2K12 Kub
1960s self-propelled surface-to-air missile system
The 2K12 "Kub" (Russian: 2К12 Куб; English: 'cube') (NATO reporting name: SA-6 "Gainful") 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.
Each 2K12 battery consists of a number of similar tracked vehicles, one of which carries the 1S91 (SURN vehicle, NATO designation "Straight Flush") 25 kW G/H band radar (with a range of 75 km (47 mi)) equipped with a continuous wave illuminator, in addition to an optical sight. The battery usually also includes four triple-missile transporter erector launchers (TELs), and four trucks, each carrying three spare missiles and a crane. The TEL is based on a GM-578 chassis, while the 1S91 radar vehicle is based on a GM-568 chassis, all developed and produced by Russian manufacturer MMZ.
Development
The development of the 2K12 started after 18 July 1958 at the request of the CPSU Central Committee. The system was set the requirements of being able to engage aerial targets flying at speeds of 420 to 600 m/s (820–1,200 kn) at altitudes of 100 to 7,000 m (330 to 23,000 ft) at ranges up to 20 km (12 mi), with a single shot kill probability of at least 0.7.
The systems design was the responsibility of the now Tikhomirov Scientific Research Institute of Instrument Design (NIIP). In addition to NIIP several other design bureaus were involved in the creation of the Kub missile system including Mytishchi Machine-Building Plant which designed and produced the chassis of the self-propelled components. Many of the design bureaus would later go on to co-operate in the development of the successor to the 2K12 "Kub", the 9K37 "Buk".
First trials of the missile system were started at the end of 1959 to discover a series of problems:
low power for the missile radar seeker and badly designed nose cone
missile air inlets design failure
low quality of heat shield inside the afterburner chamber (titanium was replaced by steel).
The public source identifies “2K12 Kub” as 1960s self-propelled surface-to-air missile system. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around 2K12, 1960s and self-propelled.
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This entry incorporates text from “2K12 Kub” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.