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78-565: The three stage solid propellant RT-2PM Topol is an improved mobile ICBM which replaced earlier outdated missile complexes. It emerged from the same line of development as mobile missiles such as the RT-21 Temp 2S and the RSD-10 Pioneer , and was deployed as a replacement for the widely deployed UR-100 . The United States considered developing their own road-mobile ICBM called the Midgetman , but

156-657: A combination of warheads and massive amounts of countermeasures designed to defeat anti-missile systems ; it was announced by the Russian military as a response to the US Prompt Global Strike . In July 2023, North Korea fired a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile that landed short of Japanese waters. The launch follows North Korea's threat to retaliate against the US for alleged spy plane incursions. The following flight phases can be distinguished: ICBMs usually use

234-559: A force consisting of 500 road-mobile Topol ICBMs. Mobile units require a much higher number of personnel for maintenance and operation than fixed systems. Consequently, the RT-2PM Topol was significantly more costly to maintain and operate than silo launched systems. All three stages are made of composite materials. During first stage operation the flight control is implemented through four aerodynamic and four jet vanes. Four similar trellised aerodynamic surfaces serve for stabilization. During

312-642: A massive Warsaw Pact counteroffensive. The RSD-10 provided the Soviet Union with an in-theater "selective" targeting capability that it previously had lacked. The RSD-10 had the capacity to destroy all NATO bases and installations with negligible warning. Thus, the Soviet Union acquired the capability to neutralise NATO's tactical nuclear forces with surgical nuclear strikes . In 1979 NATO decided to deploy US Pershing II missiles and BGM-109G Ground Launched Cruise Missiles in Western Europe in attempt to counter

390-505: A maximum range of 10,000 km (6,125 miles) and can carry a nuclear warhead with a yield of up to 550 kilotons. On 28 November 2019 Russian Strategic Missile Troops performed a missile test with a suborbital launch of a RS-12M Topol missile from Kapustin Yar . The test was successful. The Topol will eventually be replaced by the road-mobile version of the Topol-M missile. On 16 December 2023,

468-488: A maximum range of possibly 7,500 kilometres (4,700 mi). Initially the missile was fitted with a single 1 megaton , 1.6 ton warhead. Later models could take one or two (and from 1980, three) additional 150 kiloton MIRV devices (Pioneer UTTH). The CEP was also reduced from 550 metres (1,800 ft) to 150 to 450 metres (490 to 1,480 ft). The missile was the first Soviet missile equipped with solid fuel instead of liquid fuel, which meant that it could be launched once

546-400: A minimal independent nuclear deterrent entering its own cold war after an ideological split with the Soviet Union beginning in the early 1960s. After first testing a domestic built nuclear weapon in 1964, it went on to develop various warheads and missiles. Beginning in the early 1970s, the liquid fuelled DF-5 ICBM was developed and used as a satellite launch vehicle in 1975. The DF-5, with

624-475: A mobile launcher at Plesetsk test site reached its target on Kamchatka. As the Strategic Rocket Forces representative reported, it allowed for the extension of Topol's service life to 21 years. Another test of the RT-2PM Topol was carried out on Thursday, August 28, 2008. The launch was said to be specially tasked to test the missile's capability to avoid ground-based detection systems. Another test

702-641: A network of binary addition circuits that continually recalculate the missile's position. The inputs to the navigation circuit are set by a general-purpose computer according to a navigational input schedule loaded into the missile before launch. One particular weapon developed by the Soviet Union ;– the Fractional Orbital Bombardment System  – had a partial orbital trajectory, and unlike most ICBMs its target could not be deduced from its orbital flight path. It

780-483: A point of contention during the conclusion of the 1991 START negotiations, at which time the US pressed for a definition of "downloading" (removing warheads from missiles) that would complicate any Soviet attempt suddenly to deploy multiple warheads on the RT-2PM Topol. Russia plans to reequip approximately 400 silos where obsolete UR-100 , RT-2 and MR-UR-100 missiles are located. Under the START II Treaty , which

858-611: A range of 10,000 to 12,000 km (6,200 to 7,500 mi)—long enough to strike the Western United States and the Soviet Union—was silo deployed, with the first pair in service by 1981 and possibly twenty missiles in service by the late 1990s. China also deployed the JL-1 Medium-range ballistic missile with a reach of 1,700 kilometres (1,100 mi) aboard the ultimately unsuccessful Type 092 submarine . In 1991,

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936-518: A ready state. Failure rates were very high throughout the early years of ICBM technology. Human spaceflight programs ( Vostok , Mercury , Voskhod , Gemini , etc.) served as a highly visible means of demonstrating confidence in reliability, with successes translating directly to national defense implications. The US was well behind the Soviets in the Space Race and so US President John F. Kennedy increased

1014-467: A single missile to carry several warheads, each of which can strike a different target. The United States , Russia , China , France , India , the United Kingdom , Israel , and North Korea are the only countries known to have operational ICBMs. Pakistan is the only nuclear-armed state that does not possess ICBMs. Early ICBMs had limited precision , which made them suitable for use only against

1092-566: A successful test launch of a RS-12M Topol intercontinental ballistic missile, the Defense Ministry said Friday. According to the ministry, the missile, launched from the Plesetsk space center in northwestern Russia has hit a designated target on the Kamchatka peninsula "with high precision." The RS-12M Topol is a single-warhead intercontinental ballistic missile, which entered service in 1985. It has

1170-415: A total of 18 nuclear warheads. In July 1992, Belarus signed an agreement with Russia placing the regiments under exclusive Russian control. In September 1993, Moscow and Minsk signed an agreement requiring the return of these nuclear missiles and all related missile support equipment to Russia by the end of 1996. A total of 81 RT-2PM Topol ICBMs and associated warheads were returned to Russia from Belarus. By

1248-652: A way of increasing orders. The British historian James Cant wrote that it was the triumph of the Soviet version of the military-industrial complex over the military as regarding weapons procurement that was the most important reason for the Pioneer. While the Warsaw Pact arguably enjoyed a massive conventional superiority over NATO in Central Europe, Soviet leaders assumed that NATO would use tactical nuclear weapons to stop

1326-552: Is a non-binding agreement, Russia would be able to place 90 single-warhead solid fuel missiles in reequipped R-36 silos. In order to guard against a break-out scenario involving the rapid reconversion of R-36 silos on-site inspection became a very important aspect of START II verification. The breakup of the Soviet Union had a significant impact on the Topol program. The dispersed manufacturing of ICBM components seriously complicated researching and building new missile systems. For example,

1404-655: Is believed to have deployed a road mobile nuclear ICBM, the Jericho III , which entered service in 2008; an upgraded version is in development. India successfully test fired Agni V , with a strike range of more than 5,000 km (3,100 mi) on 19 April 2012, claiming entry into the ICBM club. The missile's actual range is speculated by foreign researchers to be up to 8,000 km (5,000 mi) with India having downplayed its capabilities to avoid causing concern to other countries. On 15 December 2022, first night trial of Agni-V

1482-526: Is no rocket exhaust or other emissions to mark its position to defenders. The high speeds of the warheads make them difficult to intercept and allow for little warning, striking targets many thousands of kilometers away from the launch site (and due to the possible locations of the submarines: anywhere in the world) within approximately 30 minutes. Many authorities say that missiles also release aluminized balloons, electronic noisemakers, and other decoys intended to confuse interception devices and radars . As

1560-446: The Arrow missile in 1998, but it is mainly designed to intercept shorter-ranged theater ballistic missiles, not ICBMs. The Alaska-based United States national missile defense system attained initial operational capability in 2004. ICBMs can be deployed from multiple platforms: The last three kinds are mobile and therefore hard to detect prior to a missile launch. During storage, one of

1638-503: The LGM-30 Minuteman , Polaris and Skybolt . Modern ICBMs tend to be smaller than their ancestors, due to increased accuracy and smaller and lighter warheads, and use solid fuels, making them less useful as orbital launch vehicles. The Western view of the deployment of these systems was governed by the strategic theory of mutual assured destruction . In the 1950s and 1960s, development began on anti-ballistic missile systems by both

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1716-615: The Minsk Wheeled Truck-Tractor Manufacturing Plant in Belarus manufactured the missiles' transporter launchers, and some 90% of the components of the guidance system were manufactured in Ukraine . In Belarus , as of December 1995, 63 RT-2PM Topol ICBMs originally deployed there had been returned to Russia. As of December 1995, Belarus had two operational mobile RT-2PM Topol regiments remaining on its territory, with

1794-528: The Strategic Missile Forces . There were several theories as to why the Soviet Union developed the RSD-10: During the 1960s, Soviet missile procurement was dominated by the ideas of Defence Minister, Marshal Andrei Grechko who was opposed to the idea of nuclear weapons as a weapon of last resort, and planned, if World War III commenced, to begin that conflict with an immediate nuclear strike on

1872-494: The USSR /Russia preferred ICBM designs that use hypergolic liquid fuels, which can be stored at room temperature for more than a few years. Once the booster falls away, the remaining "bus" releases several warheads, each of which continues on its own unpowered ballistic trajectory , much like an artillery shell or cannonball. The warhead is encased in a cone-shaped reentry vehicle and is difficult to detect in this phase of flight as there

1950-464: The cryogenic fuel liquid oxygen boiled off and caused ice formation, and therefore fueling the rocket was necessary before launch. This procedure was a source of significant operational delay and might allow the missiles to be destroyed by enemy counterparts before they could be used. To resolve this problem Nazi Germany invented the missile silo that protected the missile from Strategic Bombing and also hid fueling operations underground. Although

2028-486: The "Signal" Research Institute, provides a quick and highly precise tie-in of the launcher in a field position and enables its crew to carry out missile launches from any combat patrol route point. The launch can also be carried out at regimental bases from the aforementioned garrison garage. At the time of the signing of the START I Treaty in 1991 the Soviet Union had deployed some 288 Topol missiles. Deployment continued, and at

2106-469: The 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty . The missile was 16.5 metres (54 ft) high, 1.8 metres (5.9 ft) in diameter and weighed 37.1 tons. It was based on two solid-fuel fiberglass clad stages of the RT-21 Temp 2S (SS-16 Sinner ), so it was also known as the RT-21M Pioneer . The missile's range was from 600 to 5,700 kilometres (370 to 3,540 mi) initially; the final model had

2184-409: The 32-metre-tall (105 ft) Unha-3 rocket. The United States claimed that the launch was in fact a way to test an ICBM. (See Timeline of first orbital launches by country .) In early July 2017, North Korea claimed for the first time to have tested successfully an ICBM capable of carrying a large thermonuclear warhead. In July 2014, China announced the development of its newest generation of ICBM,

2262-907: The A9/A10 rocket was tested a few times in January and February 1945. After the war, the US executed Operation Paperclip , which took von Braun and hundreds of other leading Nazi scientists to the United States to develop IRBMs , ICBMs, and launchers for the US Army. This technology was predicted by US General of the Army Hap Arnold , who wrote in 1943: Someday, not too distant, there can come streaking out of somewhere – we won't be able to hear it, it will come so fast – some kind of gadget with an explosive so powerful that one projectile will be able to wipe out completely this city of Washington. After World War II,

2340-692: The American missile defense batteries in California and Alaska. New development of ICBM technology are ICBMs able to carry hypersonic glide vehicles as a payload such as RS-28 Sarmat . On 12 March 2024 India announced that it had joined a very limited group of countries, which are capable of firing multiple warheads on a single ICBM. The announcement came after successfully testing multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV) technology. [REDACTED] Russia [REDACTED] Russia [REDACTED] Russia [REDACTED] Russia Russia,

2418-646: The Americans and Soviets. Such systems were restricted by the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty . The first successful ABM test was conducted by the Soviets in 1961, which later deployed a fully operational system defending Moscow in the 1970s (see Moscow ABM system ). The 1972 SALT treaty froze the number of ICBM launchers of both the Americans and the Soviets at existing levels and allowed new submarine -based SLBM launchers only if an equal number of land-based ICBM launchers were dismantled. Subsequent talks, called SALT II, were held from 1972 to 1979 and actually reduced

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2496-511: The Americans and the Soviets started rocket research programs based on the V-2 and other German wartime designs. Each branch of the US military started its own programs, leading to considerable duplication of effort. In the Soviet Union, rocket research was centrally organized although several teams worked on different designs. The US initiated ICBM research in 1946 with the RTV-A-2 Hiroc project. This

2574-665: The Atlas. Due to the improvements in engine technology and guidance systems the Titan I overtook the Atlas. In the Soviet Union, early development was focused on missiles able to attack European targets. That changed in 1953, when Sergei Korolyov was directed to start development of a true ICBM able to deliver newly developed hydrogen bombs. Given steady funding throughout, the R-7 developed with some speed. The first launch took place on 15 May 1957 and led to an unintended crash 400 km (250 mi) from

2652-509: The Dongfeng-41 ( DF-41 ), which has a range of 12,000 kilometres (7,500 miles), capable of reaching the United States, and which analysts believe is capable of being outfitted with MIRV technology. Most countries in the early stages of developing ICBMs have used liquid propellants, with the known exceptions being the Indian Agni-V , the planned but cancelled South African RSA-4 ICBM, and

2730-461: The Kapustin Yar test site. It continued through 14 August 1980, and on 17 December 1980 the missile was deployed. Designated by NATO as SS-20 Mod3, this variant had the same propulsion system as earlier versions, but due to upgrading of a command structure and instrumentation-service unit it was possible to improve accuracy (CEP) from 550 to 450 meters, to increase maximum range by 10%, and to increase

2808-548: The Klyuchi target area on the Kamchatka Peninsula. The night of the scheduled launch was the night that Korean Air Lines Flight 007 was shot down after accidentally intruding Soviet airspace over Kamchatka. An RT-2PM Topol with two MIRVs may have been tested in 1991, and the missile was tested at least once with four MIRV warheads, but there has apparently been no further development of a multiple warhead version. This became

2886-480: The NATO nations. By the early 1970s, Grechko's views had caused opposition within the military and the political leadership, who wanted the Soviet Union to have a second strike capacity in order to prevent a war with the United States from going nuclear immediately as Grechko preferred. More importantly, the increasing influence of Marshal Dmitriy Ustinov heralded a shift in Soviet thinking about nuclear weapons. Ustinov

2964-566: The RSD-10. In 1979, when the NATO decision was taken, the Soviet Union had 14 (1 operational) RSD-10 launch sites. 654 missiles were built in total. These and the 499 associated mobile launchers were destroyed by May 1991 in accordance with the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty . Fifteen RSD-10, eight BGM-109G Gryphon and seven Pershing II missiles were preserved to commemorate this agreement. One RSD-10 can be seen in

3042-632: The RT-2PM Topol was developed to upgrade the silo based RT-2 . The US government disputed this view, contending that the missile was clearly more than 5% larger and had twice the throw-weight as the RT-2 and therefore constituted a new missile system. Marshal Nikolai Ogarkov , Soviet Chief of General Staff cancelled the September 1, 1983 test flight of the RT-2PM Topol which was to be launched from Plesetsk (the launch site in northwest Russia used for test firing of solid fuel propellant ICBMs)- 24 minutes later to land in

3120-455: The Soviet testing of their first thermonuclear weapon , but it was not until 1954 that the Atlas missile program was given the highest national priority. The Atlas A first flew on 11 June 1957; the flight lasted only about 24 seconds before the rocket exploded. The first successful flight of an Atlas missile to full range occurred 28 November 1958. The first armed version of the Atlas, the Atlas D,

3198-657: The Topol missile. The RT-2PM ICBM was designed to be road mobile and is mounted on a heavy truck ( MAZ-7310 or MAZ-7917 ). The RT-2PM is a road mobile 3-stage, single warhead ICBM. Its 23,500 mm length and 2,170 mm diameter are approximately the same size and shape as the U.S. Minuteman ICBM. It has a throw-weight of 1,400 kg and carries a single warhead with a yield of 800-1,000 kt and accuracy ( CEP ) of 900m. It can fire from field deployment sites or through sliding roof garage bases. The RT-2PM Topol joined operational Soviet SRF regiments in 1985. A total area of approximately 190,000 square kilometers could be required to deploy

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3276-615: The United States and the Soviet Union agreed in the START I treaty to reduce their deployed ICBMs and attributed warheads. As of 2016 , all five of the nations with permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council have fully operational long-range ballistic missile systems; Russia, the United States, and China also have land-based ICBMs (the US missiles are silo-based, while China and Russia have both silo and road-mobile ( DF-31 , RT-2PM2 Topol-M missiles). Israel

3354-1022: The United States, China, North Korea, India and Israel are the only countries currently known to possess land-based ICBMs. The United States currently operates 405 ICBMs in three USAF bases. The only model deployed is LGM-30G Minuteman-III . All previous USAF Minuteman II missiles were destroyed in accordance with START II , and their launch silos have been sealed or sold to the public. The powerful MIRV-capable Peacekeeper missiles were phased out in 2005. The Russian Strategic Rocket Forces have 286 ICBMs able to deliver 958 nuclear warheads: 46 silo-based R-36M2 (SS-18) , 30 silo-based UR-100N (SS-19), 36 mobile RT-2PM "Topol" (SS-25) , 60 silo-based RT-2UTTH "Topol M" (SS-27) , 18 mobile RT-2UTTH "Topol M" (SS-27) , 84 mobile RS-24 "Yars" (SS-29), and 12 silo-based RS-24 "Yars" (SS-29). RSD-10 The RSD-10 Pioneer ( Russian : ракета средней дальности (РСД) «Пионер» tr. : raketa sredney dalnosti (RSD) "Pioner" ; English: Medium-Range Missile "Pioneer" )

3432-475: The additional warheads; hence, most ABM system proposals have been judged to be impractical. The first operational ABM systems were deployed in the United States during the 1970s. The Safeguard ABM facility, located in North Dakota, was operational from 1975 to 1976. The Soviets deployed their ABM-1 Galosh system around Moscow in the 1970s, which remains in service. Israel deployed a national ABM system based on

3510-510: The area covered by the warheads. This latest RSD-10 variant subsequently received NATO reporting name SS-28 Saber 2 . It was intended to replace, or augment, the R-12 Dvina (SS-4 Sandal ) and R-14 Chusovaya (SS-5 Skean ) missiles deployed from 1958 and 1961 respectively in the USSR and Warsaw Pact states. It entered the development stage in 1966 and a design concept was approved in 1968 with

3588-453: The canister and mounted on the launcher, the US contended that the canister might conceal an RSD-10 Pioneer missile. This was of concern because unlike the single warhead of the RT-2PM Topol, the RSD-10 carried up to 3 warheads. A resolution was reached after the Soviet Union agreed to allow inspection parties to use radiation detection systems to measure fast neutron intensity flux emanating from

3666-784: The commander of the Strategic Missile Troops, Colonel General Sergei Karakaev, announced that with the rearmament of the last missile regiment of the Bologovsky missile formation in the Tver region from the Topol to the RS-24 Yars, the re-equipment of the mobile group of the Strategic Missile Forces was completed. US Air Force National Air and Space Intelligence Center estimating that as of June 2017 about 100 launchers were operationally deployed. The Strategic Missile Troops were

3744-479: The container with the missile in the vertical position. The TEL is accompanied by a Mobile command post, carrying support facilities mounted on cross-country 4-axle chassis with unified vans. The complex is equipped with an onboard inertial navigation system which gives the TEL group the capability to conduct the launch independently from its field deployment sites. This topo-geodesic support and navigation subsystem, created by

3822-573: The end of 1996 a total of 360 Topol missiles were deployed. The Topol missile was deployed at previously developed deployment sites. After the INF Treaty was signed in 1987 several RSD-10 Pioneer deployment sites were adapted to launch the Topol missiles. The United States expressed specific concerns during the INF treaty negotiations. When the RT-2PM missile system was deployed in the field, with its missile inside

3900-641: The first test series was successfully conducted in April 1985, with the first regiment with Topol missiles put on alert in July 1985. Throughout this time work continued on improving the battle management system. The test missile firings were finally completed in December 1987. The first regiment of "Topol" missiles employing a modernized mobile command center (in the area of Irkutsk ) were put on alert on 27 May 1988. After Nadiradze's death in 1988 Boris N. Lapygin continued his work on

3978-476: The largest targets , such as cities. They were seen as a "safe" basing option, one that would keep the deterrent force close to home where it would be difficult to attack. Attacks against military targets (especially hardened ones) demanded the use of a more precise, crewed bomber . Second- and third-generation designs (such as the LGM-118 Peacekeeper ) dramatically improved accuracy to the point where even

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4056-475: The late 1990s the lack of resources and qualified personnel forced the Strategic Rocket Forces to cut back operations considerably, with no more than one or two regiments of the mobile RT-2PM Topol missiles dispersed in the field. The remaining 40 or so regiments, each with nine single-warhead missiles, remain in garrison. On 18 October 2007, another successful test launch was conducted. One Topol from

4134-455: The launch canister. A launch canister with a missile inside containing a single warhead, such as the RT-2PM Topol, emitted a different pattern of fast neutrons than did one with a missile having three warheads, such as the RSD-10 . Provisions of the SALT II agreement prohibited the deployment of more than one new missile (which became RT-23UTTh), it was officially declared by the Soviet Union that

4212-573: The most important features of the missile is its serviceability. One of the key features of the first computer-controlled ICBM, the Minuteman missile , was that it could quickly and easily use its computer to test itself. After launch, a booster pushes the missile and then falls away. Most modern boosters are Solid-propellant rocket motors , which can be stored easily for long periods of time. Early missiles used liquid-fueled rocket motors . Many liquid-fueled ICBMs could not be kept fueled at all times as

4290-710: The nearby detonation of friendly warheads), one neutron-resistant material developed for this purpose in the UK is three-dimensional quartz phenolic . Circular error probable is crucial, because halving the circular error probable decreases the needed warhead energy by a factor of four . Accuracy is limited by the accuracy of the navigation system and the available geodetic information. Strategic missile systems are thought to use custom integrated circuits designed to calculate navigational differential equations thousands to millions of FLOPS in order to reduce navigational errors caused by calculation alone. These circuits are usually

4368-554: The now in service Israeli Jericho III . The RS-28 Sarmat (Russian: РС-28 Сармат; NATO reporting name : SATAN 2), is a Russian liquid-fueled , MIRV -equipped, super-heavy thermonuclear armed intercontinental ballistic missile in development by the Makeyev Rocket Design Bureau from 2009, intended to replace the previous R-36 missile . Its large payload would allow for up to 10 heavy warheads or 15 lighter ones or up to 24 hypersonic glide vehicles Yu-74 , or

4446-522: The nuclear warhead reenters the Earth's atmosphere, its high speed causes compression of the air, leading to a dramatic rise in temperature which would destroy it, if it were not shielded in some way. In one design, warhead components are contained within an aluminium honeycomb substructure , sheathed in a pyrolytic carbon - epoxy synthetic resin composite material heat shield. Warheads are also often radiation-hardened (to protect against nuclear armed ABMs or

4524-625: The number of nuclear warheads held by the US and Soviets. SALT II was never ratified by the US Senate , but its terms were honored by both sides until 1986, when the Reagan administration "withdrew" after it had accused the Soviets of violating the pact. In the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan launched the Strategic Defense Initiative as well as the MX and Midgetman ICBM programs. China developed

4602-611: The only operator of the RT-2PM Topol. As of March 2020, 36 road-mobile RT-2PM Topol missiles were deployed with: ICBM An intercontinental ballistic missile ( ICBM ) is a ballistic missile with a range greater than 5,500 kilometres (3,400 mi), primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more thermonuclear warheads ). Conventional , chemical , and biological weapons can also be delivered with varying effectiveness, but have never been deployed on ICBMs. Most modern designs support multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRVs), allowing

4680-555: The order had been given instead of requiring hours doing the dangerous work of pumping the missile with liquid fuel. The missile used a MAZ-547A /MAZ-7916 transporter erector launcher (TEL) produced in the Belarusian SSR by the Minsk Automobile Plant . The TEL was originally designed for the RT-21 Temp 2S intercontinental ballistic missile. On 10 August 1979 testing of the modernized "Pioneer"-UTTKh (15Zh53) began at

4758-575: The program was canceled with the end of the Cold War. Development of the RT-2PM was approved on 19 July 1977 and carried out by the Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology headed by Alexander Nadiradze . Flight tests were conducted on the Plesetsk test site from February through December 1985. The main problem that had to be overcome during this period was the development of battle management system. After

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4836-472: The second and third stage of flight gas is injected into the diverging part of the nozzle for flight control. The missile is deployed in a Transporter Erector Launcher (TEL) canister mounted on cross-country 7-axle chassis on a mobile launch vehicle. The chassis incorporates jacks, gas and hydraulic drives and cylinders, with a power of several hundred tons, for jacking and leveling of the launcher, speeding up (combat) and slowing down (maintaining) elevation of

4914-466: The site. The first successful test followed on 21 August 1957; the R-7 flew over 6,000 km (3,700 mi) and became the world's first ICBM. The first strategic-missile unit became operational on 9 February 1959 at Plesetsk in north-west Russia. It was the same R-7 launch vehicle that placed the first artificial satellite in space, Sputnik , on 4 October 1957. The first human spaceflight in history

4992-477: The smallest point targets can be successfully attacked. ICBMs are differentiated by having greater range and speed than other ballistic missiles: intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBMs), medium-range ballistic missiles (MRBMs), short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) and tactical ballistic missiles . The first practical design for an ICBM grew out of Nazi Germany 's V-2 rocket program. The liquid-fueled V-2, designed by Wernher von Braun and his team,

5070-434: The stakes with the Apollo program , which used Saturn rocket technology that had been funded by President Dwight D. Eisenhower . These early ICBMs also formed the basis of many space launch systems. Examples include R-7 , Atlas , Redstone , Titan , and Proton , which was derived from the earlier ICBMs but never deployed as an ICBM. The Eisenhower administration supported the development of solid-fueled missiles such as

5148-423: The task given to the Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology and Alexander Nadiradze , who also developed the RT-21 Temp 2S in the same period. Flight testing began in 1974 and deployment commenced on 11 March 1976, with the first supplied units becoming operational in August of that year. Up to 1986, a total of 48 launch sites including a site at Pavschino , were equipped with 435 RSD-10 missiles under control of

5226-428: The trajectory which optimizes range for a given amount of payload (the minimum-energy trajectory ); an alternative is a depressed trajectory , which allows less payload, shorter flight time, and has a much lower apogee. Modern ICBMs typically carry multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles ( MIRVs ), each of which carries a separate nuclear warhead , allowing a single missile to hit multiple targets. MIRV

5304-430: Was a man closely connected with the various Soviet design bureaus, and who generally sided with demands of the design bureaus against the military regarding weapons procurement. The decision to order and introduce the Pioneer in the mid-1970s was in large part due to Ustinov's wishes to shift military procurement out of the hands of the military and into the design bureaus, who in turn pressed for more and varied weapons as

5382-432: Was a three-stage effort with the ICBM development not starting until the third stage. However, funding was cut in 1948 after only three partially successful launches of the second stage design, that was used to test variations of the V-2 design. With overwhelming air superiority and truly intercontinental bombers, the newly formed US Air Force did not take the problem of ICBM development seriously. Things changed in 1953 with

5460-446: Was accomplished on a derivative of R-7, Vostok , on 12 April 1961 , by Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin . A heavily modernized version of the R-7 is still used as the launch vehicle for the Soviet/Russian Soyuz spacecraft , marking more than 60 years of operational history of Sergei Korolyov 's original rocket design. The R-7 and Atlas each required a large launch facility, making them vulnerable to attack, and could not be kept in

5538-417: Was an intermediate-range ballistic missile with a nuclear warhead , deployed by the Soviet Union from 1976 to 1988. It carried GRAU designation 15Ж45 ( 15Zh45 ). Its NATO reporting name was SS-20 Saber . Its deployment was a major cause of NATO's 'Double-Track Decision' , which led to the deployment of more medium-range nuclear weapons in Western Europe. The RSD-10 was withdrawn from service under

5616-520: Was an outgrowth of the rapidly shrinking size and weight of modern warheads and the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaties ( SALT I and SALT II ), which imposed limitations on the number of launch vehicles. It has also proved to be an "easy answer" to proposed deployments of anti-ballistic missile (ABM) systems: It is far less expensive to add more warheads to an existing missile system than to build an ABM system capable of shooting down

5694-572: Was conducted on 12 October 2008 when a Topol was launched from the Plesetsk test site in northern Russia. The missile, with a dummy warhead, hit a target at the Kura Test Range on the Kamchatka Peninsula . Tests conducted on 28 October 2011 and 3 November 2011, confirmed service life extension to 23 years (to 2019). More tests for extension to 25 years were announced, and on October 30, 2012, an RS-12M Topol Intercontinental Ballistic Missile

5772-418: Was declared operational in January 1959 at Vandenberg, although it had not yet flown. The first test flight was carried out on 9 July 1959, and the missile was accepted for service on 1 September. The Titan I was another US multistage ICBM, with a successful launch February 5, 1959, with Titan I A3. Unlike the Atlas, the Titan I was a two-stage missile, rather than three. The Titan was larger, yet lighter, than

5850-416: Was decommissioned in compliance with arms control agreements, which address the maximum range of ICBMs and prohibit orbital or fractional-orbital weapons. However, according to reports, Russia is working on the new Sarmat ICBM which leverages Fractional Orbital Bombardment concepts to use a Southern polar approach instead of flying over the northern polar regions. Using that approach, it is theorized, avoids

5928-693: Was launched from the Plesetsk site in northern Russia On 4 March 2014, Russia test fired an RS-12M Topol Intercontinental Ballistic Missile from Kapustin Yar testing ground near the Caspian Sea, successfully hitting its target at a test ground in Kazakhstan . Although the United States had received advanced notice about the test it had coincided with the annexation of Crimea . On 20 March 2014, Russia test fired an RS-12M Topol Intercontinental Ballistic Missile from Kapustin Yar testing ground. 11 September 2016 - The Russian Strategic Missile Forces have conducted

6006-408: Was successfully carried out by SFC from Abdul Kalam Island, Odisha. The missile is now 20 percent lighter because the use of composite materials rather than steel material. The range has been increased to 7,000 km. By 2012 there was speculation by some intelligence agencies that North Korea is developing an ICBM. North Korea successfully put a satellite into space on 12 December 2012 using

6084-464: Was then widely used by Nazi Germany from mid-1944 until March 1945 to bomb British and Belgian cities, particularly Antwerp and London. Under Projekt Amerika, von Braun's team developed the A9/10 ICBM, intended for use in bombing New York and other American cities. Initially intended to be guided by radio, it was changed to be a piloted craft after the failure of Operation Elster . The second stage of

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