The R-25 Vulkan ( sr, Вулкан) was a

surface-to-air missile A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-aircraft syst ...

(SAM) designed by Serbian engineer Obrad Vučurović and built in the

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...

(SFRY) in the late 1950s, early 1960s.

Development

The mid-1950s saw the emergence of viable SAMs for the purpose of air defence. Due to their inability to import foreign SAM systems, in 1958 Yugoslavia initiated a program to develop an indigenous missile at the Belgrade Military Technical Institute. Designated the R-25 Vulkan (Volcano), this completely original Yugoslavian design brought together a team of experts led by engineer Obrad Vučurović to design the missile, with the prototypes being made in the

SOKO Soko ( sh-Cyrl, Соко) was a Yugoslav aircraft manufacturer based in Mostar, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina. The company was responsible for the production of many military aircraft for the Yugoslav Air Force. SOKO was created in 1950 by the rel ...

aircraft factory in

Mostar Mostar (, ; sr-Cyrl, Мостар, ) is a city and the administrative center of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the historical capital of Herzegovina. Mostar is sit ...

. Two versions of the missile were developed: one that had a booster-rocket engine with seven rockets and a second one with four rockets. Although, initial prototypes used a

liquid fuel rocket A liquid-propellant rocket or liquid rocket utilizes a rocket engine that uses liquid propellants. Liquids are desirable because they have a reasonably high density and high specific impulse (''I''sp). This allows the volume of the propellant ta ...

engine developed for a rocket-powered torpedo, later operational production missiles would use a solid-fueled engine with twice the thrust. The development of the launcher and radar system was inspired by the Japanese Kappa meteorological

sounding rocket A sounding rocket or rocketsonde, sometimes called a research rocket or a suborbital rocket, is an instrument-carrying rocket designed to take measurements and perform scientific experiments during its sub-orbital flight. The rockets are used to ...

imported into Yugoslavia. The target detection and information collection system was supplied by Yugoslav-made OAR M-61 “Fruška Gora” S-Band surveillance and acquisition radar, and in-course guidance was supplied by a British No. 3 Mk. 7 aiming radar. For operational use, there existed the possibility of using more sophisticated radar equipment, and for terminal guidance the missile would switch to independent homing by

infrared Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from around ...

sensors in its nose cone. The advanced guidance system of the R-25 was automatic after launch with no further operator input needed.

Use

The first launch of the missile was conducted in November 1962, revealing problems with the liquid-fueled

sustainer rocket A sustainer engine is a rocket engine which remains with a spacecraft during its ascent after booster engines have separated from the spacecraft. See also *Multistage rocket A multistage rocket or step rocket is a launch vehicle that ...

motor. Concurrently, with the R-25 testing in 1962 the SFRY acquired

S-75 Dvina The S-75 (Russian: С-75; NATO reporting name SA-2 Guideline) is a Soviet-designed, high-altitude air defence system, built around a surface-to-air missile with command guidance. Following its first deployment in 1957 it became one of the most w ...

(Russian: С-75; NATO reporting name: SA-2 Guideline), missile systems from the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. As such, by the end of 1964 the decision was made to abandon the Vukan project that produced a total of twelve missiles. The knowledge and experience gained during this project were later incorporated into other projects for production of other armaments for the

Yugoslav People's Army The Yugoslav People's Army (abbreviated as JNA/; Macedonian and sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска народна армија, Jugoslovenska narodna armija; Croatian and bs, Jugoslavenska narodna armija; sl, Jugoslovanska ljudska a ...

(JNA).

Survivors

A single R-25 Vulkan missile is preserved at the Museum of Aviation Museum in Belgrade; intended for in-flight testing, the warhead has been replaced by

measuring Measurement is the quantification of attributes of an object or event, which can be used to compare with other objects or events. In other words, measurement is a process of determining how large or small a physical quantity is as compared t ...

and

telemetry Telemetry is the in situ data collection, collection of measurements or other data at remote points and their automatic data transmission, transmission to receiving equipment (telecommunication) for monitoring. The word is derived from the Gr ...

equipment.

External links

Seven-boostered version images

References

{{reflist Surface-to-air missiles of the Cold War Weapons of Yugoslavia Japan–Serbia relations