SON-9 (
NATO reporting name
NATO uses a system of code names, called reporting names, to denote military aircraft and other equipment used by post-Soviet states, former Warsaw Pact countries, China, and other countries. The system assists military communications by providi ...
Fire Can) is a type of
Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
n/
Soviet
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
fire director radar for air defence guns including the
57 mm, 85mm,
and
100 mm, and 130mm
anti-aircraft guns
Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface ( submarine-launched), and air-bas ...
.
The design was based on an older SON-4 Soviet design that was in turn based on a US-origin
SCR-584
The SCR-584 (short for '' Set, Complete, Radio # 584'') was an automatic-tracking microwave radar developed by the MIT Radiation Laboratory during World War II. It was one of the most advanced ground-based radars of its era, and became one of the ...
system, the plans for which were provided to the USSR during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. It was used in combination with the
PUAZO 6/60 fire director.
Operational service
The SON-9 was widely employed during the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
, with as many as 75 of them being deployed at one point.
Its range of 50 nautical miles was considered useful but the lack of a moving target indicator on the viewing scope complicated the task of tracking fast-moving, low-flying targets. It was also more vulnerable to jamming than newer designs available during the Vietnam War. In use it was van-mounted, and could be used to direct the fire of 4-8 guns.
A captured example of the SON-9 was used by NOTS (
Naval Ordnance Test Station
Naval Air Weapons Station (NAWS) China Lake is a large military installation in California that supports the research, testing and evaluation programs of the United States Navy. It is part of Navy Region Southwest under Commander, Navy Install ...
) engineers to develop simulator SON-9 radars for training against.
See also
*
wikisource:Wild Weasel mission 1 October 1967
*
SON-30
*
SON-50
References
External links
KS-19 Anti-Aircraft Artillery Ground radars
Soviet military radars
{{commons category