| Country: |
Russian Federation |
| Alternate Name: |
Sandel, R-12 |
| Class: |
MRBM |
| Basing: |
Surface based |
| Length: |
18.40 m |
| Diameter: |
1.65 m |
| Launch Weight: |
41700 kg |
| Payload: |
Single warhead, 1,630 kg |
| Warhead: |
Nuclear 1-1.3 MT or 2-2.3 MT |
| Propulsion: |
Single-stage liquid |
| Range: |
2000 km |
| Status: |
Obsolete |
| In Service: |
1959-1987 |
Details
Russian Designation: R-12
The SS-4 was a medium-range, surface-based, liquid propellant ballistic missile. It was the standard Soviet MRBM until 1977. Originally radio-command guided like its predecessors, inertial guidance was fully incorporated by 1962 making the SS-4 the first strategic system to use an autonomous guidance system, though it maintained radio control for trajectory correction. It was also the first Russian strategic system to use storable fuels, decreasing the launch readiness time and increasing the service life. As the system required 20 men and 12 tractor vehicles to erect and launch, it was essentially a fixed-based system.
The high yield nuclear warhead gave the SS-4 the ability to destroy soft-targets such as cities or military bases, but not bunkers or missile silos. Its range was sufficient to target strategic sites in Europe, such as several major cities. To increase the survivability of the system against a US strike, a silo-based version was developed several years later. It was an effective city-killer, but otherwise impractical.
The SS-4 had a range of 2,000 km (1,243 miles) and a single warhead payload of 1,630 kg, containing a nuclear warhead of either 1-1.3 MT or 2-2.3 MT yield. Its accuracy was limited to 2,400 m CEP. It had a launch weight of 41,000 kg. The missile used a single-stage liquid propellant engine and was 18.4 m long with a width of 1.65 m. A silo-based version was deployed 5 years later with an increased launch weight of 42,200 kg.
Development of the original SS-4 began in 1955, with the silo version starting development in 1960. The first flight tests took place in 1957 with the first silo tests starting in 1960. The SS-4 missiles were deployed in the Soviet Union from 1959 until 1987, with the silo-based design being deployed from 1964 to 1987. A peak deployment was reported as 608 launchers from 1965 to 1966. The missile system was gradually replaced by the SS-20 in the final ten years of its deployment. Under the terms of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty all remaining SS-4s were reported withdrawn and destroyed by May 1991.
As one of the missiles provided by the Soviet Union to Cuba, the SS-4 became famous during the Cuban Missile Crisis. As an example of Russian missile proliferation, Israeli intelligence reported in 1997 that SS-4 technology had been provided to Iran. The Russian Federation denies this.(1)
Footnotes
- Duncan Lennox, Jane’s Strategic Weapons Systems 46 (Surrey: Jane’s Information Group, January 2007), 564.
