Rocket r-35, 1988, (photo from the archive Sceptic-2, http://forums.airbase.ru)

P-6 Progress/SS-N-3C Shaddock

June 28, 2018

Quick Facts

Russian/US Designation P-6 Progress/SS-N-3C Shaddock
Role and Mobility Cruise Missile and Coastal Area Defense; Submarine-Mobile
Designer/Production NPO Mashinostroyenya Chelomey
Range 450 km
Warhead Type and Weight Conventional/Nuclear; 1000 kg
MIRV and Yield Unknown; 100 kt
Guidance System/Accuracy Terminal Active Radar Homing; Unknown
Stages/Propellant Two; Solid
IOC/Retirement 1959; 1990
Status/Number of Units Retired; N/A

Overview

In the early 1950s, it became clear that the US aircraft-carrier battlegroup represented the most significant threat to the offensive and defensive Soviet naval operations.[i] In defense, the Soviet Union developed the P-6 Progress or the SS-N-3 Shaddock that could defend the coastal regions of the Soviet Union and any land operations. The Progress is a submarine-based, supersonic, anti-ship cruise missile.[ii]  It can travel up to Mach 1.5 and has a maximum range of 450 km.[iii] There are three known variants of this missile, all designated SS-N-3 by NATO.

Variants

P-6 Progress: Original Submarine-Based Anti-Ship Missile with radar homing

P-5 Pyatyorka: Submarine-Based Variant with inertial guidance

P-35 Progress: Ship-Based Variant

All variants have since been retired and replaced by the P-500 Bazalt and P-700 Granit.[iv]


Strategic Implications

At the time of its deployment, the P-6 Progress was strategically valuable because it gave the Soviet Navy a long-range anti-ship capability for the first time.[v] The drawback of the Progress was that it originally required submarines remained surfaced for 30 or more minutes until the missile’s seekers lit up, creating a major vulnerability. Its heavy reliance on datalinks also provided opportunities for jamming.[vi] In order to combat these issues, the Soviet Union developed of an airborne surveillance and acquisition system to improve targeting and allow the submarines firing the weapons to re-submerge faster.[vii] Aspects of this new guidance system are still used in Russia today.


Recent News

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References

[i] https://web.archive.org/web/20120205005744/http://www.dtig.org/docs/Russian-Soviet%20Naval%20Missiles.pdf

[ii] https://fas.org/nuke/guide/russia/theater/ss-n-3.htm

[iii] https://web.archive.org/web/20120205005744/http://www.dtig.org/docs/Russian-Soviet%20Naval%20Missiles.pdf

[iv]https://web.archive.org/web/20120712145840/http://quocphong.baodatviet.vn/Home/QPCN/Sat-thu-tau-san-bay-mot-thoi/20118/161042.datviet

[v] https://web.archive.org/web/20120205005744/http://www.dtig.org/docs/Russian-Soviet%20Naval%20Missiles.pdf

[vi] http://www.ausairpower.net/APA-Rus-Cruise-Missiles.html#mozTocId742062

[vii] Ibid.

Missile Threat and Proliferation