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The Novator RK-55 ''Relief'' (russian: РК-55 Рельеф 'Relief';
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
: SSC-X-4 'Slingshot';
GRAU 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 ...
: 3K12) is a
Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
land-based and
submarine-launched cruise missile A submarine-launched cruise missile (SLCM) is a cruise missile that is launched from a submarine (especially a SSG or SSGN). Current versions are typically standoff weapons known as land-attack cruise missiles (LACMs), which are used to attack p ...
with a nuclear warhead developed in 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 ...
. It was about to enter service in 1987, when such weapons were banned under the
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty, formally the Treaty Between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the Elimination of Their Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles; / ДРСМ ...
. A version launched from submarine torpedo tubes, the S-10 ''Granat'' (SS-N-21 'Sampson'; GRAU: 3K10), has apparently been converted to carry conventional warheads and continues in service to this day. The Russian Federation was reported to have deployed the derivative SS-CX-7/SS-CX-8 systems on February 14, 2017. The RK-55 is very similar to the air-launched
Kh-55 The Kh-55 (russian: Х-55, also known as RKV-500; NATO reporting name: AS-15 "Kent") is a Soviet/Russian subsonic air-launched cruise missile, designed by MKB Raduga in the 1970s. It has a range of up to and can carry nuclear warheads. Kh- ...
(AS-15 'Kent') but the Kh-55 has a drop-down turbofan engine and was designed by
MKB Raduga MKB Raduga (russian: МКБ Радуга, meaning Raduga Design Bureau (russian: машиностроительное конструкторское бюро «Радуга»), where ''raduga'' literally means "rainbow") is a Russian aerospac ...
. Both have formed the basis of post-Cold-War missiles, in particular the
3M-54 Kalibr The 3M-54 Kalibr, (Калибр, caliber), also referred to it as 3M54-1 Kalibr, 3M14 Biryuza (Бирюза, turquoise), (NATO reporting name SS-N-27 Sizzler and SS-N-30A) is a family of Russian cruise missiles developed by the Novator Design Bur ...
which has a supersonic approach phase.


Development

In the late 1960s, the "Ekho" study conducted by the
GosNIIAS FSUE State Scientific Research Institute of Aviation Systems or GosNIIAS for short (russian: ГосНИИАС) is a State Research Centre of the Russian Federation in operations research and aviation weapons systems development. Founded by the dec ...
institute concluded that it would be more effective to deploy many small, subsonic cruise missiles than the much more expensive supersonic missiles then in favour. In 1971 Raduga began working on the air-launched Kh-55, which first flew in 1976. That same year, RK-55 first flew.
NPO Novator NPO Novator (Novator Design Bureau, OKB Novator, OKB Lyulyev; russian: Опытное конструкторское бюро «Новатор» им. Люльева Л. В.) is a Russian company that designs long-range anti-aircraft missiles. It ...
would work on the submarine- and ground-launched versions. In 1993 Novator exhibited the Sizzler series weapons, which appears to be based on the RK-55. It is a two-stage design, which goes supersonic during its final approach to the target.


Design

Six RK-55 missiles are carried on an eight-wheeled transporter-erector-launcher (TEL) based on the MAZ 543 launcher of the R-17 (SS-1 '
Scud A Scud missile is one of a series of tactical ballistic missiles developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. It was exported widely to both Second World, Second and Third World, Third World countries. The term comes from the NATO reporti ...
B'). The S-10 is launched through 533 mm torpedo tubes.


Operational history

Fewer than 100 RK-55s had been deployed by the end of 1988. The new was the first class to receive the new missile. It was later fitted on the Sierra I/II and
Victor III Pope Victor III ( 1026 – 16 September 1087), was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 May 1086 to his death. He was the successor of Pope Gregory VII, yet his pontificate is far less notable than his time as De ...
classes and the new s. Four s deployed in 1988 is a design of particular note, replacing the missile compartment with additional torpedo tubes for 35-40 land attack cruise missiles. They were probably nuclear-tipped S-10s during the Cold War, and then converted to use conventional warheads after the
START I START I (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) was a bilateral treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union on the reduction and the limitation of strategic offensive arms. The treaty was signed on 31 July 1991 and entered into force on 5 De ...
treaty restricted sub-launched nuclear cruise missiles. The US Navy has done the same on a grander scale with the SSGN conversions of four s. It has been suggested that S-10's could in future be fitted to converted s, or to surface ships, but these have not been confirmed. The ground-launched variant was subject to the
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty, formally the Treaty Between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the Elimination of Their Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles; / ДРСМ ...
signed in December 1987 and had been tested. Six launchers with 84 missiles was deployed at the Missile/Launcher Storage in
Jelgava Jelgava (; german: Mitau, ; see also other names) is a state city in central Latvia about southwest of Riga with 55,972 inhabitants (2019). It is the largest town in the region of Zemgale (Semigalia). Jelgava was the capital of the united Duch ...
(
Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic The Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic (Latvian SSR), also known as Soviet Latvia or simply Latvia, was a federated republic within the Soviet Union, and formally one of its 16 (later 15) constituent republics. The Latvian Soviet Socialist Rep ...
) and had been destroyed by November 1990. In early 2017, US officials and analyst
Jeffrey Lewis Jeffrey Lewis (born November 20, 1975) is an American singer-songwriter and comic book artist. Early life Lewis was born in New York City and grew up on the Lower East Side. He attended State University of New York at Purchase, graduating in ...
asserted that Russia was violating the INF through the deployment of the 9M728 (SSC-X-7) and 9M729 (SSC-X-8) missiles as part of the
Iskander missile system The 9K720 Iskander (russian: «Искандер»; NATO reporting name SS-26 Stone) is a mobile short-range ballistic missile system produced and deployed by the Russian military. The missile systems () are to replace the obsolete OTR-21 ''Toc ...
. These are widely reported as variants of the earlier SS-C-4. According to U.S officials, two missile battalions equipped with SSC-8 were deployed as of 14 February 2017 in violation of the treaty. Each battalion consists of 4 launchers, each launcher supplied with six nuclear-tipped cruise missiles. One battalion is allegedly located at
Kapustin Yar Kapustin Yar (russian: Капустин Яр) is a Russian rocket launch complex in Astrakhan Oblast, about 100 km east of Volgograd. It was established by the Soviet Union on 13 May 1946. In the beginning, Kapustin Yar used technology, material ...
near Volgograd; the other's location is unknown at this time. The German newspaper ''FAZ'' argued in February 2019 that in addition to two known locations where missiles and battalions are stationed – at a launch pad at Kapustin Yar, in southern Russia, and Yekaterinburg – there would be two other places equipped with these missiles: Mozdok in North Ossetia and Shuya near Moscow. Each of the four battalions would have four-wheeled launchers, each carrying four missiles, adds the German media. This adds to 64 SSC-8 missiles in Russia's possession, which can be armed with conventional or nuclear warheads. This type of missile has a range of 2,350 kilometers. With a conventional warhead of 500 kilograms, the range is 2,000 kilometers.


Variants

* RK-55 (SSC-X-4 'Slingshot') – ground-based version * S-10 (SS-N-21 'Sampson') – submarine-launched version * 9M728 and 9M729 (SSC-X-7 and SSC-X-8 'Screwdriver') – ground-based version, assessed range , nuclear capable Conventional unitary High Explosive (HE) warhead and submunition warhead versions of the RK-55 have probably been developed, to justify the continuing service of the submarines that carry them.


Operators

*


Former

* * *


Derivatives

* * * * * * Korshun (Luch Artem - KhAZ - Vizar ZhMZ - Yuzhnoe Pivdenmash) with MS400 (Ivchenko Progres Motor Sich) engine.


Similar weapons

*
Ground Launched Cruise Missile The Ground Launched Cruise Missile, or GLCM, (officially designated BGM-109G Gryphon) was a ground-launched cruise missile developed by the United States Air Force in the last decade of the Cold War and disarmed under the INF Treaty. Overview T ...
(BGM-109G Gryphon) - land-based Tomahawk with tactical nuclear warhead of 10-50 kt and 2000–2500 km range *
Pershing 1b The Pershing II Weapon System was a solid-fueled two-stage medium-range ballistic missile designed and built by Martin Marietta to replace the Pershing 1a Field Artillery Missile System as the United States Army's primary nuclear-capable thea ...
and
Pershing II RR The Pershing II Weapon System was a solid-fueled two-stage medium-range ballistic missile designed and built by Martin Marietta to replace the Pershing 1a Field Artillery Missile System as the United States Army's primary nuclear-capable theat ...
- 740 km range ballistic missile also in testing at the time of the INF Treaty. * Raduga Kh-55 - originally thought in the West to be an air-launched version of the RK-55, now has tactical versions such as the Kh-555 and the stealthy
Kh-101 The Kh-55 (russian: Х-55, also known as RKV-500; NATO reporting name: AS-15 "Kent") is a Soviet/Russian subsonic air-launched cruise missile, designed by MKB Raduga in the 1970s. It has a range of up to and can carry nuclear warheads. Kh-5 ...
. * UGM-109 Tomahawk - the Capsule Launch System allows Tomahawks to be fired from torpedo tubes or dedicated submarine launch tubes


See also

*
Intermediate-range ballistic missile An intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) is a ballistic missile with a range of 3,000–5,500 km (1,864–3,418 miles), between a medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) and an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Classifying ba ...


Notes and references


External links

*
Missile Threat - SS-N-21 (RK-55)
at CSIS
SSC-X-8
at
GlobalSecurity.org GlobalSecurity.org is an American nonpartisan, independent, nonprofit organization that serves as a think tank, and research and consultancy group. Focus The site is focused on national and international security issues; military analysis, syste ...
{{Russian and Soviet military designation sequences RK-055 RK-055 Surface-to-surface missiles NPO Novator products Military equipment introduced in the 1980s