SS-N-3 Shaddock

A P-5 missile on static display, red air intake cover clearly visibile
A P-5 missile
Whiskey Twin Cylinder submarine armed with P-5 missiles.
P-6/P-35 missile
Object 100 coastal defense launching SS-N-3 Shaddock

The P-5 "Pyatyorka" (Russian: П-5 «Пятёрка», lit. 'five'), 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 design bureau. The missile entered service in 1959. Pyatyorka is a common name for the missile as the "digit 5", corresponding to the R-7 Semyorka, the digit 7.

The basic version of the missile was an inertially-guided submarine-launched cruise missile to threaten the US coasts. The missile could be armed with either a 1000 kg high explosive or a 200 or 350 kt nuclear warhead. It had a speed of about 0.9 Mach, range of 500 km and CEP of about 3000 m. The later variant had a range of possibly up to 1000 km. The first missiles were installed in Project 644, Whiskey Twin Cylinder and Project 665, Whiskey Long Bin submarines.

Versions of P-5 were later developed equipped with radar homing to be used as anti-ship missiles. The last anti-ship versions were retired from active service about 1990, replaced by the supersonic P-500 Bazalt and P-700 Granit, which entered service in the 1970s and 1980s.

There were actually three versions of turbojet-powered, cruise missiles that were called "SS-N-3" by Western intelligence sources, with multiple variants. The earliest, P-5 was called SS-N-3c, and later versions SS-N-3a and SS-N-3b. The various Russian designations are believed to be P-5 "Pyatyorka", P-6, P-7, and P-35 Progress. Some sources indicate that missiles 'P-10' and 'P-25' may also have existed.

NATO called the submarine-launched radar-homing versions of the P-6 SS-N-3A 'Shaddock'. These were carried by Echo II- and Juliett-class submarines for targeting US aircraft carriers. The Echo I-class submarines were incapable of accommodating the targeting radar for the anti-ship version, and were not equipped with missiles after the land-attack variant was withdrawn, probably in the mid-1960s when sufficient nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) became available.[1]

Kynda-class cruiser with quadruple P-35 launchers.

Russian sources indicate that there was only submarine-launched version of P-5. The surface-launched, radar-homing version called P-35 was used by Kynda- and Kresta I-class guided-missile cruisers. The P-7 was possibly a longer-ranged version of the P-5, or a further development of the P-6.

There were also land-based versions of these missiles transported in and launched from an eight-wheel truck (ZIL-135KM) as coastal defense missiles. These were designated SPU-35V "Redut" or NATO "SSC-1 Sepal".[2]

The first known operational use of the P-35 was in 2024 during the Russo-Ukrainian War, identified by fallen debris following a missile interception.[3][4][5][6]

  1. ^ Gardiner and Chumbley, pp. 401-402
  2. ^ russianmilitaryphotos (9 May 2012). "The 4K44 Redut Variant SPU-35V Mobile Coastal Defense System".
  3. ^ Katerina Chernovol (January 18, 2024). "РФ впервые ударила по Украине редкой 4-тонной противокорабельной ракетой П-35". УНИАН (in Russian).
  4. ^ Natalia Kava (January 18, 2024). "Россия запустила по Украине редкую 4-тонную ракету 60-х годов, - СМИ". РБК-Украина (in Russian). Archived from the original on January 18, 2024. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  5. ^ Nazari Lazur (January 18, 2024). "Россия атаковала Украину редкостной противокорабельной ракетой П-35, принятой еще в 60-х годах". 24 Канал (in Russian).
  6. ^ "Russia Now Using Giant Soviet-Era Ground-Launched Anti-Ship Missile to Attack Ukraine". 19 January 2024. Archived from the original on 20 January 2024. Retrieved 20 January 2024.