| Country: |
Russian Federation |
| Alternate Name: |
Scarp, R-36 |
| Class: |
ICBM |
| Basing: |
Silo based |
| Length: |
32.20 m |
| Diameter: |
3.00 m |
| Launch Weight: |
183890 kg |
| Payload: |
Single warhead, 3,950 kg (Mod 1); 5,825 kg (Mod 2); 6,000 kg (Mod 3); 3 MRV warheads 6,000 kg (Mod 4) |
| Warhead: |
Nuclear, single 5 MT (Mod 1 and 3); single 10 MT (Mod 2); MRV 2 to 3 MT (Mod 4) |
| Propulsion: |
2-stage liquid |
| Range: |
15500 km |
| Status: |
Obsolete |
| In Service: |
1967-1979 |
Details
Russian Designation: R-36
The SS-9 was an intercontinental-range, silo-based, liquid propellant ballistic missile. It was the first of the third generation of Russian ICBMs, building on the existing SS-7 and SS-8 designs. It is believed that the SS-9 was initially designed to attack large-scale civilian targets but later versions were equipped for direct strikes against the US Minutemen ICBM force, though Russian sources indicate it had been originally designed for the latter.(1) The range on the SS-9 allowed the Soviet Union to strike any target within the United States and Europe from secure bases within Russia. Primarily a first-strike weapon, this missile was designed to suppress any U.S. counterattack to a pre-emptive attack by the Soviet Union.
The Soviets built a total of four versions of the SS-9, with the Mod 1 as the standard single warhead design. The Mod 2 of the SS-9 carried a nuclear warhead twice the size of that of the Mod 1, in hopes of destroying targeted missile silos despite low accuracy. The Mod 3 of this missile was the first design to use the depressed trajectory Fractional Orbital Bombardment System (FOBS), designed to travel across the South Pole and avoid the radar net to the North. This system placed the warhead into a decaying low orbit and allowed the warhead to approach the target from any direction. This allowed the attack to come from an unprotected direction and prevented the target from knowing exactly where and when the warhead is supposed to fall. The Mod 4 was designed to carry 3 Multiple Reentry Vehicles (MRVs) tied to a single guidance system, saturating the target with smaller warheads to overwhelm any anti-missile defenses. This factored into the Russian preference for focusing on counter-force weapons designed for a pre-emptive strike aimed at suppressing any significant U.S. counterattack. It is believed the SS-9 was the first missile equipped with penetration aids, to penetrate U.S. defenses around missile silos. A fifth version of the SS-9 is suspected of being designed to destroy satellites, but has not been confirmed.
All versions of the SS-9 used a two-stage liquid propellant, an entirely inertial guidance system, were silo-launched only and had a length of 32.2 m and a width of 3 m. The SS-9 Mod 1 and 2 used single warhead and have a launch weight of 183,890 kg, for payloads of 3,950 kg (5 MT) and 5,835 kg (10 MT) respectively. The Mod 3 was the first missile to use a FOBS system. This design had a launch weight of 180,000 kg and carried a payload of 6,000 kg which could deploy a 5 MT yield nuclear device. The Mod 4 was the first Russian missile confirmed to carry multiple warheads, using the 6,000 kg payload to carry three nuclear warheads with 2-3 MT yields. The launch weight of the Mod 4 was 183,000 kg. The Mod 1 and 2 missiles had a range of 15,500 km (9,321 miles) and an accuracy limitation of 1,200 m CEP. The Mod 4 had a range of 12,000 km (7,456 miles). The FOBS of the Mod 3 allowed it to strike anywhere in the world from orbit. The accuracy of the Mod 3 and the Mod 4 have not been released by the Russians, but the Mod 4 was likely similar while the Mod 3 is presumed to be much less accurate.
The development of the SS-9 started in 1962. The SS-9 Mod 1 and 2 entered service in the Soviet Union in 1967 while the Mod 3 and 4 followed suit in 1968. The Mod 1, 2, and 3 designs reached a peak deployment of 255 in 1971. The Mod 4 reached 100 missiles in 1973. All SS-9s except Mod 3 were retired by 1979. The Mod 3 version was removed by the conclusion of the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT II), which prohibited such weapons.(2)
Footnotes
- Pavel Podvig, ed., Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces (Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2001).
- Duncan Lennox, Jane’s Strategic Weapons Systems 46 (Surrey: Jane’s Information Group, January 2007), 569.
