| Country: |
Russian Federation |
| Alternate Name: |
Scapegoat/Scamp, RT-1 |
| Class: |
MRBM |
| Basing: |
Road/rail mobile |
| Length: |
10.60 m |
| Diameter: |
1.40 m |
| Launch Weight: |
30000 kg |
| Payload: |
Single warhead, 500 kg |
| Warhead: |
Nuclear 1 MT |
| Propulsion: |
2-stage solid |
| Range: |
2500 km |
| Status: |
Terminated |
Details
Russian Designation: RT-1
The SS-X-14 was an medium-range, road mobile, solid propellant ballistic missile. It was the first Russian attempt to design a mobile medium-range ballistic missile. It was planned to have a submarine-launched version as well as be road and railcar mobile. It is known to have been designed for a Transporter-Erector-Launcher (TEL) vehicle resembling a heavy tank. However, it is reported that SS-X-15 missiles were deployed briefly with active training units. It was an experimental design that was cancelled after 19 test firings. It was probably inertial guided, but this cannot be verified.
As a road-mobile design, it would be difficult to eliminate by US strategic or tactical forces, ensuring successful deployment in Europe in the advent of a war. Its range was sufficient to strike European cities or military targets, but the accuracy was likely limited.
The SS-X-14 warhead is believed to be that of the SS-13, a 500 kg 1 MT yield single nuclear warhead. The launch weight is believed to have been around 30,000 kg, with a length of 10.6 m and a width of 1.4 m. It is designed to have a range of between 2,000 and 2,500 km (1243 and 1553 miles). Its accuracy is unknown. It was designed to use a two-stage solid propellant engine out of a sealed container that split lengthwise. Russian sources state that in 1968 it passed the acceptance tests and was recommended for production and experimental use.(1) However, it was ultimately rejected by the Defense Ministry in 1970 due to requiring too many support vehicles.(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), 587-588.
Russia Test Fires SLBMs from North Pole, Pacific
September 11, 2006 :: Itar-Tass :: News
On Saturday, September 9, Russia successfully test fired a SS-N-23 (R-29RM) submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) from a K-84 nuclear-powered submarine deployed under ice at the North Pole. According to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, all three warheads hit their targets at a testing range in the Arkhangesk region on the Barents Sea. The test marked the first time in 11 years that Russia test-fired a submarine-borne missile from underwater at the North Pole. The SS-N-23 has a range of 8,300 km and can carry up to four multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV) warheads each equipped with a 100 kiloton nuclear yield.
Ivanov added that another submarine, the K-433 Sv. Georgiy Pobedonosets deployed in the Pacific Ocean, test-fired a SS-N-18 (R-29R) SLBM on Sunday, September 10, and that two of its test warheads hit the targeted range. The SS-N-18 has a range of 6,500 km and can carry 7 to 10 MIRV warheads each with a 100 kiloton nuclear yield, although it is unclear how many warheads the test missile carried. Ivanov referred to the tests as part of “serious exercises of the sea-based strategic nuclear forces.” (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Russia, Testing - Foreign
» Missile details: SS-NX-30, SS-X-14
Russia Tests SS-N-23 SLBM
October 8, 2005 :: Itar-Tass :: News
The Russian Defense Ministry announced that it tested on early Saturday morning another submarine-launched nuclear ballistic missile, identified by Itar Tass as a RSM-54 “Volna” missile. The RSM-54 designation refers to what is known as SS-N-23 in Western classification. R-29RM is another designation for the same missile.
The test is the third within eleven days. The missile was fired from the submerged Borisoglebsk submarine in the Barents Sea, which is in the Arctic Ocean near Norway and Northern Russia. The missile’s warhead traveled eastward some 6,000 miles to the Kura testing range on the Kamchatka Peninsula. The Defense Ministry said that the test “is the sixth sea-based ICBM launch this year,” and added that another land-based silo test launch will take place later this month from the Baikonur cosmodrome. (Article, Link)
» RIA Novosti on RSM-54 test
» Xinhua on missile test
» More stories on: Russia
» Missile details: SS-X-14
Russia Tests SS-N-23
August 17, 2005 :: Interfax :: News
Russia successfully test launched an SS-N-23 (Skiff, RSM-54) intercontinental ballistic missile from the northern Barents Sea. The Yekaterinburg submarine launched the missile from a submerged position, and the missile then traveled some 8,000 km toward its target at the Kura test range on the eastern Kamchatka peninsula. Vladimir Putin observed the firing of the missile and the Northern Fleet’s other military exercises from another ship, Pyotr Veliky (Peter the Great).
The Novomoskovsk nuclear submarine failed to fire an SS-N-23 missile after two attempts in 2004, notes Xinhua. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Russia, Testing - Foreign
» Missile details: SS-X-14
Russia Tests Two SLBMs: Russian Arsenal Combat Ready
March 17, 2004 :: Itar-Tass :: News
The Novomoskovsk nuclear submarine in Russia’s Northern Fleet today tested two RSM-54 (SS-N-23) intercontinental missiles, from a submerged position in the Barents Sea. The missiles are said to have hit their target at the the Kura testing ground on the far eastern Kamchatka peninsula, reportedly some 4,500 miles away. Versions of the SS-N-23 are called “Sineva” by Russia, and “Scythian” or “Skiff” in the West. The “Sineva” version, that tested today, is believed to be armed with 10 warheads rather than the usual four, and an additional system to permit it to penetrate missile defenses.
The two missile tests follow Putin’s March 1 order that the failed launches during the massive February 10-18 nuclear war exercise be repeated. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Russia, Testing - Foreign
» Missile details: SS-X-14
