RT-23 Molodets
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
SS-24 Scalpel (NATO designation) or RT-23 is a Russian ICBM, developed and produced by the Soviet Union before 1991. It is cold launched, and comes in silo and railway car based variants. It is a three stage missile that uses solid fuel and thrust vectoring for two stages, with 10 MIRV warheads, each with 550 kT yield.
The missile was the culmination of a major Soviet effort to develop a heavy solid-fueled missile with multible basing modes: silo-based and rail-based versions were deployed, and a road-mobile version was considered but rejected. This made for a much more survivable ICBM, as the rail-based missiles could move around the rail network and thus be difficult to detect and track. The new missile was to replace the older liquid-fueled SS-19 missiles which were entirely silo-based. Its US counterpart was the MX missile.
The missile was tested through the 1980s and began to be deployed in 1987. Its production facitilites were mostly located in Ukraine. After the Soviet Union broke up in 1991, Ukraine had no interest in producting ICBMs and so the production of the missile came to an end.
Just before the breakup of the USSR, 92 missiles were operational, 56 based in stationary silos and 36 rail-based. The 46 silo-based missiles located in Ukraine were deactivated by mid 1996 and returned to Russia, but the 46 missiles in Russia remained in service. The missile was to be banned under the provisions of START II, but that treaty was never ratified. The 10 silo-based missiles in Russia were deactivated around 2000. After 2000 the rail-based missiles were also gradually withdrawn from service, with the remaining 15 scheduled to be decomissioned in 2005.
DIA SS-24 PL-04 SS-24 SS-24V SS-24 NATO Scalpel Scalpel Scalpel Scalpel Bilateral RS-22B RS-22A RS-22V Service RT-23 RT-23 RT-23 UTTKh RT-23 UTTKh OKB/Industry 15Zh44 15Zh52 15Zh60 15Zh61 Design Bureau SKB-586, NPO Yuzhynoy Acad. V. F. Utkin SKB-586, NPO Yuzhnoye Acad. V. F. Utkin SKB-586, NPO Yuzhnoye Acad. V. F. Utkin SKB-586, NPO Yuzhnoye Acad. V. F. Utkin Approved 7/23/1976 6/1/1979 8/9/1983 8/9/1983 Years of R&D 1/1969 ? 3/1977 11/1982 - 1987 1983 - 1989/TD> 1983 - 1989 Engineering and Testing 1985-87 First Flight Test 10/26/82 Failure, 12/1982 Success 4/ /1984 7/31/1986 2/27/1985 IOC canceled 10/20/87 8/19/1988 12/1987 Deployment Date Canceled 11/ /1987 11/28/1989 11/28/1989 Type of Warhead MIRV MIRV MIRV MIRV Warheads 10 10 10 10 Yield (Mt) 0.55 0.35 -0.55 0.35 -0.55 0.3 -0.55 Payload (t) 4.05 4.05 4.05 4.05 Total length (m) 23.3 23.4 - 23.8 18.8 - 23.4 23.3 Total length w/o warhead (m) 18.8, 19 19 19 19 Missile Diameter (m) 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.4 Launch Weight (t) 104.5 104.5 104.5 104.5 Range (km) 10,000 10,000 - 11,000 10,100 -11,000 10,100 - 10,450 CEP (m) (Russian Sources) 500 500 500 500 CEP (m) (Western Sources) 150-250 150-250 150-250 150-250 Basing Mode Silo Silo Railroad
External links
- Russian nuclear forces 2005 (http://www.thebulletin.org/article_nn.php?art_ofn=ma05norris)
- Global Security information (http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/russia/rt-23.htm)
Categories: Weapon stubs | Intercontinental ballistic missiles | Soviet Cold War weapons | Railway weapons
