Rubezh

   In 1960 a revolutionary P-15 Termit anti-ship cruise missile was adopted by the Soviet Navy. It was the first successful anti-ship cruise missile to achieve operational service. It was typically carried by small and mid-size Soviet warships. Numerous frigates, corvettes and even fast attack craft were fitted with the P-15 missiles. It was relatively small, light and inexpensive for its mission. After its introduction Soviets issued a requirement for a coastal defense missile system, armed with these missiles. Test launches were made in 1975-1977. The new system was officially adopted by the Soviet Navy in 1978. It was known in the West as SSC-3 or Styx. It supplemented in service the more capable Redut (Western reporting name SSC-1 or Sepal) and older and less mobile S-2 Sopka (SSC-2B or Samlet) coastal defense missile systems. Despite its age the Rubezh is still used by the Russian military. In the 1980s the Rubezh was exported to a number of Soviet allies, including Algeria, Bulgaria, Cuba, East Germany, India, Libya, Romania, Syria, Vietnam, Yemen, Yugoslavia. The more capable Redut system was never offered for export. A small number of Rubezh systems are still operational with Cuba, Syria and Vietnam. In the early 1990s, after collapse of the Soviet Union, some Rubezh anti-ship systems ended up in Ukraine. However in 2014 after annexation of Crimean peninsula by Russia these missile systems were taken over by the Russian military. Interestingly in 2009 Egypt acquired these coastal defense missiles systems from Montenegro. Though by this time these have been retired from service.

   Soviets required that all components of the coastal defense missile system including radar and missiles would be based on a single chassis. This led to selection of a MAZ-543M heavy high mobility chassis. This special wheeled chassis was highly mobile and could travel off-road. This allowed to carry 2 missiles by a single vehicle. There is also a control cab with equipment behind the driving cab.

   The Rubezh system uses improved P-15M missiles. These missiles are recoilless upon launch. Maximum range of fire is 80 km. This missile travels at a speed of 1 100 km/h (Mach 0.9). The missile travels at an altitude of 25, 50 or 250 m above sea level, depending on the setting which is pre-programmed before launch. Missile attacks its targets from the top.

   The missile carries a 513 kg High Explosive Dual Purpose (HEDP) warhead. It penetrates relatively thick hulls and cause extensive damage. The warhead is packed with RDX explosives and a copper charge liner. Also missile retains significant amount of fuel upon impact. So missiles of the Rubezh can virtually demolish small warships.

   There was also reportedly a 15 kT nuclear warhead. Though it seems that it was never used operationally. Although some other Soviet anti-ship missiles, such as the P-1 Strelka (SS-N-1 or Scrubber) were fitted with nuclear warheads.

   The P-15M missiles have inertial guidance with either active radar guidance, or infrared guidance on the terminal stage. Typically one of the missiles carried by the launcher vehicle uses radar guidance while another uses infrared terminal guidance. This improves the chance of hitting a target. Missiles lock-on their targets at a range of 10-20 km.

   Export version of the Rubezh used P-20, P-21 and P-22 missiles. These were downgraded versions of the P-15M missile.

   Radar on the launcher vehicle can detect naval targets at a range of up to 100 km.

   Later an improved P-27 missile was introduced. It used a more capable L-band radar.

   The launcher vehicle is operated by a crew of 6. It takes 5 minutes to prepare the launcher vehicle for firing.

   A battery of Rubezh consists of 4 launcher vehicles. Each launcher vehicle is escorted by an associated reloading vehicle, based on a 6x6 military truck chassis. It carries a full set of two reload missiles. Each launcher vehicle can operate autonomously. It can detect and engage naval  targets independently without targeting data from command center.

   In 2004 Russian military adopted a new Bal coastal defense missile system. It was designed as a successor both to the Redut and Rubezh coastal defense missile systems.

Variants

   Rubezh-ME is a new Russian coastal defense missile system. Letters "ME" in the designation stand for "Modernized" and "Export". Though despite a similar name it has little common with the original Rubezh. It uses much newer and more capable Kh-35UE anti-ship missiles with a range of 260 km.