Modified Neptune anti-ship missiles provide Ukraine with the longest-range and most powerful weapons of its own production. Apparently, the new variant has a 350 kg warhead capable of hitting targets at a range of up to 400 km. A representative of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense reported that Kiev has modified its Neptune anti-ship missiles to hit ground targets.

Due to restrictions on the use of supplied “Western” weapons against targets outside its borders, Ukraine is apparently developing its own long-range offensive weapons, one of which is already in use in the Crimea.

A representative of Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense said on August 23 that Kiev used a modified Neptune anti-ship cruise missile to defeat the Russian S-400 air defense system in the western part of the occupied peninsula. He added that there are plans to eventually hit other targets inside Russia using variants of the Neptune ground-based missile.

The official, on condition of anonymity, said the attack on the S-400 system near the village of Olenivka on Cape Tarkhankut was “performed by a 100 percent modified Neptune.” The official’s comments came days after the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Oleksiy Danilov, said that a new Ukrainian missile had hit the S-400. However, Danilov did not specify which weapon was used.

This statement also came after Yuri Butusov’s statement on 24 August saying that the modified R-360 Neptune anti-ship missile for ground attack was used to hit the S-400.

Previously, the Neptune complex had gained popularity after two of them were used to defeat the Russian Navy cruiser Moskva in the Black Sea in April 2022.

In April of this year, it was learned that Ukraine was trying to turn Neptune into a ground attack weapon, but needed a new guidance system that it didn’t have at the time. Specifically, certain types of chips were needed to complete the system, but the system was close to completion.

Ukraine has developed a GPS guidance system that will deliver the missile to a predetermined location. The missile’s infrared homing head then searches and locks onto the target according to a preloaded image, and then launches a final attack on that target. If it can match the target, it will cancel the missile attack.

Ukraine gained more capabilities by modernizing Neptune; because these missiles cannot be stopped by electronic warfare and due to the passive nature of guided warheads they are very difficult to detect in the final attack phase. Source