RT-23

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RT-23

RT-23 ICBM complex in Saint Petersburg museum.jpg

General Information
Type ICBM
Local name RT-23 Molodez, RS-22B, RS-22V, 15Zh60, 15Zh61, 15P961, 15P060
NATO designation SS-24 scalpel
Country of origin Soviet UnionSoviet Union Soviet Union
Manufacturer KB Yuzhnoye
development 1979
Commissioning 1987
Working time 2005
Technical specifications
length 23.40 m
diameter 2,410 mm
Combat weight 104,500 kg
Drive
First stage
Second stage
Third stage
Solid
solid
solid plus re-entry body carrier
Range 10,000-11,000 km
Furnishing
steering Inertial navigation system
Warhead 10 MIRV - nuclear warheads with 400 kt each
Detonator Programmed detonator
Weapon platforms Railway missile complex or missile silo
CEP

185-500 m

Lists on the subject
Railway-based Intercontinental Missile Complex BShKR of Russia, Saint Petersburg Railway Museum

The RT-23 Molodez ( Russian молодец " great guy "), also known under the NATO code name SS-24 Scalpel , was an ICBM (silo-based or railway missile complex ) of the Strategic Missile Forces of the Soviet Union . She was in service with the Russian Armed Forces until 2005 .

history

The RT-23 was developed in the Soviet Union during the Cold War with the aim of having a solid intercontinental ballistic missile with different launch options. Three variants were planned, of which only the starting variant from a rocket silo and the mobile variant on a railway wagon were implemented. Another mobile version with a road vehicle as a starting base (TEL) was not implemented, but planned as MAZ-7906 and MAZ-7907 . The mobile variant made it more difficult for possible enemies to locate and track the missile launch bases. The RT-23 was the Soviet counterpart to the US LGM-118A Peacekeeper .

The RT-23 was tested from 1982 and deployed in both versions from 1989. In 1985, the American Soviet Military Power published a color drawing of the RT-23 railroad missile complex based on the ideas of the Pentagon for the first time. A total of 96 missiles were put into service, including 36 mobile and 56 silo-based units. The stationing locations for the mobile system were Kostroma (12), Berschet (9) and Krasnoyarsk (12), all in the RSFSR . Silo-supported missiles were stationed in Pervomajsk in Ukraine (46) and in Tatishchevo, Russia (10) in former UR-100N silos (SS-19 Stiletto). Most of the manufacturing plants involved were located in what is now Ukraine . This led to the cessation of production of this type of missile after the collapse of the Soviet Union . At the end of 1991, 92 missiles were in active service, 56 of them in missile silos and the remainder based on railways . Ukraine decommissioned all nuclear weapons including the RT-23 by 1996. It was planned to remove the RT-23 from active service as part of the START II (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty). START II was not ratified, however, so that the RT-23 remained in service with the Russian armed forces for a long time . In 2005 the last active missiles were decommissioned. Destroying the rockets turned out to be more difficult than simply decommissioning them, as it was done by burning down the rocket stages on the ground. In April 2008 the last stage of an RT-23 was destroyed in a facility near Perm .

technology

The RT-23 was a three-stage solid fuel rocket having a ten nuclear warheads (each 400 KT explosive force existing) multiple warhead / MIRV . The rocket existed in two versions, which differed in the type of launch base. Depending on the version, the rocket could be launched from a silo or from a mobile rail vehicle . In the mobile version, the rocket was in a transport launch canister, which was brought into the vertical position on a railway wagon intended for the launch of the rocket. The mobile version of the rocket was launched with a solid propellant gas generator.

The first stage of the silo supported version used a rotating nozzle, while the mobile version had a fixed nozzle that was partially located in the engine's combustion chamber. The second and third stage engines used an in-flight retractable nozzle to increase engine thrust without increasing the overall dimensions of the missile. In the first stage, the rocket was controlled by swiveling the nozzle during flight. The second and third stages used aerodynamic blades for control. A computer-coupled inertial navigation system was used for navigation in both versions. The ten warheads each had their own drive and steering / control system. The SS-24 was controlled using an inertial navigation platform . With this system, a hit accuracy ( CEP ) of 185 to 500 meters should be achieved (depending on the distance).

See also

Web links

Commons : RT-23 Molodez  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b P. Podvig (Ed.): Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces. MIT Press, 2004, ISBN 978-0-262-16202-9 .
  2. ^ A b Robert S. Norris & Hans M. Kristensen: Nuclear Notebook: US and Soviet / Russian intercontinental ballistic missiles, 1959–2008 Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists January / February 2009.
  3. ↑ a b S. J. Zaloga : The Kremlin's Nuclear Sword - The Rise and Fall of Russia's Strategic Nuclear Forces, 1945-2000. Smithsonian Institution Press, 2001, ISBN 1-58834-007-4 .
  4. ^ Sascha Gunold: Railway missile complex RT-23. Nuclear war on the rails . In: Center for Military History and Social Sciences of the Bundeswehr (Ed.): Military History. Civic Education Journal. Issue 4/2018 . Potsdam 2018, p. 31 ( zmsbw.de [PDF]).