Missile 1KR1 Sapsan

The 1KR1 Sapsan, also known as Grom, Grim-2 or Hrim-2, is a Ukrainian single-stage, solid-propellant short-range ballistic missile system. It is intended to combine the functions of a tactical missile system and a multiple rocket launcher.

In 2006 the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine called for a replacement for the Soviet-era Tochka-U, which only Russian companies could overhaul and upgrade. The Ministry of Defence approved operational requirements in September 2007. Funding stopped in 2009–2010 after the 2008 financial crisis, resumed at a slow pace in November 2011, and ended in 2013. An undisclosed foreign customer then contracted development of an export variant, the Hrim-2. Saudi Arabia was reported in 2016 to have provided US$40 million toward research and development. After the Russo-Ukrainian War began in 2014, the Sapsan program for Ukraine's own use was restarted on the basis of Hrim-2 work. In April 2019 two prototypes had been completed, one for Saudi Arabia and one for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In February 2021 the Ukrainian government decided to fund a test battery. The Ministry of Defence stated in June 2023 that funds to complete the program had been allocated. A German defense package financed combat testing and serial production, and the system entered Ukrainian service in 2025 under the index 1KR1.

The system uses a wheeled transporter erector launcher that carries and fires two missiles. The test battery consists of two launchers, two loading vehicles and two control units, one for the battery commander and one for the division commander. Two versions exist:

• The domestic Sapsan has a longer range.
• The export Hrim-2 has its range restricted to stay under the Missile Technology Control Regime threshold.

Ukrainian officials state that the missile reaches Mach 5.2 and carries a conventional warhead. They assess its performance as exceeding that of the ATACMS and approaching that of the 9K720 Iskander. No guidance details have been disclosed.

The Ukrainian Ground Forces operate the system. Media outlets suggested the Sapsan as a possible cause of the explosions at Saky airbase in Novofedorivka, Russian-occupied Crimea, on 9 August 2022, but the cause was never established. On 6 May 2023 Russian officials claimed that air defenses shot down two Sapsan missiles over Crimea without casualties or damage. They did not specify the target, and Russian sources circulated footage of alleged missile debris in a field.

In August 2024 Ukraine announced the first successful test of a domestically produced ballistic missile without naming the type, and commentators linked the announcement to the Sapsan. In June 2025 Ukraine reported the first combat test of the Sapsan and said the missile had entered serial production. On 14 August 2025 the FSB and the Russian Armed Forces claimed to have destroyed Sapsan production sites. On 9 December 2025 President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that Ukraine had begun using the Sapsan in combat. He added that Russia had in some cases misidentified Ukrainian strikes as Neptune launches.