Vietnam's next Molniya will carry... 12 anti-ship missiles?

Currently, negotiations to manufacture an upgraded variant of the Molniya fast attack missile boat between Vietnam and Russia are underway.

According to initial information, the weapon configuration of the next 4 Molniya missile ships will have many improvements compared to the present. Although the specifics have not been announced, according to experts, it is almost 100% certain that the ships will be upgraded with supersonic anti-ship missiles, possibly 3M55 Yakhont or 3M54 Kalibr.

However, because the two types of missiles are much larger and heavier than the 3M24 Uran-E, the ship will not be able to carry 4 launchers like the KT-184 with 16 missiles as it is now, but will have to accept a slight reduction.

But because the new weapon has very high speed, long range, and is very difficult to intercept, it will not require launching a large number of bullets at the same target like the Uran-E, so it will not affect the quantity if it has to be reduced.

Model of India's Molniya missile boat carrying 8 PJ-10 BrahMos missiles

Some time ago, the most likely possibility mentioned was that Vietnam would upgrade the Molniya ship according to the configuration introduced by India, which is to mount two inclined launchers with eight PJ-10 BrahMos supersonic anti-ship cruise missiles on both sides of the ship.

Unfortunately, India has not yet sold BrahMos missiles to Vietnam while the weapon configuration of the new Molniya has been specifically negotiated. In addition, your side has not yet deployed this option in the field, so we will not follow the above proposal but return to our traditional partner, Russia.

If so, there is another option that has proven to be superior and has been successfully applied by Russia, which is to equip the CM-403 launcher of the Oniks/Yakhont missile with a base of 12 missiles.

The Nanuchka 1234.7 missile boat after modernization is equipped with 2 CM-403 launchers with 12 Oniks anti-ship missiles.

The Russian Navy has modernized the firepower of the small missile frigate Nanuchka - Project 1234.7, each launcher carries 6 Oniks missiles launched in an inclined direction, this configuration can be completely applied on Molniya 1241.8.

If that option is chosen, the CM-403 launcher will require a 90-degree rotation to fit the Molniya's deck dimensions, a simple operation that does not affect operations.

Plan to install 3S-14PE multi-purpose inclined launcher on Udaloy destroyer Project 1155

If Vietnam wants to equip the Molniya 1241.8 with 3M54 Kalibr-NK missiles, Russia has also introduced another way, which is the 3S-14PE multi-purpose inclined launcher, which also carries 6 3M54 missiles per launcher.

However, the 3S-14PE launcher is only on paper and has not been deployed in practice like the CM-403, so it appears to be weaker because we are used to ordering weapons that have proven their capabilities over a long period of operation.

But with any configuration proposed by Russia, Vietnam's upgraded Molniya 1241.8 will have up to 12 supersonic anti-ship cruise missiles, providing superior power compared to the current 16 3M24 Uran-E missiles.

According to Baodatviet