| Country: |
Russian Federation |
| Alternate Name: |
Shyster, R-5 |
| Class: |
MRBM |
| Basing: |
Surface based |
| Length: |
20.80 m |
| Diameter: |
1.65 m |
| Launch Weight: |
28000 kg |
| Payload: |
Single warhead, 1,500 kg and 1,350 kg (nuclear version) |
| Warhead: |
Nuclear 30 kT, HE |
| Propulsion: |
Single-stage liquid |
| Range: |
1200 km |
| Status: |
Obsolete |
| In Service: |
1953-1959 |
Details
Russian Designation: R-5
The SS-3 was a medium-range, surface-based, liquid propellant ballistic missile. It was the first Russian missile to achieve both nuclear capability and the intermediate-range classification. Though the initial model was simply a technological improvement upon the SS-2, a second version developed three years later was designed to carry a nuclear warhead.
The original SS-3 had a range of 800 km (497 miles), but a change in the fuel composition later increased it to 1200 km (746 miles). The greatly improved range made it the first truly strategic missile, with a range capable of striking strategic targets in Europe. The first version of the SS-3 had a payload of 1,500 kg while a second had 1,350 kg with a 30 kT nuclear warhead. The accuracy of the missile was limited to 2000 m CEP, an improvement once the increased range was factored in (longer ranges typically mean lower accuracy). The development of a nuclear warhead compensated for the limited accuracy of the weapon and resulted in an effective weapon.
The missile was 20.8 m long and 1.65 m in diameter. Its launch weight was 28,000 kg and 29,500 kg for the conventional and the nuclear versions respectively. Both versions used single-stage liquid propellant engines. The guidance system was radio-command, by which a ground commander monitored and controlled the status of the missile from a ground station.
The SS-3 began as a spin-off of a 1947 project attempting to develop a single-stage missile with a range of 3,000 km (1,864 miles), which was found to be technically possible but impractical. A reduced range of 1,200 km (746 miles) was accepted and flight tests began in 1953. The first full-scale Soviet test of a ballistic missile with a nuclear warhead took place in 1956. The SS-3s were in service in the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1959 prior to being replaced by the SS-4. The original version of the SS-3 entered service in 1953, with a deployment limited to 28 missiles. The nuclear version was introduced in 1956 and served until 1959.(1)
Footnotes
- Duncan Lennox, Jane’s Strategic Weapons Systems 46 (Surrey: Jane’s Information Group, January 2007), 564.
