System A-235 PL-19 ''Nudol'' ( rus, Система А-235 / ПЛ-19-181М / Нудоль) is a Russian

anti-ballistic missile An anti-ballistic missile (ABM) is a surface-to-air missile designed to counter ballistic missiles (missile defense). Ballistic missiles are used to deliver nuclear weapon, nuclear, Chemical weapon, chemical, Bioagent, biological, or conventiona ...

and

anti-satellite weapon Anti-satellite weapons (ASAT) are space weapons designed to incapacitate or destroy satellites for strategic or tactical purposes. Several nations possess operational ASAT systems. Although no ASAT system has been utilised in warfare, a few ...

system in development. It is designed to deflect a nuclear attack on

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

and important industrial regions. The main developer of the system is JSC Concern VKO

Almaz-Antey JSC Concern VKO "Almaz-Antey" (russian: link=no, ОАО "Концерн ВКО "Алмаз-Антей"») is a Russian state-owned company in the arms industry, a result of a merger of Antey Corporation and NPO Almaz, unifying some of the nat ...

. The new system should replace the current one — A-135. The two main differences will be that the A-235 will use conventional warheads and it will be mobile. The A-235 system will use

Don-2N radar The Don-2N radar (, NATO: Pill Box) is a large missile defense and early warning active electronically scanned array radar outside Moscow, and a key part of the Russian A-135 anti-ballistic missile system designed for the defense of the capital ...

as well as Don 2NP / 5N20P as range radar, with updated software and hardware; the guidance system of the A-235 complex will be similar to the existing system A-135. The A-235, when deployed, could be equipped with a nuclear warhead which would greatly increase its ability to destroy incoming warheads. The yield on which it would be deployed is not yet known. According to reports in early 2018, the system will not be equipped with nuclear warheads. According to Russian sources, the system will be deployed at points surrounding Moscow by the end of 2018. The new PRS-1M (45T6) is a modernized variant of the PRS-1 ( 53T6 Gazelle) and can use nuclear or conventional warheads. It can hit targets at ranges of 350 km and altitudes of 50 km. The long-range missiles will most likely be equipped with nuclear warheads, while the others will have kinetic energy warheads. Testing of new missiles for the A-235 Samolyot-M system began in August 2014.

Design

Initially, the A-235 missile defense system was planned to have three-echelons: long-range echelon with the A-925 missile, the middle echelon was the 58R6 firing complex, and the short-range flight was the PRS-1M missiles (the result of the upgrade of the PRS-1 missiles). In the modified A-235 anti-missile and anti-space defense system, it is planned to use two-stage anti-missiles with high-explosive and nuclear warheads, providing it with the ability to shoot down

hypersonic In aerodynamics, a hypersonic speed is one that exceeds 5 times the speed of sound, often stated as starting at speeds of Mach 5 and above. The precise Mach number at which a craft can be said to be flying at hypersonic speed varies, since in ...

attack weapons, hypersonic orbital platforms, ballistic missiles, and their combat units, as well as satellites in near space.

Tests

On 4 June 2019, the Russian Ministry of Defense posted a video showing the successful interception of the test target which was a test of a new anti-ballistic missile system in the form of a long-range surface to air missile. Though the nature of the air defense system which was being tested was not mentioned it has been widely speculated to have been a test of the S-500 Prometheus long-range surface to air missile system which entered early production earlier in the year. However, it also could have been the test of the A-235 anti-ballistic missile system which tests have been conducted on since 2014. The anti-ballistic missile system was tested at

Plesetsk Cosmodrome Plesetsk Cosmodrome ( rus, Космодром «Плесецк», r=Kosmodrom "Plesetsk", p=kəsmɐˈdrom plʲɪˈsʲet͡sk) is a Russian spaceport located in Mirny, Arkhangelsk Oblast, about 800 km north of Moscow and approximately 200&n ...

, on 15 April 2020, at the ex-launch site of the

Tsyklon-2 The Tsyklon-2 (Cyclone-2), also known as Tsiklon-2 and Tsyklon-M (known as SL-11 by the United States DoD), GRAU index 11K69, was a Soviet, later Ukrainian, orbital carrier rocket used from the 1960s to the late 2000s. The rocket had 106 launch ...

rocket. On 15 November 2021, the missile successfully destroyed the Kosmos 1408 satellite. The breakdown of the satellite caused

space debris Space debris (also known as space junk, space pollution, space waste, space trash, or space garbage) are defunct human-made objects in space—principally in Earth orbit—which no longer serve a useful function. These include derelict spacecr ...

to form, which forced the crew of

ISS The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA (J ...

to shelter. The debris passed every 93 minutes. The latest test was conducted on 1 December 2022.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:A-235 anti-ballistic missile system Anti-ballistic missiles of Russia Missile defense Almaz-Antey products

Design

Tests

See also

References