From the Depths: UKV-4-5 Interitus cruise missile

Workshop link: steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=291…

The UKV-4-5 is a Khertlandian anti-ship and land-strike loitering cruise missile. The Khertland navy initiated the ‘Next Generation Naval Strike’’ program to replace its aging arsenal of missiles consisting primarily of KKV series. The navy was primarily focused on procuring a new anti-ship missile capable of penetrating and destroying battleships. However the work and research being done by the navy intrigued the army who also wanted a shore-based anti-ship missile capability for area denial and coastal defense. And so the missile began with it being jointly developed by both branches.

Initial design studies focused around the warhead type. Previous KKV used kinetic impact for most of its destructive power but was deemed no longer competitive. Alternatives included conventional and nuclear. Conventional warheads were researched back in 2016 but were proven to be too bulky and weak. A tactical nuclear warhead was favored although certain circles opposed it due to fear of nuclear escalation rendering such a missile impractical for normal use.
On July 13, GPYF, a neighbor and close security partner of Khertland conducted tests of conventional fragmentation warheads. Khertland observers reported impressive results that greatly altered the discussion to be in favor of a conventional warhead.

For its flight profile, the navy wanted a sea-skimming design due to its relative simplicity and familiarity with this exact type on the KKV-3-3. During this time, the army also wanted to add land-attack in addition to its naval-strike capability. The army saw immense potential in a missile capable of avoiding enemy air defenses, loitering and flying deep behind enemy lines and striking at operationally and strategically vital targets such as command posts, fuel depot, ammo dumps, bridges, airfields, and troop concentrations.
To this end the cruise missile needed to be able to loiter and follow waypoints and search for targets on its own. The sea-skimming capability was then extended to NOE flying and terrain pathfinding.

The air force as a result also got interested in the program seeing it as potential in revitalizing its strategic bomber fleet which was slated to be divested. As a result, the missiles were expected to be able to be launched from large strategic bombers, ground-based transport erector launchers, and surface ships.
Various sizes were discussed with a small system preferred, although the navy and to a lesser extent, the army did not mind a larger missile. But as several designs were iterated through, the air force dropped out of the program due to its apparent size.

Initial prototypes maintained the sea-skimming design but were found to perform poorly over terrain. So it was changed to cruise at a much higher altitude but this increased the complexity of the software. Consultations with GPYF were made during this time albeit the software was still domestically developed. To penetrate enemy air defenses, the missile was given a maneuver algorithm that does S turns to avoid being shot down before pointing at the target at terminal phase. The warhead’s size were scaled down from prototypes but its seem was improved although still slower than the KKV series. It is smaller than the previous KKV series of missiles however.