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An anti-ship missile is a military missile designed for use against naval surface ships. Most anti-ship missiles are of the sea-skimming, subsonic or supersonic, type and use a combination of inertial guidance and radar homing. The typical acronym for the phrase is ASM, but AShM can also be used to avoid confusion with air-to-surface missiles.
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History
Anti-ship missiles were among the first instances of short range guided missiles during the Second World War. The German Luftwaffe used them to some effect against Allied shipping and sank or damaged some large warships successfully before the Allies devised countermeasures (principally radio jamming).
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Use
Anti-ship missiles can be launched from a variety of platforms:
AShMs are a significant threat to modern warships and were used extensively in the 1982 Falklands War. In 1987, a US Navy guided-missile frigate, the USS Stark, was hit by an Exocet AShM fired by an Iraqi Mirage F-1. The Stark was damaged but was able to make it to a friendly port for repair. The next year, AShMs were fired by both US and Iranian forces in Operation Praying Mantis in the Persian Gulf. During this naval battle, several Iranian warships were hit by US AShMs (and by Standard SAMs doing double-duty in this role). Also, in October 1987 an American-owned tanker under the Liberian flag and a Kuwaiti tanker under the US flag, the Sea Isle City, were hit by Iranian HY-2 missiles.
In 2006, Hezbollah forces fired a Chinese C-802 AShM at the Israeli corvette INS Hanit, inflicting heavy damage. A second missile in this salvo sunk an Egyptian merchant ship, as well.
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Countermeasures
Countermeasures against AShMs include:
Passive countermeasures against AShMs include the use of stealth features in the design of modern warships to reduce their radar cross section (RCS) which reduces the ships radar signature and also measures to reduce their infra-red and acoustic signatures too. The aim of making the ships stealthly is to reduce the risk of detection and to make them harder targets for attacking AShMs.
Examples include the US Arleigh Burke class destroyers and the French La Fayette class frigates.
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World War II
Ohka piloted suicide missile - Japan
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NATO countries
(All missiles based on radar homing unless otherwise noted.)
RBS15 MK3 – Sweden/Germany
Martel – United Kingdom/France; made by BAe/Matra (radar and video guidance variants)
RIM-67 Standard Missile 2 - USA (also used by Canada, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Spain and Poland), Raytheon (secondary role, has both semi-active radar and infrared homing in newer versions)
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USSR/Russia
(Listed by NATO reporting name, followed by Soviet/Russian model name in parentheses.)
SS-NX-10 (mistaken NATO designation for SS-N-14 Silex)
SS-NX-11 (mistaken NATO designation for SS-N-12 Sandbox)
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India and Russia
India and Russia jointly developed the Supersonic cruise missile BrahMos with a range of 290 km.
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Peoples Republic of China
SY-1 (SS-N-2 Styx) - Shang You 1 is a Chinese copy of the Soviet P-15 Styx ship-to-ship missile, initially produced in 1960s under license with Soviet-supplied kits. After the Sino-Soviet Split, production resumed with Chinese-made components. *
SY-1A - Improved SY-1 missile with mono-pulse terminal guidance radar
SY-2 (CSS-N-5 Sabot) - Also known as Fei Long 2, radar-guided ship-to-ship missile produced in 1990s as replacement for the SY-1. Similar to SY-1 in size, the SY-2 can be launched from existing SY-1 launchers. *
SY-2A - Extended-range version of the SY-2 with new turbojet engine and GPS guidance, can be deployed from air as air-launched anti-ship missile.
SY-2B - Improved SY-2A anti-ship missile with supersonic speed and low-level flight.
FL-7 - Land-to-ship version of SY-2, for export only
HY-1 (CSS-N-1 & CSS-N-2 Silkworm) - The Hai Ying 1 isn extended range anti-ship missile based on the SY-1 design. *
HY-1J - Ship-to-ship version of HY-1 missile
HY-1JA - Improved HY-1J with new radar and better ECM & range
HY-1A - Land-to-ship version of HY-1JA
HY-1B - Target drone for HQ-2A SAM
HJ-1YB - Target drone fro HQ-61 SAM
YJ-1 - Also known as the C-101, a ramjet powered upgrade to the HY-1. The YJ-1 never entered production, but the engine was used in HY-3.
HY-2 (CSS-C-3 Seersucker) - Also known as the C-201, the Hai Ying 2 is a land-to-ship missile developed from the HY-1. * Generally considered obsolete, no ship-to-ship version was built.
HY-2A - IR-guided version of HY-2
HY-2AII - Improved version of HY-2A
HY-2B - Improved HY-2 with mono-pulse radar seeker
HY-2BII - Improved HY-2B with new radar seeker
C-201W - Extended-range version of HY-2 with turbojet engine, for export only.
HY-3 (CSS-C-6 Sawhorse) - Also known as C-301, the HY-3 is an active radar-homing land-to-ship missile with ramjet engine. Developed in 1980s based on HY-2 and YJ-1 technology. *
HY-4 (CSS-C-7 Sadsack) - Turbojet powered version of HY-2, the HY-4 is a land-to-ship missile with mono-pulse radar. *
XW-41 - Air-launched land-attack version of HY-4 under development.
YJ-6 (CAS-1 Kraken) - Also known as the C-601 air-launched anti-ship missile, developed from HY-2 in 1980s *
YJ-7 - also known as the C-701, the Ying Ji 7 is a lightweight anti-ship missile developed in 1990s. This missile can be launched from land, air, or sea, with TV, IR image, and millmetre radar guidance. However this is a light anti-ship missile with only 29 kg warhead and 15-20 km range, it was not accepted into service by the PLAN. *
YJ-8 (CSS-N-4 Sardine) - The Yingji 8 series anti-ship missiles is also known as the C-80X. Unlike previous missiles, the YJ-8 series is developed based on western design concepts, rather than the original Soviet Styx. The YJ-8 is more similar to the French-made Exocet Anti-ship missile. * The YJ-8 can be launched from sea, land, air, and even submarines. *
YJ-8A (C-801A) - YJ-82 with folded wings
YJ-8K (C-801K) - Air-launched version of YJ-8 anti-ship missile *
YJ-8Q (C-801Q) - Submarine-launched version of YJ-8
YJ-82 (CSS-N-8 Saccade) - Also known as C-802, extended range (120 km) land-to-ship missile
YJ-82A (C-802A) - Improved YJ-82 showcased at DSEI in 2005, with published range of 180 km.
YJ-82K (C-802K) - Air launched version of YJ-82 *
YJ-83 (C-803) - Extended range version of YJ-82 developed in mid 1990s
YJ-83K (C-803K) - Air-launched version of YJ-83
YJ-85 (C-805) - Land-attack cruise missile (LACM) version under development
YJ-62 - The Yingji 62 is a long-range (280 km) subsonic anti-ship cruise missile *
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Taiwan (Republic of China)
Hsiung Feng II - Brave Wind II is an improved subsonic HF-I missile with ship-to-ship, surface-to-ship, and air-to-ship versions.
Hsiung Feng III - Brave Wind III is a new supersonic (Mach 2 - 2.5) ramjet ship-to-ship missile currently in development by CIST
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Japan
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Others
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Notes
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Trivia
During the Falklands War, the HMS Sheffield, a 4,820 ton Type 42 Destroyer was struck by a single Exocet anti-ship missile and sunk. It was reported that the Exocet missile failed to explode, but its rocket fuel set the ship ablaze and sunk the Sheffield anyway.
Years later, during Operation Praying Mantis, the US Navy hit the Iranian light frigate IS Sahand with 3 Harpoon missiles, 4 AGM-123 Skipper rocket-propelled bombs, a Walleye laser-guided bomb, and several 1,000 lb bombs. Despite the large number of munitions and successful hits, the 1,540 ton IS Sahand did not sink until fire reached its munitions magazine, causing it to explode. * However, in the same engagement, US warships fired 3 RIM-66 Standard missiles at an Iranian corvette - the corvette sunk low enough in the water that a Harpoon missile arriving several minutes later had nothing to lock on to.
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