Kura Missile Test Range ( rus, Ракетный полигон Кура́), originally known as ''Kama'', is a Russian

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 ...

impact area located in northern

Kamchatka Krai Kamchatka Krai ( rus, Камча́тский край, r=Kamchatsky kray, p=kɐmˈtɕatskʲɪj kraj) is a federal subject of Russia (a krai), situated in the Russian Far East, and is administratively part of the Far Eastern Federal District. Its ...

in the

Russian Far East The Russian Far East (russian: Дальний Восток России, r=Dal'niy Vostok Rossii, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in Northeast Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asian continent; and is admini ...

. It is the destination for ballistic missiles which are test fired from other centers, and was chosen due to its remoteness and distance. It is northeast of the settlement of Klyuchi and the military townlet is called Klyuchi-1, after the nearest settlement.

History

The range was developed beginning in 1955 and was operational in 1957. The first impact occurred on 21 August 1957, and was followed by 136 impacts through 1964.''SOVIET ANTIBALLISTIC MISSILE ACTIVITY AT KAMCHATKA'', 18 October 1965 (Top Secret, declassified 11 August 2003), Central Intelligence Agency, Washington D.C., 1965. Although the range is a test site for

intercontinental ballistic missiles 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 ...

, which are controlled by the Russian Strategic Rocket Forces, the range is administratively under

Plesetsk Cosmodrome Plesetsk Cosmodrome ( rus, Космодром «Плесецк», r=Kosmodrom "Plesetsk", p=kəsmɐˈdrom plʲɪˈsʲet͡sk) is a Russian spaceport located in Mirny, Arkhangelsk Oblast, about 800 km north of Moscow and approximately 200 ...

, and consequently is part of the

Russian Aerospace Defence Forces The Russian Aerospace Defence Forces (VVKO) ( rus, Войска воздушно-космической обороны (ВВКО), Voyska vozdushno-kosmicheskoy oborony (VVKO)) was a branch of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation respons ...

. It continues to be active. It was reported that the strategic nuclear submarine K-535 Yury Dolgoruky of Project 955 (Borei) on Wednesday, 29 October 2014 20:27 MSK (17:27 UTC) successfully conducted its fifth launch of Bulava submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) at Kura firing range. On 30 October 2013 Russia conducted a large-scale exercise to check the readiness of its strategic forces. The Strategic Rocket Forces conducted two ICBM launches - a Topol missile was launched from the Plesetsk test site and an R-36M2 (RS-10V/SS-18) missile from a silo in Dombarovskiy. Both missiles delivered their warheads to the Kura test site in Kamchatka. Previous impact was recorded at 10:15 (06:15 GMT) on Wednesday 23 May 2012 when a new as yet unnamed ballistic missile designed to evade the US missile shield was tested. The missile was fired from a mobile launcher on the

Plesetsk Plesetsk (russian: Плесе́цк) is an urban locality (a work settlement) and the administrative center of Plesetsky District, Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia, situated about northeast of Moscow and south of Arkhangelsk. Municipally, it is ...

range. The warhead was delivered successfully to its designated area on the Kura range on Kamchatka. A

Bulava The RSM-56 Bulava (russian: Булава, lit. " mace", NATO reporting name SS-NX-30 or SS-N-32, GRAU index 3M30, 3K30) is a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) developed for the Russian Navy and deployed in 2013 on the new of ball ...

missile, launched from submarine Dimitri Donskoi, landed at Kura in October 2010. Test launches of

R-29RMU Sineva The R-29RMU2 Sineva (russian: Синева, lit. " blueness"), code RSM-54, is a Russian liquid-fueled submarine-launched ballistic missile with GRAU index 3M27, designation SS-N-23A Skiff. It can carry four warheads and is designed to be launch ...

and

RT-2PM2 Topol-M The RT-2PM2 «Topol-M» (russian: РТ-2ПМ2 «Тополь-М», NATO reporting name: SS-27 "Sickle B", other designations: SS-27 Mod 1, RS-12M1, RS-12M2, formerly incorrectly RT-2UTTKh) is one of the most recent intercontinental ballistic missi ...

missiles also frequently target the Kura Missile Test Range.

United States surveillance

The Kura range attracted intense interest from United States intelligence agencies in 1957. There was early speculation that missiles were being launched from this range, but this was settled by information from

Lockheed U-2 The Lockheed U-2, nicknamed "''Dragon Lady''", is an American single-jet engine, high altitude reconnaissance aircraft operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) and previously flown by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). It provides day ...

missions in summer 1957 which flew directly over the range and could find no launch infrastructure.''GUIDED MISSILE INTELLIGENCE FROM THE KLYUCHI/KAMCHATKA COVERAGE'', 22 August 1957 (Top Secret, declassified 26 April 2001), Central Intelligence Agency, Washington D.C., 1957. The study noted that impacts in the nearby water were likely, and that the Soviets were expected to install sonic detection systems to measure water impacts. The missions revealed a regiment of seven

Mil Mi-4 The Mil Mi-4 (USAF/DoD reporting name "Type 36", NATO reporting name "Hound") is a Soviet transport helicopter that served in both military and civilian roles. Design and development The Mi-4 was designed in response to the American H-19 Chick ...

helicopters based at Klyuchi which provided logistical support for the range. Up to 1994, the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

maintained

Eareckson Air Station Eareckson Air Station , formerly Shemya Air Force Base, is a United States Air Force military airport located on the island of Shemya, in the Alaskan Aleutian Islands. The airport was closed as an active Air Force Station on 1 July 1994. Howev ...

(formerly Shemya Air Force Base) only away, equipped with radars and aircraft to monitor impacts at Kura. One of these radars, Cobra Dane, was fielded in 1977 at

Shemya Shemya or Simiya ( ale, Samiyax̂) is a small island in the Semichi Islands group of the Near Islands chain in the Aleutian Islands archipelago southwest of Alaska, at . It has a land area of , and is about southwest of Anchorage, Alaska. It is ...

specifically for this purpose.

References

{{reflist, colwidth=33em, refs= {{cite web, url=http://russianforces.org/blog/2011/12/russia_creates_air_and_space_d.shtml, title=Russia creates Air and Space Defense Forces, publisher=russianforces.org, date=1 December 2011, access-date=25 December 2011, archive-date=8 March 2012, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308205804/http://russianforces.org/blog/2011/12/russia_creates_air_and_space_d.shtml, url-status=live {{cite book , title = Soviet Technical Capabilities in Guided Missiles and Space Vehicles, NIE 11-5-6, TOP SECRET, declassified 1996 , publisher = Central Intelligence Agency , year = 1961 {{cite book , title = The Soviet ICBM Program, NIE 11-10-57, TOP SECRET, declassified 1995 , publisher = Central Intelligence Agency , year = 1957 {{cite web, url=http://russianforces.org/blog/2012/05/russia_tests_prototype_of_a_ne.shtml, title=Russia tests prototype of a new ICBM, publisher=russianforces.org, date=23 May 2012, access-date=1 July 2012, archive-date=16 July 2012, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120716202223/http://russianforces.org/blog/2012/05/russia_tests_prototype_of_a_ne.shtml, url-status=live {{cite web, url=http://eng.mil.ru/en/structure/forces/cosmic/structure.htm, title=Structure, publisher=Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation, date=n.d., access-date=6 February 2012, archive-date=7 December 2011, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111207112536/http://eng.mil.ru/en/structure/forces/cosmic/structure.htm, url-status=live {{cite web, url=http://news.kremlin.ru/news/9188, script-title=ru:Начальник Генштаба доложил Президенту об успешном пуске ракеты "Булава" , trans-title=The Chief of the General Staff reported to the President on the successful launch of the Bulava missile , publisher=Kremlin.ru , language=Russian , date=7 October 2010 , access-date=1 July 2012, archive-date=19 February 2014, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140219001841/http://news.kremlin.ru/news/9188, url-status=live {{cite web, url=http://www.novayagazeta.ru/society/5897.html, script-title=ru:Не каждая "Булава" долетит до середины Камчатки , trans-title=Not every Bulava will reach the middle of Kamchatka , publisher=Novaya Gazeta , language=Russian , date=5 May 2011 , access-date=2 July 2012 , archive-date=28 August 2012 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120828030053/http://www.novayagazeta.ru/society/5897.html , url-status=live

External links

Past military staff photos, antennas, optical and radio system photos from diverse tracking stations from around the range
Strategic Rocket Forces Military installations of the Soviet Union Buildings and structures in the Russian Far East Kamchatka Krai Military installations of Russia Weapons test sites 1955 establishments in Russia