The attacking plane has to lock and launch.

i dont believe u lock onto a target when firing AShM u simply input in the target data location on to the missile.

Been while since i last posted here been busy latel:p

The whole point of having VL units is – among other things – that there is no reloading proces: all rounds are ready rounds.

VLS systems can be reloaded only hassle is that its tedious process requires cranes etc for larger missiles. Additional missiles for barak system are carried onboard israeli vessels for sure dont have much detail on how they are reloaded or how long it takes.

Why wouldn’t IN go for Kashtan on P15A? After all, it is using it on Talwar class, it is planned for the first three P17 frigates. This irrespective of the fact that IN tested Kashtan M only recently! Both of which have a fully Russian suite of weapons. Most weaponry aboard P15A is likewise Russian. To avoid integration problems, it would make sense to stick with a fully Russian set of armaments, including Kashtan.

Talwar was concieved back in 1997 and P17 around 1999 well before IN decided to adopt barak on its surface combatants. They already had integerated barak with P-15 and overcame most of integeration problems why wont they not do the same with P-15A as well.

I doubt Kashtan M is much lighter and AFAIK the below decks requirements are unchanged. see here

actually no according to milparade article kashtan command module weights 9.5 tons and m weights 7.5 tons. I will try to post snapshot of it when it get time.

i dont think kashtan module is represented accurately in that plastic model will try to find image showing ayout of kashtan i used to have one b4 but cant find it. Anyway one of the problems with kashtan has been its size hence russia tried to find cheaper and smaller alternative ak-630m1-2, palma. I believe the newer kashtan-M model is supposed to few tons lighter and smaller than the orginal.
As for barak i believe more could be ordered that whats IAI reported along with few newspapers when news broke that US will sell few more orions to pakistan no word on how many.

Do you think the Russian Navy is rich? Well IN already has Kashtan on the Talwar frigates and most probably on Gorshkov in the future. So, that would count for the Standardisation too then.

well IN found kashtan peformance lacking according to ToI and but agreed to test Kashtan-M for the gorshkov 04 Jan,

“As part of the deal, the Russians also insisted on fitting the carrier with Kashtan missile systems that provides for self-defence of the ship against high precision weapons.

But India rejected the missiles as their performance was found to be not up to the mark during trials. The Russians then offered a modified Kashtan-M missile system.

Indian officials said the new system would be put through tests before taking a decision on their installation.

“They didn’t want Israeli or French missiles to be mounted on the ship but that will depend on how the new Kashkan missiles perform,” a senior official told IANS.”

But after some googling actually i like to correct myself it seems barak not kashtan-m will be fitted on gorshkov according to tribune report dated jun 2004 even thou reports from jan 2004 were indicating that IN has agreed to test kashtan-M for gorshkov it seems IN wasnt impressed with the tests.

the barak module is far smaller weight and size wise than one the kashtan requires, it can be mounted on top of hull as its county destroyer without any ramifications. If latter wasnt true kashtan would have deployed on viraat and would have replaced ak-630 on most russian vessels. As for barak vs kashtan, IN wants standardization of its SAM system 10 more system have been ordered (3 of those for brahmaputra, the rest is probably intended for newer vessels).

Well, that’s not entirely true. IMHO 1 Kashtan mount will take up about the same (under)deck space as 2x AK 630. Compare for example the russian Udaloy 1 (2×2 AK630) and Udaloy 2 (2x Kashtan). Also compare the russian large cruisers: newer units have 1 Kashtan mount where older ones had 2x AK630.

no, kashtan requires extensive deck penetration for storage of its missiles thats one of the reason why it hasnt fully replaced ak-630 in most russian vessels and also IN considered kashtan for viraat and Delhi but abandoned due to extensive refitting they would require to carry the system. As u noted all those vessels were redesigned to carry kashtan, P-15A in other hand was already designed to carry ak-630 so without have to redo the design its harder to fight kashtan onto it. Besides IN is in love barak, gorshkov was postponed by couple months because IN wanted barak rather than kashtan but finally relanted dont see why they would not fit barak rather kashtan onto their own vessel.

The sales brochure shows a CG of a VL Shtil in a Sovremenny.

it was orginally intended for 2nd batch of sovremenny but due to lack of $$$ it was never fully completed.