This is a list of anti-ship missiles.
(Listed by official Soviet/Russian name, followed by GRAU designation and NATO reporting name in parentheses.)
(All missiles based on radar homing unless otherwise noted.)
A cruise missile is an unmanned self-propelled guided vehicle that sustains flight through aerodynamic lift for most of its flight path and whose primary mission is to place an ordnance or special payload on a target. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhead over long distances with high precision. Modern cruise missiles are capable of traveling at high subsonic, supersonic, or hypersonic speeds, are self-navigating, and are able to fly on a non-ballistic, extremely low-altitude trajectory.
The SY, and HY series were early anti-ship cruise missiles (ASCM) developed by the People's Republic of China from the Soviet P-15 Termit missile. They entered service in the late 1960s and remained the main ASCMs deployed by the People's Liberation Army Navy through the 1980s. The missiles were used by the PRC and export customers to develop land-attack missiles.
MBDA is a European multinational corporation specialized in the design, development and manufacturing of missiles and related systems. Headquartered in Le Plessis-Robinson, France, the company was founded in December 2001 via the merger of three of the most prominent European missile systems companies: the French Aérospatiale Matra Missiles, the Anglo-French Matra BAe Dynamics and the missile division of the Anglo-Italian Alenia Marconi Systems. These businesses were subsidiaries of EADS, BAE Systems and Finmeccanica, and all three remain MBDA's parent companies.
The P-15 Termit is an anti-ship missile developed by the Soviet Union's Raduga design bureau in the 1950s. Its GRAU designation was 4K40, its NATO reporting name was Styx or SS-N-2. China acquired the design in 1958 and created at least four versions: the CSS-N-1 Scrubbrush and CSS-N-2 versions were developed for ship-launched operation, while the CSS-C-2 Silkworm and CSS-C-3 Seersucker were used for coastal defence. Other names for this basic type of missile include: HY-1, SY-1, and FL-1 Flying Dragon, North Korean local produced KN-1 or KN-01, derived from both Silkworm variants and Russian & USSR P-15, Rubezh, P-20 P-22.
The Kh-55 is a Soviet/Russian subsonic air-launched cruise missile, designed by MKB Raduga in the 1970s. It has a range of up to 2,500 km (1,350 nmi) and can carry nuclear warheads. Kh-55 is launched exclusively from bomber aircraft and has spawned a number of conventionally armed variants mainly for tactical use, such as the Kh-65SE and Kh-SD, but only the Kh-555 appears to have been put into service. The Kh-55 was not the basis of the submarine and ground-launched S-10 Granat or RK-55 Relief designed by NPO Novator. The RK-55 is very similar to the air-launched Kh-55 but the Kh-55 has a drop-down turbofan engine and was designed by MKB Raduga.
Active radar homing (ARH) is a missile guidance method in which a missile contains a radar transceiver and the electronics necessary for it to find and track its target autonomously.
An air-to-surface missile (ASM) or air-to-ground missile (AGM) is a missile designed to be launched from military aircraft at targets on land or sea. There are also unpowered guided glide bombs not considered missiles. The two most common propulsion systems for air-to-surface missiles are rocket motors, usually with shorter range, and slower, longer-range jet engines. Some Soviet-designed air-to-surface missiles are powered by ramjets, giving them both long range and high speed.
The P-270 Moskit is a Soviet supersonic ramjet powered anti-ship cruise missile. Its GRAU designation is 3M80, air launched variant is the Kh-41 and its NATO reporting name is SS-N-22 Sunburn. The missile system was designed by the Raduga Design Bureau during the 1970s as a follow-up to the P-120 Malakhit. The Moskit was originally designed to be ship-launched, but variants have been adapted to be launched from land, underwater (submarines) and air, as well as on the Lun-class ekranoplan. The missile can carry conventional and nuclear warheads. The exact classification of the missile is unknown, with varying types reported. This uncertainty is due to the secrecy surrounding an active military weapon. The missile has been purchased and exported to the People's Liberation Army Navy (China) and Egyptian Navy (Egypt).
The P-5 "Pyatyorka", also known by the NATO codename SS-N-3C Shaddock, is a Cold War era turbojet-powered cruise missile of the Soviet Union, designed by the Chelomey design bureau. The missile entered service in 1959. Pyatyorka is a common name for the missile as the "digit 5", corresponding to the R-7 Semyorka, the digit 7.
The Zvezda Kh-35 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 which case it is known as Uran or Bal. It is designed to attack vessels up to 5,000 tonnes.
The Otomat is an anti-ship and coastal defence missile developed by the Italian company Oto Melara jointly with Matra and now made by MBDA. The name comes, for the first versions, from the name of the two builders and, for the later versions, Teseo, from the Italian word for Theseus. The MILAS variant is an anti-submarine missile. In its latest version Mk/2E purchased by the Italian Navy is a medium range anti-ship missile and a ground attack missile.
NPO Novator is a Russian company that designs long-range anti-aircraft missiles. It was established in 1947 as OKB-8 in Sverdlovsk, became independent in 1991, and then became part of the Almaz-Antey conglomerate. It is perhaps best known for designing the 9M82 and 9M83 missiles of the S-300V SAM system.
The YJ-83 is a Chinese subsonic anti-ship cruise missile. It is manufactured by the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation Third Academy.
The FC/ASW or FMAN/FMC in French, also dubbed FOSW and SPEAR 5, is a next generation missile programme launched by France and the United Kingdom in 2017 to succeed their jointly-developed Storm Shadow/SCALP as well as their respective Exocet and Harpoon anti-ship missiles. Equally funded by both countries with a workload evenly split, the project is led by MBDA and is a product of the close defence relationship set out between the two nations by the Lancaster House treaties. In June 2023, it was announced Italy would join the programme; a restructuring of the workshare to reflect this new development is expected to take place.
The YJ-8 is a Chinese surface-launched subsonic anti-ship cruise missile. It is manufactured by the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC) Third Academy.
The YJ-6 is a series of Chinese subsonic air-launched anti-ship missile. It is manufactured by the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation Third Academy. The export version is called C-601 and the NATO reporting name is CH-AS-1 Kraken.