October 13, 2008

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SS-2

Country:  Russian Federation
Alternate Name:  Sibling, R-2
Class:  SRBM
Basing:  Surface based
Length:  17.65 m
Diameter:  1.65 m
Launch Weight:  20400 kg
Payload:  Single warhead 1,500 kg
Warhead:  HE
Propulsion:  Single-stage liquid
Range:  600 km
Status:  Obsolete
In Service:  1952-1953

Details

Russian Designation: R-2

The SS-2 was a short-range, surface-based, liquid propellant ballistic missile. It was the second in the line of Russian missile systems developed from the German V-2 design. Externally similar to both the V-2 and its predecessor the SS-1A, the SS-2 integrated several technological advances to increase range and accuracy. It introduced warhead separation technology, meaning that its warhead detached from the rest of the rocket right before reentry, allowing for a lighter design of the remainder of the rocket.

 

The SS-2 was 17.65 m in length, 1.65 m in diameter, and had a launch weight of 20,400 kg. It used a single-stage liquid propellant engine, which gave it a range of 600 km (372 miles). The missile carried a payload of 1,500 kg. The introduction of separation technology allowed the warhead to detach from the launch system as it approached its target, thus increasing its accuracy to 1,250 m CEP.

 

Despite its technological advances, the SS-2’s usefulness was limited. While considerably more advanced than the SS-1A, the missile required up to 6 hours and 20 vehicles in order to launch. It also did not have the accuracy or the range to perform anything besides general strike at a region. In addition, it maintained the primitive radio command guidance system of the SS-1A, thus requiring a commander on the ground to guide the missile.

 

Development on the SS-2 began in 1946 and flight testing began in 1949. The SS-2s were only in service in the Soviet Union for two years prior to being replaced by the longer ranged, nuclear capable SS-3.(1)

 

 

Footnotes

 

  1. Duncan Lennox, Jane’s Strategic Weapons Systems 46 (Surrey: Jane’s Information Group, January 2007), 563.

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