| Country: |
Russian Federation |
| Alternate Name: |
Satan, RS-20V |
| Class: |
ICBM |
| Basing: |
Silo based |
| Length: |
34.3 m |
| Diameter: |
3.0 m |
| Launch Weight: |
211400 kg |
| Payload: |
1 RV |
| Warhead: |
Nuclear 8 MT |
| Propulsion: |
2-stage liquid |
| Range: |
16000 km |
| Status: |
Operational |
| In Service: |
1988-2020 |
Details
The SS-18 is an intercontinental-range, silo-based, liquid propellant ballistic missile deployed by the Soviet Union. It is the largest of the fourth generation Soviet intercontinental-range missile and the only ‘heavy’ missile allowed under the second Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT II). A total of six versions are known to exist. The SS-18 was extremely similar in design to its predecessor, the SS-9.
The Mod 6 was introduced in 1988. It has a single warhead but it has better targeting and greater protection against nuclear weapons effects than previous SS-18 models. It is the only single-RV SS-18 missile version in operation since the SS-18 Mod 2 has been removed from service. The Russian Federation has kept single warhead missiles in service in order to counter the improved hardening of US missile silos. The combination of an 8 MT warhead and an accuracy of 500m CEP make the Mod 6 missile an effective weapon against hardened targets. It has a length of 34.3 m, a diameter of 3.0 m, and a launch weight of 211,400 kg. It has a range of 16,000 km. The SS-18 Mod 5, which shares the basic design of the Mod 6, was first flight tested in 1986 but it was unsuccessful. Both missiles entered service in 1988. In 2004 a life extension program allowed for some of the Mod 5 and Mod 6 to remain operational until 2020.
The SS-18 entered development in 1969 as a replacement for the SS-9 missile. It was essentially a redesigned, modernized SS-9. The flight tests started in 1973 and the Mod 1 version of the missile was first deployed operationally in 1975 within converted SS-9 missile silos and launch complexes. The SS-18 Mod 2 entered service in 1978, with the Mod 3 and Mod 4 entering service in 1980 and 1982 respectively. By 1991, there were 308 SS-18 missiles in silos grouped among six major launch sites.
The first Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I) required the number of SS-18 missiles to be reduced to 154 by 2003. As a result, the early versions of the SS-18 were removed from service to maintain the more advanced models; all Mod 1 missiles were removed by 1994 while the Mod 2 missiles were removed by 2001. The requirement of the START I has been fulfilled, as only 145 SS-18 missiles remained in service by the end of 2002. This was accomplished by destroying or converting the missiles into satellite launch vehicles. By July 2008, it was believed that only 70 SS-18 missiles (of all varieties) remained in service. Presumably that number will continue to fall until 2020 when the SS-18 will be decommissioned. The Mod 5 and Mod 6 models will be the last versions removed from service.(1)
Footnotes
- Jane’s Strategic Weapons Systems, Issue 50, ed. Duncan Lennox, (Surrey: Jane’s Information Group, January 2009), 167-69.
