R-25 Vulkan
The R-25 Vulkan (Serbian: Вулкан - volcano) was a surface-to-air missile (SAM) designed and built in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) in the late 1950s and the early 1960s.
Development
The mid-1950s saw the emergence of viable surface-to-air missiles for Air Defence. Due to the inability to import SAM systems Yugoslavia initiated in 1958 a program to develop an indigenous missile, at the Military-technical institute, designated R-25 Vulkan. This completely original Yugoslavian project brought together a team of experts led by engineer Obrad Vučurović to design the missile, with the prototypes being made in the SOKO aircraft factory in Mostar.
Two versions of the missile were developed: one that had a booster-rocket engine with seven rockets and the other with four. Additionally, the experimental samples used liquid fuel rocket engine that has been developed for a rocket-powered torpedo, but it was planned that operational production missiles would use a solid-fueled engine with twice the thrust. Development launcher and radar system were that of Japanese Kappa sounding rocket that was imported in Yugoslavia. Target detection and information collection would be carried out by Yugoslav-made M 61 Fruška Gora radar, and in-course guidance supplied by a US-made 3-M-7 aiming radar. For operational use there existed the possibility of using more sophisticated radar equipment. For terminal guidance the missile would switch to independent homing by infrared sensors in its nose. The advanced guidance system of the R-25 was automatic after launch with no further operator input.
