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Kalibr

The family of Russian strategic cruise missiles of the Tomahawk class

The Russian Kalibr family is a long-range cruise missile, analogous to the Tomahawk. A modular system that can be launched from submarines (submarine launch), surface ships, land, and air. During the operation in Syria, missiles launched from Russian small corvettes in the Caspian Sea, over 2000 km away at targets of ISIS/Syria, attracted international attention. In the war in Ukraine, they became the primary munition for strikes on electrical infrastructure and cities.

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• What is Kalibr?

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What is Kalibr?

Kalibr (Russian: Калибр, NATO: SS-N-30 and SS-N-27) is a family of strategic cruise missiles produced by the Russian company Novator (part of the Tactical Missiles Corporation). It is positioned as the Russian analogue of the Tomahawk.

The main variants of the Kalibr family:

• 3M-14T (for land targets) — Launched from surface ships, range over 2000 km, with HE or nuclear warhead.
• 3M-14K (submarine launch) — Launched from torpedo tubes of submarines, with the same range.
• 3M-54 Anti-ship — Shorter range (≈220 km), supersonic in the final stage, for targeting ships.
• 3M-54E1 (export) — Exported to countries with more limited range, such as India, Vietnam, Algeria.
• 3M-14E (export) — Export version with the same range limitations.

Features that make Kalibr strategic:

• Range over 2000 km — can be launched from small corvettes, no need for a large ship.
• Low-flying trajectory (≈100 m above sea level) — difficult to detect by radar.
• INS + GPS/GLONASS for navigation; in the final stage electro-optical or radar target recognition.
• The anti-ship variant goes supersonic in the final stage — reduces defense reaction time.
• Standard UKSK 3S14 vertical launch system on Russian ships — in one cell, a Kalibr missile or an Onyx anti-ship missile can be launched.

The launch of missiles from small corvettes of the Buyan-M and Karakurt classes at targets in Syria over 2000 km away became a global event — it demonstrated that even small ships can have strategic strike power. In Ukraine, they became the primary munition for strikes on the electrical grid, infrastructure, and city centers.