The RT-20P was an experimental
intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) developed but not deployed by the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
during the
Cold War. The control system for it was designed at
NPO "Electropribor"Krivonosov, Khartron: Computers for rocket guidance systems
/ref> (Kharkiv
Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.[Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...]
). It was assigned the NATO reporting name SS-15 Scrooge and carried the GRAU index
The Main Missile and Artillery Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation (), commonly referred to by its transliterated Russian acronym GRAU (), is a department of the Russian Ministry of Defense. It is subordinate to the ...
8K99. The RT-20 was the first mobile ICBM designed by the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
. Its launch platform was based on the T-10 tank
The T-10 (also known as Object 730 or, IS-8) was a Soviet heavy tank of the Cold War, the final development of the IS tank series. During development, it was called IS-8 and IS-9. It was accepted into production in 1952 as the IS-10 (''Iosif ...
.
History
In the late 50s, the USSR started studying the usage of solid rocket motor
A solid-propellant rocket or solid rocket is a rocket with a rocket engine that uses solid propellants (fuel/oxidizer). The earliest rockets were solid-fuel rockets powered by gunpowder; they were used in warfare by the Arabs, Chinese, Persia ...
s and other modern technologies such as turbojet
The turbojet is an airbreathing jet engine which is typically used in aircraft. It consists of a gas turbine with a propelling nozzle. The gas turbine has an air inlet which includes inlet guide vanes, a compressor, a combustion chamber, an ...
s in ICBMs to improve their performance.
From 1961 to 1962, several concepts of the missile were proposed at OKB-586 and in 1963 development was transferred to their R&D, with the ultimate goal of creating an ICBM with a total mass of no more than 30 tons. In 1964, preliminary design of the missile was completed and test firings of the engines commenced in 1965.
On September 27, 1967 the missile had its first test flight and from October 1967 onward, flight tests of the missile were carried out at the 53rd Scientific Research Proving Ground (53rd NIIP). On October 6th, 1969 development of the missile was discontinued to unwillingness of 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 ...
to work with a missile containing both liquid and solid propellant.
Despite never being deployed, the missile provided the groundwork for other mobile ICBMs, such as the RT-21 Temp 2S
The RT-21 Temp 2S was a mobile intercontinental ballistic missile developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. It was assigned the NATO reporting name SS-16 Sinner and carried the industry designation 15Zh42.
The RT-21 was the first mobile ...
and the RT-2PM Topol
The RT-2PM Topol (russian: РТ-2ПМ Тополь ("Poplar"); NATO reporting name SS-25 Sickle; GRAU designation: 15Ж58 ("15Zh58"); START I designation: RS-12M Topol) is a mobile intercontinental ballistic missile designed in the Soviet Union a ...
.
Operator
;: 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 ...
was the only operator of the RT-20.
Gallery
File:Defe44-163-SS-15-Scrooge-stitched.jpg, UK MoD Defence Intelligence assessment. Complete report montaged.
File:Циклон-3 і 8К99.JPG, RT-20 next to a larger Tsyklon-3
The Tsyklon-3, also known as Tsiklon-3 and Cyclone-3 (known as SL-14 by the United States DoD), GRAU index 11K68, was a Soviet, and subsequently Ukrainian orbital carrier rocket. Tsyklon 3 rocket body debris accounts for more than 500 pieces o ...
on display in downtown Dnipro.
See also
* List of missiles
Below is a list of missiles, sorted alphabetically into large categories and subcategories by name and purpose.
Other missile lists
Types of missiles:
* Conventional guided missiles
** Air-to-air missile
** Air-to-surface missile
** Anti-rad ...
* List of orbital launch systems
This is a list of conventional orbital launch systems. This is composed of launch vehicles, and other conventional systems, used to place satellites into orbit.
Argentina
*ORBIT II – ''Retired''
* TRONADOR – ''Under Development''
Australia
...
External links
RT-20P/SS-15 Scrooge
at www.globalsecurity.org
References
Cold War intercontinental ballistic missiles of the Soviet Union
RT-020
Military equipment introduced in the 1960s
{{Russia-mil-stub