The R-1 SRBM was a Soviet copy of the German A-4 missile, work on it beginning in 1946. It was ordered into production on 14 April 1948, and the first successful test flight was made on 10 October 1948. Overall, 10 test flights were made in 1948 and 20 in 1949. The R-1 was accepted into service on 25 November 1950, although series production of the missile started only in November 1952. In December 1950 the 23th brigade based at Kapustin Yar was formed as the first R-1 unit. It was subsequently deployed to Belokovorovich in the Ukraine, Shyalyay in Lithuania, Dzhambul in Kazakhstan, and Ordzhonikidze in the Primorsk area. The 77th and 90th brigades were formed at Lvov, Khmelnitskiy, and Zhitomir, Ukraine. Each brigade was equipped with six launchers.
Flight control for the R-1 was provided by four large aerodynamic fins and by jet vanes. A single missile required 20 support vehicles, and launch preparations took six hours. Launch control was provided from an armoured vehicle. Variants of the missile were used for scientific experiments. Two R-1 missiles were sold to China in 1956.
The development of the R-11 SRBM was authorized on 20 October 1951, and the first test flight was made on 18 April 1953. A protracted test series followed due to problems with the engines and propellants, and the missile was finally accepted into service on 13 July 1955. In June 1955 Makeyev was appointed chief designer of the SKB-385 design bureau, to which the R-11 project was transferred from OKB-1. The improved R-11M missile was authorized on 26 August 1954, first launched on 30 December 1955, and accepted into service on 1 April 1958. The R-17 program was begun in 1958, but in 1959 it was transferred to Votkinsk Machine Building Plant. The first test launch was made in 1961, and the missile entered service in 1964. The R-17 missile is longer and uses more powerful propellants.
The R-11 was the basis for the first Soviet SLBM, the R-11FM that was first tested in 1955. The SS-1D had longer range and a lighter warhead that separated from the missile body after motor burnout. The SS-1E featured a television camera and four paddle type control fins in the detachable warhead section and wider warhead options, including cluster munitions. The Aerofon digital scene matching terminal guidance system was first tested in 1979, but a successful design was completed only in 1989. However, poor weather degrated its performance too much, and eventually neither of these missiles entered service.
Flight control for all versions is achieved by four graphite exhaust vanes. The R-11 and the first R-17s were mounted on a tracked ISU-152 TEL based on the chassis of the JS-3 heavy tank. In 1965 a new TEL based on the MAZ-543A 8x8 wheeled chassis entered service. The TEL is supported by a R-142 radio communications station, a 1T12 or a 1T20 topographer, and an 8Sh18 guidance instument system. The technical battery of a missile battalion has fuel and oxidizer transport trucks, missile reload trailers, 9T31M crane trucks, UKS-400 compressor stations, and 8T311 decontamination vehicles. Launch preparations take about an hour, and flight time to the 300 kilometer maximum range is 50 minutes. The SS-1C was exported to Afghanistan, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Egypt, Hungary, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Libya, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Syria, UAE, Vietnam and Yemen. The SS-1C or its further developments have been manufactured by Egypt, Iran, Iraq and North Korea. The designations Scud-C and Scud-D are sometimes applied to North Korean Hwasong missiles derived from the R-17, but these are totally unrelated to the Soviet Scud-C and Scud-D missiles.
The R-2 was a development of the R-1 missile with doubled range. It was designed between 1947 and 1948 in competition with the G-1 missile designed by a German team in the Soviet Union. Although the G-1 was found better in an evaluation held in December 1948, the R-2 was accepted for testing after some features of the G-1 had been integrated into it. Flight tests were conducted between 21 September 1949 and July 1951. The R-2 was accepted into service on 27 November 1951, and the first series production missile was rolled out in June 1953. The missiles were deployed in brigades with six launchers (three divisions per brigade, each division with two batteries). The 54th and 56th brigades were formed for test launches at Kapustin Yar on 1 June 1952. After production missiles became available in 1953, divisions were deployed to Zhitomir, Kolomoaya, Medved, Kamyshin, Shyalya in Lithuania, Dzhambul in Kazakhstan, and Ordzhonikidze in the Far East.
The R-2 SRBM had a separable warhead. It used the same mobile launch equipment as the R-1. Launch preparations by a crew of 11 took six hours, including 15 minutes for programming the guidance system. The radio correction guidance system required two truck-mounted stations. The fuelled missile could be held in a ready-to-launch condition for 24 hours. The R-2 could be equipped with the Geran radiological warhead that dispersed a radioactive liquid at altitude, resulting in a deadly radioactive rain falling in a wide area around the impact point. Variants of the missile were used for scientific experiments. On 6 December 1957 license production of the R-2 in China was approved, and the first launch of an indigenous R-2 missile occurred on 5 November 1960.
The R-5 MRBM was the final development of the R-1, R-2 and the unbuilt R-3 missile series. It was initially to be armed with the Generator-S radiological warhead similar to that used by the R-2 missile. Three variants were planned, with one, three, or five warheads, the multiple warhead versions having a shorter range (600 kilometers with five warheads). Development of the R-5 was authorized on 20 October 1951, and flight tests began on 15 March 1953 at the Kapustin Yar test range. State acceptance tests were completed in February 1955. The development of the R-5M missile with a normal nuclear warhead and increased propellant capacity was approved on 10 April 1954, and flight tests were conducted between 21 January 1955 and 2 February 1956. The R-5M was formally accepted into service on 21 July 1956, and a total of 48 missile launchers were deployed. This force comprised of six brigades and four autonomous regiments, each brigade being equipped with six launchers. The 72nd Brigade made a test deployment to East Germany in 1959. After the creation of the Strategic Rocket Troops on 17 December 1959, all R-5M missiles were transferred under its control and organized into five divisions, each with eight launchers.
Flight control of the R-5 was was maintained with four aerodynamic fins and four jet vanes. For the first time the fuel and oxidizer tanks welded of light aluminum and magnesium alloys were made as monocoque structures. Launch preparations took five to six hours. The R-5A, R-5B, R-5V special variants and the Vertikal sounding rocket were used until the 1970s for equipment tests and scientific research.
The development of the storable liquid-propellant R-12 IRBM by the newly-formed OKB-586 design bureau was ordered in July 1954. The draft project was approved on 13 August 1955, and flight tests were conducted at Kapustin Yar between 22 June 1957 and 27 December 1958. The missile was accepted into service on 4 March 1959, and the first five missile regiments were put on alert on 16 May 1960. The development of the R-12U missile designed for both soft surface and Dvina complex silo launchers began the same month. The missile and launch complex were tested between 30 December 1961 and December 1962. The R-12U was accepted into service on 12 July 1963, the first regiment entering service at Plunge. A 12-wagon railroad-based variant was also considered, but not developed. Peak deployment of the R-12 was 608 launchers in 1966, with some phase-out beginning in 1968. This was accelerated in 1978 following the introduction of the Pioner (SS-20) IRBM. 149 missiles remained in 1988, when the R-12 was banned by the INF treaty. The last missile was eliminated at Lesnaya on 22 May 1990.
The propulsion system consisted of four liquid propellant rocket motors with a common turbopump unit. Flight control was achieved by four jet vanes. The missile had a separable re-entry vehicle. The soft site R-12 missiles were stored in shelters, in the vicinity of which were several concrete hard stands from which the missile could be launched. The 8P763 Dvina silo launch complex comprised four hot launchers, underground propellant and gas storage tanks and a control center within a 70 x 80 meter perimeter. The missiles were loaded into the silos with a special vehicle. Each silo-based R-12U regiment had 8 to 12 launchers, whereas each soft site R-12 regiment had four to six launchers. A mobile missile regiment consisted of 5 to 8 launchers, 11 to 14 transport vehicles, 6 to 7 support trucks, and 41 to 52 fuel transports. Reaction time varied between 30 minutes and three hours depending on readiness condition in the soft site, and 15 minutes in the hard site configuration. The R-12 was the basis for the Interkosmos (SL-7) space launcher.
The development of the R-14 IRBM with UDMH as fuel was approved on 2 July 1958. Flight trials of the missile and its 8S224 launch complex began on 6 July 1960 at Kapustin Yar, and the system was accepted into service on 24 April 1961. The first R-14 regiment became operational on 1 January 1962 at Priekule. The development of the R-14U missile for both soft surface and Chusovaya complex silo launchers was authorized on 30 May 1960, and the first silo launch was conducted on 11 February 1962, again at Kapustin Yar. The last test of the series was made in October 1963, and the missile became operational during 1964. A mobile R-14 regiment consisted of three control units and four to five launchers. Peak deployment was 97 launchers between 1965 and 1969. Phase out began in 1971, and by 1984 the R-14 had been replaced by the Pioner (SS-20) missile. The last of the six remaining missiles was destroyed in accordance to the INF treaty on 9 August 1989.
The propulsion system of the R-14 consisted of two identical blocks, each with a two-chamber engine, a turbopump unit, gas generator and automatic control system, as well as a four chambered control motor. For the first time a gas generator instead of hydrogen peroxide was used to power the hypergolic propellants. Flight control still relied on jet vanes. The R-14 was the first missile to use a gyro-stabilized inertial platform. It also had three solid-propellant retrorockets to prevent accidental collision of the booster with the separated nose cone. Reaction time was two hours in the soft site, and 15 minutes in the hard site configuration. The R-14 ground equipment included the 8U235 launch pad and 8U224 missile erector vehicle, the latter based on a MAZ-529V or MoAZ-546 wheeled chassis, and 8G113, 8G131 and 8G210 support systems. The R-14U Chusovaya silo launch complex comprised of a control center and three hot launchers, each 30 meters deep with an inner diameter of 4.0 to 4.5 meters. The Vertikal-4 sounding rocket and the Kosmos-3 (SL-8) space launch vehicle were later developed from the R-14.
A government degree of 13 February 1953 ordered the development of an ICBM with a range of 7,000 to 8,000 kilometers and a payload of three tons. After October 1953 the weight of the payload and thus the whole missile was increased, and the development of this design was approved on 20 May 1954. Flight tests of the R-7 started on 15 May 1957, but the first six flights revealed a fault in the design of the nose cone. A new design was flight tested between 29 March 1958 and 27 November 1959, and the initial R-7 was accepted into service on 20 January 1960, though it was never actually deployed.
On 2 July 1958, the development of the R-7A missile with a lighter warhead, more powerful engines, an increased propellant volume, and an improved inertial only guidance system was ordered. Flight tests of the R-7A were conducted between December 1959 and July 1960, and it was accepted into service on 12 September 1960. Four R-7A launch pads were deployed at Plesetsk, known then as "Angara", and one pad at Baikonur. The four missiles at Plesetsk targeted New York, Washington, Los Angeles, and Chicago. A third R-7A site was planned for Krasnoyarsk, but not built.
The R-7 missile consisted of one central sustainer and four strap-on boosters, all of which were ignited simultaneously at liftoff. Each of them had one open cycle four-chamber rocket engine. Flight control was achieved by aerodynamic fins on the strap-ons, and by vernier engines. The original R-7 had a combined guidance system consisting of an inertial unit and a radio command receiver. Reaction time of the R-7 was approximately ten hours. The R-7 formed the base for a large number of space launch vehicles.
The development of a storable liquid-propellant ICBM by Yangel was ordered on 17 December 1956, and the R-16 missile was officially approved on 13 May 1959. An accident during the first launch attempt on 24 October 1960 resulted the death of 122 people. The first successful test launch was made on 2 February 1961, and the first three R-16 regiments in the vicinity of Baikonur, each with three launchers, were put on alert on 1 November 1961. Three different warhead versions were tested during development, and they received the DoD designations Mod 1, 2 and 3. The development of the R-16U missile for both surface and silo launch was ordered on 14 June 1960 alongside the R-12U and R-14U missiles. The R-16U was first tested in January 1962, and it was accepted into service on 15 July 1963. A total of 186 launchers, mostly soft sites, were deployed by 1965, and phase-out began in 1971. A mobile and a MIRVed version of the missile were also studied.
The first stage propulsion system of the R-16 consisted of three motors with two combustion chambers and a four-chamber control engine. The second stage had a twin combustion chamber engine and a four-chamber control engine. Dedicated retrorockets separated the sustainer stages and the warhead. The fuel and oxidizer tanks were pressurized. The Sheksna-N surface launch complex of the R-16 consisted of two launch pads, a command center, a vehicle preparation base and a fuel depot. The Sheksna-V launch complex of the R-16U consisted of three silos in a straight line 60 meters from each other, four underground command centers and fuel depots. The 8P764 silo launchers were 45.6 meters deep and had a diameter of 8.3 meters. The missile was directed to its launch azimuth through a rotary launch platform. Reaction time was one to three hours for soft sites and 5 to 15 minutes for hard sites.
The development of the R-9 ICBM by OKB-1 was ordered on 13 May 1959. Development was protracted due to difficulties with engines, flight tests from Baikonur starting on 9 April 1961. The silo-launched version was approved in May 1960, and its flight tests were conducted between 22 February 1963 and 2 February 1964. The first four regiments with surface-based missiles and a single regiment with silo-based missiles were put on alert in December 1964. The R-9 was formally accepted into service on 21 July 1965. In total, 23 launchers were deployed, and phase-out began in 1971.
The first stage used a closed cycle and the second stage an open cycle engine, both with four combustion chambers. The first stage combustion chambers were gimbaled for flight control, whereas the second stage used control nozzles. Four aerodynamic fins placed on the aft bay of the second stage opened after separation from the first stage, before the bay itself was separated. The R-9 could be equipped with a light or a heavy nose cone, each with a different warhead. New liquid oxygen transport, storage, and fuelling equipment that minimized boil-off losses was developed for the R-9.
Three different launch complexes for the R-9 were developed. The Desna-N surface launch complex comprised of two launchers, a command center, missile and propellant depots, and a radio command guidance system. It was not deployed operationally. The Dolina complex was similar, but was equipped with an automatic system that could launch the missile within 20 minutes. The Desna-V silo launch complex consisted of three silos, an underground command center, underground propellant and gas depots, and a radio control system. The silos were 36 meters deep with a canister diameter of 5.5 meters. A full R-9A regiment consisted of one division with a Desna-N complex, one with a Desna-V complex, and one with a Dolina complex. Reaction time for soft sites was one to three hours, and for hard sites 30 to 45 minutes.
The development of the light (Mod 1), heavy (Mod 2), and orbital (Mod 3) versions of the R-36 ICBM was approved on 16 April 1962. Flight tests from Baikonur began on 28 September 1963, and were finished on 29 March 1966. The first R-36 regiment was placed on alert on 5 November 1966 at Uzhur, and the missile was accepted into service on 21 July 1967. Design work on the R-36P missile with three warheads started in November 1967, and flight tests began in August 1968. The R-36P was accepted into service on 26 October 1970. A total of 288 R-36 launchers were constructed between 1965 and 1973.
The R-36O was Yangel's entry to the 1961 Global Rocket 1 (GR-1) requirement. Flight tests were made between 16 December 1965 and 9 August 1971. All tests were conducted on a fractional orbit basis, with the test warheads deorbited after less than one revolution of the earth, hence the Western acronym FOBS (Fractional Orbit Bombardment System). The R-36O was accepted into service on 19 November 1968, and the first regiment was put on alert on 25 August 1969. Only 18 missiles were deployed, all at Baikonur, and they were phased out in January 1983, as they were banned by the SALT-2 treaty.
The first stage of the R-36 was similar to that of the R-16 (SS-7) missile. It was equipped with three open cycle rocket engines with two combustion chambers and a four-chambered control engine. The second stage had a single engine with two combustion chambers. The missile was equipped with a countermeasures system that consisted of false targets made of thin metal tape, RAM covering on the re-entry vehicle, and an active radar jammer. The R-36O had a modified upper stage with an instrumentation section, a single-chambered liquid propellant retrorocket, and a nuclear warhead. The fuelled missile was loaded into its silo inside a container, and could be held there in a ready-to-launch condition for a perioid of five years. The hardened silo was 41.5 meters deep with a shaft diameter of 8.3 meters. A single command point controlled six silos located 8 to 10 kilometers from each other. Reaction time in normal readiness condition was five minutes. The R-36 formed the base for the Tsyklon-2 (SL-11) and Tsyklon-3 (SL-14) space launchers.
The Global Rocket 1 (GR-1) requirement of 1961 called for a system to place a 1,500 kg nuclear warhead equipped with a deorbit stage into a low earth orbit of 150 kilometers. The warhead could hit any point on earth, and the enemy would be uncertain when it would be deorbited onto target. The GR-1 was intended to overcome the ABM system that the USA was then planning to deploy to protect selected ICBM sites. Chelomei proposed the UR-200 for the requirement, Yangel offered the R-36 (SS-9), and Korolev the 8K713.
The UR-200 development effort was authorized on 16 March 1961. It was to become an universal rocket, used to launch military satellites and a space plane in addition to serving as an ICBM. The UR-200 was the first ICBM project of NPO Mashinostroyeniya (OKB-52), whose chief designer was V. N. Chelomey. The first launch attempt was made at Baikonur on 5 November 1963, and nine test flights were made until 20 October 1964. Following the outfall of Khrushchev from power, support for Chelomei's projects faded, and the UR-200 was cancelled, as the R-36 (SS-9) was found superior by an expert commission. The UR-200 was the only Soviet ICBM for which first stage attitude control was provided by gimballed engines. It could be launched from soft surface sites or former R-16U silos.
The development of the 8K713 was officially approved on 24 September 1962. Delays with engine development however finally led to cancellation of the missile in 1964. Although the 8K713 had not been flight tested, it was paraded in Red Square in 1965, and received the NATO designation 'Scrag'. Western intelligence initially assumed that the paraded missile and the missile being flight tested were the same system, though in fact the flight tested missile was the UR-200. It had been planned to use existing R-9A (SS-8) launch sites for the 8K713 missile.
The development of the UR-100 ICBM was approved on 30 March 1963. First test launch was made from Baikonur on 19 April, and the first silo launch on 17 July 1965. Operational deployment began on 17 July 1966 at Bershet and Drovyanaya, and formal acceptance of the missile came on 21 July 1967. The missile could be equipped with a light warhead for intercontinental targets, or a heavier warhead for Eurasian targets. Designated UR-100PRO, it could also be used as an ABM for the Taran system with a range of 2,000 kilometers and a 10 megaton warhead, though some additional equipment was then required at the launch site. The 8K84M had a better mass fraction, new guidance system, countermeasures capacity and post-boost manoeuvrability. It was tested between 23 July 1969 and 15 March 1971, and accepted into service on 3 October 1972.
The UR-100K carried three separate re-entry vehicles, and it dispensed decoys before the separation of the re-entry vehicles. Flight tests of the UR-100K began on 2 February 1971, and it was first deployed on 28 December 1971. The UR-100U differed from the UR-100K by having improved shock isolation in the silo. It was tested between July 1971 and January 1973, and deployment began on 26 September 1974. Between 1966 and 1972 a total of 990 UR-100 launchers were deployed. They were replaced between 1973 and 1977 by 420 UR-100K and UR-100U launchers. 326 missiles remained when the START-1 treaty was signed in 1991.
The first stage used a set of four closed cycle single-chambered rocket motors, while the second stage incorporated a single-chambered sustainer and a four-chambered control motor. The command structure provided an automatic checkout of all systems during flight and automatic launch preparation. The first missiles had a radio command correction guidance system, but it was later replaced with a pure inertial unit. The missile was fitted with the Palma countermeasures system. An UR-100 launch site comprised of ten silos and a launch control center. The missile silo was covered by a pneumatic driven sliding roof. The UR-100 was the first Soviet ICBM that was transported in and launched from a sealed container. The container was 19.5 meters long, 2.7 meters in diameter, and the missile spent its whole five-to-seventeen-year service life fuelled inside it. Reaction time of the UR-100 was three minutes.
The Temp-S was a front- and theater-level SRBM. Because of its greatly increased accuracy, the Temp-SM could also be employed with a nonnuclear warhead. In 1984, one brigade was deployed in Czechoslovakia, and two brigades were deployed in East Germany. During the 1980s 60 launchers were opposite European NATO, 40 along the border with China, 12 to 18 opposite Southwest Asia and eastern Turkey, and 12 to 18 were maintained in strategic reserve. In accordance to the INF treaty, the last of 718 Temp-S missiles was eliminated on 25 July 1989.
The TEL and transloader are based on the MAZ-543P 8x8 wheeled chassis that has centralized tire pressure control. The Temp-S missile is completely enclosed by an environmental protective container.
The development of solid propellant ICBMs by Korolev's OKB-1 was approved on 20 November 1959. At first an RT-1 missile with a range of 800 to 2,500 kilometers, a launch weight of 35,500 kg and a payload of 800 kg, was designed. It was tested between April 1962 and June 1963, but not deployed. Design work on the RT-2 was authorized on 4 April 1961, and the draft project was finished in March 1963. Flight tests were conducted from Kapustin Yar between 5 February and July 1966, and from Plesetsk between 3 October and 4 November 1966. The missile was accepted into service on 18 December 1968, and by 1971 sixty missiles were deployed at Yoshkar Ola. A rail-mobile variant of the missile was designed, but not built. The missile train would have consisted of four cars with RT-2 missiles, one power generation car, two cars with equipment for test and preparation of the missiles, one command car, one sleeping car, and one car with common crew rest and eating facilities.
On 18 December 1968 the development of a modernized RT-2P version with longer range, a better guidance system and penetration aids was approved. The countermeasures were needed to overcome the American Safeguard ABM system. Flight tests were conducted from 16 January 1970 through 14 January 1972, and the missile was accepted into service on 28 December 1972. In parallel with the RT-2P, the RT-2M variant with alternate new engines was developed, but the RT-2P was chosen for production.
The sustainer stages of the RT-2 were connected by trellised trusses. The first stage of the missile was stabilized by four trellised aerodynamic surfaces, and flight control was achieved by four split nozzles. The Berez countermeasures suite of the RT-2P comprised of radar jammers, decoys, and RAM coatings on the warhead. The missiles were deployed in hardened silos, with the sealed silo door providing special climate conditions for extended storage of the solid propellant. An RT-2 regiment comprised of one 15B52 command post and ten 15P798 silos, the silos being 10 to 12 kilometers apart. Launch was performed by pouring water into the bottom of the launch canister, with the ignition of the first stage forming steam that popped the missile out of the silo. Readiness for missile firing was 3 to 5 minutes.
The RT-15 was the first Soviet attempt to design a mobile IRBM, based on the second and third stages of the RT-2 (SS-13) ICBM. Its development was authorized on 4 April 1961 alongside the RT-2 and RT-25 missiles. Design work of the RT-15 was halted between July 1963 and December 1964 due to delays in RT-2 development. Test flights from Kapustin Yar were conducted from September 1965 to 1966. Twenty test launches with the whole mobile launch system were then made between November 1966 and March 1970. Series production was cancelled on 6 June 1969, but there are reports that a regiment with up to 19 launchers was briefly deployed to Byelorussia in 1970. Also silo- and submarine-launched variants of the RT-15 were to be developed, but they were cancelled at an early stage.
Two versions of the second stage with different solid fuels were developed. A mobile launcher built on the chassis of a T-10M heavy tank carried the missile in a transport-launch canister. A missile regiment consisted of six launchers, a control vehicle, a 15N809 command vehicle based on MAZ-543 chassis, a 15V51 position preparation vehicle based on MAZ-543 chassis, two diesel generators and three Relef communications and liaison vehicles. Reaction time after arrival at a launch site was 20 to 30 minutes. The RT-15 TEL was first observed by NATO in 1965, and designated 'Scamp'. When the missile was seen separately in 1968, it received the NATO designation 'Scapegoat'. Later it was found out that both belonged to the same missile system.
The RT-20P was the first Soviet attempt to develop a mobile ICBM, though it was usually viewed as a theater-range missile in the West. Preliminary studies were made between 1961 and 1962, and the draft project was completed in December 1964. The RT-20P was officially approved by the government on 24 August 1965, and flight tests began in October 1967. Nine launches had been made from the Plesetsk test site before the program was cancelled on 6 October 1969. Most of the launches had been unsuccessful, and the missile failed to reach the designed 11,000 or 8,000 kilometer range. Additionally, the military refused using a mobile system with liquid propellant engine.
The RT-20P was a cold-launched two-stage missile with the first stage using solid propellant and the second stage storable liquid propellant engines. The first stage engine had four rotating nozzles for flight control, and the second stage had a single-chambered sustainer. First stage flight control was achieved by injecting gas into the diverging part of the sustainer nozzles. The application of new high-precision gyroscopes provided improved accuracy, and an improved capability for remote input of mission data was implemented. The RT-20P could be fitted with a light warhead for long range or a heavy warhead for short range missions.
During development silo, submarine, railway, and road-mobile basing modes were considered, but only the road-mobile version was actually developed. The missile was placed in a transport-launch canister installed on the chassis of a T-10M heavy tank. A launch unit consisted of six TELs, one 15N809 position determination and guidance upload vehicle, two 15N1034 marker vehicles, two 15P694 diesel generator vehicles, and a Relef communications vehicle. The 15P096 silo launch complex studied at KBEM was to use a shock attenuation system to enhance missile survivability. The RT-20P was initially designated PL-1 by the US DoD.
The Temp-2S was the second Soviet attempt to develop a mobile ICBM. Development began in March 1966 as a joint effort of MITT and Yuzhnoe, and the first test launch was made on 14 March 1972. A total of 35 launces were conducted at the Plesetsk test site until December 1974. A tracked vehicle built by Leningrad LKZ on T-10 tank chassis and the MAZ-547 10x10 wheeled vehicle made by Minsk Auto Factory were considered as launchers, an upgraded MAZ-547 being selected in July 1969. The first two Temp-2S regiments were put on alert on 21 February 1976 at Plesetsk. A total of seven regiments, each with six launchers, were deployed. In the SALT-2 treaty signed in June 1979, the Soviet Union agreed not to produce, test, or deploy ICBMs of the SS-16 type and, in particular, not to produce the SS-16 third stage, RV or the RV targeting system. The Temp-2S was withdrawn from service by 1986.
The missile used a new glass-fibre motor case. Flight control of the first stage was achieved through lattice aerodynamic and jet vanes, the upper stages using gas injection. The missile used cold launch and cold stage separation techniques, and was equipped with a post-boost vehicle. The guidance system consisted of two units, a launch preparation system in the launcher, and a flight control system with triple redundant channels in the missile, both using digital computers. The Temp-2S utilized the same MAZ-547A 12x10 wheeled chassis as the Pioner (SS-20) missile for both the TEL and transloader vehicle. The missile was stored in a container and could be reloaded.
The MR-UR-100 was intended as a replacement of the UR-100 (SS-11) ICBM, and was deployed in former UR-100 silos. It was developed in competition with the UR-100N (SS-19), but eventually both designs were put into production. Development was approved in September 1970, and tests of the mortar launch system began in May 1971. Actual flight tests were conducted from Baikonur between 26 December 1971 and 17 December 1974. The first MR-UR-100 regiment was put on alert on 6 May 1975. By 1979 130 missiles were deployed at two sites near Yedrovo and Kostroma.
The improved MR-UR-100UTTKh missile was ordered on 16 August 1976. Flight tests were made between 25 October 1977 and 15 December 1979, with the missile being accepted into service on 17 December 1980. Between 1982 and 1983 all MR-UR-100 missiles and 20 UR-100 missiles were replaced by the MR-UR-100UTTKh. 47 launchers remained in service when the START-1 treaty was signed in 1991.
The first stage used a closed cycle single-chambered sustainer engine and an open cycle four-chambered control motor. Flight control was achieved by deflecting the control motor chambers. The second stage used an open cycle single-chambered sustainer, with flight control provided by injecting gas into the diverging part of the nozzles. The post-boost vehicle consists of the warheads, an instrument module, and a solid propellant rocket motor. The MR-UR-100 was the first MIRVed Soviet ICBM and the first to use a cold launch system. The MR-UR-100UTTKh featured enhanced survivability, an improved command system, and a modernized nose cone.
The R-36M is a development of the R-36 (SS-9) ICBM, which it replaced. Its development was authorized on 2 September 1969, and the missile and silo design was accepted in August 1970. Tests of the new cold launch system began in January 1971. The first successful actual flight test of the single warhead Mod 1 variant was made on 21 February 1973, and of the Mod 2 with up to eight paired MIRVs in September 1973. The R-36M was accepted into service on 30 December 1975. 56 Mod 1 missiles were deployed by 1977, and they were withdrawn from service by 1984. A total of 132 Mod 2 missiles were deployed by 1978, but due to faults in the post-boost vehicle, they were replaced by Mod 4 missiles by 1983.
The development of the R-36MUTTKh was approved on 16 August 1976, and flight tests began on 31 October 1977. The R-36MUTTKh had improved accuracy, and the MIRVed version (Mod 4) could carry two more warheads than the Mod 2. The Mod 3 was accepted into service on 17 December 1979, and in total 24 were deployed. The first three regiments with Mod 4 missiles were put on alert on 18 September 1979. A total of 308 missiles were deployed by 1983, and after 1988 some were replaced by the Mod 5.
The tactical-technical requirement for the R-36M2 Voivode was issued in July 1979, and the draft project was finalized in June 1982. The first launch attempt of the MIRVed Mod 5 variant on 23 March 1986 was a failure, the missile exploding inside the silo and completely demolishing it. The flight tests were eventually finished in March 1988, and the first Mod 5 regiment was put on alert on 30 July 1988. Flight tests of the Mod 6 equipped with a single warhead were completed in September 1989, and the missile was accepted into service in August 1990. About 190 R-36M2 missiles were built in total. The warheads of the Mod 5 have higher yield and improved accuracy compared to Mod 4. They are located on a special frame in two circles on the post-boost vehicle. The R-36M2 missile has improved engines and its inertial guidance system is hardened against nuclear explosions. It is equipped with improved penetration aids to counter possible American anti-ballistic missile defence systems.
In 1997 186 R-36MUTTKh and R-36M2 launchers remained in Russia, the 104 launchers located in Kazakhstan having been dismantled by September 1996. As a MIRVed ICBM, the R-36M was banned by the START-2 treaty, but Russia is allowed to convert 90 R-36M silos to house a single-warhead missile, and the RT-2PM1 Topol-M (SS-27) is going to be used for this purpose. Some surplus R-36M2 missiles were converted to Dnepr space launch vehicles.
The first stage of the R-36M is equipped with four gimballed closed cycle single-chambered rocket motors. The second stage uses a closed cycle single-chambered sustainer and an open cycle four-chambered control motor. The missile is equipped with an onboard digital computer that exchanges information with the launch centers during standby alert. The R-36M variants are equipped with penetration aids. The R-36M missile is stored inside a transport-launch canister made of fiberglass composites that is placed into a modified R-36 silo. Initially the missile had a ten year operational life, but it was later extended to 15 years. The hardened silo is 39 meters deep and has a diameter of 5.9 meters. At launch, the missile is ejected from the canister by a solid-propellant gas generator.
The UR-100N was developed in competition with the MR-UR-100 (SS-17) as a replacement of the UR-100 (SS-11) ICBM. However, eventually both designs were put into production. Development of the UR-100N was ordered on 19 August 1970, and flight tests from Baikonur began on 9 April 1973. The first UR-100N regiment was put on alert on 26 April 1975 at Pervomaisk, and the missile was formally accepted into service on 30 December 1975. By 1978 180 missiles were deployed, 60 of them with a single warhead. Training launches revealed accuracy problems due to first stage oscillations, and though interim fixes were made, the development of an improved UR-100NU version was authorized on 16 August 1976. Its test flights were conducted between 28 September 1977 and 26 July 1979, and the first regiment equipped with UR-100NU missiles was put on alert on 6 November 1979. By 1983 all UR-100N missiles had been replaced by the UR-100NU, and by 1984 a total of 360 missiles were deployed. Phase-out began in 1987, and 300 missiles remained when the START-1 treaty was signed in 1991. The 130 UR-100N silos in the Ukraine were destroyed by 1999. START-2 treaty provisions allow Russia to retain 105 UR-100NU missiles downloaded to carry a single warhead. It is planned to retain the missiles in service at least until 2005.
The UR-100N is similar to the UR-100, but with an increased diameter and longer propellant tanks its launch weight was more than doubled and the throw-weight increased over three-fold. The first stage consists of four autonomous closed cycle single-chambered rocket motors. The second stage has a closed cycle single-chambered sustainer and an open cycle four-chambered control motor with rotating nozzles. The UR-100N uses the same guidance and control system as the R-36M (SS-18) that permits remote monitoring of missile status and automatic launch preparation. Former UR-100 silos were completely dismantled and rebuilt to increase the survivability of the new missiles. Unlike the MR-UR-100, the UR-100N used the hot launch technique. The UR-100NU missile introduced improved engines and command system, and protection from a nuclear strike was considerably enhanced. Former UR-100N missiles can be converted into Rokot and Strela space launch vehicles.
The Pioner IRBM was based on the first and second stages of the Temp-2S (SS-16) ICBM. Development was approved on 28 April 1973, and the first test launch was made on 21 September 1974 at the Kapustin Yar test range. The test series of 20 flights was completed on 9 January 1976, and the first Pioner unit was put on alert on 30 August 1976 at Petrikov. Mass deployment started in 1978, with some units occupying former R-14 (SS-5) bases. On 19 July 1977 the development of the 15Zh45UTTKh missile with increased range and a new MIRV bus with a larger warhead dispersal area was authorised. Ten test flights were conducted between 10 August 1979 and 14 August 1980, and the missile was accepted into service on 23 April 1981. The 15Zh53 missile with increased range and accuracy was tested in May 1985, but did not enter service. It was later redesignated SS-X-28 by the US DoD. The designation Mod 1 applied both to the basic and UTTKh variants when they were fitted with a single warhead and the designation Mod 2 to both versions when they were fitted with three MIRVs.
The Pioner was intended to replace the R-12 (SS-4) and R-14 (SS-5) missiles. Between 1978 and 1986 a total of 499 launchers were manufactured. The Pioner was eliminated under the terms of the INF Treaty, which took effect in June 1988. Prior to that the force comprised 48 bases housing 405 missiles and launchers with 6 to 9 launchers per base. The first of 654 Pioner missiles and launch canisters were eliminated at Kapustin Yar on 22 July 1988 and the last on 12 May 1991.
The casings of the missile sustainer stages were made from glass-fibre composite materials, and the solid-propellant charge was rigidly fastened to the sustainer body. Flight control was achieved through lattice aerodynamic and jet vanes in the first stage, and through gas injection in the second stage. The guidance system had an onboard digital computer and a gyro-stabilized inertial platform. The three MIRV warheads were not covered by an aerodynamic fairing. The missile was popped out of its launch canister by a solid-propellant gas generator before first stage ignition. The MAZ-547A 12x10 wheeled TEL had high off-road mobility and it could be reloaded by a transloader based on the same chassis. Launch control was conducted from a mobile control center based on a MAZ-543M 8x8 wheeled chassis. The missile could be launched from a sliding roof garage at a regimental base or from field deployed sites with a two-minute reaction time. The Pioner-UTTKh used an improved MAZ-547V chassis, whereas for the Pioner-3 a new MAZ-7916 12x12 wheeled TEL with somewhat larger dimensions and different crew cabin arrangement was developed.
The development of the Tochka SRBM was authorized in March 1968 as a replacement for the unguided Luna-M (FROG-7) artillery rocket. First test launches were made in 1971 and series production started in 1973. The development of the Tochka-R missile with passive radar homing started in 1971. Its minimum lock-on range was 15 kilometers and CEP was estimated as 45 meters, but this variant was not deployed.
The Tochka missile is designated 9M79B when equipped with AA60 nuclear warhead, 9M79F with 9N123F 120 kg HE-FRAG warhead, and 9M79K with 9N123K sub-munition-bomblet warhead. The missile is controlled in flight by four grill guidance vanes similar to those used on the R-400 (SS-23) and R-77 (AA-12) missiles, and through gas injection. The range of the later Tochka-U missile was increased due to an improved composite propellant, and it also has a terrain matching terminal guidance system. It takes 20 minutes to prepare the missile for firing after arrival to the launch site. The missile is lifted to vertical position only 15 seconds before launch, and it reaches its maximum range in 136 seconds.
Both the TEL and transloader vehicle are based on the BAZ-5921 6x6 amphibious wheeled chassis. It has a crew compartment in the forward section and a missile compartment in the rear. In the 9P129 TEL, the missile is completely enclosed during transport, with the warhead in a temperature-controlled casing. The 9T218 tactical transloader is equipped with a crane and can transport two missiles in a canvas-covered compartment. The 9T238 missile resupply combination consists of a Zil-131 truck and a 99511 trailer. It can transport two missiles in 9Ya234 containers or four warheads in 9Ya236 containers. Further support is provided by the 9V844M maintenance vehicle and the 9V819 missile inspection vehicle, both based on the Zil-131 box-body truck and usually towing their own generator trailers. The SS-21 was originally designated FROG-9 by the US DoD. The Tochka system has been exported to Slovakia, Syria, and Yemen.
The Temp-SM was initially designated SS-22 by the US DoD, but as it was a development of the Temp-S (SS-12) missile, it was later redesignated SS-12M.
The R-400 Oka was designed as a replacement for the R-17 (SS-1C) as a front- and army-level tactical ballistic missile in the early 1970s, and the first flight test was conducted in the fall of 1976. The Oka was first deployed operationally in 1985 to a brigade in the Byelorussian Military District. Although it could be deployed with a chemical or conventional high-explosive warhead, its principal role was to serve as the primary nuclear fire support mean of Soviet Armies. Development of an improved Oka-U variant with better accuracy, wider payload options and possibility of control from airborne platforms started in 1984, and the missile was tested in 1987. 239 Oka missiles had been produced before they were banned by the INF treaty in 1988. The last Soviet R-400 missile and launcher were destroyed on 27 October 1989. However, the Soviets had secretly transferred 18 launchers to East Germany and Bulgaria, 10 to Slovakia, and four to Rumania. These were subsequently eliminated during the 1990s with US assistance.
The TEL was supported by a missile transloader based on the same BAZ-6944 8x8 amphibious wheeled chassis. There was also a 9T240 missile transport trailer, with the warhead transported separately in a 9Ya251 container. The missile was controlled in flight by four grill guidance vanes similar to those used on the Tochka (SS-21) and R-77 (AA-12) missiles. The missile carried penetration aids. The Oka had a reaction time of about five minutes and it offered improvements in accuracy, responsiveness, and range compared to the R-17. The R-400 was initially designated KY-12 by the US DoD.
The development of a solid-propellant ICBM for multiple basing modes was originally authorized on 13 January 1969. Development difficulties with the railway-based 15Zh44 missile led to a decision to consider only the silo-based version on 23 July 1976. The first preliminary design completed in March 1977 was considered unsatisfactory, and a second design with an improved propulsion system and front end was finished in December 1979. Work on a railway-based 15Zh52 missile was then resumed, and its design was finished in June 1980. Flight tests of the silo-launched 15Zh44 began on 26 October 1982, but due to several failures it was cancelled on 10 February 1983. A further effort to develop a silo, railway and road-mobile missile designated RT-23UTTh with a MIRVed warhead was approved on 9 August 1983, though the road-mobile variant was subsequently abandoned. Tests of the railway-based 15Zh52 ran from 1983 to April 1985, and the missile was accepted for experimental service on 20 October 1987, based at Kostroma. The 15Zh61 that is almost identical to the 15Zh52 was first tested on 27 February 1985 and 32 test launches were made until 22 December 1987 with formal acceptance on 28 November 1989. Eventually 12 launchers were deployed at Kostroma, 9 launchers at Bershet, and 12 launchers at Krasnoyarsk. The silo-based 15Zh60 was tested from 31 July 1986 through November 1988. Deployment in former UR-100N (SS-19) silos started on 28 November 1989. 10 silo-based missiles were deployed at Tatishchevo in Russia and 46 at Pervomaysk in Ukraine. Production of the missiles ended in 1991, and the 46 missiles in Ukraine were subsequently dismantled. The RT-23UTTKh missiles are to be removed from service in accordance to the START-2 treaty.
The RT-23UTTKh Military Railroad Missile Complex (BZhRK) consists of three launch cars, a command and control car, an electric power supply car, a navigation support car, personnel cars, and three M62 diesel locomotives. Inside the garrison areas the trains are held in individual shelters about four kilometers apart. The trains are capable of operating up to two months without resupply, at distances of up to 1,500 kilometers from their base. In times of tension the trains would be parked in railway tunnels. The launch car was developed by KBSM on the basis of an eight-axle railroad car with a load capacity of 135 tons. The cars are equipped with a device for short-circuiting and removal of overhead electric power lines. For launch, the roof of the car is opened, the missile container is erected into vertical position, and a solid-propellant gas generator then ejects the missile. For the road-mobile Tselina-2 variant of the RT-23UTTKh, prototypes of the 8-axle MAZ-7906 and 12-axle MAZ-7907 wheeled chassis were constructed, but this version was never deployed.
The first stage of the silo-based missile uses a rotating nozzle, whereas the railway-based version is equipped with a fixed nozzle partially inserted into the motor combustion chamber. The second and third stage engines deploy extendable nozzles in flight to increase specific impulse. First stage control is achieved by deflecting the sustainer nozzle, and second and third stage control by deflecting the combat stage and by fairing-mounted aerodynamic vanes. The silo-based missile uses a more energetic solid propellant. It has a nose cone tip flap that is activated when launched whereas the railroad-based missile has a folded nose cone that is extended when launched. The post-boost vehicle carries the ten warheads and penetration aids. The missile is controlled by an autonomous inertial guidance system with an onboard digital computer. The silo-based missile has a two-package and the railway-based missile a one-package block of control instruments. The RT-23 missile was originally assigned the designation PL-4 by the US DoD.
The Topol became the first successful Soviet mobile ICBM and it replaced the UR-100 (SS-11) and RT-2P (SS-13) missiles. Its design was based on the RT-2P (SS-13) and Temp-2S (SS-16) missiles. Development began in 1975 and was officially approved on 19 July 1976. The first test flight took place on 8 February 1983 at Plesetsk and series production started in 1985. The first Topol regiment was put on alert on 23 July 1985 at Yoshkar-Ola, though the flight tests were completed only on 23 December 1988. The first Topol regiment employing a Barer mobile command center with redundant multi-channel radio command link was put on alert on 28 April 1987. The first regiment with a modernized Granit mobile command center with automatic guidance system update entered service on 27 May 1988. A Topol regiment consists of nine TELs and a mobile command center. After the Pioner (SS-20) IRBM was withdrawn from service, some Topol units were based at former Pioner bases. After the break-up of the Soviet Union, 81 Topol missiles were returned from Byelorussia to Russia by the end of 1996, by which time a total of 360 Topol missiles were deployed.
All three stages of the Topol missile are made of composite materials and utilize a new high-energy solid propellant. First stage flight control is achieved through four aerodynamic and four jet vanes, with four similar trellised aerodynamic surfaces serving for stabilization. Second and third stage control is by gas injection into the diverging part of the nozzle. The missile post-boost vehicle carries penetration aids in addition to the warhead. The TEL is based on a MAZ-7912 or a later MAZ-7917 14x12 wheeled chassis with special camouflage equipment. The TELs are supported by a mobile command post based on a MAZ-543M 8x8 wheeled chassis equipped with an inertial navigation system. The missile can be launched from a sliding roof garage at a regimental base or from pre-surveyed field deployed sites with a reaction time of two minutes. The Start-1 space launch vehicle has been developed from the Topol ICBM. The RT-2PM was initially assigned the designation PL-5 by the US DoD.
The Iskander SRBM is a second attempt to design a replacement for the R-17 (SS-1C), as the R-400 (SS-23) missile was banned by the INF treaty. Based on technology from the Oka-U missile, the development of the Iskander began in the early 1990s, with the first test launch in 1996. The missile is designed for the destruction of enemy airfields, artillery, SAM, SSM and C3 sites. The Tender is a domestic version with active radar terminal homing in addition to IIR, longer range and larger warhead, whereas the export Iskander-E adheres to MTCR restrictions. The single-stage missile is controlled in flight by four aerodynamic fins and gas-dynamic controls. The Iskander has some stealth features, and it manouevers through its entire flight path to make intercepting it more difficult. Terminal homing is achieved through an imaging infrared system that compares the terrain below to a digital image stored in an onboard computer.
An Iskander battery comprises of TELs, transloaders, and a command vehicle (KShM). Further support is provided by a mobile information preparation center (PPI), and technical support units. Target data is passed to the PPI by satellite or airborne recon platforms. The PPI processes the data and transmits mission information to the KShM through a radio link. The KShM then instructs individual missile launchers. The TEL based on a BAZ-6909 8x8 wheeled chassis carries two missiles, has high off-road mobility and is air-transportable. The two missiles can be launched at an interval of one minute. The SS-X-26 designation was originally assigned to the Kuryer light ICBM that was cancelled on 6 October 1991.
The development of the RT-2PM2 as a derivative of the Topol (SS-25) ICBM began originally in the late 1980s by Yuzhnoye. Work was suspended as the Soviet Union broke up, but was reinitiated in February 1993. The missile was first tested on 20 December 1994, and the first two Topol-M missiles were put on trial service in December 1997 at Tatischevo. The first regiment with 10 missiles was put on alert in 1998, the second in 1999, and third in 2001. The Topol-M was officially accepted in April 2000. Initial deployments were in former R-36M (SS-18) silos, but the missile will also be deployed in a mobile form similar to the original Topol system. First test launch from a mobile launcher was made on 27 September 2000. The START-2 treaty allows Russia to convert 90 former R-36M (SS-18) silos for the Topol-M. In addition to Tatischevo, missiles will be deployed in Valday and the Altay.
The Topol-M is the first ICBM of totally Russian design and manufacture. The trellised aerodynamic surfaces of the original Topol have been removed, and the solid propellant charge has higher energy content. The Topol-M thus has a shorter engine burn time, minimizing satellite detection on launch. The new TEL has an improved navigation system, allowing it to launch missiles from any spot within the deployment area of the missile division, whereas the original Topol could only be launched from a limited number of pre-surveyed paved sites. The Topol-M uses the same mobile command post as the original Topol. The camouflage equipment of the TEL and the penetration aids of the missile have been improved. The Topol-M has the capacity to be equipped with three MIRV warheads.
The Pioner-3 (15Zh53) IRBM that was originally designated SS-20 Mod 3 by the US DoD, was later redesignated SS-X-28.