The Russian frigate MARSHAL SHAPOSHNIKOV has conducted missile firings in the Sea of Japan. A video of the exercises was posted by the Russian Ministry of Defence’s YouTube channel. According to the information from the ministry’s press service, the frigate launched a brand-new OTVET (REPULSE) anti-submarine missile to engage an underwater target, which it reportedly hit. The firings were carried out at a naval range in the Peter the Great Bay.
The missile was launched from a 3S-14 universal launcher designed for the CALIBER cruise missiles and the ONYX anti-ship missiles. Earlier in April, the Russian Ministry of Defence reported a CALIBER missile successfully engaging a coastal target at a distance of more than 1,000 km during firings in the Sea of Japan.
The OTVET system consists of an anti-submarine guided missile which is launched from the 3S-14 universal launchers. At the front, the missile carries a small anti-submarine torpedo with a homing head. When approaching the target, the missile releases a torpedo into the water by parachute, which independently continues to search for the submerged target using a sonar. The maximum firing range of the surface-launcher missile version is 40 km. The system can be installed on:
- frigates
- corvettes
- destroyers
- cruisers
Other Test Firings
The MARSHAL SHAPOSHNIKOV has subjected to major overhaul and modernisation measures at the Dalzavod (Far East plant) ship-repair facility and was re-qualified as a frigate. In the scope of the programme, the ship received new weapons. This also included universal launchers for the CALIBER and ONYX missiles as well as ZIRCON, the URAN anti-ship system with Kh-35 missiles and in the future, a new artillery mount.
The Vladivostok-based Dalzavod Ship Repair Center is also involved in major overhaul of the Project 1155 sister ship ADMIRAL VINOGRADOV which entered service with the Soviet Pacific Fleet in 1989.