R-29RM Shtil
R-29RM Shtil/RSM-54 | |
---|---|
Type | SLBM |
Service history | |
In service | 1986–2010 |
Used by | Soviet Navy Russian Navy |
Production history | |
Designer | Makeyev Rocket Design Bureau |
Manufacturer | Krasnoyarsk Machine-Building Plant |
Specifications | |
Mass | 40.3 tonnes |
Length | 14.8 metres |
Diameter | 1.9 m |
Warhead | The payload (2800 kg) was capable of carrying ten 100 kT yield MIRV warheads, though only a four MIRV warhead version entered production. |
Blast yield | 200 kt each [1] |
Engine | Three-stage liquid-propellant rocket |
Operational range | 8,300 kilometres (5,200 mi) |
Guidance system | Astroinertial |
The R-29RM Shtil[2] (Russian: Штиль, lit. "Calmness", NATO reporting name SS-N-23 Skiff) was a liquid propellant, submarine-launched ballistic missile in use by the Russian Navy. It had the alternate Russian designations RSM-54 and GRAU index 3M27.[3] It was designed to be launched from the Delta IV submarine, each of which is capable of carrying 16 missiles. The R-29RM could carry four 100 kiloton warheads and had a range of about 8,500 kilometres (5,300 mi).[4] They were replaced with the newer R-29RMU Sineva and later with the enhanced variant R-29RMU2 Layner.
History
Operation Behemoth
On 6 August 1991 at 21:09, K-407 Novomoskovsk, under the command of Captain Second Rank Sergey Yegorov, became the world's only submarine to successfully launch an all-missile salvo, launching 16 R-29RM (RSM-54) ballistic missiles of total weight of almost 700 tons in 244 seconds (operation code name "Behemoth-2"). All the missile hit their designated targets at the Kura Missile Test Range in Kamchatka.[5]
Space Launch Vehicle
Several R-29RM were retrofitted as Shtill carrier rockets to be launched by Delta-class submarines, the submarines being mobile can send a payload directly into a heliosynchronic orbit, notably used by imaging satellites. Outside the confines of the Russian military, this capability has been used commercially to place three out of four microsatellites into a low earth orbit with one cancellation assigned to the Baikonur Cosmodrome for better financial terms.
End of service
The last boat carrying R-29RM, K-51 Verkhoturye, went into refit to be rearmed with the newer R-29RMU Sineva on 23 August 2010.[6]
Operators
Former operators
- Russian Navy (1992-2010)
- Soviet Navy (1986-1991)
See also
- R-29 Vysota
- R-29RMU Sineva
- R-29RMU2 Layner
- RSM-56 Bulava
- Kanyon
- UGM-133 Trident II
- M45 (missile)
- M51 (missile)
- JL-1
- JL-2
- K Missile family
- Pukkuksong-1
- R-39 Rif
- R-39M
References
- ^ – Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces (rus)
- ^ Aviation.ru – Missiles Archived 4 November 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "R-29RM Shetal/Sineva (SS-N-23 'Skiff'/RSM-54/3M27) (Russian Federation), Offensive weapons". Janes.com.
- ^ CSIS Missile Threat SS-N-23
- ^ "Submarine-launched ballistic missiles". russianspaceweb.com. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
- ^ "SSBN K-51 Verkhoturye arrived to Zvezdochka for repairs today". Rusnavy.com. 23 August 2010.
External links
- CSIS Missile Threat SS-N-23
- IDB RSM-54 (R-29RM) 3M37, SS-N-23 "Skiff" (Russian)
- Russian nuclear delivery systems at the Center for Defense Information