laststandonzombieisland

The 3M54 SS-N-27 Klub antiship missile (known in the west by its NATO designation “Sizzler“) is potentially the most dangerous of its species around today. The missile owes its lineage to the old “Styx”, “Sunburn” and “Shipwreck” missiles that the Soviets used during the cold war. The west’s answer was the Harpoon and the famous Falklands era Exocet missiles.

The Sizzler can be launched from a standard torpedo tube of most modern submarines. Its danger comes in its incredibly fast and almost impossible to counter speed. In its terminal phase the 150 mile ranged missile separates its 440 pound warhead and travels up to 3000 km/per hour. In this phase it drops to as low as thirty feet above the surface and makes sharp evasive maneuvers to defeat the Cold War era Phalanx and Goalkeeper CIWS systems now protecting the fleets from this type of attack.

Russia is exporting these missiles to China and possibly to North Korea, Iran and Venezuela. The United States Navy as well as other NATO allies is implementing tests to come up with possible new defenses.

And the show goes on