Russian Pacific fleet getting Kalibr cruise missile

Russia is arming naval forces in the Pacific region this year with a new advanced cruise missile that will give its submarines and ships the ability to sink other ships and -- for the first time -- execute long-range strikes against land targets, according to a senior Pentagon official.

Adm. Phil Davidson, head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, told Congress in written testimony this week that Russia will begin fielding the Kalibr cruise missile across its Pacific fleet this year -- a weapon that other Pentagon officials have warned could be used to offset U.S. military power-projection advantages and limit U.S. diplomatic options in a crisis.

"We expect the Russian Pacific Fleet will add its first Kalibr cruise missile-capable ships and submarines to its inventory in 2021, giving it substantially increased anti-ship capabilities and the ability to conduct long-range strikes against land targets for the first time," Davidson said.

In a January report, the Defense Intelligence Ballistic Missile Analysis Committee assessed the range of the ship- and sub-launched variant of the new Russian cruise missile -- the 3M-14 Kalibr -- to be at least 2,500 kilometers.

This kind of capability is prompting North American Aerospace Defense Command to think anew about domestic air defense, advancing the concept for a Strategic Homeland Integrated Ecosystems for Layered Defense (SHIELD).

A recent Congressional Budget Office study, "National Cruise Missile Defense: Issues and Alternatives," examined the threat and determined "a homeland [cruise missile defense] would be feasible but expensive, with costs ranging from roughly $75 billion to $465 billion over 20 years to cover the contiguous United States."

CBO noted that a domestic cruise missile defense umbrella could be overwhelmed by advanced threats like the Kalibr: "A raid consisting of many [land-attack cruise missiles] could overwhelm them. For example, a Yasen-class guided missile submarine in the Russian Navy can reportedly carry up to 32 LACM (3M-14 Kalibr) in its eight vertical launchers."

Davidson said Russia is also modernizing forces in the Pacific region "with air defense and land-based anti-ship cruise missiles, advanced fighters, and upgraded bombers capable of delivering improved and longer-range strikes. These improvements are designed to restrict access to regions of the Pacific Ocean near Russia's coast, while simultaneously expanding Russia's ability to project power across the Region and into the Arctic."