| Country: |
Russian Federation |
| Alternate Name: |
Stingray, RSM-50, R-29R, Volyna |
| Class: |
SLBM |
| Basing: |
Submarine launched |
| Length: |
14.60 m |
| Diameter: |
1.80 m |
| Launch Weight: |
35300 kg |
| Payload: |
3 MIRV warheads |
| Warhead: |
Nuclear 500 kT |
| Propulsion: |
2-stage liquid |
| Range: |
6500 km |
| Status: |
Operational |
| In Service: |
1977 |
Details
Russian Designation: RSM-50, R-29R, Volyna
The SS-N-18 is an intercontinental-range, submarine-launched, liquid propellant ballistic missile. It is almost certainly an evolution of the SS-N-8 missile, as the many similarities between the missiles would represent considerable cost inefficiency if the SS-N-18 was an entirely new design. The SS-N-18 was designed for the ‘Delta III’, called the Kalmar class in Russia, which are mostly deployed in the North Atlantic. With the cost of maintaining the more modern ‘Typhoon’ class precluding continued deployment, the ‘Delta III’ class submarines will represent the crux of the Russian sea based ballistic missile threat for the foreseeable future. Each submarine carries sixteen missiles.
The SS-N-18 Mod 1 is a strategic asset which could be easily secured against US attack. With a range sufficient to strike the continental US from Russian territorial waters, anywhere in the world can be targeted from international waters. The payload and accuracy on the missile make it unlikely to succeed in a strike on a hardened target, restricting the SS-N-18 to use against soft targets such as population centers and other soft targets. It is reportedly equipped with a 500 kT nuclear warhead which would be quite capable of destroying a city; however, if the 200 kT yield claimed by the Russians is correct, the damage would be significantly less.(1) It would likely then be deployed against smaller population centers or soft military targets, leaving the major targets to more powerful warheads.
The SS-N-18 Mod 1 has a range of 6,500 km (4,039 miles) and an accuracy of 900 m CEP. The Mod 1 is believed to carry 3 MIRV warheads each equipped with a 500 kT nuclear yield, though Russian sources state that each only has a 200 kT yield.(2) Other than the payload and the range, there is no difference between the three different Mod versions. They all have a length of 14.6 m, a body diameter of 1.8 m and a launch weight of 35,300 kg. They use an inertial guidance system coupled with a stellar sensor which tracks star locations to find the relative position of the warhead. They are all likely equipped with decoys. The missiles use a two-stage, liquid propellant engine.
The SS-N-18 began development in 1968 and was first tested from land-based launch sites in 1975 and from a submarine in 1976. The Mod 1 entered service in the Soviet Union in 1977, with the Mod 2 and Mod 3 entering in 1979. Following the provisional Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), all the SS-N-18 missiles were reportedly equipped to the Mod 1 design, despite passing the seven MIRV limit outlined by START. However, Russian sources (1) contradict this and state that all the SS-N-8 missiles currently carry 4 MIRV warheads with unknown yields. In 1991, 14 ‘Delta III’ submarines remain in service, with only six still in service by 2006. It is believed that only 90 to 95 SS-N-18 missiles remained by the end of 2006. These are predominantly Mod 1s. It is expected that they will remain in service until 2010.
There was a proposal for the missile to be used as a Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV) to be called Volyna. The SLV would have the capability to place a 130 kg payload into a 250 km (155 mile) circular orbit. The third trial launch was conducted in July 2002, when inflatable re-entry and descent technology was completed. It is reported that there have been 146 test flights of the SS-N-18 since 2001.(3)
Footnotes
- Pavel Podvig, ed., Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces (Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2001).
- Ibid.
- Duncan Lennox, Jane’s Strategic Weapons Systems 46 (Surrey: Jane’s Information Group, January 2007), 152-153.
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
