| Country: |
Russian Federation |
| Associated Country: |
Ukraine |
| Alternate Name: |
Sickle, RS-12M, Topol |
| Class: |
ICBM |
| Basing: |
Road/rail mobile |
| Length: |
20.50 m |
| Diameter: |
1.80 m |
| Launch Weight: |
45100 kg |
| Payload: |
Single warhead, 1000 kg |
| Warhead: |
Nuclear 550 kT each |
| Propulsion: |
3 stage solid |
| Range: |
10500 km |
| Status: |
Operational |
| In Service: |
1988 |
Details
Russian Designation: RS-12M, Topol
The SS-25 is an intercontinental-range, road mobile, solid propellant ballistic missile system. The Topol (meaning poplar tree) was the first fully road mobile ICBM commissioned by the Soviet Union. The development of the SS-25 was actually forbidden by the second Strategic Arms Limitations Treaty (SALT II), which prohibited the development of more than one new missile system. The SS-25 was officially developed as an updated SS-13 Mod 2, though it is actually a completely different missile design.
The SS-25 is a road mobile strategic system designed for deployment against the United States. The warhead uses a Post-Boost Vehicle (PBV) system, that grants higher accuracy to its single warhead. However, the superior accuracy of a single over a MIRV warhead allows the SS-25 to be fully capable of eliminating hardened missile silos. The yield of the warhead is also sufficient for use against soft targets, such as military bases and civilian population centers. Due to the high accuracy of the system, it is fully capable of being used for either counterforce or counter-value. However, the major advantage of the SS-25 is that it combines the near invisibility of road mobile systems with the range of a three-stage ICBM. It is extremely difficult to exactly locate and destroy a properly hidden road mobile system, making it nearly impossible for the US to destroy enough SS-25 systems prior to launch. The SS-25 was largely designed and made in the Ukraine. The SS-25 missiles are launched from 14 wheeled Transporter-Erector-Launcher (TEL) vehicles. They are usually operated in forest areas to increase their survivability, and their storage sites are equipped with a sliding roof to enable emergency launch. The system is cold-launched from a canister.
The SS-25 delivers a payload of 1,000 kg up to a range of 10,000 km (6,214 miles). This payload is equipped with a single 550 kT warhead and probably decoys as well. The system uses a digital computer controlled inertial navigation system which provides an accuracy of 200 m CEP. The SS-25 is 20.5 m long with a diameter of 1.8 m in the first stage, 1.55 m in the second, and 1.34 m in the third. Its launch weight is 45,100 kg and it uses a three-stage solid propellant engine.
The SS-25 entered development in 1971, with the first flight test occurring in 1982. The missile entered service in 1999, with 288 missiles deployed at nine sites by 1991. Production is believed to have ceased in 1994, with a total of 450 SS-25 missiles built. It was believed that in July 2002, there were 355 missiles with operational status. In July 2001 an RV flew several hundred km at 33 km (21 miles) altitude, suggesting that the RV was a hypersonic missile test or it had wings and a fitted motor.
Due to the START II agreements the SS-25 may be restricted to their garrison areas. In January 2006 270 missiles were reported to be operational. It is believed that 87 missiles have been tested launched by June 2006. By 2010 the number of missiles is expected to be reduced to 145. They will probably be phased out of service by 2020. (1)
Footnotes
- Duncan Lennox, Jane’s Strategic Weapons Systems 46 (Surrey: Jane’s Information Group, January 2007), 137-139.
Possible Tochka-U Missile Test
September 15, 2005 :: Interfax :: News
The Interfax-Military News Agency reported on September 14 that a test of the SS-21 Tochka-U ballistic missile was expected as the conclusion of a Russian military exercise at the Luzhskiy artillery firing range in the Leningrad Region. Interfax quoted Major-General Mikhail Akulov, commander of the Leningrad Military District’s missile and artillery forces, as saying that the launch was soon expected.
“The brigade headed by Col Aleksandr Fateyev is taking up marches in columns, changes of firing positions and some other training missions in the course of the exercise, which is going to end with the launch of a Tochka-U tactical missile. Representatives of a state-owned firing range present will assess the readiness of the brigade,” he said.
He pointed out that the brigade had already launched the same type of missile during the tactical exercise at the state-owned firing range in the Volga region. …
The SV 9K79-1 Tochka-U missile system is designed to effectively kill critical targets in enemy’s tactical depth. The solid-propellant single-stage missile with cluster or high-explosive/fragmentation warhead weighs 2,010 kg, and has a range of 120 km.
Update: September 20, 2005:If the tests of the Tochka-U missiles took place, they seem to have not been reported in any publicly available media. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Russia, Testing - Foreign
» Missile details: SS-24, SS-25
Russia Tests Tochka-U in Siberia
March 7, 2005 :: Itar-Tass :: News
The Russian military successfully carried out a test launch of the short range Tochka-U (SS-21) ballistic missile on March 5, in the Siberian Military District, as part of a military exercise, reports press spokesman Colonel Valeriy Shcheblanin, reports Itar Tass. The missile is said to have hit its target “with utmost precision.”
Tochka-U, which is offered for export, is a version of the SS-21 (“Scarab B”) missile with a composite fuel, and an extended range of 120 km. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Russia, Testing - Foreign
» Missile details: SS-24, SS-25
Praise for Topol Missile Unit
December 14, 2004 :: BBC Worldwide Monitoring :: News
Russian television yesterday carried a report profiling a Topol (SS-25) missile squad based in Siberia. The profile was of the 51st Strategic Missile Troops Division. The discussion of the reporter points to the mobile nature of the Topol missiles, a capacity to evade certain satellite detection, and targeting. The United States, by contrast, has no mobile land-based missiles: all American Minutemen are in silos, easily targeted in advance by Russia. An excerpt: (More »»»)
» More stories on: Russia
» Missile details: SS-25
Russia Launches Two Missiles
November 2, 2004 :: News
While America was electing a president, Russia today tested two ballistic missiles, symbols of its status as a major power capable of threatening the West. The mobile land-based SS-25 (Topol) missile was launched from the Pletesk cosmodrome located some 200 miles northeast of St. Petersburg, and traveled to the missile range on the far eastern Kamchatka peninsula. The SS-N-18 (R-29R) missile was launched from a submarine of the Pacific Fleet, the Project 667BDR (Delta III)-class St. George the Victor, in the Sea of Okhotsk (next to the Kamchatka peninsula). (More »»»)
» Podvig on missile launches
» More stories on: Russia, Testing - Foreign
» Missile details: SS-25, SS-N-18 Mod 1, SS-N-18 Mod 3
Status of Russian Strategic Forces
October 20, 2004 :: News
Pavel Podvig, editor of Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces, reports that exchange data under the START Treaty was released earlier this month, updating the number and type of Russia’s deployed ballistic missiles and nuclear warheads. Currently, Russia is said to have some 874 “delivery platforms,” fielding some 3885 large, strategic, nuclear warheads.
Some 315 SS-25 (Topol) road-mobile missiles are now deployed, though their numbers will be diminishing. Some 15 SS-24 rail-mobile missiles are said to have been decommissioned in the past year, as well as a few “heavy” SS-18s.
While the older missiles are phased out, newer ones replace them. Most importantly the new and advanced SS-27 (Topol-M) missiles continue to be deployed in silos. Four SS-27s are expected to be deployed in December 2004, and an additional ten in 2005-2006. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Russia
» Missile details: SS-18 Mod 4, SS-24, SS-25, SS-27
