P-15 Termit
The P-15 Termit (; ) is an anti-ship missile developed by the Soviet Union's Raduga design bureau in the 1950s. Its GRAU designation was 4K40, its NATO reporting name was Styx or SS-N-2. China acquired the design in 1958 and created at least four versions: the CSS-N-1 Scrubbrush and CSS-N-2 versions were developed for ship-launched operation, while the CSS-C-2 Silkworm and CSS-C-3 Seersucker were used for coastal defence. Other names for this basic type of missile include: HY-1, SY-1, and FL-1 Flying Dragon (Chinese designations typically differ for export and domestic use, even for otherwise identical equipment), North Korean local produced KN-1 or KN-01, derived from both Silkworm variants and Russian & USSR P-15, Rubezh, P-20 P-22 . Despite its large size, thousands of P-15s were built and installed on many classes of ships from torpedo boats to destroyers, and coastal batteries and bomber aircraft (Chinese versions). Origins The P-15 was not the first anti-ship missile in Soviet service; that distinction goes to the SS-N-1 Scrubber, and to the aircraft-launched AS-1 Kennel. The SS-N-1 was a powerful but rather raw system, and it was soon superseded by the SS-N-3 Shaddock. This weapon was fitted to 4,000-ton Kynda class cruisers and replaced an initial plan for 30,000-ton battlecruisers armed with 305mm and 45mm guns. Rather than rely on a few heavy and costly ships, a new weapons system was designed to fit smaller, more numerous vessels, while maintaining sufficient striking power. The P-15 was developed by the Soviet designer Beresyniak, who helped in the development of the BI rocket interceptor. Design The first variant was the P-15, with fixed wings. The basic design of the missile, retained for all subsequent versions, featured a cylindrical body, a rounded nose, two delta wings in the center and three control surfaces in the tail. It was also fitted with a solid-fueled booster under the belly. This design was based on the Yak-1000 experimental fighter built in 1951. The weapon was meant to be cheap, yet still give an ordinary missile boat the same 'punch' as a battleship salvo. The onboard electronics were based on a simple analog design, with a homing conical scanning radar sensor. It used a more reliable rocket engine with acid fuel in preference to a turbojet. Some shortcomings were never totally solved, due to the liquid propellant of the rocket engine: the acid fuel gradually corroded the missile fuselage. Launches were not possible outside a temperature range of . The missile weighed around , had a top speed of Mach 0.9 and a range of . The explosive warhead was behind the fuel tank, and as the missile retained a large amount of unburned fuel at the time of impact, even at maximum range, it acted as an incendiary device. The warhead was a shaped charge, an enlarged version of a high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) warhead, larger than the semi-armour piercing (SAP) warhead typical of anti-ship missiles. The launch was usually made with the help of electronic warfare support measures (ESM)