The RBU-6000 Smerch-2 (Реактивно-Бомбовая Установка, ''Reaktivno-Bombovaja Ustanovka'';

reaction engine A reaction engine is an engine or motor that produces thrust by expelling reaction mass, in accordance with Newton's third law of motion. This law of motion is commonly paraphrased as: "For every action force there is an equal, but opposite, rea ...

-bomb installation & Смерч; waterspout) is a 213 mm caliber

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

anti-submarine An anti-submarine weapon (ASW) is any one of a number of devices that are intended to act against a submarine and its crew, to destroy (sink) the vessel or reduce its capability as a weapon of war. In its simplest sense, an anti-submarine weapo ...

rocket launcher A rocket launcher is a weapon that launches an unguided, rocket-propelled projectile. History The earliest rocket launchers documented in imperial China consisted of arrows modified by the attachment of a rocket motor to the shaft a few in ...

. It is similar in principle to the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

Hedgehog A hedgehog is a spiny mammal of the subfamily Erinaceinae, in the eulipotyphlan family Erinaceidae. There are seventeen species of hedgehog in five genera found throughout parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and in New Zealand by introducti ...

system used during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The system entered service in 1960–1961 and is fitted to a wide range of Russian surface vessels. It consists of a horseshoe-shaped arrangement of twelve launch barrels, that are remotely directed by the Burya fire control system (that can also control the shorter ranged

RBU-1000 The RBU-1000 Smerch-3 is a 300 mm caliber Russian anti-submarine and anti-torpedo rocket launcher. It entered service around 1962–1963. It is similar in operation to the Hedgehog system used during the Second World War. The RBU-1000 is remot ...

). It fires RGB-60 unguided

depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive Shock factor, hydraulic shock. Most depth ...

s. The rockets are normally fired in salvos of 1, 2, 4, 8 or 12 rounds. Reloading is automatic, with individual rounds being fed into the launcher by the 60UP loading system from a below deck magazine. Typical magazine capacity is either 72 or 96 rounds per launcher. It can also be used for shore bombardment. The system is an upgrade of the RBU-6000 system, firing the 90R rocket, which is actively guided in the water. This allows it to home in on targets at depths of up to . The warhead is a

shaped charge A shaped charge is an explosive charge shaped to form an explosively formed penetrator (EFP) to focus the effect of the explosive's energy. Different types of shaped charges are used for various purposes such as cutting and forming metal, init ...

, which enables it to punch through the hulls of submarines. It can also be used against divers and torpedoes. System response time is reported to be 15 seconds and a single-salvo has a kill probability of 0.8. RPK-8 entered service in 1991 and mounted on Project 1154 and 11356 frigates. Serial production of the upgraded 90R1 rocket was launched in 2017. RBU-6000 were the most widespread anti-submarine rocket launchers in the Soviet Navy, used on many ship classes.

Launcher

* Weight: 3,100 kg (empty) * Length: 2 m * Height: 2.25 m * Width: 1.75 m * Elevation: -15° to +65° * Traverse: 180°

RGB-60 projectile

* Weight: 113.5 kg * Warhead: 23 kg * Diameter: 0.212 m * Length: 1.83 m * Range: ** Ballistic 1: 350 m to 1700 m ** Ballistic 2: 1500 m to 5500 m * Depth: 10 to 500 m * Sink rate: 11.6m/s

90R projectile

* Weight: 112.5 kg * Warhead: 19.5 kg * Diameter: 0.212 m * Length: 1.83 m * Range: 600 m to 4,300 m * Effective radius: 130 m * Depth range: ** Submarines: 0 to 1,000 m ** Torpedoes and divers: 4–10 m

Ships

Ship classes fitted with RBU-6000 (list not complete) *
** (Project 1123) ** (Project 1143/1143M) ** (Project 58) ** (Project 1134) ** (Project 1134A) ** (Project 1134B) ** (Project 1144/11442) ** (Project 1164) ** Kotlin-SAM-class destroyer (Project 56K/56A/56AE) ** (Project 57A) ** (Project 61/61M/61MP) ** (Project 1155) ** Burevestnik/Burevestnik M-class frigate (Project 1135/1135M) ** (Project 1154) ** (Project 1159) ** (Project 11661) ** Petya II/III-class frigate (Project 159A/159AE) ** (Project 35/35M) ** Grisha I/III/IV/V-class corvette (Project 1124.1/1124M/1124K/1124ME) ** Parchim II-class corvette (Project 133.1M) ** (Project 204) * Soviet border Guard

Russian Border Guard The Border Service of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (PS FSB Rossii) (russian: Пограничная служба Федеральной службы безопасности Российской Федерации (� ...

** Nerei-class frigate (Project 11351) ** Grisha II/V-class corvette (Project 1124P/1124ME) * ** Nerei-class frigate (Project 11351) ** Petya II-class frigate (Project 159A) ** Grisha II/V-class corvette (Project 1124P/1124ME) * ** Kotlin-SAM-class destroyer (Project 56AE) ** Kashin-class destroyer (Project 61MP) ** corvette (Project 620) * ** ** * ** Koni-class frigate (Project 1159) ** Poti-class corvette (Project 204) * ** Grisha III-class corvette (Project 1124M) * ** Petya II-class frigate (Project 159A) *

** Koni-class frigate (Project 1159) ** (Project 1159) * ** Koni-class frigate (Project 1159) ** Parchim I-class corvette (Project 133) * ** (Project 61ME) ** (Project 15) ** (Project 15A) ** (Project 15B) ** (Project 11356) ** (Project 17) ** (Project 28) *

Vietnam People's Navy The Vietnam People's Navy (VPN; vi, Hải quân nhân dân Việt Nam), or the Naval Service (), also known as the Vietnamese People's Navy or simply Vietnam/Vietnamese Navy (), is the naval branch of the Vietnam People's Army and is responsi ...

** Petya II/III-class frigate (Project 159A/159AE) * ** Parchim I-class corvette (Project 133) * ** Koni-class frigate (Project 1159TP) * ** Petya III-class frigate (Project 159AE) * ** Koni-class frigate (Project 1159T) * ** Petya II-class frigate (Project 159A) * ** Koni-class frigate (Project 1159T)

References

* ''The Naval Institute Guide to World Naval Systems 1997-1998''

External links

RBU-6000 on the manufacturer's official website

Russia launches serial production of upgraded rockets for anti-submarine warfare system
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rbu-6000 Naval weapons of the Cold War Anti-submarine missiles Cold War weapons of the Soviet Union Military equipment introduced in the 1960s NPO Splav products