The Indian Navy is planning to buy 20 Klub anti-ship cruise missiles (Kalibr-K system) from Russia in a deal estimated to be worth $120 million, a recent ANI report said citing sources familiar with the matter.
The navy has been using the Klub missile for decades, and the weapon system serves as one of the key components of the country's blue water force's ships, including frigates and destroyers, and submarines.
This will also be an addition to the BrahMos supersonic anti-ship and land attack missile system, which the Indian Navy operates from warships. Brahmos missiles have a maximum strike range of more than 290 km.
Main Features of the Klub Missile
Developed by Russian defense company NPO Novator, the Klub, also known as Kalibr, is a cruise missile inducted into Moscow's defense forces in 1994.
The missile can be launched from a ship, submarine, and aircraft and has three different versions for anti-submarine, anti-ship, and on-surface operations.
Also, it has both supersonic and subsonic variants. While the supersonic version has a greater speed to hit targets, the subsonic variant can strike the adversary afar compared to the former.
What is Klub's Exact Range
According to Novator, the Klub missile can be launched with a warhead weighing 400 kilograms. Several publications claim that the missile has a range of 300 km.
On the other hand, a report by the US Department of Defense estimates that the land attack version of the missile has a range of 1,400 km while Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said that the missile's range was almost 1,500 km.
Independent defense experts believe that the Russian-origin Klub missile has far better targeting capabilities and a greater range compared to its western counterparts.