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The Lebanese militia Hezbollah has acquired a number of cutting edge weapons systems and revolutionised its strike capabilities since its war with Israel in 2006, primarily those manufactured by Russia and North Korea, in preparation for a potential future conflict. One of several cutting edge weapons systems acquired by the militia was the P-800 Oniks cruise missile system, a Russian platform which first entered service in 2002 and is among the most capable systems of its kind in the world. The Ramjet powered missiles deliver strikes at 2.5 times the speed of sound, and are highly manoeuvrable, both factors which make them extremely difficult to intercept. Unlike most missiles which accelerate in their terminal phase of flight, the P-800 retains extreme speeds over its whole trajectory - eliminating chances for an easier early interception. The missile retains an over the horizon firing range, and fire and forget capabilities which maximise ease of use - ensuring that the missile does not require constant guidance until it reaches its target and allowing its operators to rapidly redeploy after firing. Furthermore, the missile is capable of following a number of trajectories depending on the nature of the target and expected defences, including a high-low trajectory which can take it up to 14km into the air, and a sea skimming trajectory which makes it more difficult to detect for enemy warships.
The P-800 is specialised in carrying out attacks on surface warships, and export variants retain a range of 300km - enough to strike targets well beyond Lebanese territorial waters and potentially deny the Israeli Navy the ability to support ground operations in the event of a potential war. This does much to compensate for Hezbollah's lack of naval capabilities. The missile system’s high level of precision, striking targets at long ranges within a distance of 1.5m, combined with their advanced electronic warfare countermeasures, makes them a potentially game changing asset for the war at sea in the event of a second Lebanese Israeli conflict.
The potential implications of Hezbollah’s acquisition of the P-800 are particularly serious given the ongoing dispute between Lebanon and Israel regarding ownership of natural gas reserves off the coast of the two countries. Israel’s ability to protect its claims to these resources or to built installations for their extraction is seriously undermined by the P-800. While Israel’s air defences have had a mixed record against the relatively primitive, low speed and makeshift missile capabilities of a number of Palestinian Islamist militias such as Hamas, their ability to intercept strikes from the cutting edge Russian missile system remains open to serious question. While the missiles carry a 300kg warhead, the sheer force of their impact is more than enough to tear most naval targets in half and penetrate highly fortified command centres and other strategically critical buildings. Considering that they were developed to engage carrier strike groups made up of large destroyers, while Israel’s own surface fleet is comprised of far smaller vessels, the P-800 can quite easily disable any Israeli warship with a single strike.
While the P-800 is highly formidable, the fact that the bulk of Israeli naval might is comprised of elite diesel powered submarines somewhat limits their effectiveness - particularly given that Hezbollah is not known to field advanced anti submarine warfare systems. Whether the missile system can also be pressed into service to strike ground based targets effectively - with Israeli nuclear reactors being one potentially critical target for precision strikes, remains to be seen, but it could make the Oniks a game changer on the ground as well as at sea. Hezbollah’s close ally, the Syrian Arab Army, has also deployed the P-800 since 2013, a time when Western powers threatened large scale military action to topple the government in Damascus, which provided a valuable deterrent against potential Western attacks. Ultimately as Hezbollah continues to acquire ever more advanced hardware, the chances for direct large scale confrontation between the militant group and Israel will continue to decline - with the capabilities of both serving as a viable deterrent against the other. Whether the P-800 will be used to strengthen the Lebanese position regarding the disputed maritime natural resources remains to be seen however, with both sides eager to avoid direct conflict with the other and the regular exchange of mutual threats unlikely to escalate to full scale war..
https://militarywatchmagazine.com/a...sian-cruise-missiles-a-major-threat-to-israel
