9K720 Iskander


The 9K720 Iskander is a mobile short-range ballistic missile system produced and deployed by the Russian Federation. The missile systems are to replace the obsolete OTR-21 Tochka systems, still in use by the Russian armed forces, by 2020. The Iskander has several different conventional warheads, including a cluster munitions warhead, a fuel-air explosive enhanced-blast warhead, a high explosive-fragmentation warhead, an earth penetrator for bunker busting and an electromagnetic pulse device for anti-radar missions. The missile can also carry nuclear warheads. In September 2017, the KB Mashinostroyeniya general designer Valery M. Kashin said that there were at least seven types of missiles for Iskander, including one cruise missile.

History

The road-mobile Iskander was the second attempt by Russia to replace the Scud missile. The first attempt, the OTR-23 Oka, was eliminated under the INF Treaty. The design work on Iskander was begun in December 1988, initially directed by the KBM rocket weaponry designer Sergey Nepobedimy, and was not significantly affected by the dissolution of the USSR in 1991.
The first successful launch occurred in 1996.
In September 2004, at a meeting with senior defense officials reporting to President Vladimir Putin on the drafting of a defense budget for 2005, the Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov spoke about the completion of static tests of a new tactical missile system called the Iskander. He said that the system would go into quantity production in 2005 and toward the end of that year, Russia would have a brigade armed with it. In March 2005, a source in the Russian defence industry told Interfax-AVN the development of new missiles with a range of 500–600 km, based on existing Iskander-E tactical missile systems, was a possibility. He said, however, that it "may take up to five or six years".
In 2006, serial production of the Iskander-M tactical ballistic missile system was launched, and the system was adopted by the Russian army. The production cost of the missile system was reported in 2014 to have been slashed by 30%.
There was a report by GosNIIP, the design bureau that builds guidance for cruise missiles, that Russia completed state acceptance trials of the “ground-based 9M728/9M729 missiles and their modernized version.”
In November 2016, the Russian military announced that the modernization of the Iskander-M system was underway. A number of countries were reported to have shown interest in purchasing the export version of Iskander, but such possibility was only announced in early February 2017.
The United States has argued that the 9M728/9M729 cruise missiles used by Iskander-K violates the INF Treaty because their estimated range is beyond 500 km.

Design

The Iskander ballistic missile is superior to its predecessor, the Oka. The Iskander-M system is equipped with two solid-propellant single-stage guided missiles, model 9M723K1. Each one is controlled throughout the entire flight path and fitted with an inseparable warhead. Each missile in the launch carrier vehicle can be independently targeted in a matter of seconds. The mobility of the Iskander launch platform makes a launch difficult to prevent.
Targets can be located not only by satellite and aircraft but also by a conventional intelligence center, by an artillery observer, or from aerial photos scanned into a computer. The missiles can be re-targeted during flight in the case of engaging mobile targets. Another unique feature of Iskander-M is the optically guided warhead, which can also be controlled by encrypted radio transmission, including such as those from AWACS or UAV. The electro-optical guidance system provides a self-homing capability. The missile's on-board computer receives images of the target, then locks onto the target with its sight and descends towards it at supersonic speed.
Boost phase thrust vector control is accomplished by graphite vanes similar in layout to the V-2 and Scud series tactical ballistic missiles. According to some rumors, in flight, the missile follows a quasi-ballistic path, performing evasive maneuvers in the terminal phase of flight and releasing decoys in order to penetrate missile defense systems. The missile never leaves the atmosphere as it follows a relatively flat trajectory. The missile is controlled during the whole flight with gas-dynamic and aerodynamic control surfaces. It uses small fins to reduce its radar signature.
The Russian Iskander-M travels at a hypersonic speed of 2100–2600 m/s and an altitude of 50 km. The Iskander-M weighs 4,615 kg, carries a warhead of 710–800 kg, has a range of 500 km and achieves a circular error probable of 5–7 meters. It is rumored that during flight it can maneuver at different altitudes and trajectories and can turn at up to 20 to 30 G to evade anti-ballistic missiles. This rumor causes great controversy between critics with many argued that Iskander aerodynamic layout and cruising altitude will not allow it to perform high-G maneuver due to lack of lift.
Iskander is a tactical missile system designed to be used in theater level conflicts. It is intended to use conventional or thermonuclear weapon warheads for the engagement of small and area targets, such as hostile fire weapons, air and anti-missile defenses, command posts and communications nodes and troops in concentration areas, among others. The system can therefore destroy both active military units and targets to degrade the enemy's capability to wage war.
In 2007, a new missile for the system was test fired, the cruise missile, with a range of applications up to 2000 km or more. Presently, "Iskander-M" system, outfitted with cruise and ballistic missiles, is being delivered to the military. In 2013, army missile brigades first received missiles equipped with a new control system. As of 2018, Iskander missile complex can now strike static sea targets.
The system can be transported by various vehicles, including airplanes.
The maximum power for the nuclear warhead is 50 kiloton TNT.

Operational history

Russia

The first documented use of the Iskander has been in the Russo-Georgian War after the death of Dutch journalist Stan Storimans on 12 August 12 2008 in Gori. An investigation by the Dutch government revealed that a single, 5 mm fragment from an anti-personnel sub-munition, carried by an Iskander missile, killed the Dutch journalist.
In September 2009, the Russian military announced plans to deploy Iskander missiles in all the military districts of Russia "in a short time".
According to the Stratfor report in 2010 there were five Iskander brigades stationed and operational in Russia, namely the 26th Rocket Brigade in the town of Luga, Leningrad Oblast, south of St. Petersburg; 92nd Rocket Brigade at Kamenka, near Penza in the Volga region; 103rd Rocket Brigade at Ulan-Ude, north of Mongolia; 107th Rocket Brigade at, in the Far East; and the 114th Rocket Brigade at Znamensk, in the northern Caucasus.
In June 2013, it was revealed that Russia had deployed several Iskander-M ballistic missile systems in Armenia at undisclosed locations. In 2016, it was reported by media that Armenia had received a :ru:Дивизион|divizion of Iskander missiles.
In November 2014, US General Breedlove stated that Russian forces "capable of being nuclear" had been moved into Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula which the Russian Federation had annexed in March, and the following month Ukrainian Armed Forces announced that Russia had deployed a nuclear-capable Iskander division in the territory. Russian Foreign Ministry officials declared the right to deploy nuclear weapons in the peninsula, which is generally recognized as part of Ukraine, in December 2014 and June 2015.
In March 2016, at least one Iskander system was reportedly deployed at Russia's Hmeimim airbase in Syria. In January 2017 an Israeli company claimed satellite photography confirmed the Syrian deployment.
According to a Fox News report in early February 2017, four Iskander missiles had been fired at opposition targets in the Idlib province in Syria.
RF Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov reported in late 2018 that the Iskander-M missile system as well as the Tornado-G and Smerch rocket launchers had proved their effectiveness in combat in Syria.

Kaliningrad region

In November 2008, the Russian president Dmitry Medvedev in his first annual address to the Federal Assembly of Russia announced plans to deploy Iskander missiles to the Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia's western-most territory on the south-eastern coast of the Baltic Sea, if the U.S. went ahead with its European Ballistic Missile Defense System. On 17 September 2009, US president Barack Obama announced the cancellation of the U.S. missile defense project in Poland and the Czech Republic. The following day, Moscow indicated it might in turn cancel the plans to deploy Iskander missiles to Kaliningrad; a few days later, the decision not to deploy was confirmed by Medvedev. On 23 November 2011, President Medvedev indicated that Russia might deploy Iskander tactical missiles in the Kaliningrad region as part of Russia's reaction to the United States' reformulated missile defence plans in Europe.
In December 2013, President Vladimir Putin denied Western media reports that Russia had deployed Iskander missiles in the Kaliningrad Oblast.
According to Russian media reports, in December 2014 and in March 2015, Russia deployed Iskander missiles to the Kaliningrad Oblast as part of military exercises.
On 8 October 2016, the Russian military confirmed that they had moved Iskander-M missiles into the Kaliningrad oblast, adding the move was part of routine drills and had happened previously multiple times and would happen in future. A few days after, Chairman of the Defense Committee of the Russian State Duma Vladimir Shamanov commented that the transfer of missile systems Iskander-M into the Kaliningrad region had been effected to counter potential threats from the U.S. missile defense facilities that had been stationed in Europe as well as those that might be stationed subsequently.
In early February 2018, Shamanov confirmed that Russia had deployed an unidentified number of Iskander missiles to the Kaliningrad region. Days prior, the local military commanders said that the "park zones" for Iskander missiles deployment had been completed in the Kaliningrad region, as well as in North Ossetia.

Variants

Iskander-M

Variant for the Russian Armed Forces with two 9M723 quasi ballistic missiles with published range 415 km, rumoured 500 km. Speed Mach 6–7, flight altitude up to 6–50 km, nuclear capable stealth missile, controlled at all stages, not ballistic flight path. Immediately after the launch and upon approach to the target, the missile performs intensive maneuvering to evade anti-ballistic missiles. The missile constantly maneuvers during flight as well.

Iskander-K

"K" for Krylataya. Variant intended to carry various types of cruise missiles. At present, it includes:
Currently there are 7 different types of ballistic and cruise missiles for both variants of the Iskander missile system.

Iskander-E

"E" for Eksport. The director of the state corporation Rostec Sergey Chemezov said – missile complex Iskander is a serious offensive weapon capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. This ballistic missile system is in the military list of products prohibited for export. Iskander missile complexes cannot be exported.
In 2016, Armenia, a Russian ally and a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization became the first foreign country to operate the system. Iskander-E has a maximum range up to 280 km, to comply with Missile Technology Control Regime restrictions for export, and is fitted with a simplified inertial guidance system. It flies on a flattened trajectory under 50 km altitude, allowing aerodynamic steering using tail fins, permitting a less predictable flight path and accurate delivery. The system can also use missiles carrying warheads with cluster munitions.

Operators

Specifications

Production Association Barricades – ground equipment
KBM – developer of the system
The full Iskander system includes
The system is intended to use conventional warheads for the engagement of point and area targets, including:
It is also capable of striking strongly protected targets, such as bunkers or hardened aircraft shelters

Comparable missiles