Russia used a P-35 (3M44 Progress) missile to strike Ukraine, the wreckage of which has been found and photos have already appeared online. This is the first known case of its use, according to Defense Express.
The images published by the website show the wreckage of the P-35, known for its impressive size.
"This is a 10-metre-long missile with a launch weight of 4 tonnes, which was developed in the 1950s and put into service in 1962," Defense Express noted. "It was obviously shot down, and given that it is an anti-ship missile, the enemy most likely targeted objects in the southern regions."
Defense Express has received confirmation from its own sources that this is the missile in question.
Despite its age, the P-35 is still in service in Russia. In particular, it is launched from the Redut coastal missile system. As of 2021, Russia had eight launchers.
In addition, the P-35 missile is used in the Utes stationary complex, also known as Object-100. This is an underground facility located near Balaklava. The missiles are hidden underground in the launchers and are raised only before the launch.
P-35 missiles were also used by Project 58 missile cruisers, but they have all been decommissioned.
"It is unknown what kind of launcher was used for the strike. At the same time, the use of even such long-range weapons looks more like a desire to hit something," notes Defense Express. "The fact is that the P-35, even in its latest modernized version (3M44), which was adopted in 1982, was already considered archaic. Its range is up to 300 km (according to some sources, up to 460 km in the 3M44 version), its speed is up to 1,800 km/h (according to other sources, 2,200 km/h), and the size of the warhead is up to 930 kg."
The website states that the guidance system of this anti-ship missile is classical for that time – it is inertial on the marching section, and the active radar homing head is activated in the final section. The flight profile determines the range: 400 metres, 4 km or 7 km, but the missile descends to an altitude of 100 metres before attacking the target. The missile was also designed to hit ground targets, or rather, coastal targets. But they had to be radio-contrasted because of the guidance system. Thus, the enemy's launches of P-35 missiles are similar to the use of Kh-22s, which Russia uses for terrorist attacks on cities.