Viewing page 8 of 23

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

Table 1

Soviet and U.S. Sea-Launched Cruise Missiles

[[3 column table]]

Missile | Range (km) | Arming

Short Range

Soviet
SS-N-2  |  80 | Conventional
SS-N-3  | 460 | Dual
SS-N-7  |  60 | Dual
SS-N-9  | 100 | Dual
SS-N-12 | 550 | Dual
SS-N-19 | 550 | Dual
SS-N-22 | 100 | Dual

U.S.        
Harpoon       | 110 | Conventional
Tomahawk TASM | 460 | Conventional

Long-range

Soviet
SS-N-21  | 3,000 | Nuclear
SS-N-24* |   ?   | Nuclear  

U.S.
Tomahawk
TLAM/N   | 2,500 | Nuclear
TLAM/C,D | 1,300 | Conventional

[[note]]
*The SS-N-24 has not yet been deployed
[/note]]

conventional warheads; two long-range, land-attack variants that are conventionally armed; and one long-range variant that carries a nuclear warhead. These variants have essentially identical airframes (about 21 feet in length, including the solid-rocket booster, and 20.3 inches in diameter). The operational ranges of these variants are quite different: the range of the anti-ship variant is about 450 kilometers, whereas those of conventional and nuclear land-attack SLCMs are about 1,300 and 2,500 kilometers, respectively.^2 All Tomahawk variants can be launched from a variety of platforms; currently 69 U.S. surface ships and submarines are Tomahawk-capable. The only other U.S. SLCM is the Harpoon, a conventionally armed, anti-ship weapon with a range of 100 kilometers.

In 1986 the Soviets began deploying their own long-range, land-attack SLCM, the SS-N-21. This subsonic missile appears to be quite similar to the Tomahawk. At present there is only a nuclear-armed version of the

_______

2. For a discussion of the characteristics of sea-launched cruise missiles, see Potential Verification Provisions for Long-Range, Nuclear-Armed Sea-Launched Cruise Missiles (workshop report, Center for International Security and Arms Control, Stanford, July 1988).


2