Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Russian Ministry of Defense: 37 Ukrainian drones destroyed in 4 hours over regions of Russia and the Black Sea.
Sheikh Qassem: Our supporters make up more than half of Lebanon's population, and all of these people are united under the banner of protecting Lebanon, its Resistance, its people, and its integrity.
Sheikh Qassem: There will be no phased handing in of our arms. [The Israelis] must first enact the agreement before we start talking about a defensive strategy.
Sheikh Qassem: Be brave in the face of foreign pressures, and we will be by your side in this stance.
Sheikh Qassem: Stripping us of our arms is like stripping us of our very soul, and this will prompt us to show them our might.
Sheikh Qassem: We will not abandon our arms, for they gave us dignity; we will not abandon our arms, for they protect us against our enemy.
Sheikh Qassem: The US efforts we are seeing are aimed at sabotaging Lebanon and constitute a call for sedition.
Sheikh Qassem: If you truly want to establish sovereignty and work for Lebanon’s interests, then stop the aggression.
Sheikh Qassem: The United States, which is meddling in Lebanon, is not trustworthy but rather poses a danger to it.
Sheikh Qassem: The United States is preventing the weapons that protect the homeland.

Hezbollah's Russian P-800 Oniks missiles threaten US warships: Report

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Essa News
  • 17 Nov 2023 10:13
  • 9 Shares
3 Min Read

The missile is equipped with fire-and-forget guidance technology (meaning it could self-adjust to take out the target without being in line with it during launch). 

  • x
  • Russian P-800 Oniks cruise missile -undated picture- (Ukraine Front lines)
    Russian P-800 Oniks cruise missile -undated picture- (Ukraine Front lines)

A recent report by Essanews contends that Hezbollah possesses weapons in its arsenal that could pose a serious risk to US warships in the Mediterranean. 

Specifically, the report highlights that the Lebanese Resistance possesses in its arsenal the Russian-produced anti-ship P-800 Oniks missiles. 

The report stipulates that the threats leveled by Hezbollah's Secretary General back in early November against the American warships are far from being empty rhetoric. 

Operational characteristics

The P-800 Oniks, also known as Yakhont, are surface-to-surface supersonic anti-ship cruise missiles capable of attaining speeds of Mach 2.5. 

The missile is around 9 meters long and weighs almost four tons. Its warhead in itself weighs 200kg. 

It is also equipped with fire-and-forget guidance technology (meaning it could self-adjust to take out the target without being in line with it during launch). 

Read more: US Centcom commander to visit 'Israel' on Friday amid escalation

Related News

US to increase forces in Mideast with F15s, F22s

What threats are the once-dominant US aircraft carriers facing?

Furthermore, the missile is immune to electronic countermeasures (ECM), and is capable of overriding defensive countermeasures that work to disrupt the missile's targeting system. 

The missile's technology also enables it to fly in relative stealth, as it flies in a sea-skimming, low altitude trajectory close to the water's surface to avoid radar and infrared detection.

Context

Back in October, Russian President Vladimir Putin questioned the purpose of the deployment of the USS Gerald Ford aircraft carrier. Putin stipulated if the US hoped to scare the Lebanese with this move, it would change nothing because there are people in Lebanon who do not fear the US. 

A few weeks later, during his long-awaited speech, the Secretary General of Hezbollah Sayyed Nasrallah warned the US saying, "These fleets that you are threatening [us] with, we have prepared the appropriate response for them." 

A message to the #US fleets in the Mediterranean waters deployed to threaten and destabilize the region by yours truly, #Hezbollah SG Sayyed Hassan #Nasrallah. pic.twitter.com/qRBpKxuVPS

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) November 3, 2023

Russia had supplied the P-800 Oniks missiles to Syria during the early years of the war against Syria. They are expected to have been transferred to Hezbollah's arsenal through Syria, according to the report.

Syria's possession of the P-800 Oniks has long raised Israeli concerns. In 2013, the Israeli occupation's air force conducted an air bombardment on Latakia in an effort to neutralize Syria's arsenal of the missile. 

Read more: Lebanese Resistance continues to target Israeli positions on border

Back in the 2006 war, the Lebanese Resistance had managed to target the Israeli Sa’ar 5-class corvette INS "Hanit" warship, which had been enforcing a maritime blockade on the Lebanese coast. 

Back then Hezbollah had employed two Chinese-manufactured C-802A subsonic missiles that the group had acquired through Iran, according to a report by the CSIS Missile Defense Project.

  • US aircraft carrier
  • Israel
  • Hezbollah
  • Lebanon
  • Cruise Missile
War on Gaza

War on Gaza

Most Read

Tom Artiom Alexandrovich, executive director of the defense division of the Israeli National Cyber Directorate, undated (Social media)

Israeli-born US prosecutor drops Israeli officer child sex crime

  • Politics
  • 19 Aug 2025
Almost instantly after the Helsinki Accords were signed, organisations sprouted to document purported violations, whose findings were fed to overseas embassies for international amplification. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab el-Hajj)

How ‘Human Rights’ became a Western weapon

  • Opinion
  • 23 Aug 2025
Israeli soldiers stand on the top of armoured vehicles parked on an area near the Israeli-Gaza border, as seen from southern Israel, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025 (AP)

Palestinian fighters target Israeli soldiers, vehicles in Gaza

  • Politics
  • 21 Aug 2025
Launch of a ballistic missile from Yemen toward the occupied Palestinian territories. (YAF military media)

Yemeni Forces announce firing hypersonic missile at Al-Lydd Airport

  • Politics
  • 22 Aug 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference at the Prime minister's office in al-Quds, Occupied Palestine, Sunday, Aug. 10, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Netanyahu deliberately derailing truce with Gaza occupation: Hamas

Irish President Michael Higgins arrives to deliver his speech during a 42nd World Food Day celebration at FAO headquarters in Rome, on Oct. 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Politics

Irish president renews call for UN military intervention in Gaza

US Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at the US Embassy in Aukar, northern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, July 21, 2025 (AP)
Politics

US envoy, Netanyahu discuss restraining attacks on Lebanon, withdrawal

Smoke billows following Israeli airstrikes in multiple areas in Sanaa, Yemen, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Ansar Allah vow sustained Gaza support despite Israeli strikes

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS