What Stopped Russian Amphibious Attacks? Ukraine’s RGM-84 Harpoon Destroyed Russian Warships in Black Sea

By Maya Carlin, Warrior Contributor, Weapons

NATO member-states have provided Kyiv with truly staggering amounts of aid since the onset of Russia’s invasion. Cash, a plethora of weapons, and training from the West have helped Ukraine defend itself for more than 14 months.

The advanced weaponry used by Ukraine at the front line includes the American-made Harpoon anti-ship missile. Denmark was the first country to provide Harpoons, which it sent along with self-propelled howitzers last May. 

In the early weeks of warfare, Kyiv used its homegrown Neptune anti-ship missile to sink the Russian navy’s flagship, Moskva. In the months since that success, the addition of Harpoons to Kyiv’s weapons arsenal has greatly enhanced the country’s naval capabilities.

Harpoon Missile

The U.S. Navy in the 1960s started to conceptualize a longer-range missile for use against surfaced enemy submarines. The true devastation that anti-ship missiles fired from submarines could cause became apparent to U.S. defense officials when a Soviet-designed Styx anti-ship missile took down the Israeli destroyer Eilat. Since submarines are often nicknamed “whales,” the U.S. appropriately dubbed its new weapon “harpoon.” While the weapon was later repurposed to be an anti-ship missile, the nickname stuck.

Specs and Capabilities

McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing Defense, Space & Security), developed the all-weather, over-the-horizon Harpoon in 1975. Since then, more than 7,000 of these missiles have been produced.

They currently serve multiple militaries, including India, Israel, Chile, Brazil, and Pakistan. By 1977, the U.S. Navy had adapted the Harpoon as its standard anti-ship missile. 

The Harpoon has been fitted on the P-3 Orion, the F/A-18 Hornet and the B-52H, among other airframes.