Hermes (russian: Гермес) is a family of modularly designed

guided missile In military terminology, a missile is a guided airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight usually by a jet engine or rocket motor. Missiles are thus also called guided missiles or guided rockets (when a previously unguided rocket ...

s developed in Russia by the

KBP Instrument Design Bureau JSC ''Konstruktorskoe Buro Priborostroeniya'' (KBP) (russian: АО «Конструкторское бюро приборостроения», AO konstruktórskoje bjuró priborostrojénija Joint-Stock Company - Instrument Design Bureau) is one ...

. The Hermes missile can be used from air, ground or naval launchers.

Development

Development of the Hermes by the

started in the 1990s. The missile bears a striking resemblance to the 57E6 used by the

Pantsir missile system The Pantsir (russian: Панцирь, translation="Carapace") missile system is a family of self-propelled, medium-range surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery systems. Starting with the Pantsir-S1 (russian: Панцирь-С1, NATO r ...

, and it is probably a derivative of this model. The Hermes-A variant was trialed in 2003. The series production of the Hermes was meant to start in 2011-2012, but this did not happen, as the development process was stopped for several years. In 2016, it was announced that the Hermes missile would be tested in live conditions in

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

. However, nothing indicates that this actually happened. But in the late 2010s, a series of announcements signaled a renewed interest in the missile, following experience from the

Russian military intervention in the Syrian civil war {{Infobox military conflict , partof = the foreign involvement in the Syrian civil war, and the military intervention against ISIL , image = , image_size = , border = , caption = To ...

showing the need for more high-precision armaments.

Description

The Hermes system features a

multistage rocket A multistage rocket or step rocket is a launch vehicle that uses two or more rocket ''stages'', each of which contains its own engines and propellant. A ''tandem'' or ''serial'' stage is mounted on top of another stage; a ''parallel'' stage i ...

missile with a high-powered

booster Booster may refer to: Amusement rides * Booster (Fabbri ride), a pendulum ride * Booster (HUSS ride), an evolution of the Breakdance ride * Booster (KMG ride), a pendulum ride Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Booster, a char ...

. Two booster diameters are available, 170 and 210 mm. It has

fire-and-forget Fire-and-forget is a type of missile guidance which does not require further external intervention after launch such as illumination of the target or wire guidance, and can hit its target without the launcher being in line-of-sight of the targe ...

capability, and uses

inertial In classical physics and special relativity, an inertial frame of reference (also called inertial reference frame, inertial frame, inertial space, or Galilean reference frame) is a frame of reference that is not undergoing any acceleration ...

and/or radio-

command guidance Command guidance is a type of missile guidance in which a ground station or aircraft relay signals to a guided missile via radio control or through a wire connecting the missile to the launcher and tell the missile where to steer to intercept its ...

for the cruise phase, and semi-active

laser guidance Laser guidance directs a robotics system to a target position by means of a laser beam. The laser guidance of a robot is accomplished by projecting a laser light, image processing and communication to improve the accuracy of guidance. The key ide ...

for the terminal phase.

Radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...

and

infrared homing Infrared homing is a passive weapon guidance system which uses the infrared (IR) light emission from a target to track and follow it seamlessly. Missiles which use infrared seeking are often referred to as "heat-seekers" since infrared is radi ...

are also talked about. The Hermes is designed to engage a great variety of targets, including armoured vehicles, fortifications of various types, small naval surface targets, artillery positions, slow-flying air targets, and others. It can be fired single or in volleys at ranges of up to 100 km and can track and destroy over-the-horizon targets.

Characteristics

*Warhead: 27.5 kg *Explosive: 13 kg *Guidance: Inertial and/or radio-command guidance (cruise phase), semi-active laser homing (terminal). Possible infrared and radar homing

Variants

*Hermes-A: Air-launched version. To be used by the

Kamov Ka-52 The Kamov Ka-50 "Black Shark" (russian: Чёрная акула, translit=Chyornaya akula, English: kitefin shark, NATO reporting name: Hokum A) is a Soviet/Russian single-seat attack helicopter with the distinctive coaxial rotor system of the ...

(up to 16 launchers) and possibly the

Sukhoi Su-25 The Sukhoi Su-25 ''Grach'' (russian: Грач (''rook''); NATO reporting name: Frogfoot) is a subsonic, single-seat, twin-engine jet aircraft developed in the Soviet Union by Sukhoi. It was designed to provide close air support for Soviet Gro ...

. Range between 15 and 20 km. *Hermes-K: Naval version. Two types of supports are available: a simpler support with four launchers for lighter naval units, and a modified version of the AK-306

CIWS A close-in weapon system (CIWS ) is a point-defense weapon system for detecting and destroying short-range incoming missiles and enemy aircraft which have penetrated the outer defenses, typically mounted on a naval ship. Nearly all classes of la ...

with four launchers for heavier vessels. The Hermes-K's range can be increased up to 100 km with the use of the 210 mm booster. *Hermes-S: Land vehicle version. Uses a Kamaz truck chassis, transporting up to 24 missiles. Versions with and without a guidance system for the missiles have been shown in designer drawings. Moreover, a fire-control vehicle with a mast-mounted radar or opto-electronic detection system has also been shown. A coastal defence version is also possible. The Hermes-S's range can be increased to 100 km with the use of the 210 mm booster.

References

{{Russian and Soviet missiles Post–Cold War weapons of Russia Anti-tank guided missiles Anti-tank guided missiles of Russia Air-to-surface missiles of Russia Surface-to-surface missiles KBP Instrument Design Bureau products Military equipment introduced in the 2010s Fire-and-forget weapons

Development

Description

Characteristics

Variants

See also

References