See also: Anti-ship missile.
An anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) is a military ballistic missile system designed to hit a warship at sea.
Due to the high flight speed of ballistic missiles, an ASBM's kinetic energy alone may be sufficient to cripple or outright destroy a target with a single conventional warhead impact. Unlike a nuclear warhead, however, this would require a direct hit to be effective; therefore unlike a land attack ballistic missile, which typically strikes fixed targets in known positions, an ASBM requires a dedicated sensor chain to detect and identify its target, combined with a precise and high-performance terminal guidance system with advanced sensors and in-flight calibrations in order to successfully hit a moving target.[1] [2]
In late November 2023, during the Red Sea crisis caused by the continuation of the 2023 Gaza war, the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) in the Middle East, reported that two ballistic missiles had been fired at the United States Navy from areas controlled by Yemeni Houthi movement.[3] [4] In January 2024, at the same time as US and British airstrikes on Yemen, US President Joe Biden confirmed that the Yemenis had used ASBMs for the "first time in history".[5]
The first combat shootdown of an ASBM was achieved by the destroyer on December 26, 2023.[10] By January 9th, a total of seven Houthi ASBMs had been successfully intercepted by the U.S. Navy. On January 24, 2024, shot down two Houthi ASBMs.[11] On January 26, 2024, also successfully intercepted a Houthi ASBM.
See main article: Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System. The United States Navy fields what some experts believe to be the best midcourse anti-ballistic defense in the world,[12] and is developing high powered lasers for terminal-defense against anti-ship ballistic missiles.[13] The U.S. arsenal has a variety of potential countermeasures.According to a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation, Roger Cliff, an anti-ship ballistic missile is not useful without additional complex ship detection, data processing and communication systems, all of which, including the missile itself, could be jammed or spoofed.[14] [15]
The 4K18 was a Soviet Union intermediate-range ballistic anti-ship missile (also known as R-27K, where "K" stands for korabelnaya which means "ship-related") NATO reporting name: SS-NX-13. Initial submarine testing began on 9 December 1972 on board, a . Test firings were carried out between 11 September and 4 December 1973. Following the initial trials, the K-102 continued making trial launches with both the R-27 and the R-27K, until it was accepted for service on 15 August 1975.
Using external targeting data, the R-27K/SS-NX-13 would have been launched underwater to a range of between NaNnmi, covering a "footprint" of 27nmi. The maneuvering re-entry vehicle (MaRV) would then home in on the target with a circular error probable (CEP) of 400yd. Warhead yield was between 0.5–1 megatonnes.
The R-27K / SS-NX-13 was the world's first anti-ship ballistic missile. However, it never became operational, since every launch tube used for the R-27K counted as a strategic missile in the SALT agreement, and they were considered more important.
See main article: DF-26, DF-17, CM-401 and YJ-21. China has inducted the world's first [16] operational anti-ship ballistic missile, a "carrier killer" capable of carrying both conventional and nuclear warheads, known as the DF-21D.[17] In 2010, it was reported that China had entered the DF-21D into its early operational stage for deployment.[18]
The DF-26, first revealed on the 2015 Victory Day Parade, is also able to carry anti-ship warheads, possibly hypersonic glide vehicles like the DF-ZF, to attack medium and large naval vessels out to ranges of 3500-.[19]
China is apparently working on a second-generation ASBM using hypersonic maneuverable reentry vehicle technology tested on the DF-ZF. This would allow the warhead to search for the current location of the carrier, instead of just dropping towards the predicted spot it was initially aiming at. The high speed maneuvers would also make the missile much harder to intercept.[20] Type 055 destroyers are armed with the YJ-21 anti-ship ballistic missiles along with the YJ-18 anti-ship cruise missiles in GJB 5860-2006 vertical launch system.
See main article: Agni-P. The Indian Navy currently has ship launched Dhanush ballistic missiles in use for anti-ship roles. It has a range of capable of anti-ship operations.[21] Another missile Agni-P, a technology spin off variant of Agni-IV and Agni-V has been speculated to be capable of undertaking ASBM roles or predecessor of a carrier-killer missile currently under development.[22]
Till September 2022, DRDO had completed design work of another land-based range missile to attack targets across Line of Actual Control with an anti ship variant against aircraft carriers to cover Indian carriers in the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea.[23]
An unknown Long-range Anti-ship Hypersonic Ballistic Missile was tested at the Integrated Test Range, Abdul Kalam Island on 16 November 2024 with a range of over . To be primarily used by the Indian Navy from shore-based launchers.[24] [25]
See main article: Persian Gulf (missile) and Hormuz-2 (missile).
In February 2011, Iran demonstrated a short-range anti-ship ballistic missile named Persian Gulf or Khalij Fars, a missile based on the Fateh-110 which successfully hit a stationary target vessel. It has been reported as a short ranged ballistic missile with a range of .[26] Later, Iran introduced the Hormuz missile with anti-ship capability.[27] In 2020, Iran unveiled the Zulfiqar Basir, an anti-ship variant of the Zulfiqar with a range of . Iran also reports successful test of the Emad missile to target aircraft carriers at a range of more than .
Pakistan Navy successfully conducted flight test of an indigenously developed ship-launched anti-ship ballistic missile with a 350-kilometer range named SMASH in November 2024. The missile system, equipped with advanced navigation and maneuverability features, is said to be capable of striking land and sea targets with high precision.[28]