P-15 Termit

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Termit
P-15 missile in Haifa museum.
Basic data
Function	anti-ship missile
Manufacturer	MKB Raduga
Entered service
General characteristics
Engine	Liquid fuel rocket, solid rocket booster
Launch mass	2300 kg
Length	5.8 m
Diameter	0.76 m
Wingspan	2.4 m
Speed	Mach 0.9
Range	80 km
Flying altitude	100-300 meters above sea level
Warhead	454 kg hollow charge high explosive
Guidance	autopilot, active radar, supplemented in some with infra-red
Launch platform	naval ships, ground launch

The P-15 Termit (Russian: П-15 "Термит"; English: termite) was a type of missile developed by the Soviet Union's Raduga design bureau in the 1950s. Its GRAU designation was "4K40", and its NATO reporting name was Styx or SS-N-2. China acquired the design in 1958 and created at least four versions: 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 missiles were used for coastal defense. 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).

The first variant was P-15, with fixed wings. In 1965 there was introduced P-15U with improved avionics and folding wings, enabling smaller containers. In 1972 they were replaced by P-15M, which was a further development of P-15U, with enhanced capabilities (its export simplified variants were designated P-21 and P-22, depending on a warhead, and a whole export system was designated P-20M).

[edit] Operational usage

P-15 launcher on a Osa II class fast attack craft.

Soviet-made P-15 missiles were used by Egypt against Israel in 1967 where Egyptian Komar class fast-attack craft (FAC) sank the Israeli destroyer Eilat. During the 1971 Indo-Pakistani War, Indian Osa class FACs raided the port of Karachi causing severe damage and sinking several ships with their P-15 missiles. Despite these early successes, in the 1973 Yom Kippur War P-15 missiles used by the Egyptian and Syrian navies proved ineffective against Israeli countermeasures. They were again employed by Iran against Iraq in the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War. All of the Chinese missile types were also used by both sides in this conflict.