Half of PtG S-300 are Rif the other half are rif-M which is naval PMU2 standard and uses 48N6E2 missiles with 250km range. You can see that the front radar is the one from ground s-300 (rif-M) and the one in the back is a big round radar for rif that you can also see on slavas.
Gorshkov could have had the rif-M too just like chinese frigate that have it. The VLS just like Redut launcher is not universal so that change nothing apart missile types being carried.
The radars it is fitted with don't indicate the actual missiles being carried... the vessel might have the new radar for the upgraded missile, but how many new missiles have they actually paid for and how many are even carried at sea?
As discussed before, instead the redut cells in Gorshkov class are not optimized for the missile size, so they maybe plan to substitute them anyway.
I would not read too much in to the size of the cells for the tests... they might have had telemetry equipment in each tube with the missile to measure all sorts of things and contain cameras or other instruments to monitor conditions for the missile during storage and launch and after launch... the operational system would probably have four missiles per missile hatch.
The only "waste" could be in vertical space (as the shorter range.missile are also shorter), unless they decide to have some of the VLS launcher shorter (as it is the case for the french VLS, that exists in different lenghts but with the same horizontal area), maybe be able to install them in other part if the ships with less vertical space available.
and/or they could maybe develop smaller redut VLS, optimized for the size of their missiles.
Or they could stack the shorter missiles. So in a missile tube big enough to take an S-400 full size missile you should be able to fit four 9M96 missiles, and it is mentioned on another thread that they can fit four 9M100 missiles in each 9M96 tube, so you should be able to get 4x4 9M100 missiles in each S-400 tube so that is 16 missiles, but in terms of length there is a lot of wasted space as you point out... the 150km 9M96 is twice as long as the 50km range 9M96 so perhaps two layers of the 150km missile meaning 8 missiles per tube and perhaps three layers of the smaller 50km range 9M96 missile so 12 missiles per S-400 tube, and the 9M100 might be only slightly shorter than the 50km range missile so perhaps four layers of missiles.... which would be 64 missiles per S-400 tube.
So with a total of 8 tubes, one UKSK-M launcher might have two S-500s which will fill the tubes completely, two S-400s with 400km range missiles, leaving four tubes... perhaps two with the long range 150km range missile, so 16 missiles, one with the 50km range missile with 12 missiles and one with 9M100 missiles and 64 missiles.
So one UKSK-M launcher with:
S-500 x 2 = 600km range.
S-400 x 2 = 400km range.
9M96 x 16 = 150km range.
9M96 x 12 = 50km range.
9M100 x 64 = 10-15km range.
I would imagine a corvette would not bother with the S-500s and S-400s, so you could literally double the load of the other weapons... 32 x 150km range missiles, 24 x 50km range missiles, and 128 range 10-15km range missiles... which would be a potent self defence SAM armament...
Without stacking then a single 8 tube UKSK-M launcher could carry 2 x S-500 missiles, 2 x S-400 missiles, 12 x 9M96 missiles, 16 x 9M100 missiles.
Just keep the redut then . Because a universal VLS that is too short for most of missiles is no longer universal.
Depends on Reduts design... can it for example carry S-400 missiles... and if it can then it is already too long to efficiently carry 9M100 missiles without stacking... and if you add stacking to make it work then you might as well use the UKSK-M.
Unless these launchers are instead optimized for the size of the quad packed shorter range s350 missile, that are 125 mm in diameter (vs 240mm).
To be clear there seems to be three different missile diameters that we are talking about... the S-300/S-400 full size missiles, and then the 9M96 reduced size S-400 family missiles and then the very small 9M100 missiles.
The Redut hatch covers seem to be sized for the S-300/400 full size SAMs as used in the S-300P and S-300F missiles, so it should be able to carry four 9M96 missiles per missile hatch because the S-400 system could carry four 9M96 in place of each older larger tube.
The 9M96 seem to be being called S-350 in the new land system, which carries two rows of 6 launch tubes in a 12 missile launcher, but when fitted with 9M100, which allows four missiles per 9M96 tube that means 48 missiles per launcher, or 16 missiles per original S-300/S-400 tube...
There is a video somewhere here in the naval section, which was posted a few days ago, that showed that they are developing a version of the 40N6 missile for the Redut = 400km range.
Which suggests the reason the hatch covers and missile space is so big is because ultimately they want to be able to use the standard S-300 and S-400 sized missiles as an option and so testing the much smaller 9M96 they needed a fairing cover to fill the tube space.
I suspect the 250km and 400km missiles would be useful... especially with air support and an air borne AWACS platform giving target data regarding very far away targets... in a net centric IADS the launch platform is not so important and could be a tiny Corvette or even a submarine if they want to get clever... remember the Yasen class has UKSK launchers... imagine being in an MPA or anti sub helo knowing the Yasen class SSGN you are hunting could launch a 9M100 lock on after launch IIR guided SAM with very little warning... they could probably hear you coming and launch based on sound...
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