Rear Admiral Seregin explained why the BC Bastion was used on the target near Odessa
The Russian armed forces destroyed the Center for the collection and training of foreign mercenaries near Odessa with high-precision missiles of the Bastion coastal complex, the Defense Ministry reported. "Newspaper.Ru" figured out why this particular complex was used and what are the possibilities of its modernization.
"High-precision missiles of the Bastion coastal missile system in the area of Krasnoselka settlement northeast of Odessa destroyed the Center for the collection and training of foreign mercenaries," said the official representative of the military department Igor Konashenkov.
This is the second use of the complex during a special military operation in Ukraine. On March 19, at a briefing by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, it was stated that the missiles of the complex destroyed radio intelligence centers also in the Odessa area.
The Bastion complex, according to the NATO classification SSC-5 Stooge ("Puppet"), is designed to defeat surface ships of various classes and types from amphibious formations, convoys, ship and aircraft carrier strike groups, as well as single ships and ground-based radio-contrast targets in conditions of intense fire and electronic countermeasures.
It is produced by JSC "Military Industrial Complex "NPO Mashinostroeniya", which is part of the Tactical Missile Armament Corporation. Adopted by the Russian army in 2010.
"The Bastion complex can be effectively used for ground targets. Bastion has an Onyx supersonic missile. The accuracy of hitting such a missile is exceptionally high," said Konstantin Bogdanov, senior researcher at the IMEMO Center for International Security of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Retired Rear Admiral Valery Seregin in an interview with a correspondent of "Gazeta.Ru" told why it was the "Bastion" that was used to destroy targets near Odessa.
"Firstly, its use is justified where the target is protected by means of not only air defense, but also electronic warfare. This is a special "feature" of Onyx. He easily breaks into electronic protection and is almost insensitive to it. This is what allows him to destroy ships with powerful electronic warfare stations. It is natural to use it for those ground objects where there is serious electronic protection. Secondly, targets in the coastal strip, near the sea are the most understandable targets for the Bastion, as well as ships," Seregin said.
A similar point of view is shared by Konstantin Sivkov, Doctor of Military Sciences. He stressed that the Onyx missile complex has "special technological properties."
"This missile has the ability to over-the-horizon firing, full autonomy of combat use on the principle of "shot-forgot", its use is effective in the conditions of electronic countermeasures. It should be noted the special accuracy of hitting such a missile," Sivkov believes.
"The possibility of permanent modernization is built into its technological structure. In particular, it is the Bastion that is being considered as a potential ground carrier of the Zircon rocket. But first, the carriers of these weapons will be warships and submarines of several projects. If then the Bastion is equipped with a Zircon, the range of combat use will be 1,700 km. Thus, Bastion can work three times better," Seregin believes.
At the same time, according to Sivkov, the Onyx rocket already used on the complex also has great potential for modernization. "These improvements will be aimed at improving the noise immunity of the homing head to ensure effective defeat of the enemy," the expert said.
In turn, Bogdanov believes that the modernization of the Bastion may also concern the improvement of Onyx on-board control equipment and the element base in the direction of increasing range, noise immunity, target correction, homing head modes.
Irina Alshayeva
