Satellite happens to capture Russian Navy missile launch by chance

[dufus]

 

 

A satellite passing over the Barents Sea happened to capture a Russian Navy missile launch by chance, a surprise blessing for the nonmilitary intelligence community from nearly 500 miles above the globe.

 

The image, which was found by OSINT (Open-Source Intelligence) analyst Frank Bottema, came as a pleasant surprise after he and his team had been diligently tracking Russia’s Northern Fleet in recent weeks.

 

According to H.I. Sutton, the missile launch took place at grid location 70.09378, 32.75932  (70° 5’37.61″N, 32°45’33.55″E) on July 23 and is visible on Sentinel Hub.

 

The missile was believed to be a 3K95 (NATO Designation: SA-N-9 Gauntlet), launched from a Udaloy-I Class Destroyer.

 

The Russian Navy confirmed later that the 7,500-ton destroyer Severomorsk had in fact carried out a launch as part of a tactical exercise.

 

The missile is the maritime version of the SA-15 Tor, which was used by Iran to shoot down a Ukrainian airliner on January 8

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