P-15 Termit - Design

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-fuelled booster under the belly. This design was based on the Yak-1000 experimental fighter built in 1951.

The weapon was meant to be cheap, but at the same time capable of giving an ordinary missile boat the same 'punch' as a battleship's 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 -15/+38C°.

The missile weighed around 2,340 kg, had a top speed of 0.9 mach and a range of 40 km. 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 itself was a 500 kg hollow charge (HEAT), larger than the SAP typical of anti-ship missiles. The launch was usually made with the help of electronic support measures (ESM) gear and Garpun radar at a range of between 5.5 and 27 km due to the limitations of the targeting system. The Garpun's range against a destroyer was about 20 km.

The onboard sensor was activated at 11 km from impact, the missile would begin to descend at 1-2° to the target, because the flight pattern was about 120–250 m above sea level. In minimum range engagements there was the possibility of using active sensors at shorter distances, as little as 2.75 km. The P-15U was introduced in 1965, with improved avionics and folding wings, enabling the use of smaller containers. It was replaced by the P-15M in 1972, which was a further development of the P-15U, with enhanced capabilities (its export simplified variants were designated P-21 and P-22, depending on the sensor installed and a whole export system was designated the P-20M).