The Global Rocket 1 (GR-1) was a Fractional Orbital Bombardment System (FOBS)

intercontinental ballistic missile An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more thermonuclear warheads). Conventional, chemical, and biological weapons c ...

(ICBM) developed but not deployed by the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

during the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

. The system also was given the

NATO reporting name NATO reporting names are code names for military equipment from Russia, China, and historically, the Eastern Bloc (Soviet Union and other nations of the Warsaw Pact). They provide unambiguous and easily understood English words in a uniform manne ...

SS-X-10 Scrag, and carried a Soviet GRAU index of 8K713.

Development

In 1961, faced with the prospect of development in the United States of an

anti-ballistic missile An anti-ballistic missile (ABM) is a surface-to-air missile designed to counter ballistic missiles (missile defense). Ballistic missiles are used to deliver nuclear weapon, nuclear, Chemical weapon, chemical, Bioagent, biological, or conventiona ...

(ABM) system to intercept conventional ICBMs, the Soviet Union began development of a

fractional orbital bombardment system A Fractional Orbital Bombardment System (FOBS) is a warhead delivery system that uses a low earth orbit towards its target destination. Just before reaching the target, it deorbits through a retrograde engine burn. Mark ZastrowHow does China’s ...

(FOBS) to defeat these interceptors. Soviet Chief Designer,

Sergei Pavlovich Korolev Sergei Pavlovich Korolev (russian: Сергей Павлович Королёв, Sergey Pavlovich Korolyov, sʲɪrˈɡʲej ˈpavləvʲɪtɕ kərɐˈlʲɵf, Ru-Sergei Pavlovich Korolev.ogg; ukr, Сергій Павлович Корольов, ...

designed the Global Rocket 1 (GR-1). The concept was to construct a missile that could be launched into low earth orbit (150 km), from which a 1500 kg nuclear warhead equipped with a deorbit stage could be dropped to its targets in a non-ballistic manner and without giving away its target until final descent. This concept would allow for very little warning to the U.S. because the rocket would be able to approach the United States from any direction and avoid missile tracking radar by flying below its coverage. Not only could such a missile hit any point on earth, but the enemy would also be uncertain when it would be deorbited onto target. The main disadvantage was lower accuracy of the warhead in comparison to an

ICBM An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more thermonuclear warheads). Conventional, chemical, and biological weapons c ...

. Korolev insisted on sticking to the liquid oxygen/kerosene propellants of his

R-9 Desna The R-9 (NATO reporting name: SS-8 Sasin) was a two-stage IRBM of the Soviet Union, in service from 1964 to 1976. History Designed in 1959 and first tested in 1961, the R-9 was a great improvement over previous Soviet missile designs. The miss ...

ICBM design, despite the military's preference for the more toxic but storable propellants used by other designers. The GR-1 was intended to utilize the launch pads of Korolev's

which was being phased out of service. Korolev unofficially started work on the missile on 15 March 1962 based on a verbal go-ahead by

Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and Premier of the Soviet Union, chairm ...

. The draft project for the GR-1 was completed in May 1962, and a mock-up had already been built and drawings released to the production shop by the time the official resolution was issued on 24 September 1962. Test flights were scheduled to start in the third quarter of 1963. Further development of the GR-1 missile was halted in 1964 in preference of the orbital R-36 missile. The GR-1 project was cancelled in 1964 citing engine delays, a fate which became permanent for all of the FOBS designs after the

SALT II The Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) were two rounds of bilateral conferences and corresponding international treaties involving the United States and the Soviet Union. The Cold War superpowers dealt with arms control in two rounds of ta ...

agreement of 1979. Even earlier, in 1972, the

Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty The Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM Treaty or ABMT) (1972–2002) was an arms control treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union on the limitation of the anti-ballistic missile (ABM) systems used in defending areas against ballis ...

removed the primary reason for such a weapon.

Operator

; : The Soviets cancelled the GR-1 before it entered operational service with the

Strategic Rocket Forces The Strategic Rocket Forces of the Russian Federation or the Strategic Missile Forces of the Russian Federation (RVSN RF; russian: Ракетные войска стратегического назначения Российской Фед� ...

Specifications

References

Cold War intercontinental ballistic missiles of the Soviet Union Abandoned military projects of the Soviet Union GR-1 {{Russia-mil-stub

Development

Operator

Specifications

See also

References