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RT-15M

The solid-propellant RT-15M missile was the sea-based counterpart of the RT-15 land-based missile, known in the West as the SS-14 SCAMP. Both consisted of the second and third stage of the RT-2, a prototype solid-fueled ICBM eventually deployed as the SS-13 SAVAGE. The 667 Yankee submarine, originally designed to carry the liquid-fueled R-21 missiles with the D-4 launch system, was to carry the RT-15M using the D-7 launch systems.

An order of the ministerial council on 04 April 1961 authorized the development of the system by SKB-385, under the industrial designation 4K22. However, SKB-385 was not particularly enthusiastic with the RT-15M missile, regarding liquid-propellant missiles as more promising The solid-propellant RT-15M missile, with a range of 2400 km, weighed three times more than the liquid propellant R-27 missile which had similar range capabilities.

Testing lagged substantially behind the initial schedule. Initially the missile underwent pop-up tests, with 5 launches conducted on "613" submarines. Beginning in late 1963 a series of 20 flight tests were conducted of the missile from Golf I submarines. The demonstration of underwater launch from a flooded platform was not completed until the middle of 1964. However, in July 1963 the initiation of integrated testing was postponed, pending successful results with tests of the solid-fuel RT-2 ICBM. Subsequently, development of the RT-15M missile and the D-7 launch system was halted due to the limited range and large weight and overall dimensions of the missile.

Sources and Resources

• Russian Strategic Nuclear Weapons, Pavel Podvig, ed., IzdAT, Moscow, 1998, 492 pp. (in Russian). Authors: Oleg Bukharin, Timur Kadyshev, Eugene Miasnikov, Pavel Podvig, Igor Sutiagin, Maxim Tarasenko, Boris Zhelesov

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