Russian Navy Launches Kalibr Cruise Missiles Against IS Militants In Syria

Russian Navy has launched several Kalibr cruise missiles towards the Islamic State’s (ISIL) positions in eastern Syria on Sunday.

A submarine off the coast of Syria launched a number of cruise missiles at the Islamic State’s positions in eastern Syria, Al Masdar News reported today.

These Russian cruise missiles struck the Islamic State’s positions in the eastern countryside of Palmyra, where the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) is currently attempting to advance against the militant group.

Russia has carried out several cruise missile strikes against the Islamic State in the past; however, they have been less prevalent recently due to the Syrian Arab Army’s success on the ground.

The Russian 3M-54 Kalibr and 3M-14 Biryuza, Turqoise (NATO codename SS-N-27 Sizzler) are Russian surface ship and submarine-launched anti-ship and coastal anti ship (AShM) and land attack cruise missiles (LACM) developed by the Novator Design Bureau (OKB-8).

Derived export versions are the 3M-54E and the 3M-54E1. The 3M-54, 3M-54E, 3M-54TE and 3M-54AE have a second stage that performs a supersonic sprint in the terminal approach to the target, reducing the time that target's defense systems have to react.

The 3M-54E1 only travels at subsonic speeds during its entire flight, though range is longer than that of the supersonic versions accordingly.

The 3M-14, part of Russian contractor Novator’s Club-A series, is a land attack cruise missile. The land attack variant is designed to strike pre-programmed targets such as seaports, airfields, and command posts. The 3M-14AE missile has a range of 300 km.