Yakhont 3

The Yakhont 3 missile was essentially a Klamathian copy of the RL Yakhont anti-shipping/cruise missile developed by Russia with several critical differences.

The warhead was increased to 250kg (from 200-220), the range to 900 km (from 120-300 km, depending on flight profile), and the speed to be mach 2.5-3 rather than the commonly assumed 2-2.5 real-life figures. Naturally, this made the Yakhont 3 a very popular missile, and it proliferated beyond the wildest expectations of any arms dealer in NationStates. In fact, due to the extremely appealing nature of the Yakhont and the large payload thereof of the Scorpion IV - a NationStates edition of the Russian missile boat of the same designation, carrying at least twice the payload and improved secondary firepower - led to an entirely new naval philosophy.

Instead of using aircraft carrier groups, or even any ships of great size, a nation would amass literally thousands of missile boats and deploy them in vast fleets operating in concert. The large number of missiles fired and the diverse number of targets would then assure victory, stated this school of thought. Actual results were mixed with respect to both the tactical superiority and strategic utility of this unconventional navy.

After the demise of Klamath, the Bisons marketed the Yakhont 4, described as a stealth missile of the same flight characteristics, save for a 500 km range.

Tahar Joblis developed the Snake missile family as a viable offensive counter to the Yakhont 3 shortly after its initial release by Klamath, but due to budget constraints and a lack of industrial capacity, the Snake was never produced in the same quantities as the Yakhont 3, and remained in the hands of Tahar Joblis and a few allies.

A brief description of the RL Yakhont may be found at FAS.org.