2K12 Kub The 2K12 " " Kub " " ( ; ) ( 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 ( range 75 km / 47 miles ) equipped with a continuous wave illuminator , in addition to an optical sight . The battery usually also includes four triple - missile transporter erector launcher s ( TELs ) and four trucks each carrying three spare missiles and a crane . TEL is based on a GM - 578 chassis , while the 1S91 radar vehicle on a GM - 568 , all developed and produced by MMZ . Development . 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 – 600 m / s at altitudes of 100 m to at ranges up to , 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 : 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 the 23rd January , 1967 and went into production that same year . It is sometimes claimed that the M - 11 Shtorm ( SA - N - 3 ) 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 " Kub " was recommended for modernisation work in 1967 with the goal of improving combat characteristics ( longer range , improved ECCM , reliability and reaction time ) . A modernised variant underwent trial testing in 1972 eventually being adopted in 1973 as the " Kub - M1 " . The system underwent another modernisation between 1974 and 1976 , against the general combat characteristics of the system were improved with the " Kub - M3 " clearing testing and entering service in 1976 . After the Chief designer Ardalion Rastov visited Egypt in 1971 to see Kub in operation he came to the certain conclusion for the development of a new system , called Buk , where each TEL should have its own fire control radar ( TELAR ) and is able to engage multiple targets from multiple directions at the same time . The final major development of the Kub missile system was achieved during the development of its successor , the 9K37 " Buk " in 1974 . Although the Buk is the successor to Kub it was decided that both systems could share some interoperability , the result of this decision was the " Kub - M4 " system . The Kub - M4 used Kub - M3 components which could receive fire control information from the 9А310 transporter erector launcher and radar ( TELAR ) of the 9K37 Buk . The advantage interoperability was an increase in the number of fire control channels and available missiles for each system as well as a faster service entry for Buk system components . The Kub - M4 was adopted into service in 1978 following completion of state trails . Some early development interpretations of Buk missile system heavily utilized the Kub components including the 3M9 missile . There are several plans to integrate active radar homing missiles into Kub . For instance , Polish WZU of Grudziadz shows a project of Sparrow - armed Kub at the MSPO 2008 defence exhibition in Kielce . It is reported also that Vympel initiated some work to use its RVV - AE air - to - air missile to modernise the Kvadrat SAM system . Also , the Czech company RETIA presented a SURN ( fire control radar ) upgrade featuring an optical channel and new multiple - function color displays as well as the radar upgrade and the IFF system . In 2011 a Kub upgraded launcher ( named " 2K12 KUB CZ " ) with three Aspide 2000 missiles in launch contrainers was presented on International Exhibition of Defence and Security Technologies ( IDET ) exposition in Brno . The modifications were made by Retia . Description . The 2K12 system shares a lot of 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 1С91 " Самоходная установка разведки и наведения " ( SPRGU - " Self - propelled Reconnaissance and Guidance Unit " / NATO : " Straight Flush " radar ) at and begin illumination and guidance at . 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 . Missiles . The fairly large missiles have an effective range of 4 – 24 km ( 2 . 5 – 15 miles ) and an effective altitude of 50 – 14000 m ( 164 – 45 , 931 ft ) . The missile weighs 599 kg ( 1321 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 . 1S91 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 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 . Additional radar . 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 : 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 . Operational history . Middle East . Yom Kippur War . The 2K12 surprised the Israelis in the 1973 Yom Kippur War . They were used 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 . Once the RWRs were reprogrammed and tactics changed , the 2K12 was no longer such a grave threat . Pilots dubbed the 2K12 the " Three Fingers of Death " , in reference to the launcher ' s appearance . 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 SA - 2 and SA - 3 systems . While exact losses continue to be disputed , around 40 aircraft are usually cited as lost to SAM shots , and the 2K12 / SA - 6 proved most effective of the three weapons . 1982 Lebanon war . The Syrians also deployed the SA - 6 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 the SAM threat in the Beqaa Valley , launching Operation Mole Cricket 19 . The result was a complete success . Several SA - 6 batteries , along with SA - 2s and SA - 3s , 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 . Angolan Civil War . Cuban Air Defense placed hundreds of SA - 2 , SA - 3 and SA - 6 missile sites in the border with Namibia with the purpose of downing any Buccaneer or Camberra that could carry a Nuclear Artifact . In March 26 , an 3M9 - M3 missile launched from a Cuban SA - 6 hit a South African Impala MkII Light Attack Jet mistaken by a Mirage F1 . Poland . On 19 August 2003 , a Polish Air Force Su - 22M4K was accidentally shot down by friendly fire during an exercise by a Polish SA - 6 battery . The aircraft was flying 21 km from the coast over the Baltic Sea near Ustka . The pilot , General Andrzej Andrzejewski , ejected and was rescued after two hours in the water . He subsequently died in a C - 295M crash on 23 January 2008 . Libya . The system was deployed by Libya during the border dispute with Chad and proved a threat for French aircraft , however on January 7 , 1987 these were successful in destroying an SA - 6 radar site in the Faya Largeau area with SEPECAT Jaguar s armed with Martel anti - radiation missiles . In March , the Chadian rebels captured Ouadi Doum air base and captured practically the whole heavy equipment used for the defense of this airfield intact . Most of this equipment was transported to France and the USA in the following days , but some SA - 6s remained in Chad . With this catastrophe , the Libyan occupation of the northern Chad – and the annexation of the Aouzou Strip – was over : by 30 March , also the bases at Faya Largeau and Aouzou had to be abandoned . The LARAF now has got a completely different task : its Tu - 22 Bs were to attack the abandoned bases and destroy as much equipment left there as possible . First such strikes were flown in April , and they continued until the 8 August 1987 , when two Tu - 22Bs which tried to strike Aouzou , were ambushed by a captured SA - 6 battery used by the Chadian Army , and one of the bombers shot down . Libyan air defense , including SA - 6 batteries , was active during the 2011 military intervention in Libya . They were completely ineffective , not managing to shoot down any NATO or allied aircraft . Iraq . Several SA - 6s , 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 Phantom s and Northrop F - 5 s . Kub systems were active again during the 1991 war . On January 19 , 1991 a USAF F - 16 ( serial 87 - 228 ) was shot down by an SA - 6 during the massive ( though ill - fated ) Package Q Strike against a heavily defended Baghdad . It was combat loss number 10 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 . Two days before , a B - 52 G was damaged by either an SA - 6 or an SA - 3 . In any case , the SA - 6 threat was largely controlled by Allied EW assets together with the older SA - 2 and SA - 3 missile systems . Most of the losses were due to IR guided SAMs . 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 weren ' t able to shoot down any Coalition aircraft though several sites were destroyed as retaliation . For example , on December 30 , 1998 an SA - 6 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 bomb s on the site and also launching two HARMs " as a preemptive measure " to warn Iraqi radar operators against carrying out more firings . Bosnia and Kosovo . Army of Republika Srpska forces , using modified SA - 6s were successful in shooting down Scott O ' Grady ' s F - 16 in 1995 and two to three Croatian AN - 2 aircraft that were used as night bombers with improvised 100 kg bombs . One Mi - 17 was shot down by a Kub on May 28 , 1995 , killing the Bosnian Minister Irfan Ljubijankić , a few other politicians , and the helicopter ' s Ukrainian crew . 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 twenty - two SA - 6 batteries . Using shoot and scoot tactics , the self - propelled ground system demonstrated a good surviability with only three radars lost in the face of nearly four - hundred AGM - 88 shots , but the system proved to be very ineffective having fired 477 missiles without a single success , at the same time . As comparison the fixed SA - 2 and SA - 3 sites demonstrated a similar low rate success , but suffered losses to around 66 to 80 percent . According to the then - commander of Air force and air defense General Spasoje Smiljanjić 2K12 Kub had 46 shooting with 70 rockets . Of the 20 missile battery fired only 16 battery . Affected , with material evidence , two unmanned aerial vehicles . And by ' assessment of conditions and the elements of fire ' hit 13 planes and two helicopters .