2K6 Luna
The 2K6 "Luna" (; ) is a Soviet short-range artillery rocket complex. Luna rockets are solid-fuel, unguided and spin-stabilized. "2K6" is its GRAU designation. Its NATO reporting names are FROG-3 (with 3R9 missile) and FROG-5 (with 3R10 missile). From 1965, the 2K6 Luna was replaced by the far more successful 9K52 Luna-M, which was known in the West as the FROG-7. Design history. The "Luna" system was developed in NII-1 from 1953, under the supervision of N. P. Mazurov. Luna followed the earlier designs 2K1 "Mars" and 2K4 "Filin". While NII-1 was responsible for the rocket , the launch and transporter-loader vehicles were designed by TsNII-58. The initial system name was S-125A "Pion". In 1957 the prototypes of the launch vehicle (SPU S-123A on "Ob'yekt 160" chassis), the transloader (TZM S-124A on "Ob'yekt 161" chassis) and the 3R5 rocket were ready for evaluations. These were carried out in 1958 in Kapustin Yar and in 1959 in the Transbaikal Military District. As a result of these evaluations, it was decided to abandon the TZM, to improve the SPU and to redesign the rocket. This led to the development of the 3R9 and 3R10 rockets. The decision to  start series production was taken on 29 December 1959. The first five systems were ready in January 1960 after which the state acceptance trials were carried out until March of that same year. In 1960 the Luna system entered service with the Soviet Army where it remained until 1982. From 1960 till 1964, a total of 432 SPU 2P16s were produced. In the first year alone, 80 launch vehicles and 365 rockets were finished. System description. The missile complex consisted of There have been a couple of variants of the launch vehicle, for example the 2P21, also known as Br-226 -II, on ZiL-134 8x8 truck, but these never entered service. The FROG-6 is, according to Western sources the NATO designator for the truck-based training system PV-65. Russian sources however claim that this system is the prototype of the Br-226-I launch vehicle on KrAZ-214. Operational history. Luna entered service in 1960 and remained in service with the Soviet Army until 1982. Each Motorised Rifle and Tank Division had one Rocket Battalion with two batteries, each with two 2P16s. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, 36 2K6 missiles (24 with conventional warheads, 12 with two-kiloton nuclear warheads) with six launchers  were located in Cuba. Although some authorities dispute whether local commanders had authority to use nuclear weapons, they were present and it is argued that if pressured, Soviet soldiers might have used them.