2K12 Kub

IVC 3M20M3 Peniye
Type	Surface-to-air missile training target imitator system
Place of origin	Soviet Union/ Russia
Specifications
Mass	600 kg
Length	5,841 mm
Warhead	no
Wingspan	932 mm
Propellant	integral rocket motor/ramjet booster and sustainer motor
Operational range	24 kilometres (15 mi)
Flight altitude	500 metres (1,600 ft) – 6,000 metres (20,000 ft)
Maximum speed	200–600 m/s
Guidance system	semi-active radar homing
Launch platform	2P25 TEL

The fairly large missiles have an effective range of 4–24 km (2.5–15 miles) and an effective altitude of 50–14,000 m (164–45,931 ft). The missile weighs 599 kg (1,321 lb) and the warhead weighs 56 kg (123 lb). Top missile speed is approx. Mach 2.8. The combined propulsion system 9D16K included 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.

The missile was fitted with a semi-active radar seeker 1SB4, designed by MNII Agat, which was able to track the target by Doppler frequency since the start. Later upgrades (3M9M3 missile) could do this before the start. Chief Designer of the seeker head was Yu.N. Vekhov, since 1960 – I.G. Akopyan.

In 1977 a new version, the 3M9M1 (DoD designation SA-6B) was created with three missiles fitted onto a different chassis (the same as that of the 9K37 "Buk" (NATO reporting name "Gadfly" / DoD SA-11 ), 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 1S91 radar is located at the center and 4x2P25 TELs at the vertices of a square around the radar.

Radiolocator of 2K12 KUB

SURN 1S91 vehicle included two radar station – a target acquisition and distribution radar 1S11 and a continuous wave illuminator 1S31, in addition to an IFF interrogator and an optical channel.

While 1S31 antenna was installed on the upper section of the superstructure and the 1S11 on the lower, they could turn around independently. To make the height of the vehicle lower the central cylinder was able to hide inside the prime mover.

The acquisition range of the radar was reported as 50 km (31 mi) for an F-4 Phantom II type of target.

Total weight of the 1S91 vehicle with a crew of 4 was 20.3 tonnes and 2P25 vehicle with 3 missiles and a crew of 3 was 19.5 t.

The 2K12 can also be used at a regimental level, if used as such it can be accompanied by a number of additional radar systems for extended air search at longer range and lower altitude, to supplement the 1S91 "Straight Flush". These systems include the:

• P-12 "Spoon Rest", a VHF early warning radar (also used by the S-75 Dvina), with a 200 kilometres (120 mi) range.
• P-40 "Long Track", an E band early warning radar (also used by the 2K11 Krug and 9K33 Osa), with a 370 kilometres (230 mi) range.
• P-15 "Flat Face A", a UHF early warning radar (also used by the S-125 Neva, with a 150 kilometres (93 mi) range.
• "Thin Skin" or "Side Net" E band height finding radar (also used by the S-75, 2K11 Krug and S-200, 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. The "Score Board" IFF radar is mounted on a free standing tri-pod.

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

• 
  1S91 first/second operator console
• 
  1S91 third operator console
• 
  1S91 teleconsole
• 
  1S91 main operator console (after upgrade)
• 
  1S91 third operator console (after upgrade)
• 
  1S91 teleconsole (after upgrade)
• 
  NRS-12 "Score Board" IFF radar (bottom left - mounted on tri-pod) and P-12 "Spoon Rest" (centre - mounted on a towable generator).

In the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the Egyptian and Syrian 2K12s surprised the Israeli military, who were accustomed 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. The 2K12 performed well according to a conversation between Israeli General Peled and Henry Kissinger, and caused the most Israeli losses of any Egyptian anti-aircraft missile, followed by the 9K32 Strela-2.[12]

The superior low altitude performance of the weapon, and its new CW semi-active missile seeker resulted in a much higher success rate compared to the earlier S-75 Dvina and S-125 Neva systems. While exact losses are disputed, around 40 aircraft are usually cited as lost to SAMs, and the 2K12 Kub proved the most effective of the three weapons. But in subsequent conflicts, its performance declined as captured examples resulted in effective counter-measures being developed.[13]

Part of a Syrian 2K12 Kub near the Beirut-Damascus highway, and overlooking the Beqaa Valley, in early 1982.

The Syrians also deployed the 2K12 Kub to Lebanon in 1981 after the Israelis shot down Syrian helicopters near Zahlé. The SAM batteries were placed in the Bekaa Valley near the Beirut-Damascus road. They remained close to the existing Syrian air defense system but could not be fully integrated into it. Early in the 1982 Lebanon war, the Israeli Air Force concentrated on suppressing the SAM threat in the Beqaa Valley, launching Operation Mole Cricket 19. The result was a complete success. Several 2K12 Kub batteries, along with S-75s and S-125 systems, were destroyed in a single day. While Syria's own air defenses remained largely intact, its forces in Lebanon were left exposed to attacks by Israeli strike aircraft for the remainder of the war. It has been reported, however, that at least one Israeli F-4 Phantom fighter-bomber was shot down in the area by an SA-6 on July 24, 1982.[14]

The People's Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola (FAPLA) procured a number of 2K12 Kub systems from the Soviet Union in 1981.[15] According to the Central Intelligence Agency, Angola had obtained sixteen TEL launchers for the 2K12 Kub systems, which were deployed in the Moçâmedes District.[16] The South African military noted that the missiles would make it difficult for it to provide air cover for its cross-border operations against guerrillas of the People's Liberation Army of Namibia, which were operating from Angolan sanctuaries.[17] All of Angola's 2K12 Kub launchers were destroyed in a South African preemptive strike as part of Operation Protea.[15]

2K12 Kub missile sites were also operated by Cuban expeditionary forces in Angola during Operation Excite/Hilti.[18] On 26 June 1988, six 3M9M3 missiles launched from a Cuban 2K12 Kub battery were fired at a South African weather balloon being used as a radar decoy over Tchipa.[18] South African observers used the firing data to plot the location of the 2K12 Kub launchers and destroyed them in a concentrated bombardment with G5 howitzers.[18]

Forces of the Polisario Front acquired two full batteries of 2K12 Kub missiles from Algeria during the Western Sahara War, which they used effectively against the fighters of the Royal Moroccan Air Force, including shooting down two Mirage F1 fighters in 1981 during a major battle in Guelta Zemmur.[19]

On 19 August 2003, a Polish Air Force Su-22M4K was accidentally shot down by friendly fire during an exercise by a Polish 2K12 Kub battery. The aircraft was flying 21 km (13 mi) from the coast over the Baltic Sea near Ustka. The pilot, General Andrzej Andrzejewski, ejected and was rescued after two hours in the water.[20]

The system was deployed by Libya during the border dispute with Chad and proved a threat for French aircraft. On 16 February 1986, the system failed in detecting low flying French jets which were attacking the Ouadi Doum airbase. On January 7, 1987, the French Air Force were successful in destroying a 2K12 Kub radar site in the Faya Largeau area with SEPECAT Jaguars armed with Martel anti-radiation missiles.[21]

In March, the Chadian rebels captured Ouadi Doum air base, seizing virtually all heavy equipment used for the defense of this airfield, intact. Most of this equipment was transported to France and the United States in the following days, but some 2K12 Kub systems remained in Chad.[22]

With this catastrophe, the Libyan occupation of northern Chad – and the annexation of the Aouzou Strip – was over: by 30 March, the bases at Faya Largeau and Aouzou had to be abandoned. The LARAF now had a completely different task: its Tu-22Bs were to attack the abandoned bases and destroy as much equipment left there as possible. The first strikes were flown in April, and they continued until 8 August 1987, when two Tu-22Bs tasked to strike Aouzou were ambushed by a captured 2K12 Kub battery used by the Chadian Army. One of the bombers was shot down.[23]

Libyan air defense, including 2K12 Kub batteries, was active during the 2011 military intervention in Libya.[24]

Several 2K12 Kub batteries, along with other SAM systems and military equipment, were supplied to Iraq before and during the Iran–Iraq War as part of large military packages from the Soviet Union. The batteries were active since the start of the war in September 1980, scoring kills against U.S-supplied Iranian F-4 Phantoms and Northrop F-5s.[25][26][27]

The SA-6/Kub was also used during the 1991 Gulf War. The threat posed by these SAMs led to the US Navy outfitting the ALQ-167 Bullwinkle Jamming pod on their F-14A/A+ Tomcats and A-6E TRAM/SWIP Intruder aircraft.[28] On the opening night of Desert Storm, on 17 January 1991, a B-52G was damaged by a missile. Different versions of this engagement are told. It could have been an S-125 or a 2K12 Kub while other versions report a MiG-29 hit the bomber with a R-27R missile.[29] However, the U.S. Air Force disputes these claims, stating the bomber was actually hit by friendly fire, an AGM-88 High-speed, Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM) that homed on the fire-control radar of the B-52's tail gun; the jet was subsequently renamed In HARM's Way.[30] Shortly following this incident, General George Lee Butler announced that the gunner position on B-52 crews would be eliminated, and the gun turrets permanently deactivated, commencing on 1 October 1991.[31]

On January 19, 1991, a USAF F-16 (serial 87-228) was shot down by a 2K12 Kub during the massive (though ill-fated) Package Q Strike against a heavily defended Baghdad. It was the tenth coalition aircraft lost in combat in Operation Desert Storm. The pilot, Captain Harry 'Mike' Roberts, ejected safely but was taken prisoner and freed in March 1991. The aircraft was on a mission to attack the Air Defense Headquarters Building. It had flown 4 combat missions before being lost.[32]

The 2K12 Kub threat was largely controlled by Allied EW assets together with the older S-75s and S-125 missile systems. Most of the losses were due to IR guided SAMs.[33]

Kubs continued to be used by the Iraqi military, along with other SAM systems, to challenge the Western imposed no-fly zones during the 1990s and early 2000s. They were not able to shoot down any Coalition aircraft though several sites were destroyed as retaliation. In one incident, on September 11, 1996, during Operation Provide Comfort II, one missile was fired against two USAF F-16 in northern Iraq but missed.[34] On December 30, 1998, a 2K12 Kub site near Talil fired 6-8 missiles at aircraft enforcing the Southern Watch component of the NFZ. American F-16s responded by dropping six GBU-12 laser-guided bombs on the site and also launching two HARMs "as a preemptive measure" to warn Iraqi radar operators against carrying out more firings.[35]

Army of Republika Srpska forces, using modified 2K12 Kub systems were successful in shooting down Scott O'Grady's F-16 in 1995[36][37]

One Mi-17 was shot down by a Kub on May 28, 1995, killing the Bosniak Minister Irfan Ljubijankić, and 6 other crew and passengers.[38]

During the Kosovo War in 1999, on the first night of the war (March 24/25), a Yugoslav Air Force MiG-29 flown by Maj. Predrag Milutinović was downed by a Kub battery in a friendly fire incident, while approaching Niš Airport after an unsuccessful engagement with NATO aircraft.

The Yugoslav Air Defence had 22 2K12 Kub batteries. Using shoot and scoot tactics, the self-propelled ground system demonstrated a good survivability with only three radars lost in the face of nearly four-hundred AGM-88 shots. As comparison the fixed S-75 and S-125 sites suffered losses to around 66 to 80 percent.[39] According to the then-commander of Air force and air defense General Spasoje Smiljanić, during the 78 day campaign, 2K12 Kub had 46 shooting with 70 missiles.[40]

On April 14, 2018, American, British, and French forces launched 103 air-to-surface and cruise missiles targeting sites in Syria. According to the Russian military, twenty-one Kub missiles launched in response allegedly destroyed eleven incoming missiles,[41] However, the American Department of Defense stated no Allied missiles were shot down.[42]

South Yemen formerly operated these systems in the South Yemeni air defense forces. Later, United Yemen purchased a large number of these systems in the 1990s and they entered service with the Yemeni air defense forces in 1999. On 6 June 2019, Houthi forces successfully shot down a USAF MQ-9. CENTCOM officials blamed the shoot down on a Houthi-operated 2K12 Kub system.[43]

•  Algeria – about 40 2K12s, as of 2012[44]
•  Angola – 16 2К12s, as of 2021[45]
•  Armenia[46]
•  Bulgaria – 20 2K12s, as of 2016
•  Bosnia and Herzegovina – 20 2K12s, as of 2019
•  Chad[47]
•  Cuba – 25+[48]
•  Czech Republic – 4 batteries – 16 launchers and 4 radiolocators[49][50]
•  Egypt – 56 2K12s, as of 2012. All modernized and upgraded.[51]
•  Ethiopia – unknown number in service.
•  Hungary – 12 2K12s, as of 2019[52]
•  India – 180 2K12s, as of 2012[53]
•  Iran[54]
•  Kazakhstan – 20 2K12s, as of 2012[55]
•  Libya[56]

Kub 2K12M2 air defence system of the Myanmar Army

Kvadat-M air defence systems of the Myanmar Army

•  Myanmar – Kub Kvadrat-M and Kub 2K12M2 air defence systems received from Belarus.[57][58]
•  North Korea[59][60]
•  Poland – 20 2K12s, as of 2015.[61]
•  Romania – 32 batteries, future upgrading expected and proposed
•  Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic[62]
•  Serbia – 12 batteries[63]
•  Syria – 195 2K12s, as of 2012[64]
•  Tanzania – 20 2K12s, as of 2012[65]
•  Turkmenistan – 2+ in service as of 2016[66]
•  Vietnam[67]
•  Yemen[68]

•  Russia – Replaced by 9K37 Buk. Current 1 battery 2K12s deployed in Armenia, as of 2012 (retired as of 2015). Also in service as IVC 3M20M3 Peniye missile training target imitator system[69][70]
•  Czechoslovakia – Passed on to successor states
•  Slovakia – 4 2K12s with C2 Tatrapan PVO[71] Retired.
•  East Germany – Retired after German reunification
•  Iraq[72]
•  South Yemen[73]
•  Soviet Union – Passed on to successor states
•  Yugoslavia – Passed on to successor states[74]

• 
  "Side Net" height finding radar. Photo by Nellis AFB.
• 
  P-40 "Long Track" early warning radar. Photo by Nellis AFB.
• 
  An 1S91 (Straight Flush) radar of the Hungarian Army's 2K12 Kub missile system