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. 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 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. Incidentally,Pakistan is the only nuclear-armed state that does not possess ICBMs.
Plesetsk Cosmodrome is a Russian spaceport located in Mirny,Arkhangelsk Oblast,about 800 km north of Moscow and approximately 200 km south of Arkhangelsk. As of 2024,it is Europe's only operational orbital spaceport and the northernmost spaceport in the world. Originally developed as an ICBM site for the R-7 missile,it also served for numerous satellite launches using the R-7 and other rockets. Its high latitude makes it useful only for certain types of launches,especially the Molniya orbits,so for much of the site's history it functioned as a secondary location,with most orbital launches taking place from Baikonur,in the Kazakh SSR. With the end of the Soviet Union,Baikonur became a foreign territory,and Kazakhstan charged $115 million usage fees annually. Consequently,Plesetsk has seen considerably more activity since the 2000s.
The Strategic Rocket Forces of the Russian Federation or the Strategic Missile Forces of the Russian Federation is a separate-troops branch of the Russian Armed Forces that controls Russia's land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). It was formerly part of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1959 to 1991.
The Tsyklon,GRAU index 11K67,was a Soviet-designed expendable launch system,primarily used to put Cosmos satellites into low Earth orbit in the late-1960s. It is based on the R-36 intercontinental ballistic missile designed by Mikhail Yangel and made eight launches,with seven successes and one failure. All of its launches were conducted from LC-90 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. It is sometimes designated Tsyklon-2A,not to be confused with the later Tsyklon-2 rocket. It was introduced in 1967 and was derived from the R-36 ICBM. It was retired in 1969.
The RT-2PM2 «Topol-M» is one of the most recent intercontinental ballistic missiles to be deployed by Russia,and the first to be developed after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. It was developed from the RT-2PM Topol mobile intercontinental ballistic missile.
The RT-2PM Topol was a mobile intercontinental ballistic missile designed in the Soviet Union and in service with Russia's Strategic Missile Troops. As of 2014,Russia planned to replace all RT-2PM ICBMs with versions of Topol-M. In December 2023,the last Topol regiment was taken off combat duty.
Kapustin Yar is a Russian military training area and a 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,and scientific support gained from the defeat of Germany in World War II. Numerous launches of test rockets for the Russian military were carried out at the site,as well as satellite and sounding rocket launches. The towns of Znamensk and Kapustin Yar were built nearby to serve the missile test range.
Svobodny was a Russian rocket launch site located approximately 15 km north of Svobodny,Amur Oblast. The cosmodrome was originally constructed as a launch site for intercontinental ballistic missiles called Svobodny-18. It was initially selected as a replacement for Baikonur Cosmodrome in the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic,which became independent as Kazakhstan after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. However the development of Svobodny was subsequently ended in 2007 in favour of a totally new space port,the Vostochny Cosmodrome.
The UR-100N,also known as RS-18A,is an intercontinental ballistic missile in service with Soviet and Russian Strategic Missile Troops. The missile was given the NATO reporting name SS-19 Stiletto and carries the industry designation 15A30.
Rokot,also transliterated Rockot,was a Soviet Union space launch vehicle that was capable of launching a payload of 1,950 kilograms (4,300 lb) into a 200-kilometre (120 mi) Earth orbit with 63°inclination. It was based on the UR-100N intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM),supplied and operated by Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center. The first launches started in the 1990s from Baikonur Cosmodrome out of a silo. Later commercial launches commenced from Plesetsk Cosmodrome using a launch ramp specially rebuilt from one for the Kosmos-3M launch vehicle. The cost of the launcher itself was about US$15 million in 1999;The contract with European Space Agency (ESA) for launching Swarm in September 2013 was worth €27.1 million.
Kura Missile Test Range,originally known as Kama,is a Russian intercontinental ballistic missile impact area located in northern Kamchatka Krai in the Russian Far East. It is the destination for ballistic missiles which are test fired from other centers,and was chosen due to its remoteness and distance. It is 130 kilometers (81 mi) northeast of the settlement of Klyuchi and the military townlet is called Klyuchi-1,after the nearest settlement.
The RS-24 Yars also known as Topol-MR, NATO reporting name SS-29 or SS-27 Mod 2),is a Russian MIRV-equipped,thermonuclear armed intercontinental ballistic missile first tested on May 29,2007,after a secret military R&D project.
The Vostochny Cosmodrome is a Russian spaceport above the 51st parallel north in the Amur Oblast,in the Russian Far East. It is intended to reduce Russia's dependency on the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The first launch took place on 28 April 2016 at 02:01 UTC. As of 1 July 2022,eleven launch attempts have been made with ten successes.
The R-7 family of rockets is a series of rockets,derived from the Soviet R-7 Semyorka,the world's first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). More R-7 rockets have been launched than any other family of large rockets.
Strela is a Russian orbital carrier rocket,derived from the Soviet/Russian UR-100NU missile. It conducted its maiden test launch on 5 December 2003,carried its first functional payload on 27 June 2013,and a second one on 19 December 2014.
A number of suborbital spaceflights were conducted during 2008. These consist mostly of sounding rocket missions and missile tests,and include other flights such as an ASAT firing. Between the start of the year and 16 July,at least 43 publicly announced suborbital spaceflights were conducted,the first of them on 11 January.
Aleksandr Davidovich Nadiradze was a Soviet engineer of Georgian ethnicity who was instrumental in militarization of the former Soviet space program.
The RS-28 Sarmat,often colloquially referred to as Satan II by media outlets,is a three-stage Russian silo-based,liquid-fueled,HGV-capable and FOBS-capable super-heavy intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) produced by the Makeyev Rocket Design Bureau. It is intended to replace the Soviet R-36M ICBM in Russia's arsenal.
The RS-26 Rubezh SS-X-31 or SS-X-29B,is a Russian solid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missile,equipped with a thermonuclear MIRV or MaRV payload. The missile is also intended to be capable of carrying the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle. The RS-26 is based on RS-24 Yars,and constitutes a shorter version of the RS-24 with one fewer stages. The development process of the RS-26 has been largely comparable to that of the RSD-10 Pioneer,a shortened derivative of the RT-21 Temp 2S. Deployment of the RS-26 is speculated to have a similar strategic impact as the RSD-10.
The SS-16 Temp-2s missile was the first attempt by the Soviet Union to develop a mobile ICBM. The missile project was designated SS-X-16 by Western intelligence and underwent several flight tests. The project was cancelled and the last missile firing took place in April 1976.
