At the Leningrad naval base of the Baltic Fleet, exercises were held for crews of coastal missile systems "Bal", during which they practiced launching missile attacks on mock enemy ships from the coast of the Gulf of Finland. This was reported by the press service of the Baltic Fleet.

“Rocket crews of the Leningrad Naval Base of the Fleet, as part of an exercise on the coast of the Gulf of Finland, worked out the tasks of detecting surface targets and issuing target designations when delivering simulated missile strikes in various environmental conditions,” the message says.

The crews of the launch batteries of the Bal missile systems demonstrated methods of placing equipment in various positions, performing tasks of deployment, changing the battle formation and location of military equipment after the use of weapons.

“More than 50 military personnel and ten units of military and special equipment are involved in the training activities, including mobile coastal maritime and air reconnaissance complexes,” the Baltic Fleet reported.

By sea and land

The Bal coastal missile system (CBM) was developed by the Tactical Missile Weapons Corporation (KTRV) and put into service in 2008.

The missile defense system consists of a mobile system that includes self-propelled command posts (up to two units) and self-propelled launchers (up to four units), each of which carries eight cruise missiles. It also includes four transport and reloading vehicles designed to form a repeat salvo.

“Bal” was designed on the chassis of the MZKT-7930 wheeled tractor with an 8 × 8 design, which allows it to occupy firing positions on an unprepared coast. The maximum speed of the complex on the highway is 60 km/h, off-road - 20 km/h. The cruising range without refueling reaches 850 km, and the deployment time to a new position does not exceed ten minutes.

"Bal" is intended for the protection of naval infrastructure, coastal defense in amphibious areas and control of territorial waters and strait zones.

According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, these missile missile systems can fire missiles in salvos or make single launches at a given time.

“For most of the flight, the missile flies over the surface of the sea, which saves ammunition and makes it difficult to intercept and defeat it with missile defense systems,” the Russian Defense Ministry reports.

The total ammunition load of the Bala can reach 64 rounds of ammunition, while the DBK is capable of firing a salvo of up to 32 missiles at a time.

Such a salvo is capable of disrupting the combat mission of a large naval strike group, landing force or enemy convoy.

The complex uses the Kh-35 anti-ship cruise missile with a firing range of up to 120 km and its upgraded version Kh-35U with a maximum range of 260 km. They were developed by the designers of the State Research and Production Center "Zvezda-Strela" and are intended to destroy boats, corvettes, frigates and destroyers.

  • Kh-35UE tactical anti-ship missile

  • © Rosoboronexport

These missiles use a small turbojet engine and a special propellant booster, which give the missile a powerful launch impulse.

In 2021, the Russian Ministry of Defense completed work on integrating the Kh-35U anti-ship missiles into the armament of the Su-34 front-line bombers.

It is worth noting that the Bal complexes and X-35 family missiles were first used by the Russian military in 2022 as part of a special operation in Ukraine.

The Russian Ministry of Defense then reported that the DBKs were used for attacks with high-precision missiles on the positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The shooting took place at night from a position located on the Black Sea coast.

Main element

The head of the department of political analysis and socio-psychological processes of the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, Andrei Koshkin, noted that the successful exercises with the Bal complexes in the Gulf of Finland were a response to statements by NATO countries that they would “close” the Baltic Sea to the Russian Federation.

“All conventional enemy ships were destroyed. This is information for those who claim that the Baltic Sea is a NATO internal sea and that it will now be inaccessible to Russian ships. This is wrong. This high-tech complex will provide an advantage over the conditional enemy of the Russian Federation, which uses outdated systems,” the military political scientist emphasized.

  • Launch of an anti-ship cruise missile by the Bal coastal missile system

  • RIA News

  • © Igor Zarembo

The presence of the S-400, Bal and Iskander-M systems on the Russian coast of the Gulf of Finland creates a dead zone in which the use of ships and aircraft for NATO will be impossible, added Andrei Koshkin.

“Bal” is one of the main components of this system of denying access to the enemy. This complex solves the problem of the coast guard,” the expert explained.

The “Bal” complexes are primarily designed to destroy enemy ships of the destroyer class, military expert Alexey Leonkov noted in a conversation with RT.

"Bal" can fire to kill from closed firing positions. All missiles are placed in transport and launch containers, which allows the launcher to be quickly reloaded in order to fire against multiple targets. A total of eight containers are located on one launcher. The complex also includes a transport and reloading vehicle for reloading and a command post,” the expert said.

Alexey Leonkov added that the Russian Federation already has about 40 such complexes located in various dangerous water areas.

“These complexes are equipped with the Monolit-b radar. This station allows you to identify naval targets, their class and issue target designations to launchers. The detection range is over 450 km when the radar operates in passive mode. One such station can detect up to 200 surface targets, and issue up to 50 targets for the use of weapons,” the specialist said.

The Kh-35U missile is designed to destroy ships, but its characteristics allow it to carry out attacks on ground targets, noted Alexey Leonkov.

“But we must take into account that the destruction of ground targets is not the main task of the Ball. Nevertheless, we also tried something similar with the Bastion complex - we used Zircon and Onyx anti-ship missiles against ground targets. That is, the system can operate both at sea and on land,” said RT’s interlocutor.

Enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex have proven that they can maintain work in the mode necessary to provide the Russian Armed Forces with all the required weapons, Andrei Koshkin noted.

“Reports about the successful use of the Ball missile system and other weapons should give cause for serious thought to those warmongers who in the West talk about the need for a direct military conflict with Russia,” the political scientist concluded.

The Bal complexes are an important element of Russian coastal defense, Alexey Leonkov emphasized.

“Initially they appeared in the Kaliningrad region, and then in the Leningrad Military District. The waters of the Gulf of Finland must be safe. The water corridor between Estonia and Finland is quite narrow. At the same time, in its territorial waters, which are located quite close to our borders, the enemy can organize various provocations. The main task of the “Bal” complexes is to monitor the surface situation around the clock and, if necessary, stop these provocations,” the expert stated.