The Russian Defense Ministry said that its Pacific Fleet’s K-300P Bastion mobile coastal defense systems had been stationed for deployment on the Kuril island of Paramushir. The Bastion coastal missile system combat units of the Pacific Fleet have been deployed and have taken up duty on Matua Island for the first time. On this remote island in the central part of the Kuril ridge, Pacific Fleet missiles will be on a 24/7 standby to control the adjacent water area and strait zones. The operation and maintenance, technical posts equipment, material storage facilities, and entrances to the launching zones have all been developed and deployed. The military personnel took up duty and carried out the scheduled combat training exercises.
The K-300P Bastion-P (NATO reporting name SS-C-5 Stooge) is a Russian mobile coastal defence missile system. The system was developed together with the Belarusian company Tekhnosoyuzproekt. The main role of the Bastion-P is to engage surface ships including carrier battle groups, convoys, and landing craft. A typical battery is composed of 1-2 command and control vehicles based on the Kamaz 43101 6×6 truck, one support vehicle, four launcher vehicles based on the MZKT-7930 8×8 chassis each operated by a 3-man crew and holding two missiles, and four loader vehicles; launcher vehicles can be located up to 25 km (16 mi) away from the C2 vehicles. Upon halting, missiles can be readied for firing within five minutes, and both fired in 2-5 second intervals.
The missile used by the Bastion-P is the P-800 Oniks, a supersonic anti-ship missile with a 200–250 kg (440–550 lb) warhead. They are fired vertically from the launchers using a solid-fuel rocket booster for initial acceleration, then use a liquid-fuel ramjet for sustained cruising at Mach 2.5. The Oniks/Yakhont’s maximum range varies at 120–300 km (75–186 mi; 65–162 nmi) using a low-low or hi-low flight trajectory respectively. Using GLONASS at the initial flight stage and active radar guidance when approaching a target, the missile can fly to an altitude of 14,000 m (46,000 ft) before descending to sea-skimming altitude of 5 m at the final stage, useful up to sea state 7.
Paramushir is a volcanic island in the northern portion of Kuril Islands chain in the Sea of Okhotsk in the northwest Pacific Ocean. Kuril Islands have been under Russian administration since their 1945 invasion as the Soviet Union towards the end of World War II. Soviet troops landed on Paramushir on August 18, 1945, during the Invasion of the Kuril Islands, and combat operations continued through August 23, ending with the surrender of the surviving members of the Japanese garrison. The Soviets forcibly deported the remaining Japanese civilian and sent the prisoners of war to labor camps. In 2015, additional anti-aircraft missile systems Tor and Buk, coastal defence missile system Bastion, Kamov Ka-52 combat helicopters and one Varshavyanka project submarine came on defence of Kuril Islands.
