| Country: |
Russian Federation |
| Alternate Name: |
Savage, RS-12 |
| Class: |
ICBM |
| Basing: |
Silo based |
| Length: |
21.35 m |
| Diameter: |
1.00 m |
| Launch Weight: |
52000 kg |
| Payload: |
Single warhead, 500 kg |
| Warhead: |
Nuclear 750 kT |
| Propulsion: |
3-stage solid |
| Range: |
10600 km |
| Status: |
Obsolete |
| In Service: |
1968-1995 |
Details
Russian Designation: RS-12
The SS-13 was an intercontinental-range, silo-based, solid propellant ballistic missile. It was the first deployed Soviet ballistic missile system to use solid propellant, a major technological breakthrough. It was assembled and sealed in its silo, decreasing the deterioration of the fuel and the missile. The use of solid fuel significantly prolongs the time period that a missile can remain fueled and launch ready. It decreases the maintenance of the missile, as less complicated equipment can be used, and increases the lifespan of the missile. It also increases the speed at which a missile can be launched and decreases the risk to the launch crew. Two versions of the SS-13 were developed, the Mod 1 and the Mod 2. It used an inertial guidance system.
The SS-13 used the prototype of the cold-launch system, a combination of steam and gas that pushes the missile out of the silo when the first stage of the missile is ignited. However, it was still technically a hot-launch. The hardened silo from which the SS-13 was launched allowed it to survive almost any attempt to destroy the missile before launch. The relatively low yield warhead and accuracy limited it to the destruction of cities and undefended areas. The Mod 2 was simply an upgrade of the Mod 1 in terms of range and accuracy, as well as equipped with penetration aids to decrease the effectiveness of US defenses.
Russian sources state that a heavier warhead of 1,400 kg could be equipped and deployed at a decreased range of between 4,000 and 5,000 km (2,485 and 3,107 miles).(1) This would allow the missile to be deployed at a limited range but with a significantly higher yield nuclear warhead. This could theoretically be equipped with as much as a 5 MT warhead, large enough to be deployed against US silo-based missiles. However, this would significantly reduce the number of strategic sites that could be targeted.
The SS-13 Mod 2 had a maximum range of 10,600 km (6,587 miles) and a payload of 500 kg. It carried a single nuclear warhead of 750 kT yield and could deliver it with an accuracy of 1,100 m CEP. It had a launch weight of 52,000 kg. It used a three-stage solid propellant engine with a length of 21.35 m and width of 1.84 m at the bottom.
Development of the SS-13 began in 1961, with flight tests beginning in 1966. The SS-13 Mod 2 entered service in the Soviet Union in 1972, four years after the introduction of the Mod 1. The SS-13 Mod 1 and 2 reached a peak deployment of 60 missiles in 1974, a much smaller scale than many of its counterparts due to its low payload. Following the first Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START 1), only twenty missiles were operational by December of 1994, and by July 1995 all had been dismantled.(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), 572-573.
