same moment. Similar tactics were to be used against transport ships in coastal waters, although fewer missiles were to be fired (two to four against a single target). Destroyers armed with the Moskit were intended to operate in larger naval attack groups formed around cruisers. The purpose of such groups during the Cold War was to protect the Northern Area (the so-called "Bastion") against penetration by US submarines and carrier groups, to support Soviet amphibious operations, and - in favorable conditions - to engage trans-Atlantic shipment and disrupt sea lines of communication between the US and Europe. Presently, in the Russian Navy, the Moskit-armed destroyers are intended to fight ships such as cruisers, destroyers, and frigates that are part of a carrier group or, more frequently, operating separately in groups. Although the Cold War is over, the US Navy is still treated as an adversary by the Russian Navy. It is also commonly understood that if the Russian Navy is able to counter US fleet elements, it is able to defeat any other enemy. P-270 Moskit The missile is powered by a ramjet-type, liquid-fuel sustainer and a solid-rocket booster, which is used in the first four seconds of flight. The missile's range is 120 km (high-low profile) or 80 km (low profile), or 160 and 120 km, respectively, for the 3M82 Moskit-M version. These ranges include maneuvers, so theoretically a missile could reach longer distances if it flew directly. The missile's speed is Mach 3 at high altitude and Mach 2.2 at low altitude. The passive radar mode enables the missile to detect active jamming sources and use them for homing. This and other features of the missile's radar seeker make it very ECM resistant.

Russian Designation P-80 Zubr (3M80) P-80M Moskit (3M82) P-270 Moskit-M (3M82M) NATO / Designation SS-N-22 Sunburn
Manufacturer Raduga Design Bureau Guidance Mid-course autopilot; terminal active / passive radar seeker Warhead 320 kg HE semi-armor piercing or 200 kT nuclear Propulsion Solid-rocket accelerator, liquid-fuel ramjet sustainer
Range 93 km 120 km 160 km
Speed Mach 2.6 / 865 m/sec
Mach 3 / 1000 m/sec Length 9.385 m 9.72 m 9.73 m
Body Diameter 1,298 mm Wingspan 1,900 mm 2,100 mm
Launch Weight 3,950 kg n.k. 4,150 kg
Development Start 1973 n.k. n.k.
Date Operational 1980 1984 Mid 1990s
Launch Platforms Project 956 (Sovremenny), Project 1155B (Udaloy II) -class destroyers, Project 1241.1MR (Tarantul III)missile boat, Project 1239 (Bora / Dergach) –class fast missile corvettes Users Russia and China