Russia’s navy has fired supersonic anti-ship missiles at a mock target in the Sea of Japan, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday.
“In the waters of the Sea of Japan, missile ships of the Pacific Fleet fired Moskit cruise missiles at a mock enemy sea target,” the ministry said in a statement published on its official site.The target, located at a distance of about 100 km, was successfully hit by a direct hit from two Moskit cruise missiles.
The Moskit missile is a medium-range supersonic ramjet-powered cruise missile that can carry conventional and nuclear warheads, capable of destroying a ship within a range of up to 120 km.
The P-270 Moskit missile has the NATO reporting name of SS-N-22 Sunburn.
Japan’s foreign minister, Yoshimasa Hayashi, said Tokyo will stay vigilant against Moscow’s military operations, while adding that no damage had been reported after the missile launches.
“As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues, Russian forces are also becoming more active in the Far East, including Japan’s vicinities,” Hayashi told a regular press conference.
The firing of the missiles comes a week after two Russian strategic bomber planes, capable of carrying nuclear weapons, flew over the Sea of Japan for more than seven hours in what Moscow said was a “planned flight.”
