R-360 Neptune () is a Ukrainian subsonic

cruise missile A cruise missile is an unmanned self-propelled guided missile that sustains flight through aerodynamic lift for most of its flight path. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large payload over long distances with high precision. Modern cru ...

with all-weather capabilities developed by the

Luch Design Bureau Luch Design Bureau (), located in Kyiv, Ukraine, is a major Ukrainian developer of components for the defense industry. The company is in close co-operation with the Artem holding company, also located in Kyiv. Artem is the main manufacturer of ...

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

as an

anti-ship missile An anti-ship missile (AShM or ASM) is a guided missile that is designed for use against ships and large boats. Most anti-ship missiles are of the sea-skimming variety, and many use a combination of inertial guidance and active radar homing. ...

, with a later variant for land attack. Neptune's design is based on the Soviet

Kh-35 The Zvezda Kh-35 (, NATO reporting name AS-20 'Kayak') is a Soviet turbojet subsonic cruise anti-ship missile. The missile can be launched from helicopters, surface ships and coastal defence batteries with the help of a rocket booster, in whic ...

subsonic anti-ship missile, with substantially improved range, targeting and electronics equipment. It has a range of over 200 kilometres. The system requirement was for a single missile to defeat surface warships and transport vessels with a displacement of up to 9,000 tonnes, either in convoys or moving individually. The first training missile

divizion {{army units A divizion (dywizjon) (a word in several European languages, mostly Slavic) is a military unit in some armed branches, usually artillery and cavalry, being an equivalent of battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically ...

(battalion) entered service with the

Ukrainian Navy The Ukrainian Navy (), is the Navy, maritime force of Ukraine and one of the eight Military branch, service branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The naval forces consist of five components: surface forces, submarine forces, Ukrainian Naval ...

in March 2021, with the first operational naval use in 2022. The land-attack variant has a new guidance system and was first fielded and used in 2023. "Long Neptune", an extended range land attack variant with a claimed 1000 km range, was first used in 2025, according to Ukrainian president

Volodymyr Zelenskyy Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy (born 25 January 1978) is a Ukrainian politician and former entertainer who has served as the sixth and current president of Ukraine since 2019. He took office five years after the start of the Russo-Ukraini ...

Development

The missile was first revealed at the 2015

Arms and Security The International specialized exhibition "Arms and Security" (, "Zbroya ta Bezpeka") is an annual trade show of weapons and military equipment. It takes place in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine under the patronage of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukr ...

international exhibition in Kyiv. According to information from open sources, the first flight examples of the cruise missile were manufactured in the second quarter of 2016. Production of advanced missile systems took place in cooperation with other Ukrainian companies, including Artem Luch,

Motor Sich The Motor Sich, Joint Stock Company () is a Ukrainian aircraft engine manufacturer headquartered in Zaporizhzhia. The company manufactures engines for airplanes and helicopters as well as industrial marine gas turbines and installations. Ov ...

(

MS400 turbofan engine The MS400 () is a turbofan engine A turbofan or fanjet is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used in aircraft propulsion. The word "turbofan" is a combination of references to the preceding generation engine technology of the t ...

), ZhMZ Vizar Kyiv, (seeker) and Arsenal SDP SE (navigation system). The first tests of the system were conducted on 22 March 2016, attended by Secretary of the

National Security and Defense Council The National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, ( NSDCU; , ''RNBOU'') or RNBO, is the coordinating state body of the executive power under the President of Ukraine on issues of national security and defense. It is a state agency tasked wi ...

(NSDC)

Oleksandr Turchynov Oleksandr Valentynovych Turchynov (, ; born 31 March 1964) is a Ukrainians, Ukrainian politician, screenwriter, Baptists in Ukraine, Baptist minister and economist. He is the former Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukra ...

. In mid-2017, Neptune missiles were tested concurrently with Vilkha launchers and missiles. The test results and capabilities of the Neptune were not made public, unlike those of the Vilkha. According to the press service of the NSDC, the first successful flight tests of the system took place on 30 January 2018. On 17 August 2018, the missile successfully hit a target at a range of during test firings in southern

Odesa Oblast Odesa Oblast (), also referred to as Odeshchyna (Одещина), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) of southwestern Ukraine, located along the northern coast of the Black Sea. Its administrative centre is the city of Ode ...

. On 6 April 2019, the missile was again successfully tested, hitting targets during tests near

Odesa Odesa, also spelled Odessa, is the third most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern ...

. According to President

Petro Poroshenko Petro Oleksiiovych Poroshenko (born 26 September 1965) is a Ukraine, Ukrainian politician and Oligarchy, oligarch who served as the fifth president of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019. He served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Ukraine), Minister ...

, the Neptune system would be delivered to the

Ukrainian military The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) are the Military, military forces of Ukraine. All military and security forces, including the Armed Forces, are under the command of the president of Ukraine and subject to oversight by a permanent Verkhovna Rad ...

in December 2019. After the withdrawal of the United States and Russia from the

Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty) was an arms control treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union (and its successor state, the Russia, Russian Federation). President of the United States, US President Ronald Rea ...

, Ukraine announced that it was considering developing intermediate-range cruise missiles. Ukraine signed a memorandum with Indonesia on concluding a contract for the supply of Neptune missiles, first reported in December 2020. Thus, Indonesia may become the first foreign buyer of Neptune, according to with reference to the Ukrainian special exporter State Enterprise (SE) "Progress". In March 2021, the

obtained the first training missile battalion of the RK-360MC Neptune. On 18 November 2024, Ukraine claimed that serial production of Neptune missiles had been expanded and it had built 100 so far that year. There were plans to extend the range of the missile from 400 kilometres and it would soon operate out to 1000 kilometres, which is further than the 500-kilometre range of the Taurus cruise missile.

Operational history

On 3 April 2022, during the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, Ukrainian sources claimed that the had been damaged by Ukrainian forces. Later,

Oleksiy Arestovych Oleksii Mykolaiovych Arestovych (; born 3 August 1975) is a Ukrainian political adviser, former military officer, and columnist. He is also a theologian and the founder of the Apeiron School. Arestovych was a speaker for the Trilateral Contact G ...

, a freelance adviser to the

Office of the President of Ukraine The Office of the President of Ukraine (, ), formerly the ''Administration of the President of Ukraine'' ( ), is a standing advisory body set up by the President of Ukraine pursuant to clause 28, Article 106 of the Constitution of Ukraine. The ...

, clarified that ''Admiral Essen'' had been hit by a Neptune missile. The Russians did not comment on the claim and the ship continued its mission as normal. On 13 April 2022, Ukrainian sources claimed the was hit by two Neptune missiles, resulting in a fire and subsequent explosion of a shipboard ammunition store. The

Russian Ministry of Defence The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation (; MOD) is the governing body of the Russian Armed Forces. The President of Russia is the Commander-in-Chief of the forces and directs the activity of the ministry. The Minister of Defence exerci ...

stated, without discussing the cause, that a fire had caused munitions to explode and the crew had been fully evacuated. Russia reported the vessel as still being afloat later in the day of the fire, but Russian state media subsequently reported that she had sunk in inclement weather while being towed. According to Thomas Shugart, a former

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

submarine commander, s like ''Moskva'' have been typically "known for their offensive punch, not for their defensive systems or their damage control". ''Moskva'' was one of the largest warships sunk in combat since

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The successful use of the Neptune system to sink the warship was cited by Ukrainian Defence Minister

Oleksii Reznikov Oleksii Yuriiovych Reznikov (, ; born 18 June 1966) is a Ukrainian lawyer and politician who served as the List of Ministers of Defense (Ukraine), Minister of Defence of Ukraine from 4 November 2021 until his dismissal on 5 September 2023. ...

as giving confidence to Ukraine's allies that more weapon supplies to Ukraine would be worth it. A land attack variant was being designed and, as of April 2023, was close to completion. The Neptune missile was initially designed to hit ships at sea. According to a Ukrainian official: "Ukraine is working to modify Neptune missile to strike land targets... A new guiding/homing system is required, but Ukrainians are working on that... Once we get that, the Neptunes can hit targets 360 km (about 225 miles) away. We are pretty close." On 23 August 2023, according to Ukrainian media reports, a modified R-360 missile was used to destroy a

S-400 missile system The S-400 Triumf ( – Triumf; translation: Triumph; NATO reporting name: SA-21 Growler), previously known as the S-300 PMU-3, is a mobile surface-to-air missile (SAM) system developed in the 1990s by Russia's NPO Almaz as an upgrade to the S ...

radar, deployed on

Cape Tarkhankut The Tarkhankut Peninsula (; ; ) is the peninsula which constitutes the western extremity of Crimea into the Black Sea. Its northern shore is a southern coast of the Karkinit Bay. Its westernmost point is ; to the south of it is Cape Tarkhankut. ...

in Crimea since 2016. On 14 September, Ukrainian forces subsequently claimed to have destroyed S-400 missile systems near Yevpatoriya using drones and Neptune missiles. One day earlier, two Russian vessels in

Sevastopol Sevastopol ( ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea and a major port on the Black Sea. Due to its strategic location and the navigability of the city's harbours, Sevastopol has been an important port and naval base th ...

were heavily damaged by either Neptune or

Storm Shadow The Storm Shadow is a Franco-British low-observable, long-range air-launched cruise missile developed since 1994 by Matra and British Aerospace, and now manufactured by MBDA. "Storm Shadow" is the weapon's British name; in France it is calle ...

cruise missiles. On 26 March 2024, Ukraine claimed to have struck the Konstantin Olshansky with a Neptune missile. This vessel was seized from Ukraine in 2014, when Russian forces took control of the Crimean peninsula. On 9 April 2024, Russian forces claimed to have intercepted a Neptune missile near the Crimean coast. On 21 April 2024, a video was released from Sukharnaya Bay, Sevastopol, that allegedly shows the salvage ship ''Kommuna'' hit by a Ukrainian Neptune missile. ''Kommuna'' took part in salvage efforts after ''Moskva'' was hit in 2022. In April 2024, Ukraine was working on extending the range of the missile to , while increasing production tenfold. On 31 May 2024, Ukraine fired several Neptune missiles at an oil depot attached to

Port Kavkaz Port Kavkaz () is a small harbour on the Chushka Spit in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, on the eastern side of Kerch Strait. It is adjacent to the village of Chushka (rural locality), Chushka, which is now largely deserted due to the toxic effects of the ...

Krasnodar Krai Krasnodar Krai (, ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (a krai), located in the North Caucasus region in Southern Russia and is administratively a part of the Southern Federal District. Its administrative center is the t ...

. Russian officials claimed to have shot down the missiles. Ukrainian officials and Russian opposition reported a fire and damage to three petroleum tanks. The new land attack variant is called Neptune-MD by Russian forces. Ukrainians call it the Long Neptune. On 21 June 2024, a Neptune struck a Shahed drone depot and training facility in Krasnodar. On 31 July 2024, a Neptune struck an airbase in Kursk, Russia, one hundred kilometres from the border with Ukraine, hitting "a warehouse for storing weapons and military equipment," according to Ukrainian officials. Russia claimed to have shot down the missile. On 2 August 2024, Romania and Ukraine announced a plan to manufacture and improve the Neptune missile. On the morning of 21 August 2024, the Ukrainian military claimed to have struck a Russian S-300 air defense system in Rostov Oblast overnight, possibly by using a Neptune missile. On 10 January 2025, the Ukrainian military claimed to have hit a military warehouse in the Rostov region by a long range Neptune missile. On 15 March 2025, President Zelenskyy claimed that the new Long Neptune missile can reach targets up to 1,000 kms away.

Design

The Neptune uses a solid-fuel booster rocket to launch it into the air. After the fuel is expended the rocket stage falls away and the jet engine takes over, providing the necessary thrust. A Neptune missile, including rocket motor, is in length, with a cross-shaped hard wing. They are designed to be housed in transport and launch containers with dimensions . The system has a maximum range of about . A single missile weighs , of which is the warhead. It uses a Motor Sich MS400 engine which has a high

thrust-to-weight ratio Thrust-to-weight ratio is a dimensionless ratio of thrust to weight of a rocket, jet engine, propeller engine, or a vehicle propelled by such an engine that is an indicator of the performance of the engine or vehicle. The instantaneous thrust-to-w ...

. When deployed, a Neptune coastal defence system comprises a truck-based USPU-360 mobile launcher, four missiles, a TZM-360 transport/reload vehicle, a RCP-360 command and control vehicle, and a special cargo vehicle. Czech Tatra T815-7 trucks replaced prototype

KrAZ KrAZ (, ''Kremenchutskyi Avtomobilnyi Zavod'', Kremenchuk Automobile Plant, АвтоКрА́З or AvtoKrAZ) is a factory in Kremenchuk, Ukraine, that produces trucks and other special-purpose vehicles, particularly heavy-duty off-road models. Th ...

vehicles. The system is designed to operate inland up to from the coastline.

Gallery

File:Neptune TEL, Kyiv 2021, 21.jpg, Launch vehicle File:Neptun missile complex Launcher, Kyiv 2019, 13.jpg, Launch vehicle File:Neptune transporter loader, Kyiv 2021, 12.jpg, Reload transporter with crane File:Neptune transporter, Kyiv 2021, 10.jpg, Transport without crane File:Neptune command vehicle, Kyiv 2021, 20.jpg, Command vehicle File:Neptune Mineral radar, Kyiv 2021, 12.jpg, Mineral-U radar File:Mineral-U, Kyiv 2021, 27.jpg, with radar erected File:USPU-360.jpg, Prototype KrAZ-7634-based launch vehicle File:Neptun missile complex TZM, Kyiv 2019, 05.jpg, Prototype

KrAZ-6322 The KrAZ-6322 is a Ukrainian off-road six-wheel drive truck intended for extreme conditions. It has been produced since 1994 and is manufactured at the KrAZ factory in Kremenchuk, Ukraine. It was first presented at the 1994 defence industry trad ...

-based loader vehicle File:Neptun missile complex Command vehicle, Kyiv 2019, 06.jpg, Prototype command vehicle File:Neptun missile complex Command vehicle, Kyiv 2019, 15.jpg, Prototype command vehicle interior File:Neptune cruise missile 04.jpg, Prototype launcher with supporting vehicles File:Neptune cruise missile 05.jpg, Test launch, 2019

References

External links