Ukraina - NSM fra Polen? - Naval News

 

Som jeg har skrevet adskillige ganger: Vi må vekke til live Kystartilleriet basert på mobile NSM enheter som er beskrevet her. En rekkevidde på 250km/135NM lar seg høre. Fra Kirkenes til Severomorsk er det 151 km...... (Red.)

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A Naval Strike Missile (NSM) is fired from a Polish MLV at the Andøya training ground in Norway in May 2016. (Photo: Sjøforsvaret)

Polish Coastal Defence System With NSM Missiles For Ukraine?

Local media reports in Poland are reporting that talks are underway between Warsaw and Kyiv regarding the transfer of NSM missile coastal defence system (CDS) components belonging to the Polish Navy's Maritime Missile Unit (MJR – Morska Jednostka Rakietowa).

Tomasz Grotnik  30 Jun 2023

Polish defence media Defence24 broke the story, For now, it is not known which elements of the system are expected to go to Ukraine. Unofficially, it is said that it could be one battery (three self-propelled launchers MLV meaning 12 NSMs in total) or even an entire squadron (two batteries, 24 NSMs). The batteries in the Polish configuration include:

·         A single BCV – Battery Command Vehicle,

·         Three MLV – Missile Launch Vehicles

·         A single MCC – Mobile Communication Center

·         A single MRV – Mobile Radar Vehicle with TRS-15C Odra-C 3D radars. These are used to visualize the air situation and conduct surveillance in the coastal area.

The project concerns the first batch of equipment purchased from Norway by Poland in 2009 (operational status as of June 2013). Funding for the project would come from European Union, or Ukrainian funds. If this happens, Ukraine will have a second Western cruise missile system, after the MBDA Storm Shadow/Scalp EG airborne missiles.

A TLV (Transport Loading Vehicle) reloads a launcher with NSM containers. (Photo: Tomasz Grotnik)

The Polish CDS fires the Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace NSM (Naval Strike Missile) Block 1 missiles. They use a jet propulsion that provides high subsonic speed and a range of “over 200 km”. The NSM travels at a very low altitude along a pre-programmed route with turning points. To the target, the missile goes according to the indications of the inertial navigation system and GPS corrections, while during the target acquisition and attack phase, the guiding system uses an IR camera to identify the object of attack. The NSM can destroy surface ships and land targets with a known location. The biggest disadvantage of the missile is the relatively low weight of the warhead (about 120-130 kg). Nevertheless, it can effectively strike “soft” surface targets.

With Polish NSMs, Ukraine could effectively attack ships in the Black Sea. For this purpose Kyiv has the RK-360MC Neptune system (which was reportedly used to sink the Russian missile cruiser Moskva) and Boeing Harpoon missiles received from Denmark. In both cases the actual status of these systems is not known (Ukraine could be out of Neptune missiles and the Harpoon missiles could have been destroyed in their warehouse by Russian strikes).

NSM anti-ship missile during its launch phase.

Compared to the two aforementioned anti-ship missiles, NSMs are more versatile, and Ukraine could also use them to attack fixed targets – moored ships, warehouses, fuel and ammunition depots – in the Sevastopol area. This would allow diversifying the use of Western cruise missiles and save Storm Shadow/Scalp EGs fired from Su-24 bomber aircraft for targets requiring a heavier warhead.

Poland was the first foreign user of the NSM and the first in the coastal defence variant. Currently, similar solutions have been purchased by the US, Romania and Latvia. The CDS is highly mobile, which was confirmed by MJR’s trips abroad (firing in the US and Norway, and exercises in Estonia, Romania), where they arrived by various means: by An-124 Ruslan aircraft, or by landing ship, and independently.

If the sale of elements of the Polish CDS to Ukraine takes place, its potential will be depleted. But this will happen for a short time, as a decision has already been made to purchase a third squadron. It will utilize the new NSM Block 1A (featuring a range of more than 250 km and a modified guidance system), command vehicles will receive new multifunction consoles (derived from the Type 212CD submarine consoles made by the KTA Naval Systems), new C2 and other modifications.