Russia's Kalibr cruise missile is today a symbol of Russia's newfound military power. When in 2015, Caspian Sea corvettes carried out an attack with this 2000 km missile on Islamic State and FSA positions, Russia demonstrated its ability to strike at long range with very short notice. , with conventional weapons, the preferred domain of Westerners until then. Since then, the Kalibr has been regularly used and tested, and it now equips the majority of new surface vessels in the Russian fleet.
According to the official TASS agency, Russian engineers are now developing a “heavy” version of this missile, designated Kalibr-M, capable of carrying a military load of 1 ton to 4.500 km, with very high precision. Once in service, this missile would therefore have the capacity to strike the entire European territory in a very short time, from vessels located in the Black, Caspian, Baltic and North Seas. In this way, it strengthens the Iskander missiles already positioned in particular in the Kaliningrad enclave, reaching 500 km, and the Kinjal hypersonic missiles, reaching 2500 km.
The redundancy of these systems, and their multiple strike capabilities, will therefore force NATO countries to deploy their anti-aircraft systems in the depth of the device, and not only in an engagement zone, to be able to protect infrastructure. sensitive areas of the alliance, and of the countries making it up.