The anti-ship missiles are especially crucial for the navy of every country. These missiles are capable of sinking huge and powerful vessels in the time of some seconds. Let's see which are the five best of their kind.
1. Brahmos
The missile took its name from the rivers Brahmaputra and Moscow and is made from Russia and India. It was developed between the 1990s and 2000s. The missile is one of the few anti-ship missiles that was developed in that period.
Brahmos is the fastest missile that flies at such low altitudes. The missile flies at almost 10 meters over the sea and reaches 2.8 Mach. Its range is up to 290 kilometers, and Brahmos is considered a sea-skimming missile due to its low flying altitudes.
The missile is highly versatile as it can be used from ships, land battery launchers, and aircraft like the Indian Su-30MK1. The aerial version of the missile has a range of 500km.
The versions for ships and land launchers have warheads of 200kg while the aircraft version has warheads of 300kg. Due to its sea-skimming capabilities, the missile provides the enemy with a few seconds of reaction time before it reaches them.
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Αυτές είναι οι 5 πιο ισχυρές στρατιωτικές φρεγάτες που υπάρχουν!
2. LRASM
The US Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) is planned to replace the Harpoon anti-ship missiles. The missile shares a lot of common characteristics with the cruise stealth missile JASSM-ER. The exact weapon is being produced by Lockheed Martin and has a range of more than 800km.
LRASM tracks by itself enemy targets of high interest and flies to them automatically. Its range is estimated to be similar to JASSM-ER's, so almost 800km.
In contrast to the Harpoon, the LRASM missile can be fitted in the Vertical Launch System launchers Mk. 41 and Mk. 57 (the second appears on the new Zumwalt destroyers).
3. Club (3M-54E1 anti-ship version)
The Club family is a Russian production that includes an anti-ship version with the name 3M-54E1. It reaches its target with the help of active radar, the target system GLONASS, and internal navigation systems. Its weight is almost 400kg.
The 3M-54E1 flies at 0,8 Mach and at an altitude of 10-15m. Although, some versions reach 2,9 Mach. The missile has a maximum range of 300km.
4. XASM-3
XASM-3 is an anti-ship missile under development from Japan. Even if we don't know much about the weapon, it is believed that it will upgrade Japan's Navy capabilities in many ways.
The missile will be hypersonic and will reach the top speed of 5 Mach and host a stealth design. It is being said that it will leave a reaction time of 15 seconds to enemy targets. XASM-3 will probably have a range of 200+km.
The weapon will be fitted in the Japanese F-2 fighters, as it will probably not fit in the internal bays of F-35s. The XASM-3 missiles can be put in the external weapon bays of the F-35s, however, this will limit the stealth capabilities of the aircraft.
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Αυτά είναι τα 5 ισχυρότερα αντιτορπιλικά του κόσμου!
5. Naval Strike Missile
The Norwegian Kongsber designed a new anti-ship missile with the name Naval Strike Missile. Kogbsber stated that this is the first 5th gen anti-ship missile ever created.
It looks like the sea-skimming missile can fly up to 10 meters in altitude over the sea. Its speed is yet to be known, but it is expected to be high at the subsonic level
Kongsberg announced that the missile is fully passive, something that probably means that it won't feature active radars or sensors that will navigate it. NSM will not emit infrared radiation or radio waves, something that will make it harder to detect. Its weight is almost 410kg, and it's smaller than other missiles on the list. Its range reaches 185km while its warhead weighs 125kg.
Today, the NSM serves in the Norwegian corvette of the Skjold class and in the destroyers of the Nansen class. The missile is being used by the Polish army too.
