P-15 Termit Anti-ship missile wiped out Pakistani Navy in 1971
During the Indo-Pakistan 1971 war, P-15 Termit Cruise Missile was used by the Indian Navy in operation Trident and operation Python. Indian Navy reportedly fired 13 of these missiles during the 2 operations and 12 of which hit the target, sinking several ships and destroyed the oil storage facility of Karachi port.
2245 hours December 4, 1971, the Indian missile vessels of the 25th missile boat squadron with 08 Osa-class-I missile boats—rechristened INS Nashak, Nipat, Nirghat, Nirbhik, Vinash, Veer, Vijeta, and Vidyut Armed with P-15 successfully sunk the minesweeper PNS Muhafiz, the Destroyer PNS Khaibar and Civil Ship MV Venus Challenger which according to intelligence was carrying ammunition for Pakistan from the United States Forces in Saigon. The world saw the first use of anti-ship cruise missiles in combat in the region.
Epilogue: Lookouts aboard Pakistan Navy destroyer PNS Khaibar reported seeing a small bright light heading towards the ship at high speed. Within seconds, the object slammed into the ship’s aft galley and exploded with a massive bang. Four minutes later, another object struck, sealing Khaibar’s fate. The destroyer’s sinking and the subsequent attack on the port of Karachi by Indian Navy’s SS-N-2 Styx armed Osa-class boats saw the first use of anti-ship/cruise missiles in combat in the region.
The P-15 Termit is the longest-lived and most successful cruise missile in the world and has now been successfully replaced with BrahMos Cruise Missile.
