Independent Working Group Report: Missile Defense, the Space Relationship, and the Twenty-First Century. »»
July 4, 2008
IWG Report 2007
Independent Working Group Report: Missile Defense, the Space Relationship, and the Twenty-First Century. »»
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SSC-2B
| Country: | Russian Federation |
|---|---|
| Alternate Name: | Samlet, S-2 Sopka |
| Class: | LLCM |
| Target: | Land |
| Length: | 7.90 m |
| Diameter: | 1.20 m |
| Launch Weight: | 3100.00 kg |
| Payload: | 600 kg HE |
| Propulsion: | Turbojet w/ solid booster |
| Range: | 90.00 km |
| Guidance: | Radio command, semi-active radar |
| Status: | Obsolete, Unknown |
| In Service: | 1958-Unknown |
| Exported: | Bulgaria, China, Cuba, East Germany, Egypt, North Korea, Poland |
Details
The SSC-2B “Samlet” (S-2 Sopka/4K87) was a short-range, ground-launched, turbojet-powered, single warhead, surface-to-surface missile developed and manufactured by the Soviet Union. Development began in 1947 along with a related air-launched missile, the AS-1 “Kennel.” Both missiles were derived from the MiG-15 fighter aircraft, and developed under the anti-ship missile codename “Komet.”
The SSC-2B was essentially a MiG-15 with the cockpit and undercarriage removed. Its main body was cigar-shaped with delta swept-fin wings at mid body and an aircraft-like tail. The missile was 7.9 m long, had a body diameter of 1.2, and had a launch weight of 3,100 kg. Its propulsion unit was a MiG-15 RD-500K turbojet engine, mounted axially. Guidance in the initial stages was by radar beam, and in the terminal phase by a semi-active radar seeker. The missile carried a 600 kg high explosive warhead, and had a range of approximately 90 km. It was deployed on four-wheeled trailers towed by tractor trucks.
Operational deployment of the SSC-2B took place in 1958. In 1960, a rocket-assisted, catapult-launched version entered service. The SSC-2B was exported to Bulgaria, China, Cuba, the former East Germany, Egypt, North Korea, and Poland. Its only recorded use was by Egypt, which fired four against Israeli naval targets during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, all of which missed their targets. In 1990, it was reported that only Bulgaria, North Korea, and Poland still retained the SSC-2B.(1)
Footnotes
- Duncan Lennox, ed., Jane’s Strategic Weapons Systems 42 (Surrey: Jane’s Information Group, July 2005), p. 627; GlobalSecurity.org, “AS-1 KENNEL / SSC-2a SALISH / SSC-2b SAMLET,” available at http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/russia/as-1.htm, accessed on August 15, 2006; Steven Zaloga, “Russian missile designations,” Jane’s Intelligence Review, August 1, 1994.
