| Country: |
Russian Federation |
| Alternate Name: |
Saber, Pioneer, RSD-10 |
| Class: |
IRBM |
| Basing: |
Road mobile |
| Length: |
16.49 m |
| Diameter: |
1.79 m |
| Launch Weight: |
37100 kg |
| Payload: |
3 MIRV warheads |
| Warhead: |
Nuclear 150 kT |
| Propulsion: |
2-stage solid |
| Range: |
4700 km |
| Status: |
Obsolete |
| In Service: |
1976-1991 |
Details
The SS-20 was an intermediate-range, road mobile, solid propellant ballistic missile. It was built as a replacement for the fixed surface-based SS-4 and SS-5 intermediate range systems. It is believed that the SS-20 was simply the first two stages of the three-stage road mobile SS-16 ICBM. The range was insufficient to directly threaten the US, but all strategic targets within Europe could be targeted.
The SS-20 was launched from a Transporter-Erector-Launcher (TEL) vehicle derived from previous TEL vehicles, ultimately tracing its descent to the ‘Scud B’ system. The missile was fired from a launch canister mounted on the six-axle wheeled truck. The TEL vehicles were typically based in concrete shelters with sliding roofs designed to allow for launch from inside the shelter, though the SS-20 could also be launched from a geodetically prepared field site. The mobility of the system significantly increased its survivability in the advent of a conventional or nuclear conflict. This allowed the Soviet Union to maintain deterrence against a pre-emptive strike while having the ability to engage European targets with the SS-20 and focus the ICBM force against the United States.
An early version of the SS-20 was equipped with a 50 kT warhead and reached a test launch range of over 7,400 km (4,598 miles), but this version did not enter service. An upgraded version entered service in 1982 with better range and accuracy, but this was probably not put into service.
The Mod 1 design of the SS-20 delivered a 1,740 kg payload of 3 150 kT yield MIRVs up to a maximum range of 4,700 km (2,920 miles). The Mod 2 was essentially identical except for an improved range to 5,000 km (3,107 miles). Both versions were constrained by a minimum range of 600 km (373 miles) and an accuracy of 550 m CEP. The total launch weight was 37,100 kg. The missile used a two-stage solid propellant engine and had a total length of 16.49 m with a width of 1.79 m.
The SS-20 entered the development stage in 1966, with flight tests beginning in 1974. It entered service in the Soviet Union in 1976. In 1987, 495 were deployed with another 245 non-deployed in 29 separate locations. The number was reduced to 405 by 1987 and by May 1991 all SS-20 missiles were destroyed in accordance with the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. A number of SS-20 launch bases that were not dismantled were converted to accommodate the mobile version of the SS-25.(1)
Footnotes
- Duncan Lennox, Jane’s Strategic Weapons Systems 46 (Surrey: Jane’s Information Group, January 2007), 575-576.
Report: Russia Extends Lifetime of SS-18 ICBMs
November 11, 2006 :: Interfax :: News
Interfax reports that the Russia has extended the service lifetime of the SS-18 Satan (RS-20V) intercontinental ballistic missile. According to Colonel-General Nikolai Solovtsov, commander of the Strategic Missile Forces, the decision extends the original 15-year service lifetime of one of the world’s most powerful missiles to 25 years. The SS-18, which carries 10 individually targetable nuclear warheads, has been the heaviest missile in the Russian military’s inventory since its deployment began in the late 1980s. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Russia
» Missile details: SS-20
Russia to Conduct Topol Exercises in Mid-October
October 9, 2006 :: Interfax :: News
Interfax reports that the Russian Strategic Missile Troops will conduct major exercises in mid-October. Colonel-General Nikolay Solovtsov, commander of the Strategic Missile Troops, will lead a four-day command-post exercise of the Omsk missile formation, which is armed with SS-25 “Sickle” (RS-12M Topol) and SS-18 “Satan” (RS-20 Voyevoda) intercontinental ballistic missiles. According to a spokesman for the Strategic Missile Troops, regiment subunits will practice the deployment of mobile SS-25 missile systems and perform simulated missile launches. The exercises will involve over 2,000 troops and more than 400 pieces of hardware. In addition, the Barnaul and the Novosibirsk missile formations will conduct an exercise of reserve reconnaissance and security units. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Russia
» Missile details: SS-N-5, SS-20
Russian SS-18 Profiled
July 27, 2006 :: BBC Worldwide Monitoring :: News
The Russian weekly Argumenty i Fakty recently published a profile of the SS-18 Satan (RS-20 Voyevoda) intercontinental ballistic missile. At 210,000 kg, the SS-18 is the largest of the fourth generation Soviet intercontinental-range missiles and the only “heavy” missile allowed under the second Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT II). The report notes that the SS-18 is “well equipped with 10 powerful warheads,” for each of which “the enemy will have to use 3-10 antimissiles.” In recent weeks, a modified SS-18 known as the Dnepr carrier rocket has been used to launch civilian satellites. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Russia
» Missile details: SS-20
Russian Dnepr Launcher Crashes in Kazakhstan
July 27, 2006 :: RIA-Novosti :: News
A Russian Dnepr carrier rocket carrying 18 mini-satellites crashed today in a remote area of Kazakhstan shortly after its lift-off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, reports RIA-Novosti. The Dnepr carrier rocket, a civilian version of the heavy SS-18 Satan (RS-20 Voyevoda) intercontinental ballistic missiles, experienced a second stage breakdown 86 seconds into its flight. Russia has been using converted ballistic missiles to launch satellites into orbit since 1999. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Space-Based Systems, Testing - Foreign
» Missile details: SS-20
» Missile system details for: Baikonur Cosmodrome
Russia Launches SS-18 ICBM Carrying U.S. Civilian Satellite
July 12, 2006 :: AP :: News
Russia today launched a modified SS-18 Satan (RS-20 Voyevoda) ICBM, also known as the Dnepr carrier rocket, carrying an experimental U.S. civilian satellite known as Genesis I, reports the Strategic Missile Forces. The converted missile was launched from a silo in Russia’s southern Ural Mountains, and reached an altitude of over 500 km within minutes. The Genesis I is an experimental inflatable spacecraft funded by Robert Bigelow, a real estate magnate who is among several entrepreneurs attempting to develop a commercial space station. The Genesis I, at 4.2 m long, 1.2 m wide, and weighing 1,270 kg, is a one-third scale prototype of the commercial space station to which the company eventually hopes to transport its clients. Bigelow Aerospace plans to study its durability over the next five years. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Russia, Space-Based Systems, Testing - Foreign
» Missile details: SS-20
Overall Status and Numbers of Russian Forces
October 11, 2005 :: News
Russianforces.org reports on the recent START exchange data supplied by Russia on its ballistic missiles still in service:
In October 2005 the Russian strategic forces included 815 strategic delivery platforms, which can carry up to 3479 nuclear warheads.
[The] Strategic Rocket Forces have 545 operational missile systems that include missiles that can carry 1955 warheads. These include 85 R-36MUTTH and R-36M2 (SS-18) missiles, 129 UR-100NUTTH (SS-19) missiles, 291 road-mobile Topol (SS-25) systems, and 40 silo-based Topol-M (SS-27) systems.
There are, besides these, a number of sea-based missiles. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Nuclear Weapons, Russia
» Missile details: SS-19 Mod 2, SS-20, SS-21 B, SS-N-5, SS-N-6
Solovtsov Gives Overview of Russia’s Strategic Nuclear Forces
August 4, 2005 :: Interfax :: News
Colonel General Nikolai Solovtsov, head of Russia’s Strategic Missile Forces (RVSN), has laid out the military’s view of the overall role of the Missile Forces.
According to the Russian Interfax news agency, Solovtsov emphasized the Missile Forces’ purpose as a strategic deterrent, and the military’s confidence that they serve this role. The Missile Forces rely upon “an adaptive principle” of modernization, upgrading combat equipment, and building new and cutting-edge missile systems, which will continue to consist of both “stationary missile systems, or silos, boasting a high combat preparedness for immediate action, and highly-survivable mobile systems.” (More »»»)
» More stories on: Russia
» Missile details: SS-19 Mod 2, SS-20, SS-21 B, SS-N-6
Russia Threatens Response to Space Deployments
June 2, 2005 :: BBC Worldwide Monitoring :: News
Russia will take retaliatory steps if any country deploys weapons in space, threatened Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov on Thursday. As quoted by Russian news agencies, Ivanov emphasized that Russia is “categorically against the militarization of space,” and that “if some state begins to realize such plans, then we doubtless will take adequate retaliatory measures.” Ivanov added that Russia has plans to create a new missile system using SS-18 intercontinental ballistic missiles that will be able to launch multiple space vehicles into orbit using a single booster.
Despite Ivanov’s rhetoric, there is reason to doubt whether Russia actually has the capability to take retaliatory steps against the U.S. in space. As Pavel Podvig, author of Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces, recently suggests, Russia “has lost its capability to carry out serious development projects in military space and is very unlikely to recover it.” If Podvig is correct, the U.S. need not worry about such an arms race. (Article, Link)
» May 20, 2005: Podvig on Russian Space Capability
» More stories on: Russia, Space-Based Systems
» Missile details: SS-20
Russia to Retain Heavy SS-18s another 10-15 Years
December 17, 2003 :: London Guardian :: News
Missiles previously slated to be destroyed under the now obsolete START II Treaty will continue to be an important part of Russia’s massive offensive nuclear arsenal for another ten to fifteen years, commented top general Nikolai Solovtsov, chief of the country’s Strategic Missile Forces. “SS-18” and “Satan” are the Western designations for the missiles known in Russia as R-36.
This comment yet again confirms two things. First, that Russia is as intent as ever in maintaining a heavy nuclear offensive force—designed particularly against the United States—at levels on par with the United States. And second, that the recent Strategic Offensive Arms Reduction (SORT) Treaty permits cash-strapped Russia to do so at cost effective measures, such as extending the life of their older arsenal and thus postponing the need for heavier expenditures to produce large numbers of more modern systems, such as the SS-27. (Article, Link)
» December 5: Update on Russian Testing of SS-18 and SS-19
» More stories on: Proliferation, Russia
» Missile details: SS-19 Mod 2, SS-20
