The Vietnam People's Navy currently maintains a large number of P-15 Termit anti-ship missiles for the Molniya missile corvettes
Osa II missile boats, as well as the 4K51 Rubezh coastal defense system
espite its great power, but due to its rather bulky size, with the final stage still at an altitude of over 100 m, slow speed, poor maneuverability
the P-15 is very easy to be intercepted by modern warships with advanced defense systems
In addition, this type of missile is also easily jammed in a dense electronic warfare environment
P-15 Termit was born in the 1950s, is an anti-ship missile developed by the Soviet Union's Raduga design bureau
with the designation was 4K40, NATO reporting name was Styx or SS-N-2
Despite its massive size, thousands of P-15s were built and installed on many classes of ships from MTBs to destroyers
as well as coastal batteries and even bombers
The appearance of the P-15 is defined by its long cylindrical fuselage with a rounded nose and a tapered tail
steeply-swept trapezoidal wings and fins, and a small cylindrical booster on the aft underside
The wings are mid-mounted and located slightly aft of the midsection
while the stabilizers consist of a single vertical fin on top of the aft end
and two similar horizontal fins with a steep dihedral pitch
A slightly bulged spine is located on the forward underside of the missile, while several square-shaped access panels are located on top
The thrust nozzle on the tail is tiny compared to the rest of the missile, and thus easily overlooked
A rocket booster bottle is fitted to the underside of the tail
which is cylindrical in shape with a flat nose and a downward-curved conical thrust nozzle
The missile weighed around 2.34 tons (5,160 lb), had a top speed of Mach 0.9 and a range of 40 kilometres (25 mi)
The explosive warhead was behind the fuel tank, and as the missile retained a large amount of unburned fuel at the time of impact
even at maximum range, it acted as an incendiary device
The warhead itself was a 500 kilograms (1,100 lb) hollow charge (HEAT), larger than the semi-armour piercing (SAP) warhead typical of anti-ship missiles
The launch was usually made with the help of electronic support measures (ESM) gear and Garpun radar
at a range of between 5.5 and 27 kilometres (3.4 and 16.8 mi) due to the limitations of the targeting system
The Garpun's range against a destroyer was about 20 kilometres (12 mi)
At the present time P-15 Termit is very difficult to take on anti-ship duties as its original design
In Vietnam, it needs a new role to become more useful
In case Vietnam decides to convert the P-15 Termit, it can be converted into a ballistic target or a surface-to-surface cruise missile
With a large warhead, the P-15 has truly formidable destructive power, but its biggest drawback is its short range due to the use of liquid fuel engines.
It is almost impossible to replace the engine, due to too much intervention in the original structure
But the disadvantage of range will be overcome by small speedboats
They can covertly close to the enemy's shores and launch missiles to attack ports, coastal airfields or near-shore targets
In the history of war, it is also recorded that P-15 anti-ship missiles were used to attack targets on land
On December 4, 1971, the oil refinery in Keamari, Pakistan was attacked by P-15 missiles launched from small warships of the Indian Navy
Similar to the SA-2, although it may not have too many roles, the P-15 Termit anti-ship missile still proves to be very useful
even if it has to be converted to another role