The P-120 Malakhit (russian: П-120 «Малахит» '

Malachite Malachite is a copper carbonate hydroxide mineral, with the formula Cu2CO3(OH)2. This opaque, green-banded mineral crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system, and most often forms botryoidal, fibrous, or stalagmitic masses, in fractures ...

NATO reporting name NATO reporting names are code names for military equipment from Russia, China, and historically, the Eastern Bloc (Soviet Union and other nations of the Warsaw Pact). They provide unambiguous and easily understood English words in a uniform manne ...

: SS-N-9 Siren,

GRAU The Main Missile and Artillery Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation (), commonly referred to by its transliterated Russian acronym GRAU (), is a department of the Russian Ministry of Defense. It is subordinate to the ...

designation: 4K85) is a Russian medium range

anti-ship missile An anti-ship missile (AShM) is a guided missile that is designed for use against ships and large boats. Most anti-ship missiles are of the sea skimming variety, and many use a combination of inertial guidance and active radar homing. A good ...

used by

corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the slo ...

s and submarines. Introduced in 1972, it remains in service but has been superseded by the

P-270 Moskit The P-270 Moskit (russian: П-270 «Москит»; en, Mosquito) is a Soviet supersonic ramjet powered anti-ship cruise missile. Its GRAU designation is 3M80, air launched variant is the Kh-41 and its NATO reporting name is SS-N-22 Sunburn ...

Development

The was required to spend 30 minutes or more on the surface when firing its

P-5 Pyatyorka The P-5 ''"Pyatyorka"'' (russian: П-5 «Пятёрка»; "Pyatyorka", "fiver" in English), also known by the NATO codename SS-N-3C Shaddock, is a Cold War era turbojet-powered cruise missile of the Soviet Union, designed by the Chelomey desig ...

(SS-N-3A 'Shaddock') missiles. This made the submarines very vulnerable to enemy attack, so in 1963 the Soviets started work on a new missile that could be fired whilst submerged, and a submarine to carry it. These became the P-50 Malakhit and . The P-50 was replaced by the P-120 design during development. However, problems in development meant that the twelve Charlie I submarines were built with the shorter-ranged

P-70 Ametist The P-70 ''Ametist'' (NATO reporting name SS-N-7 Starbright, GRAU designation 4K66; russian: П-70 «Аметист» 'Amethyst') was an anti-ship missile carried by Soviet and Indian Project 670 submarines, as well as the Soviet Project 661 Anc ...

(SS-N-7 'Starbright', an evolution of the SS-N-2C 'Styx') as a stopgap before the introduction of the P-120 Malakhit on the Charlie II. The P-120 missile was later used as the basis for the

SS-N-14 Silex ''Metel'' Anti-Ship Complex (russian: противолодочный комплекс «Метель» 'Snowstorm'; NATO reporting name: SS-N-14 Silex) is a Russian family of anti-submarine missiles. There are different anti-submarine variants ('M ...

rocket-propelled torpedo.

Design

The

L band The L band is the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) designation for the range of frequencies in the radio spectrum from 1 to 2 gigahertz (GHz). This is at the top end of the ultra high frequency (UHF) band, at the lower en ...

seeker and radar altimeter originally designed for the 'Siren' were first used on the 'Starbright' whilst the Soviets sorted out the P-120's troublesome engines. However the 'Siren' has space for datalink equipment, allowing mid-course guidance from the launch platform or something else. When fired from a submarine, the missile can be launched at a maximum depth of 50 meters.

Operational history

The 'Siren' entered service on corvettes of the Soviet Navy on March 17, 1972. It would be installed on Nanuchka-class corvettes. About 500 missiles were produced. It was not until November 1977 that it was accepted for use on submarines. The Charlie-II submarine carried eight missiles (of which two usually carried thermonuclear warheads). It saw action in 2008 in the hands of the

Black Sea Fleet Chernomorskiy flot , image = Great emblem of the Black Sea fleet.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Great emblem of the Black Sea fleet , dates = May 13, ...

of the Russian Navy during the

action off Abkhazia The Skirmish off the coast of Abkhazia was a naval engagement between warships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Navy and the Georgian Navy during the Russo-Georgian War. The engagement According to Centre for Analysis of Strateg ...

, where it was used without success, mistakenly against MV Lotos-1 from

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...

Operators

; * Russian Navy ;

References

External links

MARITIME STRIKE The Soviet Perspectivewww.dtig.org
Russian/Sovjet Sea-based Anti-Ship Missiles (pdf) {{Russian and Soviet missiles, SSM Cold War anti-ship cruise missiles of the Soviet Union P-120 P-120 Cruise missiles of the Cold War Nuclear missiles of the Cold War P-120 Surface-to-surface missiles Cruise missiles of Russia Nuclear cruise missiles of Russia Submarine-launched cruise missiles of Russia NPO Mashinostroyeniya products Military equipment introduced in the 1970s