Direct proof of use
The USPU-360MC launcher appears in the 2014 Russia-Ukraine War through Ukraine's combat use of the RK-360MC Neptune coastal missile system. Ukraine's Ministry of Defence says Neptune first drew global attention after strikes on Russian naval targets in April 2022, including the 13 April strike on the Black Sea Fleet cruiser Moskva, and identifies the system as comprising standardized launchers, loader vehicles, transport vehicles, and a mobile command vehicle.
The launcher-specific link is the RK-360MC battery structure. Mezha described the Neptune division as including six unified USPU-360 launchers, each carrying four R-360 missile canisters, and called the Moskva attack the first confirmed use of the R-360 Neptune missile and RK-360MC Neptune complex. ABC News, citing a senior U.S. defence official, reported that the United States assessed Moskva had been hit by at least one, and probably two, Ukrainian Neptune missiles.
Sources: Ukrainian Cruise Missiles Combat Deployment, R-360 Neptune Burnt Moskva, Russian War Ship Moskva Sunk by Ukrainian Neptune Anti-Ship Missile, US Says
Timeline
The open combat chronology starts in early April 2022, when Ukraine's Ministry of Defence says Neptune is believed to have been used against the Russian frigate Admiral Essen. On 13 April 2022, Ukrainian Neptune missiles struck Moskva, establishing the system's wartime role as a land-based anti-ship weapon against Russian naval forces in the Black Sea.
Later wartime reporting supports continued deployment of Neptune launcher systems rather than a one-time launch event. In June 2025, Defense Express and Ukrinform reported SSU claims that a recruited Ukrainian serviceman had collected location and operational-status information on Neptune launchers or missile systems deployed in southern Ukraine, where they were described as keeping Black Sea coastal waters under fire control.
Sources: Ukrainian Cruise Missiles Combat Deployment, Russian War Ship Moskva Sunk by Ukrainian Neptune Anti-Ship Missile, US Says, SSU Foils Plot Against Neptune Systems, Ukrinform Neptune Systems Plot Report
Battlefield role
In Ukrainian service, the USPU-360MC was the mobile transporter-erector-launcher for R-360 Neptune rounds. Its documented conflict role was not independent maneuver combat, but launching missiles as part of a distributed coastal missile battery with command, transport, reload, and support vehicles.
The evidence supports Ukrainian operation and fielding of Neptune launchers for Black Sea area denial and long-range strikes. It does not publicly establish every firing location, the exact launcher vehicle used in each attack, or the number of launchers available after Russia's full-scale invasion began. The strongest direct record ties the USPU-360MC to the RK-360MC complex used in April 2022 and to later Ukrainian Neptune launcher deployment in southern Ukraine.
Sources: 360MC Neptune Missile System, Ukrainian Cruise Missiles Combat Deployment, R-360 Neptune Burnt Moskva, SSU Foils Plot Against Neptune Systems, Ukrinform Neptune Systems Plot Report
