2K12 Kub

9M336 (also known as 3M9)
9M336 (also known as 3M9)
Type	Surface-to-air missile
Place of origin	Soviet Union
Production history
Variants	3M9, 3M9M1, 3M9M3, 3M9M4
Specifications (3M9)
Mass	599 kg
Length	5800 mm
Diameter	335 mm
Wingspan	1.245 m
Warhead	Frag-HE
Warhead weight	59 kg
Detonation; mechanism	Contact and proximity
Propellant	integral rocket motor/ramjet booster and sustainer motor
Operational; range	24 kilometres (15 mi)
Flight altitude	12,000 metres (39,000 ft)
Maximum speed	Mach 2.8
Guidance; system	semi-active radar homing
Launch; platform	2P25 TEL

2K12 Kub
NATO reporting name: SA-6 Gainful
2K12 Kub ; NATO reporting name: SA-6 Gainful
	2P25 TEL with missiles erected
Type	Tracked medium-range surface-to-air missile system
Place of origin	Soviet Union
Service history
In service	1970-present
Used by	See list of present and former operator
Wars	Yom Kippur War, Gulf War, Yugoslav wars
Production history
Designer	NIIP/Vympel; MMZ (GM chassis)
Designed	1959
Manufacturer	Ulyanovsk Mechanical Plant
Produced	1968-1985
Variants	2K12 Kub, 2K12E Kvadrat (export version), 2K12M3, 2K12M4
Specifications (2K12 Kub)
Main; armament	3 9M336 (or variants) guided missiles

The 2K12 Kub (Russian: 2К12 "Куб"; English: cube) mobile surface-to-air missile system is a Soviet low to medium-level air defence system designed to protect ground forces from air attack. "2К12" is the GRAU designation of the system. Its NATO reporting name is SA-6 Gainful.

Each battery consists of a number of similar tracked vehicles, one of which carries the 1S91 (NATO designation Straight Flush) 25 kW G/H band radar (range 75 km/47 miles) equipped with a continuous wave illuminator, in addition to an optical sight. The battery usually also includes 4 triple-missile transporter erector launchers (TELs) and 4 trucks each carrying 3 spare missiles and a crane. TEL is based on a GM-578 chassis, while the 1S91 radar vehicle on a GM-568, all developed and produced by MMZ.

History

The original system went into production in 1967. It is sometimes claimed that the M-11 Shtorm (SA-N-3) naval system is a version of the 3M9 but this is not the case, as the M-11 Shtorm is a separate system and, unusually for Russian surface-to-air missiles, has no land-based version.

Combat history

The 2K12 surprised the Israelis in the 1973 Yom Kippur War. They were used to having air superiority over the battlefield. The highly mobile 2K12 took a heavy toll on the slower A-4 Skyhawk and even the F-4 Phantom, forming a protective umbrella until they could be removed. The radar warning receivers on the Israeli aircraft did not alert the pilot to the fact that he was being illuminated by the radar. Once the RWRs were reprogrammed and tactics changed, the 2K12 was no longer such a grave threat. Pilots dubbed the 2K12 "Three Fingers of Death", in reference to the launcher's appearance.

Army of Republika Srpska forces, using modified SA-6s were successful in shooting down Scott O'Grady's F-16 Fighting Falcon in 1995^[1].

Operation

The 2K12 system shares a lot of components with the 2K11 Krug (SA-4) system. In many ways they are designed to complement each other; 2K11 is effective at long ranges and high altitudes, 2K12 at medium ranges and intermediate altitudes.

The system is able to acquire and begin tracking targets using the 1S91 "Straight Flush" radar at 75 km (47 miles) and begin illumination and guidance at 28 km (17 miles). IFF is also performed using this radar. It can only guide between one and two missiles to a single target at any time. The missile is initially command guided with terminal semi active radar homing (SARH), with target illumination provided by the "Straight Flush" radar. Detonation is via either the impact or proximity fuze. On the latest models, this vehicle is also fitted with an optical tracking system which allows engagement without the use of the radar (for active RF emissions stealth reasons, or due to heavy ECM jamming) in which case the effective altitude is limited to 14 km/46000 ft. The optical tracking method also allows engagements to altitudes below that where the radar is able to track targets. Maximum target speed is around Mach 2 for head-on engagements and Mach 1 for tail-chase engagements. Top speed of the missile is approximately Mach 2.8.

In contrast to the elaborate Patriot missile or even the simpler Hawk system fielded by US forces, most of the system rides on two tracked self-propelled vehicles, rather than towed or mounted on trucks, and either the launcher or control vehicle can be set to launch in only 15 minutes after changing location.

Missiles and versions

The fairly large missiles have an effective range of 3-24 km (2-15 miles) and an effective altitude of 50-12000 m (164-39,370 ft). The missile weighs 599 kg (1321 lb) and the warhead weighs 56 kg (123 lb). Top missile speed is approx. Mach 2.8. Propulsion is via a solid fuel rocket motor which, when burned out, forms the combustion chamber for a ramjet in a pioneering design putting this missile far ahead of its contemporaries in terms of propulsion (not to mention other areas).

In 1977 a new version, the 3M9M1 (NATO reporting name SA-6B) was created with three missiles fitted onto a different chassis (the same as that of the 9K37 "Buk" (NATO reporting name SA-11 "Gadfly"), the 2K12 effective replacement) with an integrated "Fire Dome" missile guidance radar. For comparisons between the 2K12, 9K37, see the 9K37 Buk entry.

An earlier incremental upgrade saw the 2K12 missiles replaced with the 2K12E versions and this system was known as Kvadrat ("Квадрат", meaning square). This name was derived from the most common arrangement pattern of the military vehicles of the 2K12 complex, when the 1C91 radar is located at the center and 4x2P25 TELs at the vertexes of a square around the radar.

2P25 TEL with missiles erected. Photo by GulfLINK.

Additional radar systems

The 2K12 can also be used at a regimental level. If used as such it is accompanied by a number of extra radar systems for air search at longer ranges and lower altitudes, in addition to the "Straight Flush". These systems include the:

P-12/1Rl14 "Spoon Rest" 314 kW A-band early warning radar (also used by the SA-2, range 275 km/170 miles)
P-40 "Long Track" E-band early warning radar (also used by the SA-4 and SA-8, range 175 km/108 miles)
P-15 "Flat Face" 380 kW C-band early warning radar (also used by the SA-3, range 250 km/155 miles)
"Thin Skin" or "Side Net" E-band height finding radar (also used by the SA-2, SA-4 and SA-5, range 240 km/148 miles)
"Score Board" IFF radar

The "Spoon Rest" and "Thin Skin" are mounted on a truck, "Long Track" on a tracked vehicle (a modified AT-T) and "Flat Face" on a van. It is unknown what kind of mounting the "Score Board" has.

Without the P-40 "Long Track" mobile radar vehicle, the 2K12 is unable to track aircraft at high altitudes.