Soviet Army, Mobile Artillery(Red Storm Rising)

In the book Red Storm Rising, the Soviet Army used artillery and helicopters to suppress the NATO positions and to try to knock out the roving NATO TOW missiles that were ravaging the tank formations as they moved deeper into Germany.  Per doctrine the Soviets would bring their heavy guns right behind their tank formations.  They also would save most of their combat power for the breakout or breakthrough.  American doctrine would have our artillery support the force,like in the defense,  the Soviet had a different doctrine.  Casualties were acceptable and they would save their striking and combat power to support the advance.  If the Soviet unit was being attacked, they would not call for artillery support, they would not want to waste it.  When I was in the Army in the 80's, before the fall of the Soviet Union, we would make jokes that we would do well DFing the enemy assets, but we had a life expectancy of 17 seconds after we keyed the mike for a report even though our comms were "green", meaning they were encrypted but the carrier wave was still analog.  Since them we have gone to burst and digital, but back then, it was the AN/VRC 46.  The soviet would DF our signals and call artillery on us and they also had counter morter/counter battery assets in their HQ units to ID our gun assets and they would use the artillery.  To the Soviet Army, they prided themselves on their artillery, from both the self propelled and the towed.

 2S19 in a parade

The Russian army referred to artillery as “the god of war.” Its destructive power not only shattered enemy formations but also transformed the shape of battlefields where it was used.
Despite their adoration, self-propelled artillery was neglected by the Soviet Union. Overlooked in favor of vehicle-mounted armament, it did not emerge from its underdog status until the late 1960s. Along the way, some effective weapons were produced.

     Self-propelled artillery emerged during the period of experimentation in fighting vehicles in the lead up to WWII. In Stalin’s Soviet Republic, standardization was key, and a strong emphasis was put on the mass production of tanks, rather than on a variety of vehicles as other nations tried.

Katyusha Rockets

During WWII, the Soviets became enamored with rocketry. Seeking mobile systems to indirectly rain destruction down on their enemies, they turned to multiple rocket launchers, nicknamed Katyusha. There were no self-propelled howitzers or mortars.

 SU-76 at a museum

The necessities of war forced them to create some self-propelled artillery. To challenge German tanks, the Soviets built a self-propelled anti-tank gun, the SU-76. Hastily designed and produced, it used a modified T-70 tank body and an adapted version of the ZIS-3 76mm gun. It went into action in early 1943 but had been too hastily made. Inadequate for taking on tanks, it was used instead as an infantry support vehicle.

Also based on a tank chassis, the ISU-122 and ISU-152 followed the SU-76 into the war. They were equipped with heavier guns enabling them to fulfill both anti-tank and artillery roles successfully.
As the Cold War began, those machines remained in service. With the USSR so focused on rocketry, it was not until the 1960s that the next generation of significant self-propelled artillery emerged.

An ISU-152 displayed at Karlshorst, Berlin, Germany. Photo: Franco Atirador / CC BY-SA 3.0

The reign of Nikita Khrushchev, another advocate for rocketry, ensured the dominance of rockets in the Soviet military up until the mid-1960s. Following his removal from office, the situation changed. The way was open for a wider variety of self-propelled artillery.
    

One of the most significant results was the 2S1 Gvozdika. A self-propelled howitzer, its first prototypes were made in 1969, and it entered service in 1970. The Gvozdika’s main armament was a 122mm howitzer, based on the D-30 towed howitzer. It provided greater mobility to an existing gun as well as greater protection for its crew. The howitzer could be angled for either direct or indirect fire, varying its usefulness.
The variety of options added to the Gvozdika showed how military vehicles had improved since WWII. As well as high explosives and smoke shells, it could discharge chemical ammunition or rounds that extended its 15.3km range to nearly 22km. It had infra-red equipment, different tracks depending on the terrain, and could be adjusted to make it shorter for transportation on aircraft.

Polish Land Forces Self-propelled howitzer 2S1 “Gvozdika” in artillery range.

A range of different self-propelled artillery weapons followed.
The 2S3 Akatsiya was another howitzer, this time carrying a 152mm gun. It combined a powerful engine with improvements in tracks and suspension to help it get around the battlefield. It was usually loaded using ammunition passed in from the outside through rear hatches. The 33 rounds carried inside the hull were kept for moments of necessity. It could fire a greater variety of rounds than the Gvozdika, including incendiary, flechette, and scatter mines. Later versions of the vehicle added more ammunition and a more advanced targeting system.

The 2S4 Ty ulpan’s main weapon was a 240mm mortar, carried on a chassis adapted from a minelaying vehicle. Before firing, the mortar was rotated on a hinge at the rear so that it rested on a base plate facing away from the vehicle. It was the first piece of Soviet self-propelled artillery to fire nuclear rounds.
Also introduced in the early 1970s, the 2S5 Giantsint-S was a vehicle with a 152mm artillery gun mounted on its roof. It could be fired both directly and indirectly and was again equipped with a range of rounds, as well as both direct and indirect sites. A large spade was deployed from the rear to make it more stable when firing.
The 2S7 Pion added a larger caliber 203mm self-propelled gun to the range. Entering service in 1975, it also carried a surface-to-air missile system. Like the 2S5, it had a rear-mounted spade to stabilize it when firing. It had a range of 37.5km or 47.5km with rocket-assisted ammunition.

2S7 Pion at Museum of Technics, Arkhangelskoye, Moscow Region. Photo: Dmitry A. Mottl / CC BY-SA 3.0

In 1981, a new and highly flexible self-propelled gun entered service – the 2S9 Nona. The Nona consisted of a 120mm gun/mortar mounted on the body of a BTR-D armored personnel carrier. It was amphibious, could be airdropped, and had protection against nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons. It could be used for both direct and indirect fire, including anti-tank duty. While it’s maximum range of just under 9km was less impressive than some other artillery, it was a useful weapon.

In 1989, a replacement for the 2S3 and 2S5 came into service. It was the 2S19 Msta. It carried a 152mm howitzer with a maximum range of just under 25km. 50 rounds were kept inside the vehicle, although it was usually loaded with ammunition supplied from outside. A machine-gun and smoke grenade launchers provided extra protection.
Soviet-made vehicles were joined by the Czech vzor 77 Dana. With a 152mm self-propelled gun/howitzer, the Dana had an eight-wheeled chassis rather than a tracked one. It made it less mobile but cheaper and was considered adequate for its role serving from behind the lines.
By the end of the Cold War, the Soviet Union and its allies had a broad range of self-propelled artillery. Rockets remained important, but their days of relying on them were over.
Source:
Ian V. Hogg and John Weeks (1980), The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Military Vehicles
Russell Phillips (2017), Tanks and Combat Vehicles of the Warsaw Pact

USS Narwhal (Red Storm Rising)

This is a continuation of my Red Storm Rising posts.  Red Storm Rising is the book written by Tom Clancy talking about a war in Europe.  This ship was mentioned several times in the book, her code name in the book was "Realtime" and she would hang around the Kona Peninsula and look for the Backfire regimental raids usually of 3 regiments or more.  The Narwhal prided herself on spending more time in Soviet waters than most of the Soviet Navy.  She would look for the raids after they took off and using the communication system would "Burst" a signal to the U.S satilites that there was a raid going for the convoys.  She also was the ship that alerted the U.S Navy at the beginning of hostilities that the Soviets were sortieing with everything they had, mostly submarines and some surface ships.    I had a hard time finding pics of the ship though. 

USS Narwhal (SSN-671), a unique submarine, was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named for the narwhal, a gray and white arctic whale with a unicorn-like, ivory tusk.
Her keel was laid down on 17 January 1966 by the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation, in Groton, Connecticut. She was launched on 9 September 1967 sponsored by Glynn R. Donaho, and commissioned on 12 July 1969 with Commander W. A. Matson in command.

Very little of the Narwhal's design was based on the Sturgeon-class submarine. Her power plant, engine room, and forward compartment layout weres unlike any other U.S. submarine. Forward of her reactor compartment the crew enjoyed more available space and berthing than her Thresher/Permit, Sturgeon, or Los Angeles-class sisters. Her engine room was spacious and well laid out.

Elements of her propulsion were incorporated in later ship classes, especially the Ohio class, but no other submarine has used all of Narwhal's innovations. These innovations included a natural circulation reactor plant, scoop seawater injection (which was not repeated), the ability to cross connect main and auxiliary seawater systems, and a directly coupled main engine turbine. Her small reactor coolant pumps had two speeds: On and Off. The result was the quietest submarine of her era, and for many years to follow. Her silence was equaled only by the Ohio class and finally surpassed by the Seawolf class.
Narwhal was fitted with a "turtleback" structure just forward of her rudder that may have been used for remote-controlled underwater vehicles, or for housing an experimental towed sonar array.

Little information about Narwhal's career is available, but it was eventful and included a very heavy deployment rate interrupted only by three overhauls (two involving reactor refueling). Narwhal had few difficulties in Arctic waters, easily shadowing Soviet and Russian vessels. Those deployments earned Narwhal a Navy Unit Commendation for a 1972 deployment, and Meritorious Unit Commendations for operations in 1971, 1977, 1979, and 1998. She also earned the Battle Efficiency E (five awards), the Engineering E (four awards), and the Anti-Submarine Warfare A, the Communications C and the Supply E. She may have also been used for special operations duty.
Narwhal sustained minor damage on 22 September 1989 when Hurricane Hugo hit Charleston, South Carolina. She was moored with nine double wires and two three-inch ship's lines in preparation for the storm. All but one of the lines parted during the first half of the storm, and she drifted into the Cooper River. Tugboats and Narwhal's crew tried unsuccessfully to move the submarine back to the pier before the second half of the storm. As the storm resumed, Narwhal submerged in the river and rode out the remainder of the hurricane with only part of her sail exposed.
Narwhal was deactivated, while still in commission, on 16 January 1999 in Norfolk, Virginia. She was decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 July 1999, and entered the Navy's Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program (NPSSRP) in Bremerton, Washington on 1 October 2001. Over the next five years, efforts were made to make Narwhal the centerpiece of a planned National Submarine Science Discovery Center (NSSDC) in Newport, Kentucky. Legislation signed on 30 September 2003 authorized the Secretary of the Navy to transfer Narwhal to the NSSDC. The nuclear reactor and propulsion equipment would be removed and replaced with a plug of the proper dimensions and shape, containing a theater and classroom. However, on 26 April 2006, Peter Kay, board chair of the NSSDC, announced the cancellation of the exhibit, as fundraising had only raised $0.5 million of the $2 million needed. The ship now sits in Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington.

Namesake:	Narwhal
Ordered:	28 July 1964
Builder:	General Dynamics Electric Boat, Groton, Connecticut
Laid down:	17 January 1966
Launched:	9 September 1967
Commissioned:	12 July 1969
Decommissioned:	1 July 1999
Struck:	1 July 1999
Fate:	Uncertain

Class and type:	Nuclear submarine
Displacement:	4,948 long tons (5,027 t) light 5,293 long tons (5,378 t) full 345 long tons (351 t) dead
Length:	314 ft (95.7 m)
Beam:	33 ft (10 m)
Draft:	31 ft (9.4 m)
Propulsion:	S5G reactor
Complement:	12 officers, 95 enlisted
Armament:	4 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes capable of launching: SUBROC Mark 45 torpedoes Mark 48 ADCAP torpedoes Mines Tomahawk missiles Harpoon missiles

The SURTASS Ships and a Tango (Red Storm Rising)

This is the latest installment of my "Red Storm Rising" posts.  In this segment I will be mentioning the SURTASS ships and one of the Submarines used by the Soviet Navy.  First off in the book, it was talked about the USNS Prevail, she was built along the lines of a tuna boat, but instead of a net for fish, the Prevail and her sisters hunted submarines, they would string behind them about 6000 ft of line and this would be her "tail", and the tail would detect submarines very far away when she would then notify Norfolk where the submarines were.  The Soviets knew about these boats,l but every time they approached one of these ships, they were vigorously prosecuted by an Orion.  Her crew were half civilian employed by the NSA and the other half were manned by the NAVY.   The only weapon on her was an M-14 against sharks.  She and her sisters were considered the most dangerous ASW platform that the United States had against the Soviet Submarines.  They would make tracks across the atlantic and detect all underwater emissions, from signals from U.S. Submarines to the propeller noises from Soviet Submarines, all submarines had a different "cavitation" noise based on powerplant type, propeller type and all submarines had their "quirks" that made Identifying them easier.

Stalwart-class auxiliary general ocean surveillance ships (T-AGOS) were a class of United States Naval Ship (USNS) auxiliary support Ocean Surveillance Ships commissioned between April 1984 and January 1990. Their original purpose was to collect underwater acoustical information using the Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System (SURTASS), a towed array passive sonar.

SURTASS began as development program in 1973 using the new research vessel Moana Wave. In 1980 SURTASS passed OPEVAL. The new Stalwart-class ocean surveillance ships had the first contract awarded on 26 September 1980 and were similar to the prototype ship, the Moana Wave. Initially the SURTASS system were passive, receive only sonar systems. The array was towed miles behind the ships and were designed for long range detection of submarines.
As the passive systems were being deployed, an active adjunct known as the SURTASS Low Frequency Active (LFA) systems was designed for long range detection. The active system must be used in conjunction with the passive received system. The active component transmits an audio signal between 100 Hz and 500 Hz from an array suspended below the ship while the passive SURTASS array is towed miles behind to receive the signal after it had reflected off the submarine. The active LFA system is an updated version of the fixed low frequency surveillance system known as Project Artemis.

Ocean surveillance ships have a single mission to gather underwater acoustical data. The T-AGOS ships operate to support the anti-submarine warfare mission of the Commanders in chief of the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets. The ships are operated and maintained by civilian contractors.
During the Cold War, ocean surveillance ships prowled the world's oceans searching for Soviet Navy submarines. Today, with the Cold War having thawed and the Soviet Union dismantled, these ships, operated by the Military Sea-lift Command and designated T-AGOS, now gather underwater acoustical data in support of U.S. Navy tactical operations in littoral waters. Their data is collected using the Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System (SURTASS) comprised of listening devices and electronic equipment that transmit the acoustic data via satellite to shore for analysis.
The ships first went to sea in the early 1980's, prowling the world's oceans in search of nuclear powered submarines belonging to the former Soviet Union. The SURTASS ships, with the hull designation T-AGOS, provided the world wide ocean surveillance, the US Navy required, with remarkable reliability. Today, they still patrol the vast oceans and also support fleet battle groups operating in littoral regions with the mission to gather underwater acoustical data. The T-AGOS ships operate in support of the anti-submarine warfare mission of the Commanders in chief of the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets.

SURTASS LFA is a long-range, all-weather, sonar system with both passive and active components, operating in the low frequency (LF) band (100–500 hertz [Hz]). USNS Impeccable has the original LFA system, weighing 155 tonnes; the 64-tonne Compact LFA derivative was developed for the smaller Victorious class. CLFA was installed on Able in 2008, on Effective in 2011 and Victorious in 2012; no further installations are planned.
The active system component, LFA, is an adjunct to the passive detection system, SURTASS, and is planned for use when passive system performance proves inadequate. LFA is a set of acoustic transmitting source elements suspended by cable from underneath a ship. These elements, called projectors, are devices that produce the active sound pulse, or ping. The projectors transform electrical energy to mechanical energy that set up vibrations or pressure disturbances within the water to produce a ping.
The characteristics and operating features of LFA are:

• The source is a vertical line array (VLA) of up to 18 source projectors suspended below the vessel. LFA’s transmitted sonar beam is omnidirectional (i.e., a full 360 degrees) in the horizontal (nominal depth of the LFA array center is 120 m [400 ft]), with a narrow vertical beamwidth that can be steered above or below the horizontal.
• The source frequency is between 100 and 500 Hz (the LFA system’s physical design does not allow for transmissions below 100 Hz). A variety of signal types can be used, including continuous wave (CW) and frequency-modulated (FM) signals. Signal bandwidth is approximately 30 Hz.
• The source level (SL) of an individual source projector is approximately 215 decibels (dB).
• The typical LFA transmitted sonar signal is not a constant tone, but a transmission of various waveforms that vary in frequency and duration. A complete sequence of transmissions is referred to as a ping and lasts from 6 to 100 seconds, although the duration of each continuous frequency transmission is never longer than 10 seconds.
• Duty cycles (ratio of sound “on” time to total time) are less than 20 percent—20 percent is the maximum physical limit of the LFA system. Typical duty cycles are approximately 7.5 to 10 percent.
• The time between pings is typically from 6 to 15 minutes.

The passive, or listening, part of the system is SURTASS, which detects returning echoes from submerged objects, such as submarines, through the use of hydrophones. These devices transform mechanical energy (received acoustic sound wave) to an electrical signal that can be analyzed by the signal processing system of the sonar. The SURTASS hydrophones are mounted on a horizontal receive array that is towed behind the vessel. The array length is 1,500 m (4,900 ft) with an operational depth of 150 to 460 m (500 to 1,500 ft). The SURTASS LFA ship must maintain a minimum speed of approximately 6 kilometers per hour (3.2 knots) through the water in order to tow the hydrophone array in the horizontal plane. The return signals or echoes, which are usually below background or ambient noise level, are then processed and evaluated to identify and classify potential underwater targets.

T-AGOS ships are operated by the Military Sealift Command and are under the administrative command of Commander, Undersea Surveillance. They are deployed under the Operational Control (OPCON) of the Theater ASW Commanders, CTF 84 and CTF 12. Civilian technicians who operate and maintain the mission equipment man the SURTASS Operations Center (SOC), the nerve center of the ship. When operating with tactical forces, military detachments are embarked for on-board analysis and direct reporting to fleet units. A SURTASS mission consists of 60 days on station while towing an array of hydrophones that collect acoustic data.

The ships are homeported at Little Creek and Saint Helena's Annex, Virginia; Anacortes, Washington; and Port Hueneme, California. When operating independently as in a deep ocean surveillance mission, acoustic data is transmitted to shore via satellite for analysis and reporting. SURTASS ships have proudly operated throughout the world supporting the Undersea Warfare/Anti-Submarine-Warfare mission of all five numbered fleets of the U.S. Navy.
The ship is designed to tow an array of underwater listening devices to collect acoustical data. The ship also carries electronic equipment to process and transmit that data via satellite to shore stations for evaluation. The ship, the listening devices and electronic equipment are all part of a system called the Surveillance Towed Array System, or SURTASS. SURTASS is a linear array of 8575 ft deployed on a 6000 ft tow cable and neutrally buoyant. The array can operate at depths between 500 and 1500 ft. Information from the array is relayed via WSC-6 (SHF) SATCOM link to shore. SURTASS patrols are of 60-90 days duration [which even with passive tank stabilization is a long time to wallow around at 3 kts].

The Monohull T-AGOS design, is based on the T-ATF Fleet Tug hull configuration. Various design features are incorporated to satisfy the SURTASS operating requirements and mission profile. The design is based on a mission duration of up to 90 days of towing operation at 3 knots, with a maximum sustained speed in transit of 11 knots. The ship's complement of 30 includes the SURTASS technical personnel, known as the (shipboard Operation and Maintenance (O&M) crew). In mission operations a total of 24 shipboard personnel, 18 ship's crew and 5 SURTASS O&M crew, is typical.
This program was completed after several rocky years stemming from the financial difficulties of Tacoma Boatbuilding Co. which built the first eight ships but initially was unable to complete T-AGOS 9-12 before filing for bankruptcy. Halter Marine built T-AGOS 13-18. The STALWART class T-AGOS vessels, T-AGOS 1 through T-AGOS 18, were originally ad-measured as less than 1600 gross tons and later re-admeasured as over 1600 gross tons.

The USNS BOLD (T-AGOS 12), the 12th ship of the Stalwart class, completed the 500th SURTASS mission, and a ceremony commemorating the milestone mission was conducted at U. S. Naval Station; Rota, Spain July 12, 2000 as BOLD made a portcall there following her historic patrol. Five hundred missions equate to over four million nautical miles of at-sea surveillance operations. Notable events included exchange of photo taking and greetings with helicopters, fixed wing aircraft and intelligence gathering vessels of the Soviet Union, at sea Medical Evacuations (MEDEVACS) for seriously ill or injured SURTASS ship crew members, sharks attacking the acoustic array, various periscope sightings, and iceberg evasion. Based on the number of BZ (Navy abbreviation for Well Done) messages received over the years, T-AGOS ships have time and time again proven their value both as strategic and tactical assets.

The SURTASS/Twin-Line Array Engineering Development Model was installed on the USNS Assertive (T-AGOS-9), and the first production model was installed on the USNS Bold (T- AGOS-12). Funding for six additional twin-line arrays was provided in the FY 2000 FYDP.
The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR), San Diego, manages the SURTASS program and contracts with the Raytheon Compny to operate and maintain the SURTASS equipment on T-AGOS ships. By early 1999 SPAWAR was inserting the second generation of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) equipment into the SURTASS baseline. USNS BOLD became the first T-AGOS ship to complete this upgrade, which added a Twin-Line towed array, a surface ship tracking capability, and included a COTS processing refresh and communications upgrade. The upgrades will significantly enhance the ships and SURTASS anti-submarine warfare capabilities in the high surface clutter environments of shallow water operations.
When deployed with a military detachment that augments its predominantly civilian crew for on-board analysis and direct contact reporting, the ships provide the fleet with a highly effective ocean surveillance capability that supports both deep ocean and shallow water warfare missions.



In the Book, the submarines that were called "Tango's, they were difficult to detect, you needed a good team from the ship and the helicopter to get them.  The Tango's were mentioned almost as much as the Victor class submarines.  

The Tango class was the NATO reporting name of a class of diesel-electric submarines that were built in the Soviet Union to replace the Foxtrot-class submarines assigned to the Black Sea and Northern Fleets. The Soviet designation of this class was Project 641B and it was also known as the Som (Catfish) class. The first of the class was completed in 1972 at Gorky. A total of 18 were built in two slightly different versions. The later type was several meters longer than the first, possibly because of the installation of ASW missile equipment.
The bow sonar installations appear to be similar to those fitted to Soviet nuclear attack submarines. The propulsion plant was the same as the last subgroup of the Foxtrot class. The Tango class had far more battery capacity, far higher than any previous conventional submarine class in the Soviet Navy; as a result, pressure hull volume increased. This allowed an underwater endurance in excess of a week before snorkeling was required.

Coupled with new armament and sensor fit, the Tango class were ideal for ambush operations against Western nuclear submarines at natural chokepoints.
Because of its all-hull rubber coating, the sub class was nicknamed "rezinka" [rubber]
Construction of this class has now stopped. One unit remains in the Black Sea Fleet but it may have been decommissioned since 2010.

Type:	Submarine
Displacement:	3,100 tons surfaced 3,800 tons submerged
Length:	91 m (298 ft 7 in)
Beam:	9.1 m (29 ft 10 in)
Draught:	7.2 m (23 ft 7 in)
Propulsion:	3 diesel engines 4.6 MW (6,200 shp) 3 electric motors 3 shafts.
Speed:	13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph) surfaced 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph) submerged
Complement:	62 men (12 officers)
Armament:	6 x 533 mm (21.0 in) bow torpedo tubes 24 x 533 mm (21 in) anti-submarine and anti-ship torpedoes or equivalent load of mines

MLRS and FROG 7(Red Storm Rising)

This post sat half completed on my laptop for 3 days while other things were going on.  I have experience seeing the MLRS in action in the Gulf, I remembered being with a bunch of my buddies and watching the MLRS that were behind us firing on the Iraqi positions as the ground war kicked off.  It was neat from our perspective, I wasn't bloodthirsty but I was glad to be on the other side of that barrage, I know that the Iraqi's were going to get hammered.  The running joke was "Grid square eliminations system" and the MLRS using precision munitions would do that.

   Now in the book the MLRS was used to eliminate the command HQ's and transmitting locations of the OMG and 8th Guards as they tried to coordinate the attack after the initial breakthrough near Alfield on the Leine. 
     The Frog was a rocket system used by the Soviets to deliver chemical, nuclear or high explosive munitions  like it did when the Soviet division commander was angry about the NATO units escaping over the bridges on the Leine he called the rockets to destroy the bridges.  This hampered the breakthrough when 2 of the 3 bridges were destroyed by the rockets.  Later it was talked at the Politburo to use the same rocket system to deliver several 10 megaton nuclear devices to sunder the NATO lines 80 miles wide to allow the Soviet army to penetrate the rear of NATO and force a solution favorable to the Soviet Politburo like the surrender of the NATO alliance and allowing the Soviets to seize the Persian Gulf for the oil resources that are needed for the Soviet economy.

The weapon can fire guided and unguided projectiles up to 42 km (26 mi). Firing ballistic missiles, such as the U.S. Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS), it can hit targets 300 km (190 mi) away; the warhead in such shots reaches an altitude of about 50 km (164,000 ft). The M270 can be used in shoot-and-scoot tactics, firing its rockets rapidly, then moving away to avoid counter-battery fire.
MLRS was developed jointly by the United Kingdom, United States, West Germany, France and Italy. It was developed from the older General Support Rocket System (GSRS). The M270 MLRS weapons system is collectively known as the M270 MLRS Self-propelled Loader/Launcher (SPLL). The SPLL is composed of three primary subsystems: the M269 Loader Launcher Module (LLM), which also houses the electronic Fire Control System, is mated to the M993 Carrier Vehicle. The M993 is a derivative of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle chassis.

The rockets and ATACMS missiles are contained in interchangeable pods. Each pod contains six standard rockets or one guided ATACMS missile; the two types cannot be mixed. The LLM can hold two pods at a time, which are hand-loaded using an integrated winch system. All twelve rockets or two ATACMS missiles can be fired in under a minute. One launcher firing twelve rockets can completely blanket one square kilometer with submunitions. For this reason, the MLRS is sometimes referred to as the "Grid Square Removal System" (metric maps are usually divided up into 1 km grids). A typical MLRS cluster salvo consisted of three M270 vehicles each firing all 12 rockets. With each rocket containing 644 M77 grenades, the entire salvo would drop 23,184 grenades in the target area. However, with a two percent dud rate, that would leave approximately 400 undetonated bombs scattered over the area, which would endanger friendly troops and civilians^.
In 2006, MLRS was upgraded to fire guided rounds. Phase I testing of a guided unitary round (XM31) was completed on an accelerated schedule in March 2006. Due to an Urgent Need Statement, the guided unitary round was quickly fielded and used in action in Iraq. Lockheed Martin also received a contract to convert existing M30 DPICM GMLRS rockets to the XM31 unitary variant.

The M31 GMLRS Unitary rocket transformed the M270 into a point target artillery system for the first time. Due to GPS guidance and a single 200 lb (91 kg) high-explosive warhead, the M31 could hit targets accurately with less chance of collateral damage while needing fewer rockets to be fired, reducing logistical requirements. The unitary warhead also made the MLRS able to be used in urban environments. The M31 had a dual-mode fuse with point detonation and delay options to defeat soft targets and lightly fortified bunkers respectively, with the upgraded M31A1 equipped with a multi-mode fuse adding a proximity airburst mode for use against personnel in the open; proximity mode can be set for 3 or 10 metres (9.8 or 32.8 ft) height of burst (HOB). The GMLRS has a minimum engagement range of 15 km (9.3 mi) and can hit a target out to 70 km (43 mi), impacting at a speed of Mach 2.5.

A German developmental artillery system, called the Artillery Gun Module, has used the MLRS chassis on its developmental vehicles.
In 2012, a contract was issued to improve the armor of the M270s and improve the fire control to the standards of the HIMARS. In June 2015, the M270A1 conducted tests of firing rockets after upgrades from the Improved Armored Cab project, which provides the vehicle with an enhanced armored cab and windows.

When first deployed with the U.S. Army, the MLRS was used in a composite battalion consisting of two batteries of traditional artillery (howitzers) and one battery of MLRS SPLLs (self-propelled loader/launchers). The first operational organic or "all MLRS" unit was 6th Battalion, 27th Field Artillery.

The 6th Battalion, 27th Field Artillery was reactivated as the Army's first Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) battalion on 1 October 1984, and became known as the "Proud Rockets". In March 1990, the unit deployed to White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico to conduct the Initial Operational Test and Evaluation of the Army Tactical Missile System. The success of the test provided the Army with a highly accurate, long range fire support asset.
On 2 September 1990, the 6th Battalion, 27th Field Artillery deployed to Saudi Arabia in support of Operation Desert Shield. Assigned to the XVIII Airborne Corps Artillery, the unit played a critical role in the early defense of Saudi Arabia. As Desert Shield turned into Desert Storm, the Battalion was the first U.S. Field Artillery unit to fire into Kuwait. Over the course of the war, the 6th Battalion, 27th Field Artillery provided timely and accurate rocket and missile fires for both U.S. corps in the theater, the 82nd Airborne Division, the 6th French Light Armored Division, the 1st Armored, 1st Infantry Division, the 101st Airborne Division, and the 24th Infantry Division (Mechanized).

A Battery 92nd Field Artillery (MLRS) was deployed to the Gulf War in 1990 from Ft.Hood Texas. 3/27th FA (MLRS) out of Fort Bragg deployed in support of Operation Desert Shield in August 1990. A/21st Field Artillery (MLRS) – 1st Cavalry Division Artillery deployed in support of Operation Desert Shield in September 1990. In December 1990, A-40th Field Artillery (MLRS) – 3rd Armored Division Artillery (Hanau), 1/27th FA (MLRS) part of the 41st Field Artillery Brigade (Babenhausen) and 4/27th FA (MLRS) (Wertheim) deployed in support of Operation Desert Shield from their bases in Germany and 1/158th Field Artillery from the Oklahoma Army National Guard deployed in January 1991.

MLRS-System with launch vehicle, loader and a command center inside an M577 command vehicle.

In early February 1991, 1/27th FA launched the biggest MLRS night fire mission in history. It has since been used in numerous military engagements, including the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In March 2007, the British Ministry of Defence decided to send a troop of MLRS to support ongoing operations in Afghanistan's southern province of Helmand; they will use newly developed guided munitions.
In April 2011, the first modernized MLRS II and M31 GMLRS rocket were handed over to the German Army's Artillery School in Idar Oberstein. The German Army operates the M31 rocket up to a range of 90 km.

^{S military operators refer to the M270 as "the commander's personal shotgun" or as "battlefield buckshot". It is also commonly referred to as the "Gypsy Wagon", because crews store additional equipment, such as camouflage netting, cots, coolers, and personal items, on top of the vehicle as the launcher itself lacks adequate storage space for the crew. Within the British military, a common nickname is "Grid Square Removal System", a play on the initialism GSRS (from the older General Support Rocket System). With the adoption of the new M30 GPS guided rocket, it is now being referred to as the "70 kilometer sniper rifle". During the 1991 Gulf War, the Iraqis referred to the small M77 submunitions rockets as the "Steel Rain".}

^{The 9K52 Luna-M (Russian: Луна; English: moon) is a Soviet short-range artillery rocket system. The 9M21 rockets are unguided and spin-stabilized. Its GRAU designation is 9K52, and its NATO reporting name is FROG-7. "FROG" is a backronym for "Free Rocket Over Ground".}

^{The 9M21 rockets are mounted on a wheeled 9P113 transporter erector launcher (TEL) based on the ZIL-135 8x8 army truck. The TEL features a large hydraulic crane used for reloading rockets from 9T29 transporters (also ZIL-135 based). The 9M21 has a range up to 70 km and a CEP (circular error probable) between 500 m and 700 m. The road mobile rocket has a 550 kg warhead and is capable of delivering high explosive, nuclear, or chemical warheads.}
  

Six of the initial version of the 9M21 were in Cuba during the missile crisis in October 1962. These missiles, which were ready to fire, had nuclear warheads installed. A further 70 warheads were stockpiled on the island.
The Luna was later extensively deployed throughout some Soviet satellite states. The rocket has been widely exported and is now in the possession of a large number of countries. After the war with Iran, Iraq modified its stock of 9M21s with a joint assistance programme with Egypt and Egyptian Army engineers, by extending their range to 90 km and fitting a submunition-carrying warhead. The rocket was renamed Laith-90.

In the course of the Yugoslav Wars, Serb forces launched FROG-7 rockets on a number of Croatian cities, like Zupanja, on 12 December 1992, or the capital Zagreb, on 11 September 1993, while the battle of Medak Pocket was still ongoing.
During the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the Headquarters of the 2nd Brigade, US 3rd Infantry Division, Tactical Operations Center (TOC) of U.S Col. David Perkins, was targeted and struck by either an Iraqi FROG-7 rocket or an Ababil-100 SSM missile, killing three soldiers and two embedded journalists. Another 14 soldiers were injured, and 22 vehicles destroyed or seriously damaged, most of them Humvees.

RAF jets targeted and destroyed FROG-7 launchers operated by Pro-Gaddafi forces south of Sirte in the 2011 Libyan civil war.
Starting in 2012, during the Syrian Civil War, the Syrian Arab Army fired several FROG-7 rockets against different areas under control of different insurgent formations. Once again they proved to be an area weapon with scarse military effectiveness against dispersed targets while inflicting severe damage to the civilian population and infrastructure. 

 

The ZSU-23-4 and the SA-6 (Red Storm Rising)

I am bringing out 2 mainstays of the Soviet Air defense umbrella that were designed to stay with the armored formations.   We would study the Soviet Army and their Air Defense we had to look for were the SA-4/SA-6/SA-8 and the "ZSU",  those were high on the priority list, for if we went to war, we wanted to know where those were since we would be using combined air basically Helicopters and A-10's to counter the huge formation of Soviet armor descending down the Fulda gap.  These systems were designed to keep up with the Soviet formations in the field to protect them from our Air power, the Soviets had multiple systems that would overlap each other and provide complete coverage from low level attacks to the high atmosphere.    I am continuing my "Red Storm Rising" theme, in the book, the SAM systems were a major threat to the A-10's and the "Frisbee's" stealth fighters that were trying to slow and stem the Soviet advance.  In the book, the Soviet General had commented "We have done well with our technology, we can kill men instantly with missiles."

The ZSU-23-4 "Shilka" is a lightly armored Soviet self-propelled, radar guided anti-aircraft weapon system (SPAAG)

The acronym "ZSU" stands for Zenitnaya Samokhodnaya Ustanovka (Russian: Зенитная Самоходная Установка), meaning "anti-aircraft self-propelled system"; the "23" signifies the bore diameter in millimeters; the "4" signifies the number of gun barrels. It is named after the Shilka River in Russia. Afghan soldiers nicknamed it the "sewing machine" due to the sound of firing guns. It is also referred to by its nickname of "Zeus" which is a play on the first part of the name.

 T72M and a ZSU-23-4

The development of the ZSU-23-4 "Shilka" began in 1957 along with ZSU-37-2 "Yenisei" and the vehicle was brought into service in 1965, replacing all ZSU-57-2s in air defense units toward the beginning of the 1970s. The ZSU-23-4 was intended for AA defense of military facilities, troops, and mechanized columns on the march; originally, the more powerful guns of "Yenisei" were judged to be effective at covering the inner dead-zone of Soviet surface-to-air missile systems despite the increased weight of the vehicle, but commonality prevailed. Initially, tank regiments should have had the anti-aircraft artillery battalion of "Shilka" (consisting of two batteries, four ZSU-23-4s in each). At the end of the 1960s, one battery was equipped with ZSU-23-4s and the other with ZSU-57-2s. Motorized rifle and tank regiment standard anti-aircraft batteries consisted of two platoons later (one platoon was equipped with four ZSU-23-4s and another with four mobile surface-to-air missile systems 9K31 Strela-1 or 9K35 Strela-10). The ZSU-23-4 combined a proven radar system, the non-amphibious chassis based on GM-575 tracked vehicle, and four 23 mm autocannons. This delivered a highly effective combination of mobility with heavy firepower and considerable accuracy. The ZSU-23-4 outclassed all NATO anti-aircraft guns at the time, and it is still regarded as posing a major threat for low-flying fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters.
The system was widely fielded throughout the Warsaw Pact and among other pro-Soviet states. Around 2,500 ZSU-23-4s, of the total 6,500 produced, were exported to 23 countries. The Soviet Union's successor states continue to manufacture and supply variants of the ZSU-23-4, notably the Ukrainian "Donets" and Polish "Biala" variants.

ZSU-23-4 graphic.

ZSU-23-4 at Yad la-Shiryon Museum, Israel.

ZSU-23-4 units saw active service in the Yom Kippur War (1973) and other Arab-Israeli conflicts, the Iran–Iraq War (1980–1988), and the First Gulf War (1990). During the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the system was particularly effective against the Israeli Air Force. Israeli pilots attempting to fly low in order to avoid SA-6 missiles were often shot down by ZSU-23-4s as in Operation Doogman 5. During the Soviet-Afghan War ZSU-23-4 units were used widely and to great effect against mujahideen positions in the mountains, the ZSU-23-4's guns being able to elevate much higher than the weapons on BMPs, BTRs, T-55s, or T-62s. They were also used to suppress defensive positions around the presidential palace during the initial coup in Kabul at the start of the Soviet-Afghan war. The Russian Army used the ZSU-23-4 for mountain combat in Chechnya.
Initially fielded by the loyalist forces of the Syrian Arab Army as a fire support vehicle, a number of them were captured by different factions in the Syrian Civil War and they are normally fielded in a fire support role by all sides. There were no or at most very limited, attempts by the different opposing forces to use the Shilka in its original anti aircraft role against loyalist and international air forces operating in the area.

The radar-guided ZSU-23-4 "Shilka" SPAAG, with its four 23 mm (0.90") autocannons, was a revolutionary SPAAG, proving to be an extremely effective weapon against enemy attack aircraft and helicopters under every weather and light condition. The ZSU-23-4 has a very high density, rate and accuracy of fire, as well as the capability for each of the four autocannons to fire its own type of projectile from separate belts. While it is technically possible that each cannon shoots different type of ammunition, there were two types commonly used in late 1970s: OFZT incendiary fragmentation and BZT armour-piercing tracer, which were to be loaded in 3:1 ratio—three OFZT, then one BZT, every 10th BZT round equipped with so-called "copper remover" and marked. Operators were strongly discouraged from shooting from a single barrel.

The appearance of the "Shilka" caused significant changes in NATO tactics in aircraft use at low altitude over the battlefield. Despite its present obsolescence as a modern short-range anti-aircraft weapon, the ZSU-23-4 is still deadly for enemy light armoured vehicles, infantry and firing points as an infantry-support vehicle. With its high rate of accurate fire, the ZSU-23-4 can even neutralize tanks by destroying their gun sights, radio antennas, or other vulnerable parts. ZSU-23-4s, especially late models, have excellent performance and good systems reliability.
Based on the GM-575 tracked vehicle chassis, which used components from the PT-76 light amphibious tank, the ZSU-23-4 mounts an armored turret holding four liquid-cooled 23 mm (0.9") 2A7 autocannons linked to an RPK-2 "Tobol" radar (NATO designator: "Gun Dish"). The vehicle weighs 19 tonnes (late modifications up to 21 tonnes), has a movement range of 450 km (280 mi) and a top speed of 50 km/h (31 mph). Additional firepower of late modifications can be supplied by a roof-mounted pod of six short-range SA-18 SAMs, or side mounted SA-16s.
The crew numbers four: driver, commander, gunner and radar operator. The driver's compartment is located in the nose part of the vehicle. The fighting compartment is in the center, and the engine compartment is in the rear part of the vehicle.

Each water-cooled 23 mm 2A7 autocannon has a cyclic rate of 850–1,000 rounds per minute for a combined rate of fire of 3,400–4,000 rounds per minute. The welded turret has a race ring transplanted from a T-54 medium tank with a 1,840 mm (6') diameter. The 360° rotating turret is fully stabilised and capable of firing on the move. The turret rotation and autocannon elevation mechanisms provide very good speed and guidance accuracy. The hydraulically driven aiming mechanisms have been proven to be very reliable. Manual aim is used against ground targets. The quad automatic anti-aircraft gun AZP-23 "Amur" has a range of elevation from -4° to +85°. The GRAU designation for ZSU-23-4 turret with 23 mm (0.9") AZP-23 "Amur" quad automatic gun is 2A10. An armoured plate inside the turret protects crew members from fire and explosive gas during intense firing.

Ammunition capacity is 2,000 rounds stowed aboard (520 rounds per each upper autocannon and 480 rounds per each lower autocannon) loaded in 50-round or shorter belts.  A typical loading of each ammunition belt contains 40 OFZT and 10 BZT rounds. They can be fired to a maximum horizontal range of 7 km (4.3 mi), and a vertical range of 5.1 km (3.2 mi). The effective vertical range is 1.5 km (0.93 mi) at a direct range to target of 2.5 km (1.6 mi) and target speed of 250 m/s (up to 500 m/s if a modern fire control system is used). The usual autocannon burst consists of 3–10 projectiles and target lead angle is calculated for each burst (fire without adjustment) by computer. In attacking targets on the ground, its effective range is around 2.5 km (1.6 mi). The short range of its 23 mm autocannons and relatively low explosive effect of its small-calibre projectiles mean it is less able to engage threats such as jet attack aircraft and cruise missiles than modern systems like the 9K22 Tunguska armed with more powerful 30 mm autocannons and integrated missile armaments. A special 23 mm round with composite projectiles was developed for a modern variant of SPAAG (ZSU-23-4M4) to be used against cruise missiles.

 The RPK-2 "Tobol" a.k.a. 1RL33 radar operates in the J band and can detect aircraft up to 20 km (12 mi) away. It has excellent target tracking capability and is relatively hard to detect by the enemy. However, the radar picks up many false returns (ground clutter) under 60 m (200 ft) of altitude. The radar antenna is mounted on collapsible supports in the top rear of the turret. There is an optical alignment sight. The RPK-2 radar proved to have good protection against enemy passive electronic radar counter-measures. Nevertheless, the radar system of the ZSU-23-4 has a short detection range during target search, depending on weather conditions (mainly dependent on rain and snow conditions). It is hard to automatically track the target at ranges less than 7–8 km (4.3-5.0 mi) because of the high angular speed of the target at close distances. The radar needs to be reset quite often because of the unstable parameters of electronic cathode-ray tubes of the target selection system. The absence of an automatic laser range finder requires a skillful commander and gunner.

Soviet doctrine supplied the vehicle since 1965 in an anti-aircraft artillery battery of two, four-vehicle platoons for anti-aircraft defence of motor rifle and tank regiments. At the end of the 1960s one platoon was equipped with ZSU-23-4 SPAAGs while another one was still equipped with ZSU-57-2 SPAAGs. ZSU-57-2 was completely replaced with ZSU-23-4 by the beginning of the 1970s. In the 1970s, Soviet motor rifle and tank regiments were equipped with an anti-aircraft missile artillery battery consisting of two platoons, one equipped with four ZSU-23-4 SPAAGs and the other with four 9K31 Strela-1 (SA-9 Gaskin) or later with four 9K35 Strela-10 (SA-13 Gopher) short-range surface-to-air missile systems which cover the dead zones of 2K12 Kub (SA-6 Gainful) surface-to-air missile systems belonging to the divisional level. Since the 1980s Soviet motor rifle and tank regiments were equipped with an anti-aircraft artillery battalion of three batteries (one was equipped with ZSU-23-4 or 9K22 Tunguska SPAAGs, the second one was equipped with 9K35 Strela-10 (SA-13 Gopher) short-range surface-to-air missile systems and the third battery with 9K38 Igla man-portable surface-to-air missiles on IFVs or APCs.
The ZSU-23-4 is very vulnerable to enemy anti-tank missiles, cannons and heavy machine guns; the armor is thin (not exceeding 15 mm) and the exposed wheels, tracks, radar, and gun barrels can easily be damaged in combat. Firing positions of ZSU-23-4 SPAAGs are typically placed near the forward edge of the battle area (FEBA) but behind the main forces, usually 600–1000 m behind objectives when on the defensive or 400–600 m behind the leading tanks on the offensive. ZSU-23-4 SPAAGs are divided evenly along the troop columns on the march.
At first each ZSU-23-4 operated in combat autonomously, without target marking from regimental or divisional air defense. In 1978, the PPRU-1 (mobile reconnaissance and control post) was passed into service of the Soviet Army. The PPRU-1 ("Ovod-M-SV") vehicle is based on MT-LBu armored tracked chassis and it was intended for control of motor rifle or tank regimental anti-aircraft unit equipped with ZSU-23-4 SPAAGs and 9K31 "Strela-1M" mobile surface-to-air missile systems. The PPRU-1 is equipped with "Luk-23" radar and an automatic fire control system associated with the divisional air defense system.

ZSU-23-4 photo.

The guns are useful against low-flying aircraft and lightly protected ground targets. Due to its effectiveness against ground targets, ZSU-23-4s have been used in urban environments (e.g., Afghanistan, Abkhazia, Chechnya, Syria and Lebanon). This is primarily because the guns can elevate much higher than a tank or APC cannon, enabling armored units equipped with ZSU-23-4s to return fire against ambushes from above.
A small number of ZSU-23-4 SPAAGs are still in use by the Russian Naval Infantry (specifically the 61st and 175th brigades of the Northern Fleet and the 336th brigade of the Baltic Fleet).

   You noticed that both systems share the same chassis...

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 MMZ.

The development of the 2K12 was 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 (820–1,170 kn) at altitudes of 100 to 7,000 m (330 to 22,970 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 the now JSC Metrowagonmash (former MMZ)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).

Those failures resulted in some 'orgchanges': In August 1961 Toropov was replaced by Lyapin as the Chief Designer of Vympel and in January 1962 Tikhomirov was replaced by Figurovskiy as the Chief Designer of NIIP. Still, the work wasn't intensified. Before 1963 only 11 of 83 missiles fired had the seeker head installed, only 3 launches were successful.
Kub downed its first ever air target on February 18, 1963, during the state trials at Donguz test site, Orenburg Oblast. It was an Ilyushin Il-28 bomber.
The system entered an extended testing period between 1959 and 1966, after overcoming the technical difficulties of producing the 2K12 "Kub" the system was accepted into service on 23 January 1967 and went into production that same year.
It is sometimes claimed that the SA-N-3 Goblet naval system is a version of the 3M9 but this is not the case, as the M-11 Shtorm is a separate system and, unusually for Russian surface-to-air missiles, has no land-based variant.

The 2K12 system shares many components with the 2K11 Krug (SA-4) system. In many ways they are designed to complement each other; 2K11 is effective at long ranges and high altitudes, 2K12 at medium ranges and intermediate altitudes.
The system is able to acquire and begin tracking targets using the 1S91 "Самоходная установка разведки и наведения" (SPRGU - "Self-propelled Reconnaissance and Guidance Unit" / NATO: "Straight Flush" radar) at 75 km (47 mi) and begin illumination and guidance at 28 km (17 mi). IFF is also performed using this radar. It can only guide one or two missiles to a single target at any time. The missile is initially command guided with terminal semi-active radar homing (SARH), with target illumination provided by the "Straight Flush" radar. Detonation is via either the impact or proximity fuze. On the latest models, this vehicle is also fitted with an optical tracking system which allows engagement without the use of the radar (for active RF emissions stealth reasons, or due to heavy ECM jamming) in which case the effective altitude is limited to 14 km/46000 ft. The optical tracking method also allows engagements to altitudes below that where the radar is able to track targets. Maximum target speed is around Mach 2 for head-on engagements and Mach 1 for tail-chase engagements. Top speed of the missile is approximately Mach 2.8.
In contrast to the elaborate Patriot missile or even the simpler Hawk system fielded by US forces, most of the system rides on two tracked self-propelled vehicles, rather than towed or mounted on trucks, and either the launcher or control vehicle can be set to launch in only 15 minutes after changing location.

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.

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 the Phantom II type 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.

 "Spoonrest, and a "Thin Skin" with a "Fansong SA-2" system in the background.

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 SA-2), with a 200 kilometres (120 mi) range.

• P-40 "Long Track", an E band early warning radar (also used by the SA-4 and SA-8), with a 370 kilometres (230 mi) range.
• P-15 "Flat Face A", a UHF early warning radar (also used by the SA-3, with a 150 kilometres (93 mi) range.
• "Thin Skin" or "Side Net" E band height finding radar (also used by the SA-2, SA-4 and SA-5, 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. It is unknown what kind of mounting the "Score Board" has.
Without the P-40 "Long Track" mobile radar vehicle, the 2K12 is unable to track aircraft at high altitudes.