Russia Develops "Zmeevik" Anti-Ship Ballistic Missile, Claims To Destroy Large Surface Targets

An example of a Russian ballistic missile (photo: doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Reports from local media say that Russia is developing a new "aircraft carrier killer" namely the "Zmeevik" ballistic missile with hypersonic combat equipment.

According to a report from Russia's state news agency, TASS, based on two unnamed sources close to the defense ministry and the military-industrial complex, said that the development of the Zmeevik was aimed at the coastal defense unit of the Russian Navy.

“The Zmeevik ballistic missile with hypersonic combat equipment has been in development for quite some time. It will be designed to destroy large surface targets, especially aircraft carriers," one of them said.

New name for the Russian hypersonic weapons geeks: Zmeyevik. According to TASS sources, an anti-ship ballistic missile with HGV payload for the Navy coastal missile units, to strike large surface targets, somewhat like DF-21D or DF-26.https://t.co/M4iUqjGFLu#hyperhype

— Dmitry Stefanovich (@KomissarWhipla) July 12, 2022

TASS also mentioned that, in terms of characteristics, the Zmeevik resembles Chinese missiles of the similar class DF-21D and DF-26 with a range of up to 4,000 km. Details on the development status of Zmeevik have not been given at this time because TASS claims that the company NPO Mashinostroeniya, which develops and manufactures hypersonic products Zircon (anti-ship missiles for surface ships and submarines) did not comment on the news.

As for the Chinese weapons already mentioned, the DF-21D according to TheDrive is a medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) defined as a ballistic missile with a maximum range of between 621 miles and 1,864 miles.

The DF-26B, on the other hand, is classified as an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM), a category consisting of long-range weapons capable of hitting targets up to a range of between 1,864 miles and 3,417 miles.

A Researcher at the Center for International Security, IMEMO RAS, Dmitry Stefanovich, for his observations of the Zmeevik prospects. "It looks like this project has indeed been in development for a while, although no tests have been mentioned or observed, which of course doesn't mean that prototype tests are impossible," Stefanovich said.

According to him, making fast anti-ship missiles was quite traditional for the Soviets and Russians, and ballistic missiles were a good choice. For Russia, the development of hypersonic anti-ship ballistic missiles is not too difficult to realize, because Russia already has a track record in developing Tsirkon (anti-ship cruise missiles) and Avangard (ballistic missiles).