Ukraine is upgrading its domestically produced "Neptune" missiles to enable them to reach Moscow and other remote regions of Russia. This information was reported by The Drive.
According to a representative of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, the attack on the Russian S-400 air defense system near the village of Olenivka on the Tarkhankut Peninsula on August 23rd was 100 percent carried out with a modified 'Neptune'.
Earlier, the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, Oleksiy Danilov, stated that it was a new Ukrainian missile that destroyed it, without specifying which weapon was used.
As of April 2023, the Ministry of Defense announced that Ukraine was working on converting the P-360 "Neptune" into a ground-based weapon, but this required a new guidance system that was not available at the time. Specific types of microchips were needed to complete the work, but the system was close to completion.
On August 28th, a representative of the Ministry stated that Ukraine had developed a GPS guidance system that directs the missile to a predetermined location. The infrared homing warhead of the missile locates and locks onto the target using a pre-loaded image, then attacks it. If the missile cannot hit the target, it aborts the attack. According to The War Zone, such a modification would be a significant leap in capabilities, as it would make the missiles immune to electronic warfare measures.
According to the Ministry of Defense representative, the converted Neptune, which is launched from the same launcher as the anti-ship version, has a range of about 400 km and a payload of around 350 kg. Among the drawbacks, the official mentioned that modern Russian air defense systems could interfere with the launch of subsonic missiles, and there is currently only a small number of such missiles.
"Only a few dozen have been produced," said the Ministry of Defense representative
