Missile P-5 Pyatyorka

The P-5 Pyatyorka is a Soviet turbojet-powered cruise missile developed during the 1950s as a submarine-launched strategic strike weapon. It entered service with the Soviet Navy in 1963. NATO assigned the reporting name SS-N-3 Shaddock to submarine-launched versions and SS-N-3 Sepal to ship-launched and coastal defence versions; the designations were allocated out of sequence and do not correspond to the Soviet development sequence.

The missile has two swept wings that unfold forward after launch. Two solid-propellant boosters accelerate the missile off the launcher and are jettisoned, after which a turbojet with a rear-mounted air inlet sustains flight. Cruise altitudes of 100 m, 4,000 m and 7,500 m can be selected, with a maximum speed of Mach 1.3. Guidance at shorter ranges was provided by the 'Scoop Pair' radar on surface ships or 'Front Door' radar on submarines. For longer engagements, targeting data was relayed by data link from Tu-16 Badger, Tu-95 Bear-D, Ka-25 Hormone and Ka-27 Helix aircraft, which transmitted radar imagery to the launching platform so that the weapons control officer could enter target coordinates. Later upgrades incorporated satellite surveillance data for mission planning. Mid-course guidance uses an inertial navigation system with command updates; the terminal phase employs a radar altimeter with infrared or active radar homing. A limitation of the submarine-launched version was that the boat had to remain surfaced for up to 25 minutes after launch when engaging targets at maximum range.

Warhead options across the P-5, P-6 and P-35 include a conventional high-explosive semi-armour-piercing charge, a 10 kiloton nuclear warhead, and a 200 kiloton nuclear warhead. The 3M44 Progress upgrade of the P-35 carries a 350 kiloton nuclear warhead.

Variants include the P-5 and improved P-5D land-attack versions with inertial guidance only, both withdrawn in 1965; the P-6 submarine-launched anti-ship missile; the P-35 Utes ship-launched variant, also fired from transporter erector launchers; the P-35B coastal defence missile on a BAZ-135 8×8 TEL; the export P-35E; and the 3M44 Progress. The P-7, P-10 and P-20 extended-range prototypes were tested but not adopted. Russia and Syria have converted Shaddock/Sepal rounds into target drones and unmanned aerial vehicles.

Thirteen Whiskey-class submarines were converted to carry the missile between 1961 and 1964, the last decommissioned in 1985. The Echo II class carried eight rounds each and the Juliett class half that number; both were retired by the mid-1990s. The Kynda-class cruisers carried the P-35 in two quadruple launchers, and the Kresta I class carried four in twin launchers. The fixed Object 100 complex near Balaklava was modernised to fire the P-35 in 1973 and the 3M44 in 1982.

All Russian submarine- and ship-launched rounds were withdrawn by 1994; coastal batteries remain in limited Russian service. Angola, Syria and Vietnam operate coastal batteries; Bulgaria and Ukraine formerly did.

On 28 December 1984, a target-configured missile fitted with MiG-derived remote-control avionics strayed across the Finnish border and crashed through the ice of Lake Inari. Finnish radars at Rovaniemi and Kaamanen tracked it and two Saab 35 Draken fighters were scrambled without result. Wreckage recovered from the lake indicated loss of radio contact with the operator.

On 18 January 2024, imagery of a downed or failed P-35B or 3M44 appeared in Ukraine, consistent with Russian use of anti-ship missiles against ground targets.