2K12 Kub

This is the cube

The 2k12 "Kub" (English "Cube"; NATO reporting name "SA-6 Gainful") is a Russian military vehicle that fires surface-to-air missiles.

It was made in the Soviet Union 1967 and since then has been worked on to make it better.The cube is directed by a nearby radar vehicle called the 1C91 self-propelled reconnaissance and pointing machine to fire at its targets. The cube has 3 missiles that are 330mm wide 5850 mm long and 605 kilograms.The missiles have a maximum range of 17-23 kilometers. It takes 26-28 seconds to respond and has a top speed of mach 1.75.because of the top speed the missiles fail to hit planes going faster than the top speed.Another weakness is that the cube can be jammed by broadcasting too much of the frequency range the cube uses. Like many surface-to-air missiles the cube is not good at hitting targets flying close to the ground

Service history

The radar pointing device the cube is paired with

During the 7-day war Egyptian cube's were credited with destroying almost half of isreal's air force.isreal developed the tactic of flying low until they saw a cube in which case the plane would do a loop and dive bomb the cube.

By 1982 when the lebanon war began the cube in general was no longer good.Almost all of the cube batteries were destroyed by the isreal air force.

During the gulf war a f-16 pilot was able to dodge six air to surface missiles fired by cube's.The pilot did not use chaff or flares but instead did high speed dives and quick turns.This event happened on January 19 1991.

The Cube was was also used by yugoslavia to defend against the NATO bombing of the country.However it was easily jammed by NATO's extensive broadcasting over the entire frequency range the cube used.NATO also flew air raids at night when the because the cube did not work at night.

The cube firing

Operators of the cube are in blue and former operators are in red

Countries such as Slovakia and Russia still use the cube today.

Specifications

Service: 1967-present

Country:Russia,Algeria, Angola, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cuba, Czech Republic, Egypt, Ethiopia, Hungary, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Libya, Myanmar, North Korea, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Syria, Tanzania, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Vietnam, Yemen

Weight:14000 kg(31000 lbs)

Length:6.79 m(22'3) (no missiles)

Width:3.18 m

Height:1.80 m(5'11) (no missiles)

Ground pressure 0.48kg/cm sq

Maximum speed:27 mph

Missile

Length:5850 mm

Width:330mm

Weight:605 kilograms

Maximum target speed: Mach 1.75

References

• "ODIN - OE Data Integration Network". odin.tradoc.army.mil. Retrieved 2024-05-14.
• Hollings, Alex (2024-05-12). "How an Air Force F-16 Fighter Barely Dodged 6 Surface-to-Air Missiles". The National Interest. Retrieved 2024-05-14.