Russia's "carrier killer" The Moskva has arrived off Syria, is in command of all Russian Naval ships.
“The task is crystal clear: to avoid a slightest threat to the security of the state. This is a general practice of all fleets around the world, to be there when a tension level increases. They are all going to act on operational command plan of the offshore maritime zone,” Chirkov told journalists on Friday. "Russia will be building up its Mediterranean fleet until it is deemed sufficient to perform the task set."
Russia began military build-up in the Mediterranean in 2012, and starting from December last year the Navy established a constant presence in the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea.
On May 1, 2013 all Russian battleships operating in the area were assigned to a single task force under special offshore maritime zone operation command.
Currently there are seven warships deployed in the area: landing craft carriers 'Aleksandr Shabalin’, ‘Admiral Nevelskoy’, ‘Peresvet’, ‘Novocherkassk’ and ‘Minsk’ from Russia’s Black and Baltic Sea Fleets, as well as the escort vessel ‘Neustrashimy’, and large anti-submarine ship ‘Admiral Panteleyev’.
According to previous reports, the missile-carrying cruiser ‘Moskva’ passed the Straits of Gibraltar on September 10 and is expected to arrive at its final destination in eastern Mediterranean on September 15 or 16.
Two battleships of the Russia’s Black Fleet, guided missile destroyer ‘Smetlivy’ and landing craft carrier ‘Nikolay Filchenkov’ left their bases in Sevastopol and Novorossiysk respectively and early on Friday morning have passed the Bosphorus Strait, heading to the eastern Mediterranean.
The SSV-201 reconnaissance ship ‘Priazovye’ also reportedly joined the group in the Eastern Mediterranean in early September.
Upon the arrival of the ‘Moskva’, its commander, Sergey Tronev, will assume operative command of the task force.
Missile Launch @ 33 second mark
In Russian, but images speak for themselves.
The Yakhont is a supersonic anti-ship missile capable of attacking maritime targets at great distances from shore (up to 180 miles). Unlike other coastal defense systems, like the Chinese C-802 or C-701, the SS-N-26 ‘Yakhont’ can engage targets well beyond the horizon, by navigating the long mid-course ‘leg’ using inertial guidance. the high speed means the missile would acquire lower drift, relative to a subsonic missile.
At a certain distance from the target the missile will activate its radar to acquire the target, it will then perform the terminal attack maneuver, according to the preplanned attack profile selected before launch – a direct horizontal attack or high angle dive, both are performed at extremely high speed, challenging the targets’ missile defenses and electronic countermeasures.
Multiple attacks of several missiles, attacking at different profiles, would challenge the target even more, as will a coordinated attack by high-speed and cruise type missiles.
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