The Shilka's radar would probably ignore the Mav since it would have too small a radar signature (the ZSU-57 doesn't even have one - a radar that is, not a radar signature ), compared to the targets it was intended to take out, namely planes and helicopters. This is not the case of the Phalanx system, which uses a 20 mm gattling-type gun pod.Ģ. Hell, the Mav might just be able to slip past the stream of bullets based on its small size alone. This may not be a very big problem with aircraft sicne they are pretty big targets (compared to missiles), but it would make shooting a Mav quite a problem.

Their fire is supposed to converge at a point in space. In the Shilka you get four guns in a square layout and on the ZSU-57 there are 2 guns in a horizontal line.

The reasons why a ZSU-23-4 or a ZSU-57 would have a hard time shooting a Mav down are twofold:ġ.

The Sea Skimming ability is designed so that the Harpoon can better penetrate defences similar to that of a Carrier Battle Group, not that of a single ship.Īgainst a Cruiser or Guided Missile Destroyer yes the Harpoon would be the weapon of choice, but outside of the Pakistani Air Force trying to Sink the Viraak (Amphib Carrier of India) or maybe Turkey going to war with Ukraine the Maverick and Penguin will do the Viper fine for its most probable threats of the future. It too would strike at the high angle the Maverick would hit at. And also keep in mind that unlike the Excoset or Martial Missiles, the Harpoon uses a pop up attack so to better penetrate the hull of the ship due to its smaller mass. Also vehicals such as the ZSU-23-4 and ZSU-57 are intended to be attacked with maverick or HARM missiles, so the idea of shooting down a missile as small as the Maverick is going to be more luck then anything. The Harpoon uses its own seaker to lock onto its intended target, all the command vessel/aircraft does is launch it with a general idea in the computer of when to start looking for a target, and since it has a tendency to lock on to the biggest thing it see's shooting one at a small craft in an area such as this, or major shipping lanes is foolish.Īlso keep in mind the Maverick and Penguin were intended to only be used against small vessels, whos ordanance consists of mainly of weapons lacking in the Surface to Air Firecontrol area. Firing a Harpoon in an enviroment like that could be extreamly hazardous to the other vessels operating in the area, such as allied tankers. Think of the last time our Navy had to contend with Gunboats and Patrol Craft in the Straits of Hormuz. On the other hand, small vessels of a non-blue water nature tend to operate in severly congested area's. IMO the only way a Mav attack would be succesful on something the size of a cruiser is if you used the good old tchnique of saturation salvoes.Īs for the RoCAF, maybe they just wantedto remind their neighbour next door that they stand a decent chance of sinking their fleet if they ever came visiting uninvited. As a result, the Mav will fly on a largely easy to predict trajectory (and also a hig trajectory) which will make it a fairly easy target for anti-missile systems on ships. well it was intended to attack land vehicles and to the best of my knowledge land vehicles don't often have any sort of anti-missile active defenses (jammers aside, but even those are quite rare), much less Phalanx systems or that kind of goodies. The Harpoon's sea-skimming ability gives it a far better chance of REACHING the target than, say, a Maverick (even the G or E versions), because it's flight profile makes it a very tough target. And this consists of things ranging from SAMs, through to Phalanx and similar systems, all the way to small calibre deck guns which can just pump out steel at a pretty fast rate. These days, you can get small craft armed with all sorts of nasties from SSMs to SAMs and as a result you don't wanna get to close to them and/or dispatch them real quick, in which case the Harpoon would be a great solution.įurthermore, when talking about which missile to use, one thing has been overlooked. I think that the idea of using a Harpoon for small craft is overkill isn't necesarilly true.

F 16 and harpoon missile