MOSCOW: The Russian navy has test-fired supersonic anti-ship missiles at a mock target in the Sea of Japan, the Russian defence ministry has said.
The ministry said Tuesday that two ships launched a missile attack on a simulated enemy warship located about 100kms away. The ministry said two Moskit supersonic cruise missiles with conventional and nuclear warhead capacity successfully hit their target.
The defence ministry said that “In the waters of the Sea of Japan, missile ships of the Pacific Fleet fired Moskit cruise missiles at the mock enemy sea target.” “The target, located at a distance of about 100 kilometres, was successfully hit by a direct hit from two Moskit cruise missiles,” it added.
The P-270 Moskit missile, which has the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) reporting name SS-N-22 Sunburn, is a medium-range supersonic cruise missile of Soviet origin and is capable of destroying ships within a range of up to 120km.
The Russian navy’s missile firing exercise comes a week after two Russian strategic bomber planes, capable of carrying nuclear arms, flew over the Sea of Japan for more than seven hours in what Russia said was a “planned flight”.
Russia’s defence ministry said the exercise on Tuesday took place in Peter the Great Bay in the Sea of Japan, but it did not give more precise coordinates, according to the Associated Press.
Japan’s Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said his country would stay vigilant against Russia’s military operations, adding that no damage had been reported after the supersonic missile launches.
“As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues, Russian armed forces are also becoming more active in the Far East, including Japan’s vicinities,” Hayashi told a regular press conference, according to Reuters news agency. Japan’s Defence Ministry had no immediate response.
Supersonic weapon test announcement
The supersonic weapon test announcement follows just weeks after Moscow reported that a Russian submarine in the Sea of Japan had hit a land target more than 1,000kms away with a Kalibr cruise missile in a drill.
Russian defence ministry published a video on March 3 showing the missile emerging from under the water and then hitting a target at a training place in Russia’s eastern Khabarovsk region.
In the decades-old territorial dispute with Tokyo over a chain of Pacific islands, Russia said an undisclosed number of its Pacific Fleet ships, jets and drones were involved in the drill, securing the perimeter.
Moscow has used Kalibr missiles to attack multiple targets in Ukraine, including power stations, by launching them from ships and submarines in the Black Sea.
Japan doesn’t plan to lodge a protest over the missile exercise, said Tasuku Matsuki, Japanese Foreign Ministry official in-charge of Russia, noting that the location of the exercise – Peter the Great Bay – is considered Russian coast, though it faces the water between the two countries.
“On the whole, Japan is concerned about Russia’s increasing military activities around the Japanese coasts and watching them with great interest,” Matsuki said, according to the Associated Press.
He said Russia has conducted missile drills in that area in the past and issued maritime advisories ahead of time. He said Japan is not able to comment on Russia’s intention for the exercise.
