Russia

Russia
Credit - © Mark Wade

Major Articles Relating to Russia

Road to the Stars. One man in Russia filmed the future - before Sputnik! Did Kubrick copy his work?

Taming the Fire. The story of the making of the 1972 Soviet film that took viewers inside the life of Sergei Korolev and the Baikonur cosmonaut -- they thought!

Soviet Space History at a Glance.

Soviet Space History at a Glance.

Soviet Space History. The previously unrevealed history of the Soviet space program...

Soviet Space History - Era of the Chief Designers.

First Generation Soviet Space Systems.

Mature First Generation Soviet Space Systems.

Second Generation Soviet Space Systems.

Third Generation Soviet Space Systems.

Russian Federation Space Systems.

Key Meetings in Soviet Spaceflight. The key meetings, the main decisions that led to the Soviet loss of the moon race and shuttle race.

Soviets Recovered an Apollo Capsule!. The truth only emerged 32 years later - the Soviets recovered an Apollo space capsule in 1970...

Was the Soyuz Design Stolen?. There was something awfully familiar looking about the Soyuz spacecraft, the most successful in history....

The N1 Story. Completely updated! The largest, most expensive, failed project in history - the story of the design, construction, and collapse of the immense N1 Soviet super booster.

The N1 Story. Completely updated! Part 2 of the story of the design, construction, and collapse of the immense N1 Soviet super booster.

The N1 Story. Completely updated! Part 2 of the story of the design, construction, and collapse of the immense N1 Soviet super booster.

Soviet Manned Lunar Projects. The failed Soviet lunar program, and the follow-on lunar base projects that came to nothing.

Soviet Manned Lunar Projects. The failed Soviet lunar program, and the follow-on lunar base projects that came to nothing.

Almaz. The in-depth history of the development and test of the Almaz - the only manned combat spacecraft ever flown!

Almaz. Almaz Phase 2 plans and flights - plus complete Almaz technical description!

Soviet Space System Development Process.

Soviet Space Quality Assurance.

Soviet Space Tracking Systems.

Russian Designations. Russian Ballistic Rocket Designations

Soviet Conquest from Space. The story of Soviet space stations in Earth orbit - Korolev's star wars of 1963!

Location of Russian Manned Spacecraft. Where you can see flown and unflown Russian manned spacecraft...

Energia - The Decision. Summary of the meeting of the Soviet Military-Industrial Commission on 13 August 1974 - in which the fate of the N1 was sealed and the decision process leading to Energia-Buran was begun...

Soviet Mars Propulsion - Nuclear Electric.

Soviet Mars Propulsion - Nuclear Thermal.

The Foundations of the Space Age. The life and work of Tsiolkovskiy, by Vladimir V. Lytkin, Tsiolkovskiy Museum, Kaluga.

CIA's National Intelligence Estimates. What did the US know about Soviet missile and space plans and when did they know it?

CIA's National Intelligence Estimate of March 1967. What did the US know about Soviet lunar plans? This annotated version of the CIA's National Intelligence Estimate of March 1967 compares what the CIA expected to happen with what the Soviets expected at the same time...

CIA's National Intelligence Estimate 11-1-67. Updated version of NIE 11-1-67, obtained by Peter Pesavento, with most earlier redactions removed.

Trouble In Star City. James Oberg's prescient account of the beginning of the end - or the end of the beginning - of the Soviet space industry

Russia's Space Program: Running On Empty. James Oberg's grim account of the fate of the Russian space program

Russia's Space Program: Running On Empty. James Oberg's grim account of the fate of the Russian space program

Russia's Space Program: Running On Empty. Part 2 of James Oberg's grim account of the fate of the Russian space program

Inside Baikonur. James Oberg's account of a visit to the long-secret Baikonur cosmodrome.

Phantoms of Space. James Oberg's classic debunking of all those 'dead cosmonaut' stories.

Phantoms of Space. James Oberg's classic debunking of all those 'dead cosmonaut' stories.

The Nedelin Catastrophe. James Oberg's classic account of the greatest disaster in space history.

Celebrating Gagarin's Anniversary. James Oberg remembers Yuri

Soviet Space Secrets. James Oberg lists those secrets remaining to be disclosed...

Giant UFO Over Two Continents. James Oberg's classic piece, reissued on the 20th anniversary of the Soviet rocket launch that sparked UFO panics in Russia and South America

Launch Sites in Russia

Aleisk. Agency: RVSN. Type: ICBM Base. Location: Altai. Latitude: 52°17' N. Longitude: 82°27' E.

Barents Sea. Type: Orbital Launch Site. Location: Murmansk. Latitude: 69°18' N. Longitude: 35°18' E.

Barnaul. Agency: RVSN. Type: IRBM Base. Latitude: 53°13' N. Longitude: 83°27' E.

Bershet. Agency: RVSN. Type: ICBM Base. Location: Perm. Latitude: 58°0' N. Longitude: 55°0' E.

Birodbidzhan. Agency: RVSN. Type: IRBM Base. Latitude: 48°48' N. Longitude: 132°57' E.

Bologoye/Vypolzovo. Agency: RVSN. Type: ICBM Base. Location: Tver. Latitude: 57°32' N. Longitude: 34°1' E.

Bynolzovo. Agency: RVSN. Type: IRBM Base. Location: Kaliningrad. Latitude: 54°30' N. Longitude: 22°0' E.

Dombarovskiy. Agency: RVSN. Type: ICBM Base. Location: Orenburg. Latitude: 51°0' N. Longitude: 58°0' E.

Drovyanaya. Agency: RVSN. Type: ICBM Base. Location: Chita. Latitude: 51°0' N. Longitude: 112°0' E.

Gladkaya/Krasnoyarsk. Agency: RVSN. Type: ICBM Base. Location: Krasnoyarsk. Latitude: 56°0' N. Longitude: 93°0' E.

Gvardeisk. Agency: RVSN. Type: IRBM Base. Location: Kaliningrad. Latitude: 54°30' N. Longitude: 21°1' E.

Irkutsk. Agency: RVSN. Type: ICBM Base. Latitude: 53°0' N. Longitude: 105°0' E.

Itatka. Agency: RVSN. Type: ICBM Base. Location: Tomsk. Latitude: 56°29' N. Longitude: 85°22' E.

Kamyshin. Agency: RVSN. Type: IRBM Base. Location: Volgograd. Latitude: 50°2' N. Longitude: 45°18' E.

Kansk. Agency: RVSN. Type: ICBM Base. Latitude: 58°0' N. Longitude: 97°0' E.

Kapustin Yar. Agency: RVSN. Type: Orbital Launch Site. Latitude: 48°30' N. Longitude: 45°48' E.

Kartaly. Agency: RVSN. Type: ICBM Base. Location: Chelyabinsk. Latitude: 53°0' N. Longitude: 61°0' E.

Kheysa. Type: Suborbital Launch Site. Location: Kheysa, Franz-Josef Land. Latitude: 80°27' N. Longitude: 58°03' E.

Kostroma. Agency: RVSN. Type: ICBM Base. Latitude: 57°0' N. Longitude: 38°0' E.

Kozelsk. Agency: RVSN. Type: ICBM Base. Location: Kaluga. Latitude: 53°0' N. Longitude: 35°0' E.

Manzovka/Ussuriysk. Agency: RVSN. Type: IRBM Base. Location: Primorsk. Latitude: 46°0' N. Longitude: 134°0' E.

Medved. Agency: RVSN. Type: IRBM Base. Location: Novgorod. Latitude: 58°0' N. Longitude: 31°0' E.

Molodezhnaya. Type: Suborbital Launch Site. Location: Enderby Land, Australian Antarctic Territory. Latitude: 67°40' S. Longitude: 45°51' E.

Nenoksa. Agency: VMF. Type: Suborbital Launch Site. Location: Nenoksa Test Range. Latitude: 64°38' N. Longitude: 39°12' E.

Nerchinsk. Agency: RVSN. Type: IRBM Base. Location: Chita. Latitude: 51°58' N. Longitude: 116°35' E.

Nizhniy Tagil. Agency: RVSN. Type: ICBM Base. Location: Sverdlovsk. Latitude: 57°0' N. Longitude: 60°0' E.

Novosibirsk. Agency: RVSN. Type: ICBM Base. Latitude: 56°0' N. Longitude: 84°0' E.

Omsk. Agency: RVSN. Type: ICBM Base. Latitude: 55°0' N. Longitude: 73°14' E.

Plesetsk. Agency: RVSN. Type: Orbital Launch Site. Latitude: 62°54' N. Longitude: 40°30' E.

Sary Shagan. Agency: Ministry of Defence. Type: Suborbital Launch Site. Location: Sary Shagan Antimissile Test Center. Latitude: 46°23' N. Longitude: 72°52' E.

Shadrinsk. Agency: RVSN. Type: ICBM Base. Location: Kurgan. Latitude: 56°3' N. Longitude: 63°23' E.

Sovietsk. Agency: RVSN. Type: IRBM Base. Location: Kaliningrad. Latitude: 55°05' N. Longitude: 21°53' E.

Svobodniy. Agency: RVSN. Type: Orbital Launch Site. Latitude: 51°42' N. Longitude: 128°00' E.

Tatishchevo. Agency: RVSN. Type: ICBM Base. Location: Saratov. Latitude: 49°0' N. Longitude: 45°0' E.

Teikovo. Agency: RVSN. Type: ICBM Base. Location: Ivanov. Latitude: 55°0' N. Longitude: 41°0' E.

Tomsk. Agency: RVSN. Type: IRBM Base. Latitude: 56°30' N. Longitude: 84°58' E.

Tyumen. Agency: RVSN. Type: ICBM Base. Latitude: 57°5' N. Longitude: 65°19' E.

Uzhur. Agency: RVSN. Type: ICBM Base. Location: Krasnoyarsk. Latitude: 55°0' N. Longitude: 90°0' E.

Yasnaya/Oloynyaya. Agency: RVSN. Type: ICBM Base. Location: Chita. Latitude: 51°0' N. Longitude: 117°0' E.

Yoshkar-Ola. Agency: RVSN. Type: ICBM Base. Latitude: 55°0' N. Longitude: 48°0' E.

Yurya. Agency: RVSN. Type: ICBM Base. Location: Kirov. Latitude: 58°0' N. Longitude: 48°0' E.

Znamensk. Agency: RVSN. Type: IRBM Base. Location: Kaliningrad. Latitude: 54°22' N. Longitude: 21°8' E.

Launch Sites Operated by Russia in Other Countries

Baikonur. Agency: RVSN. Operator: Russia. Type: Orbital Launch Site. Location: Kazakstan. Latitude: 46°00' N. Longitude: 63°00' E.

Belokorovichi. Agency: RVSN. Operator: Russia. Type: IRBM Base. Location: Zhitomir. Latitude: 49°0' N. Longitude: 26°0' E.

Derzhavinsk. Agency: RVSN. Operator: Russia. Type: ICBM Base. Latitude: 59°0' N. Longitude: 53°0' E.

Dobele. Agency: RVSN. Operator: Russia. Type: IRBM Base. Latitude: 56°22' N. Longitude: 23°10' E.

Dzhambul. Agency: RVSN. Operator: Russia. Type: IRBM Base. Latitude: 42°32' N. Longitude: 71°13' E.

Elgava. Agency: RVSN. Operator: Russia. Type: IRBM Base. Latitude: 56°0' N. Longitude: 23°0' E.

Gezgaly. Agency: RVSN. Operator: Russia. Type: IRBM Base. Latitude: 53°32'50" N. Longitude: 25°16'48" E.

Glukhov. Agency: RVSN. Operator: Russia. Type: IRBM Base. Latitude: 51°25' N. Longitude: 33°32' E.

Karmelava. Agency: RVSN. Operator: Russia. Type: IRBM Base. Latitude: 55°30' N. Longitude: 24°0' E.

Khmelnitskiy. Agency: RVSN. Operator: Russia. Type: ICBM Base. Latitude: 49°15' N. Longitude: 27°0' E.

Kiev. Agency: RVSN. Operator: Russia. Type: IRBM Base. Latitude: 50°18' N. Longitude: 30°24' E.

Kolomiya. Agency: RVSN. Operator: Russia. Type: IRBM Base. Latitude: 48°19' N. Longitude: 25°2' E.

Lida. Agency: RVSN. Operator: Russia. Type: ICBM Base. Latitude: 53°47'39" N. Longitude: 25°20'27" E.

Lutsk. Agency: RVSN. Operator: Russia. Type: IRBM Base. Latitude: 50°26' N. Longitude: 25°12' E.

Lvov. Agency: RVSN. Operator: Russia. Type: IRBM Base. Latitude: 49°48' N. Longitude: 24°0' E.

Mozyr. Agency: RVSN. Operator: Russia. Type: ICBM Base. Latitude: 52°2'27" N. Longitude: 29°11'15" E.

Novogrudok. Agency: RVSN. Operator: Russia. Type: IRBM Base. Latitude: 53°22' N. Longitude: 25°30' E.

Ordzhonikidze. Agency: RVSN. Operator: Russia. Type: IRBM Base. Latitude: 43°0' N. Longitude: 44°24' E.

Pervomaisk. Agency: RVSN. Operator: Russia. Type: ICBM Base. Latitude: 48°0' N. Longitude: 30°0' E.

Petrikov. Agency: RVSN. Operator: Russia. Type: IRBM Base. Latitude: 52°10'29" N. Longitude: 28°34'52" E.

Pinsk. Agency: RVSN. Operator: Russia. Type: IRBM Base. Latitude: 52°4' N. Longitude: 26°2' E.

Plunge. Agency: RVSN. Operator: Russia. Type: IRBM Base. Latitude: 55°33' N. Longitude: 21°31' E.

Polotsk. Agency: RVSN. Operator: Russia. Type: IRBM Base. Latitude: 55°22'34" N. Longitude: 28°44'17" E.

Postavy. Agency: RVSN. Operator: Russia. Type: IRBM Base. Latitude: 55°9'47" N. Longitude: 26°54'21" E.

Priekule. Agency: RVSN. Operator: Russia. Type: IRBM Base. Latitude: 56°26' 01.39" N. Longitude: 21°24' 45.30" E.

Rechitsa. Agency: RVSN. Operator: Russia. Type: IRBM Base. Latitude: 52°11'58" N. Longitude: 30°7'11" E.

Romny. Agency: RVSN. Operator: Russia. Type: IRBM Base. Latitude: 50°27' N. Longitude: 33°18' E.

Ruzhany. Agency: RVSN. Operator: Russia. Type: IRBM Base. Latitude: 52°49'29" N. Longitude: 24°45'45" E.

Saryozek. Agency: RVSN. Operator: Russia. Type: IRBM Base. Latitude: 44°22' N. Longitude: 77°59' E.

Siauliai. Agency: RVSN. Operator: Russia. Type: IRBM Base. Latitude: 55°34' N. Longitude: 23°11' E.

Simferopol. Agency: RVSN. Operator: Russia. Type: IRBM Base. Latitude: 44°34' N. Longitude: 34°4' E.

Slavuta. Agency: RVSN. Operator: Russia. Type: IRBM Base. Latitude: 50°18' N. Longitude: 26°54' E.

Slonim. Agency: RVSN. Operator: Russia. Type: IRBM Base. Latitude: 52°55'54" N. Longitude: 25°21'59" E.

Slutsk. Agency: RVSN. Operator: Russia. Type: IRBM Base. Latitude: 53°14'20" N. Longitude: 27°42'15" E.

Smorgon. Agency: RVSN. Operator: Russia. Type: IRBM Base. Latitude: 54°36'16" N. Longitude: 26°23'5" E.

Taurage. Agency: RVSN. Operator: Russia. Type: IRBM Base. Latitude: 55°9' N. Longitude: 22°10' E.

Ukmerge. Agency: RVSN. Operator: Russia. Type: IRBM Base. Latitude: 55°9' N. Longitude: 24°27' E.

Valga. Agency: RVSN. Operator: Russia. Type: IRBM Base. Latitude: 57°47' N. Longitude: 26°02' E.

Vetrino. Agency: RVSN. Operator: Russia. Type: IRBM Base. Latitude: 55°24'19" N. Longitude: 28°33'29" E.

Zaisimovichi. Agency: RVSN. Operator: Russia. Type: IRBM Base. Latitude: 52°30'38" N. Longitude: 24°8'43" E.

Zhangiz-Tobe. Agency: RVSN. Operator: Russia. Type: ICBM Base. Latitude: 81°0' N. Longitude: 48°0' E.

Zhitkovichi. Agency: RVSN. Operator: Russia. Type: IRBM Base. Latitude: 52°11'36" N. Longitude: 27°48'7" E.

Rockets Developed in Russia

10KhN. - short range cruise missile - Chelomei mobile-launched version of V-1

17D. - surface-to-air missile - Prototype air-breathing surface-to-air missile, using air-augmented solid propellant.

17K-AM. - winged orbital launch vehicle - Status: Study 1993. A small two stage to orbit horizontal takeoff / horizontal landing vehicle proposed for the Russian Air Force in 1993.

18D. - surface-to-air missile - Variant of the 18D air-breathing surface-to-air missile using a magnesium alloy in the fuel to double the initial launch thrust.

212. - air-to-surface missile - Korolev's second design for a rocket-propelled cruise missile. It was flight tested twice after his arrest in 1939 but work was then abandoned.

217/I. - surface-to-air missile - First anti-aircraft missile flown in the USSR. The 217/I had a conventional aircraft layout, with a main wing and aerodynamic control surfaces on the tail.

217/II. - surface-to-air missile - Pre-World War II anti-aircraft missile flown in the USSR. The 217/II follow-on to the 217/I had the first 'rocket' layout - four small wings, each all-moving.

22D. - surface-to-air missile - Prototype surface-to-air missile, using liquid-propellant ramjets in place of the air-augmented solid propellant of the 17D.

3M54. - anti-ship missile - New ship- and aircraft-launched antiship cruise missile.

4K18. - intermediate range cruise missile - Trials 1973-1975.

81R. - anti-submarine missile - 1969 sub-launched anti-sub missile with nuclear warhead.

82R. - anti-submarine rocket -

85R. - anti-submarine missile - Ship-launched, antisub cruise missile with AT-2UM torpedo.

86R. - anti-submarine missile - Vyuga with UMGT-1 torpedo.

88R. - anti-submarine rocket -

8K711. - ballistic missile - Korolev project.

8K73. - ballistic missile - Korolev project. Possibly designation for variant of GR-1.

8K79. - intermediate range ballistic missile - Status: Study 1960. Korolev 1961 design for a single stage military rocket. A competing missile was selected for the requirement.

9M/1/TEMP. - short range ballistic missile - Two-stage deployed short range missile. Four solid motors strapped together, operating in staged pairs. Data is accurate; Orevo has sectioned hardware.

9M128. - anti-tank missile -

9M54. - anti-tank rocket -

A-135. - anti-ballistic missile - Two-tier Russian anti-ballistic missile system for the defence of Moscow, with both endoatmospheric and exoatmospheric interceptor missiles. After protracted development, the system was said to have gone into operation in 1995.

A-35. - anti-ballistic missile - First operational Soviet ABM system, going into limited operation around Moscow in 1972.

Ajax. - winged orbital launch vehicle - Status: Study 1993. Sled-launched, air-breathing, single stage to orbit, horizontal takeoff / horizontal landing launch vehicle proposed in Russia.

Albatros. - winged orbital launch vehicle - Status: Study 1974. Unique Russian space shuttle design of 1974. Hydrofoil-launched, winged recoverable first and second stages. Hydrofoil would have been propelled to launch speed by the launch vehicles rocket engines, using a 200 tonne fuel store in the hydrofoil. Advantages: launch from the Caspian Sea into a variety of orbital inclinations, variations in launch track possible to meet range safety requirements. Proposal of Alexeyev/Sukhoi OKBs.

Albatros ICBM. - intercontinental ballistic missile - Status: Development ended 1991. Albatros was an ICBM designed by NPO Mashinostroeniya under Chief Designer Gerbert Yefremov according to a decree of 9 February 1987. Like the Yuzhnoye Universal ICBM, it was to be built in enormous numbers in order to defeat any deployment by America of mass missile defences under their Strategic Defence Initiative. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and the abandonment of SDI by the United States, the missile was cancelled.

Angara 1.1. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: In development. The Angara is a new all-Russian heavy launch vehicle to replace the Zenit (built by a Ukrainian company) and Proton (only launch pads on Kazakh territory). The booster is sized for rail transport of modular manufactured components to cosmodromes at Plesetsk and Svobodniy. The design features a single modular core that could be clustered for large payloads or used as a first stage with a variety of existing upper stages. The cold flow test article was exhibited at the Paris Air Show in the summer of 1999. By that time a total of 19 possible variants of the launch vehicle had been studied. All plans for the Angara were dependent on financing and subject to constant change.

Angara 1.2. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: In development. First planned upgrade of Angara, the 1.2 version would use a new Block I lox/kerosene upper stage.

Angara 3A. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: In development. The Angara 3A is a proposed variant of the modular launch vehicle that would use two universal rocket modules (URM's) as boosters flanking one URM in the core, with a Lox/Kerosene upper stage.

Angara 5A. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: In development. The Angara 5A is a proposed variant of the modular launch vehicle that would use four universal rocket modules (URM's) as boosters surrounding one URM in the core, with a Lox/LH2 upper stage.

ASA. - winged orbital launch vehicle - Status: Study 1993. Sled-launched airbreathing single stage to orbit horizontal takeoff / horizontal landing launch vehicle proposed in Russia.

Baranov SAM. - surface-to-air missile - First Soviet anti-aircraft barrage rocket, fired in limited numbers during siege of Leningrad, and downing two German aircraft.

Bastion. - anti-tank missile -

Bizan. - winged orbital launch vehicle - Status: Study 1981. Bizan was the 1982 Soviet air-launched spaceplane design iteration between the '49' and 'MAKS' concepts. Like the '49', it was air-launched from atop an An-124 transport. Unlike the '49', it was a single-stage-to-orbit tripropellant concept.

Bizan-T. - winged orbital launch vehicle - Status: Study 1981. Air launched from catamaran heavy-life aircraft, predecessor of later Gerakl / Molniya-1000 design. 900 tonnes takeoff mass. Release conditions: Suspended load, Mach 0.7 at 8 to 9 km altitude. Effective velocity gain compared to vertical launch 270 m/s.

Buk. - surface-to-air missile - Mobile surface-to-air missile system, back-compatible with Kub.

Buk-M1. - surface-to-air missile - Improved version of Buk with highly-secret anti-missile capability.

Buk-M1-2. - surface-to-air missile - Universal multimodal surface-to-air missile complex for use by the PVO, PRO, and coastal defence units, capable of intercepting highly manoeuvrable tactical and strategic aircraft, helicopters, cruise missiles, naval vessels, fixed land targets, and air-to-surface missiles.

Bulava. - intercontinental ballistic missile - Status: In production. Solid-propellant Soviet intercontinental-range ballistic missile, equipped with multiple independently targeted warheads.

Buran. - intercontinental cruise missile - Status: Development ended 1957. A government decree on 20 May 1954 authorised the Myasishchev aircraft design bureau to proceed with full-scale development of the Buran trisonic intercontinental cruise missile. The competing Burya design of Lavochkin was launched in July 1957, but the development of unstoppable ICBM's had made intercontinntal cruise missiles oboslete. The equivalent American Navaho project was cancelled ten days later. Korolev's R-7 ICBM completed its first successful test flight in August. Buran was being prepared for its first flight when Myasishchev's project was cancelled on November 1957.

Buran-T. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Design 1989. Fully recoverable version of Energia launch vehicle, with four winged boosters and a winged core stage.

Burlak. - winged orbital launch vehicle - Status: Development ended 1992. Burlak air-launched satellite launcher was proposed in 1992 and studied by Germany in 1992-1994. Evidently based on secret anti-satellite missile. Air launched from Tu-160 bomber, released at 13,500 m altitude and Mach 1.7. Development estimated to cost only DM 50 million, but not proceeded with. Burlak/Diana variant would have been launched from Concorde.

Burya. - intercontinental cruise missile - Status: Out of production. A government decree on 20 May 1954 authorised the Lavochkin aircraft design bureau to proceed with full-scale development of the Burya trisonic intercontinental cruise missile. Burya launches began in July 1957. The project was cancelled, but the team was allowed final tests in 1961 that demonstrated a 6,500 km range at Mach 3.2 with the 2,350 kg payload. In cancelling Burya the Russians gave up technology that Lavochkin planned to evolve into a manned shuttle-like recoverable launch vehicle.

D-1. - tactical ballistic missile - Status: Design. Korolev design for a 'long range' rocket prior to orders to copy the V-2. The 1000 kg rocket would have a range of 32 km. Wingspan 1.0 m; 370 kg propellants; minimum range 12..8 km; maximum velocity 854 m/s; maximum altitude 12.5 km.

D-2. - tactical ballistic missile - Status: Design. Korolev design for a 'long range' rocket prior to orders to copy the V-2. Extended-range winged version of the D-1. The 1200 kg rocket would have a range of 76 km. Wingspan 1.5 m; 370 kg propellants; minimum range 20 km; maximum velocity 628 m/s; maximum altitude 10.7 km.

D-6. - intermediate range ballistic missile - First Soviet solid propellant submarine launched ballistic missile. Development began in 1958, but the system was cancelled in 1961 in favour of the D-7 naval version of the RT-15 IRBM (itself in turn cancelled).

Dal. - surface-to-air missile - Trials of this long range surface-to-air missile were conducted in 1960-1963 but the project was cancelled after the system failed to down a single target. V-200 missiles were installed in the Dal installations built around Leningrad for the failed missile. In a bit of disinformation, the V-400 was paraded in Moscow, and US intelligence, thinking it was operational, applied the SA-5 designation. The SA-5 code was transferred to the V-200 after the La-400 was cancelled.

Dal-2. - surface-to-air missile - Planned next generation high performance long-range surface-to-air missile developed 1959-1963. Cancelled together with basic the Dal system at the end of 1963.

Dal-M. - surface-to-air missile - Planned improved version of the Dal high performance long-range surface-to-air missile developed 1959-1963. Cancelled together with basic the Dal system at the end of 1963.

EKR. - intermediate range cruise missile - Status: Study 1953. B Chertok of NII-8 took the preliminary German R-13 cruise missile design and elaborated it, including consideration of the key problem of long-range automatic astronavigation. By 1951 to 1953 Korolev's design bureau had prepared an experimental design, the EKR. I Lisovich had developed a prototype astronavigation system that met the necessary specifications, and solution of basic problems in use of steel and titanium hot airframe technology had been solved at VIAM (All-Union Institute of Aviation Materials) and MVTU Bauman Institute. An expert commission in 1953 examined the EKR design and felt that there were still many technical problems to be solved, most of which were better handled by an aircraft designer rather than Korolev.

Energia. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Out of production. The Energia-Buran Reusable Space System (MKS) was began development in 1976 as a Soviet system that would duplicate the capabilities of the US shuttle system. Following extended development, Buran made a remarkably successful first unmanned flight on 15 November 1988, four years late to schedule. But it would never fly again. The Soviet Union was crumbling, and the ambitious plans to build an orbiting defense shield, to renew the ozone layer, dispose of nuclear waste, illuminate polar cities, colonize the moon and Mars, were not to be. Funding dried up and the Buran program completely disappeared from the government's budget after 1993.

Energia M. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Development ended 1993. Launch vehicle originally designed in the 1980's to fullfill the third generation 20-30 tonnes to orbit launcher requirement. It was an adaptation of the Energia launch vehicle, using two strap-on booster units instead of four, and a reduced-diameter core using a single RD-0120 engine instead of four. In the 1990's a structural test article was built and it was proposed that several Energia-M's be launched for commercial customers using surplus Energia components. No buyers came forward for the untested design. It was later proposed as an alternate for the Angara launch vehicle, but it was not accepted for that role since Angara was to be an all-Russian design (the Energia boosters were built in Ukraine).

Fagot. - anti-tank missile -

Faktoriya. - anti-tank missile -

Falanga. - anti-tank missile -

Filin. - tactical ballistic rocket -

FKR-1. - short range cruise missile -

G-1. - intermediate range ballistic missile - Status: Study 1947. The G-1, an improved 600 km range version of the V-2 missile, was the first design produced by Groettrup's German engineering team after they had been moved to Russia. A Soviet state commission found in 1948 that it was superior to Korolev's R-2 concept. Nevertheless the R-2 was put in production instead.

G-2. - intermediate range ballistic missile - Status: Study 1948. The G-2 design objective was to create the first IRBM - to deliver a 1000 kg payload over a 2500 km range. The missile would use three V-2 derived engines with a total thrust of 100 tonnes. A variety of alternate configurations (R-12A through R-12K) were considered by the German team in Russia. These included parallel and consecutive staging, gimballed motors, and other innovations. The R-12K was particularly interesting because it represented a concept later used on the US Atlas missile - jettisoning of the two outboard engines at altitude to significantly improve range. The G-2 was given the secret designation R-6 and overt designation R-12 by the Russians.

G-3. - intermediate range cruise missile - Status: Study 1949. German aerodynamicist Albring designed the G-3 missile for the Russians in October 1949. This would use a rocket-powered Groettrup-designed G-1 as the first stage. The cruise stage would have an aerodynamic layout like that of the Saenger-Bredt rocket-powered antipodal bomber of World War II. Cruising at 13 km altitude, the supersonic missile would carry a 3000 kg warhead to a range of 2900 km. This was an alternate approach to Ustinov's 3000 kg over 3000 km range missile requirement of April 1949. This design would be elaborated at Korolev's bureau into the EKR ramjet design of 1953. Alternate designations for the G-3 have been reported as R-8 in the original secret Soviet designation scheme, and R-13 in the overt scheme. Designations of G-5 and R-15 are also reported, although this may refer to another design entirely.

G-4. - intermediate range ballistic missile - Status: Study 1949. The G-4 was designed by the Groettrup German team in the Soviet Union in competition with Korolev's R-3. Rocket chief Ustinov informed Groettrup of the requirement on 9 April 1949: to deliver a 3000 kg atomic bomb to a 3000 km. This requirement meant a massive improvement over existing V-2 technology. The G-4 was evaluated against Korolev's R-3 on 7 December 1949 - and the G-4 was found to be superior. Neither ended up in production, but the design concepts of the G-4 led directly to Korolev's R-7 ICBM (essentially a cluster of G-4's or R-3A's) and the N1 superbooster. Work on the G-4 continued through 1952.

G-5. - intercontinental ballistic missile - Some sources indicate the G-5 / R-15 designation was assigned to an ICBM designed by the Groettrup team. If so, it may have been the 'packet of G-4's' that was the direct ancestor of the Korolev R-7. The designation G-5 / R-15 has also been reported as that of the ramjet missile more often referred to as G-3 or R-13.

GIRD-09. - sounding rocket - The first rocket successfully launched by the Soviet GIRD organisation was a hybrid, using a liquid oxygen to burn gelled petroleum in large casing. Development of the rocket was begun by GIRD's second brigade under M K Tikhonravov.

GIRD-10. - sounding rocket - The first liquid propellant rocket launched in the Soviet Union, the GIRD-10 used liquid oxygen and alcohol propellants, pressure-fed to the combustion chamber by nitrogen gas.

Gnom. - intercontinental ballistic missile - Status: Development ended 1965. Gnom was a unique design which represented the most advanced work ever undertaken on an air-augmented missile capable of intercontinental ranges or orbital flight. Although cancelled in 1965 before flight tests could begin, Gnom was the closest the world aerospace engineering community ever came to fielding an orbital-capable launcher of less than half of the mass of conventional designs.

GR-1. - orbital missile - Status: Development ended 1964. Korolev's entry in the 'Global Rocket' competition, a missile that could place a nuclear warhead in orbit, where it could come in under or behind American anti-ballistic missile defences, and be deorbited with little warning. Cancelled in 1964 in preference to Yangel's R-36-O.

Granat. - intermediate range cruise missile - The Granat SLCM was designed for use with Project 671 submarines. The RK-55 was a land-based version. Full deployment of the land-based version was cancelled as a result of the INF Treaty. According to treaty declarations, 84 missiles and 6 launchers had been completed by 1987. All were destroyed at Yelgav under the treaty by 1989. The original naval missile was developed by SKB Novator under designer L V Lyulyev and was known in the west as the SS-C-4 Shipwreck. Flight trials were conducted in 1982-1986. Guidance was by inertial navigation with terminal homing. The INS was designed by A S Abramov at NIIP. Cruise speed at 200 m altitude was between Mach 0.7 and Mach 0.9.

Groza. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Design 1987. Variant of the Energia launch vehicle with two strap-on boosters instead of four. This would have fullfilled the 50 tonne payload requirement had the third generation booster plan been fully implemented.

Herakles. - winged orbital launch vehicle - Status: Study 1993. Launch vehicle design by NPO Molniya / TsAGI that would utilize air launch from a giant cargo aircraft capable of lifting 900 tonne payloads. The single stage to orbit spaceplane would be released at subsonic velocity.

Hermes 9K121. - anti-tank missile - New antitank guided missile for Ka-50 Hokum and Su-39 Frog Foot.

Igla. - surface-to-air missile - Development of the Igla man-portable surface-to-air missile began in 1971. The development program was protracted, and conducted in two phases. The Igla-1 was accepted by the military in 1981, while the Igla with more capable homing logic entered production in 1983.

Initial UR-500. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Design 1962. While Chelomei's OKB was still preparing the UR-200 draft project, it was proposed to use this as the basis for the UR-500 heavy universal rocket, with five times the payload capacity. These initial 1961 studies consisted of 4 two-stage UR-200 rockets lashed together, the first and second stages working in parallel in clusters. A third stage would be modified from the UR-200 second stage. However analysis indicated that the payload capacity could not meet the military�s requirements.

Iskander. - short range ballistic missile - New Russian tactical ballistic missile, conceived as a follow-on to the Scud. First fired on 25 October 1995.

K-10. - air-to-surface missile -

K-13. - air-to-air missile -

K-14. - air-to-air missile - Sidewinder AIM-9L copy, cancelled in favour of K-73/R-73

K-23. - air-to-air missile -

K-27. - air-to-air missile -

K-5. - air-to-air missile -

K-51. - air-to-air missile -

K-55. - air-to-air missile - Used on MiG-21s. Modified K-5. Being retired, 2000.

K-7. - air-to-air missile -

K-75. - air-to-air missile -

K-8. - air-to-air missile -

K-80. - air-to-air missile -

K-9. - air-to-air missile - Shown with MiG E-152A, cancelled 1962

K-98. - air-to-air missile -

Katyusha. - surface-to-surface - Unguided rocket built in a variety of calibres and used by the Red Army from 1941 onward.

Keldysh Bomber. - intercontinental boost-glide missile - Status: Design 1946. Soviet version of the Saenger antipodal bomber intensely studied on Stalin's direct orders in 1946-1947. The final study concluded that, given the fuel consumption of foreseeable rocket engines, the design would only be feasible using ramjet engines and greatly advanced materials. This meant that development could only begin in the late 1950's, when such technologies were available. By that time the design had been superseded by more advanced concepts.

Kh-101. - air-to-surface missile - Chelomei mobile-launched version of V-1

Kh-101 Raduga. - air-to-surface missile - New conventional/nuclear stealth cruise missile.

Kh-102. - air-to-surface missile - Chelomei mobile-launched version of V-1

Kh-15. - air-to-surface missile -

Kh-20. - air-to-surface missile -

Kh-22. - air-to-surface missile -

Kh-23. - air-to-surface missile -

Kh-25. - air-to-surface missile -

Kh-27. - air-to-surface missile -

Kh-28. - anti-radar missile - Heavy ARM. Used on Su-17M, Su-24M, Tu-22M.

Kh-29. - air-to-surface missile -

Kh-31. - air-to-surface missile -

Kh-35. - anti-ship missile -

Kh-37. - air-to-air missile - Anti-radar >100 km range against AWACS

Kh-41. - short range cruise missile - Air-launched version of SS-N-22 Sunburn for Su-33 naval fighter and Su-32FN.

Kh-55. - air-to-surface missile -

Kh-58. - air-to-surface missile -

Kh-59. - air-to-surface missile -

Kh-65. - air-to-surface missile -

Kh-66. - air-to-surface missile -

Kh-90. - air-to-surface missile -

Kh-SD. - air-to-surface missile - New conventional cruise missile. Kh-55 replacement.

Khrizantema. - anti-tank missile -

Kinzhal. - surface-to-air missile - Naval version of the Tor multi-target surface-to-air missile. Export version is designated Klinok.

Kobra. - anti-tank missile - 125 mm. gun-fired antitank guided missile for T-64B, T-80B.

Konkurs. - anti-tank missile -

Kornet. - anti-tank missile -

Kortik. - surface-to-air missile - Naval version of the Tunguska system. Integrated missile-artillery system designed to destroy targets at altitudes of up to 8000 m. Export version is designated Kashtan.

KR. - intercontinental boost-glide missile - Status: Study 1957. The KR (winged rocket) was a three-stage unmanned boost-glide missile developed at the Tupolev's OKB-156. Work began in 1957. Two alternates were considered for the first stage: a conventional liquid rocket or a special manned aircraft launcher. The second stage was a conventional rocket. The final winged stage included a propulsion section and nuclear warhead. The glider would cut-off at an altitude of 50 km and a velocity of 20,000 km/hr. Planned-over target speed was 7,000 km/hr at 30 km altitude. Work on the project continued only about a year before it was abandoned in favour of the more conventional Tu-123 supersonic cruise missile. The KR would have had a gross weight of 240 tonnes, and delivered a payload of 3 to 5 tonnes over a range of 9,000 to 12,000 km.

Krug. - surface-to-air missile - Ramjet-powered long-range surface-to-air missile, deployed by the Soviet Union and its allies.

KS-1. - anti-ship missile -

KS-172. - air-to-air missile - Anti-AWACS missile. 1.4m booster, AAM-L, Not funded.

KSR-11. - air-to-surface missile -

KSR-2. - air-to-surface missile -

KSR-5. - air-to-surface missile -

KSS. - short range cruise missile -

Kub. - surface-to-air missile - Mid-range integral rocket-ramjet Russian surface-to-air missile, widely deployed with Soviet forces and exported to 22 countries. The missile provided one of the great technological surprises in warfare in the October 1973 Arab-Israeli War.

Kvant. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Design 1985. The Kvant was the Soviet third generation light launch vehicle planned to replace the Kosmos and Tsyklon series. Unlike the vehicles it was to replace, the booster used non-toxic 'environmentally friendly' liquid oxygen/kerosene propellants. Although such a light launch vehicle was on Space Forces wish lists since 1972, full scale development was again deferred due to the crash effort on Soviet 'star wars' in the second half of the 1980's. RKK Energia marketed the vehicle design from 1994 to 2001, but could find no source for development funds.

Kvant-1. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Design 1994. From 1996-2001 RSC Energia carried out design studies on the Kvant-1 light launch vehicle with a low earth orbit payload capability of 1.8 to 3.0 metric tons. Market surveys seemed to indicate a need for a new launch vehicle of this class but development funding was not forthcoming.

LII Spaceplane. - winged orbital launch vehicle - Status: Design 1993. LII (the Gromov Experimental Flight Institute at Zhukoskiy) designed several alternate spaceplane concepts for air-launch from the An-225 transport. These were similar to the various MAKS concepts.

Luna. - tactical ballistic rocket -

Luna 8K72. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Out of production. R-7 ICBM with single-engine upper stage used for early Soviet unmanned lunar shots.

Luna-M. - tactical ballistic rocket -

M-100. - sounding rocket - Two-stage, solid propellant, fin stabilized, unguided Russian sounding rocket, fired in greater numbers than any other. At least 6,640 were fired to the edge of space before the vehicle was discontinued in 1990.

M-51. - intercontinental cruise missile - Intercontinental cruise missile based on M-50 manned bomber. Subsonic cruise with Mach 2 dash into the target area.

MAKS. - winged orbital launch vehicle - Status: Development ended 1988. The MAKS spaceplane was the ultimate development of the air-launched spaceplane studies conducted by NPO Molniya. The draft project for MAKS was completed in 1988 and consisted of 220 volumes, generated by NPO Molniya and 70 sub-contractors and government institutes. Development of MAKS was authorised but cancelled in 1991. At the time of the cancellation, mock-ups of both the MAKS orbiter and the external tank had been finished. A 9,000 kgf experimental engine with 19 injectors was tested. There were 50 test burns proving the separate modes and a smooth switch between them. Since it was expected that MAKS could reduce the cost of transport to earth orbit by a factor of ten, it was hoped in the 1990's that development funding could be found. However this did not materialise. MAKS was to have flown by 1998.

MAKS-D. - winged orbital launch vehicle - Status: Study 1981. NPO Molniya, Antonov, and TsAGI proposed a spaceplane demonstrator project to the European Space Agency in 1993-1994 under the RADEM project. This would be a scaled-back version of the cancelled MAKS spaceplane using existing rocket engines. An unmanned prototype of the MAKS would be fitted out with RD-120 Lox/Kerosene engines. Launched from atop the An-225, the MAKS-D would reach an altitude of 80 to 90 km and a speed of Mach 14 to 15.

MAKS-M. - winged orbital launch vehicle - Status: Study 1988. Fully reusable unpiloted verion of MAKS, similar to Interim HOTOL. Air launched from An-225. MAKS was found to have superior payload, lower non-recurring cost and technical risk. MAKS-M would require new materials. Release conditions: Piggy-back, 275,000 kg, 38.0 m length x 24.0 m wingspan, 900 kph at 9,500 m altitude. Effective velocity gain compared to vertical launch 270 m/s. Payload bay 7.0 m long x 4.6 m diameter.

MAKS-T. - winged orbital launch vehicle - Status: Study 1988. All cargo version of MAKS. Air-launched heavy-lift launcher would use an expendable second stage with a payload container. Release conditions: Piggy-back, 275,000 kg, 38.0 m length x 24.0 m wingspan, 900 kph at 9,500 m altitude. Effective velocity gain compared to vertical launch 270 m/s. Payload bay 13.0 m long x 5.0 m diameter.

Malyutka. - anti-tank missile -

Mars. - tactical ballistic rocket -

MBR. - intercontinental ballistic missile - 'Sealed unit' liquid propellant ICBM proposed by Reshetnev in 1960.

Medvedka. - missile -

MERA. - sounding rocket - Two-stage small meteorological sounding rocket, consisting of two identical solid rocket motors in tandem, stabilised by fins, topped by a payload dart with instrumentation.

Meteorit. - intermediate range cruise missile - Development of three variants of this cruise missile was authorised on 9 December 1976. The Meteorit-M strategic version would be deployed from 667M submarines with 12 launchers per boat. The air-launched Meteorit-A would be launched from Tu-95 bombers. The land-based version was designated Meteorit-N. The missile was also sometimes referred to by the code-name Grom. The first test launch, on 20 May 1980, was unsuccessful, as were the next three attempts. The first successful flight did not come until 16 December 1981. The first launch from a 667M submarine took place on 26 December 1983 from the Barents Sea. However all variants were cancelled in 1988 as a result of the INF Treaty.

Metis. - anti-tank missile -

Metis-M. - anti-tank missile -

MiG-2000. - winged orbital launch vehicle - Status: Study 1993. Sled-launched single stage to orbit vehicle with air-breathing propulsion to Mach 5 (subsonic combustion). The sled would accelerate the launch vehicle to Mach 0.8. Propellants wer slush hydrogen and liquid oxygen. The vehicle would have a 3000 km cross-range on re-entry.

MIGAKS. - winged orbital launch vehicle - Status: Study 1993. Turbojet/ramjet-powered two stage to orbit horizontal takeoff / horizontal landing vehicle. Mach 6 stage separation. The orbiter had a 2000 km cross-range capability with landing on airfields with runways of 3500 m length or more.

Mikoyan 301. - intermediate range cruise missile - Status: Design. The 301 was designed as a military bomber, with a Mach 4 / 4,250 km/hr cruise capability at 25,000 to 27,000 m altitude. It was equipped with two turboramjets, had a gross takeoff mass of 80 tonnes, of which half was fuel. It may be related to the first stage of the MIGAKS two-stage vehicle.

MKR. - intercontinental cruise missile - Status: Study 1957. A wide range of MKR (intercontinental winged missiles) were studied in 1957-1960 in accordance with a decree of the General Staff. The trade-off studies encompassed long-range air-breathing aircraft, winged rockets, and aircraft launchers for air-breathing missiles. A large number of institutes and design bureaux participated in the studies, including Mozhaiskiy, Zhukovskiy, KVVO, NII-VVS, NII-88, TsAGI, NII-1, OKB-470, OKB-23, and so on. All aspects of the problem and potential applications were studied, including long range guidance, long range anti-aircraft systems, mobile systems, naval interdiction, and anti-aircraft and anti-ballistic missile designs. Many variants were considered, of which one is shown here (representing a staged air-breathing/rocket-propelled system).

MMR-06. - sounding rocket - Soviet solid propellant sounding rocket, capable of lofting 5 to 11 kg to 60 km altitude. Launch mass 130 kg, 9 seconds burn time. Nose ejects at apogee. Flown in both conical nose and boosted dart configurations.

Molniya 8K78. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Out of production. Four stage derivative of the R-7 ICBM developed on a crash-program basis in 1960 for Soviet lunar and planetary deep space probe missions. The third stage found later use in the Voskhod and Soyuz launchers. By the 1970's mature versions of the launch vehicle were used almost entirely for launch of Molniya communications satellites and Oko missile early warning spacecraft into elliptical, 12-hour earth orbits.

Molniya 8K78L. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Study 1962. The Molniya 8K78L was designed by Korolev's design bureau for launching a manned spacecraft on a flyby of the Moon and return to earth. To achieve this it would have used Lox/LH2 engines in the third and fourth stages. Preliminary design was completed on 8 July 1962, but such technology was years away in the Soviet Union and the project was not pursued further.

Molniya 8K78M. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: In production. Improved Molniya, in variants with Blocks ML, 2BL, or SO-L third stages according to payload.

Monoblock UR-500. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Design 1962. During UR-500 design studies, two variants of the first stage were considered: polyblock and monoblock. The monoblock approach was that the first stage be assembled from two separate modules with the same diameter: an upper oxidiser module and a lower fuel and engine block. In assembly trials of this design it proved difficult, because of the height of the first stage, to obtain access to the upper stages and payload atop the rocket. Although there was a payload advantage compared to the more compact polyblock design, this was relatively small and outweighed by the operational difficulties. This variant was studied by Chelomei�s Filial Number 1, Chief Designer V N Bugayskiy, under the lead engineer M S Mishetyan.
The design mass and engine performance figures for this version have been given; the calculated payload is 12,000 kg.

Moskit-M. - anti-ship missile -

Moskit-N. - cruise missile -

MR. - intercontinental ballistic missile - Status: Study 1961. Korolev studied this Multimodular Rocket (MR), based on stages already designed for the 8K74 and 8K77 (R-7 and R-9) missiles. The concept seems to have been promoted in competition with Chelomei's UR-200, for the launcher could be used for similar missions:
- Military global rocket (orbital bombing system) of unlimited range
- ICBM
- Launch vehicle for anti-satellites
- Space exploration
The three-stage version of the rocket would have a total mass of 101 tonnes, an empty mass of 10 tonnes, and first, second, and third stage thrusts of 140 tonnes, 45 tonnes, and 10 tonnes. An ICBM would be composed of just the first and second stages, and an IRBM from the first stage alone.
As was the case of the 8K74, work on the design was stopped in September 1961.

MR-12. - sounding rocket - Status: Out of production. The MR-12 sounding rocket was developed by the Soviet Union as a modern replacement for the MR-1 Meteo. It was a single stage solid rocket with a 170 kg payload. Payload section 1.55 m long, 0.445 m in diameter.

MR-20. - sounding rocket - Status: Out of production. Upper atmosphere Soviet sounding rocket, improved version of MR-12, but capable of lofting 135 kg to 250 km altitude.

N-11 1963. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Study 1963. A military variant of the N-11 which would use a powerful third stage, probably derived from the first stage of the 8K713 GR-1, to put up to 24 tonnes in low earth orbit. This was a competitor with Chelomei's UR-500K, which was selected instead for the heavy military payload mission.

N-111. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Study 1962. It was originally planned the N1 would form the basis of a family of launch vehicles that could replace existing ICBM-derived boosters. The N111 would use the third and fourth stages of the N1, and the second stage of Korolev�s R-9 ICBM. This would result in a lift-off mass of 200 tonnes and a five tonne payload. It could replace the R-7 derived boosters (Vostok and Soyuz) in this payload category.

N-11GR. - orbital missile - Status: Study 1962. This 1962 project was designed by Korolev's OKB as a competitor to Chelomei's UR-500 against the military GR-2 (Global Rocket 2) requirement. The N-11GR was an adaptation of the basic N-11, derived from the second and third stages of the N1 heavy booster. The GR-2 was to be a kind of enormous multiple-warhead FOBS (fractional orbit bombing system). Surrounding the top of the second stage of the rocket, like bullets in an enormous revolver, were six final stages derived from the 8K713 GR-1 last stage. Each stage had a 1,500 kg nuclear warhead.

N-IF 1965. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Study 1965. The N-IF would be the first follow-on version with increased performance. The first stage engines would be increased in thrust from an average of 150 tonnes to 175 tonnes, and those in the second stage from 150 tonnes to 200 tonnes. The second and third stages would be substantially enlarged.

N-IFV-II-III. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Study 1965. N-IFV-II, III would use only the first stage from the N-1F, and use new cryogenic second and third stages. This cryogenic second stage seems not to have been pursued beyond the study phase.

N-IFV-III. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Study 1965. Then N-IFV-III would add the Block V-III cryogenic third stage to the first and second stages of the N-IF.

N-IM 1965. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Study 1965. The N-IM would mark an tremendous increase in vehicle size and was the ultimate pure liquid oxygen/kerosene version considered. The first stage engines would be increased to 250 tonnes thrust, without reducing reliability, through use of higher engine chamber pressure. Propellant load in the first stage would be almost doubled. Second stage engine thrust would increase to 280 tonnes each and the second and third stages again enlarged.

N-IMV-II-III. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Study 1965. N-IMV-II, III was the ultimate conventionally-powered N1 ever considered. It paired the monster N-1M first stage with new cryogenic second and third stages. Both liftoff thrust and payload of this vehicle would have been double that of the American Saturn V.

N-IMV-III. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Study 1965. Then N-IMV-III would add the Block V-III cryogenic third stage to the first and second stages of the N-IM. This provided the second-highest performance of the variations considered and would certainly have been cheaper than the N-IFV-II, III.

N-IU. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Study 1965. The N-IU would be the initial production version of the N1 following the mad rush to make the lunar landings. It would have essentially the same payload but would be substantially re-engineered for sharply improved reliability, most notably with autonomously operating engines. It is interesting to note that four years before the disastorous first flight Korolev already foresaw the potential engine problems that would be the downfall of the project.

N-IUV-III. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Study 1965. The N-IUV-III would replace the N-IU's conventional third stage with a LOX/LH2 cryogenic third stage. This was seen at the time as the first step in exploitation of cryogenic technology in Russia. Although pursued for some time, this large stage never went into development. The more modestly-sized Block R, Block S, and Block SR instead were put into development in the early 1970's.

N1. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Out of production. Korolev OKB lunar landing launch vehicle. Built on-site at Baikonur from major components fabricated at Progress factory in Samara. These test vehicles did not exceed 2735 tonnes liftoff mass and 70 tonne earth orbit payload capability, as opposed to design requirement of 2750 tonnes and 95 tonnes. Four flight tests, all failures. Cancelled and Energia developed for heavy lift requirements.

N1 1962. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Study 1962. Final configuration of N1 at time of development go-ahead. 75 tonne payload selected to support OS-1 heavy space station program.

N1 1964. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Development ended 1964. The N1 launch vehicle for the N1-L3 lunar landing mission as described in the draft project of 1964. The actual N1 that flew in 1969 to 1972 had lighter first and third stages, but never demonstrated a full fuel load using superchilled propellants as planned in the draft project..

N1 Nuclear A. - nuclear orbital launch vehicle - Status: Study 1963. A version of the N1 with a nuclear upper stage was studied by Korolev in 1963. It was concluded that the optimum design would allow a single N1 to launch a direct manned lunar landing and return. However for manned Mars missions, a nuclear electric engine was found to be much more efficient. This essentially killed further consideration of thermal nuclear upper stages within the bureau.

N1 Nuclear AF. - nuclear orbital launch vehicle - Status: Study 1963. A variant of the first alternative considered in the 1962 nuclear N1 study. This was a 'high thrust' version of the Type A engine - apparently with higher propellant rate, lower specific impulse, and lower engine weight. Due to the very low density of the enormous liquid hydrogen upper stages, these immense vehicles would have been very ungainly (and had interesting stress problems during ascent!)

N1 Nuclear V. - nuclear orbital launch vehicle - Status: Study 1963. Second primary alternative considered for the 1962 nuclear N1 study. The immense liquid hydrogen tank of the second nuclear stage would have dwarfed the N1 first stage mounted below it in the shadows. The extremely poor thrust to weight ratio of the Type V engine design compared to that of the Type A remains unexplained.

N1 Nuclear V-B. - nuclear orbital launch vehicle - Status: Study 1963. N1 with nuclear upper stage. This variant of the Type V nuclear engine used a very heavy radiation shield to protect the crew of any manned spacecraft payload.

N1-MOK. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Study 1974. Ultimate derivative of N1. Single-stage-to-orbit vehicle based on N1 Block A. Propellants changed to LH2/LOX, 16 x modified NK-33 engines + 4 Liquid Air Cycle Engine Liquid Air/LH2 boosters. All figures estimated based on tank volume of Block A and delivery of 90,000 kg payload to 450 km / 97.5 degree MKBS orbit. Briefly described in RKK Energia official history and in some detail in Peter James'
book Soviet Conquest from Space!

N11. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Study 1962. It was originally planned the N1 would form the basis of a family of launch vehicles that could replace existing ICBM-derived boosters. The N11 would use the second, third, and fourth stages of the N1. This would give it a lift-off mass of 700 tonnes and a 20 tonne payload into low earth orbit. It could replace Chelomei's Proton launch vehicle in the medium-lift role.

N1F. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Development ended 1974. The N1F would have been the definitive flight version of the N1, incorporating all changes resulting from the four flight tests of the vehicle, including the new Kuznetsov engines and 10% greater liftoff mass by using superchilled propellants in all stages. N1 8L would have been the first N1F configuration flight, with launch planned in the third quarter of 1975 at the time the project was cancelled.

N1F Sr. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Development ended 1974. The final more modest version of the N1M replaced the fourth and fifth stages of the N1 with the single liquid oxygen/liquid hydrogen Block Sr stage. Development of the Sr stage was from May 1971 until cancellation of the N1 project in May 1974.

N1F-L3M. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Development ended 1971. The N1M was to be the first Soviet launch vehicle to use liquid oxygen/liquid hydrogen high energy cyrogenic propellants. As originally conceived, the advanced propellants would be used in all upper stages. However this more ambitious work was revised. The first proposed launch vehicle to use such stages would by the N1F, which would have only used the Block S and Block R fourth and fifth stages in place of the N1's Block G and Block D.

N1M. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Development ended 1971. The N1M was to be the first Soviet launch vehicle to use liquid oxygen/liquid hydrogen high energy cyrogenic propellants. It was designed to launch payloads in support of the LEK lunar expeditions (two cosmonauts on the surface), the DLB (long-duration lunar base), and heavy unmanned satellites into geosynchronous and interplanetary trajectories. As originally conceived, the advanced propellants would be used in all upper stages. However due to delays in Kuznetsov development of a 200 tonne thrust Lox/LH2 engine, the final version used an N1 first stage, with a Block V-III second stage, and Blocks S and R third and fourth stages.

Norma. - winged orbital launch vehicle - Status: Study 1997. Semi-reusable vertically launched two-stage-to-orbit vehicle. The flight profile featured a reusable flyback booster launched from a modular launch platform, an expendable second stage with a reusable orbiter that would have landed vertically. Development cost estimated at $13 billion.

Onega. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Study 2004. Launch vehicle proposed for the 'Kliper' manned spaceplane in 2004. The 'Onega' was a hitherto-unrevealed massive improvement of the reliable Soyuz. It would deliver double the payload to a space station orbit, and could be available by 2010 if funding was made available.

Orel V2. - winged orbital launch vehicle - Status: Study 1997. In the late 1990's the Russian space industry undertook the Orel programme to evaluate technology for future launch vehicles. The goals included evaluation of possible concepts for a future Russian launcher, reusable launch vehicle key technology research and analysis of "X-vehicle" flight demonstrators for technology validation. One preferred near-term configuration was this semi-reusable vertical takeoff/horizontal landing two stage launch vehicle. It would use a flyback booster, expendable second stage, and a small manned spaceplane. This was preferred to the Orel V3, which was essentially the earlier MMKS/OK-M1 system with a flyback booster, expendable core tank, and small spaceplane with recoverable main engines.

Orel V4. - winged orbital launch vehicle - Status: Study 1997. Fully reusable vertical takeoff, horizontal landing two stage to orbit concept. Abandoned in favor of Orel V6.

Orel V5. - winged orbital launch vehicle - Status: Study 1997. Vertically launched two stage to orbit concept consisting of horizontal landing booster, vertical landing orbiter. Abandoned in favor of Orel V6.

Orel V6. - winged orbital launch vehicle - Status: Study 1997. Fully reusable vertical takeoff / horizontal landing single stage to orbit launch vehicle. The preferred long-term alternative of the Russian Orel launch vehicle study of the 1990's.

Orel V7 RSSLV-2. - VTOVL orbital launch vehicle - Status: Study 1997. Fully reusable vertical takeoff / vertical landing single stage to orbit. Concept abandoned in favor of Orel V6 by 1998 due to engine reliability concerns. Version with Lox/LH2 propellants.

Orel V7 RSSLV-3. - VTOVL orbital launch vehicle - Status: Study 1997. Fully reusable vertical takeoff / vertical landing single stage to orbit. Concept abandoned in favor of Orel V6 by 1998 due to engine reliability concerns. Tripropellant Lox/Kerosene (RG-1)/LH2 version.

Osa. - surface-to-air - The Osa concept was for a completely self-contained anti-aircraft missile system, which contained the search radar, missile guidance, and missile launchers all on one vehicle. Development was difficult, and it was over ten years from the beginning of work before the missile entered service.

Osa-M. - surface-to-air missile - Development of the basic Osa system to provide a short-range surface-to-air missile for larger ships.

P-100. - intercontinental cruise missile - Family of sea- or silo- launched Mach 3.5 cruise missiles with ranges up to intercontinental distances.

P-1000. - anti-ship missile - New sub-launched antiship missile. Separating hypersonic warhead.

P-120. - anti-ship missile - Ship- and sub-launched antiship missile.

P-15. - tactical cruise missile -

P-20. - anti-ship missile -

P-205. - intermediate range cruise missile - Status: Cancelled 1961. Development of a family of long-range cruise missiles was begun in 1956 by Ilyushin. The P-205 was a land-based strategic cruise missile based on the P-20 antiship missile. The land-launch version was developed for the VVS in 1958-1960. There were two submarine projects for the missile, 627A and 653, both designed by OKB-143. Construction of the 627A submarine began at Severodvinsk, but the work on the submarine was cancelled in November 1961.

P-21. - cruise missile -

P-22. - cruise missile -

P-27. - cruise missile -

P-35. - short range cruise missile -

P-5. - cruise missile - The DOD used the SS-N-3 for both Sepal and Shaddock missiles.

P-500. - anti-ship missile - Ship-launched antiship missile. Replacing P-35/SS-N-3.

P-6. - intermediate range cruise missile -

P-7. - anti-ship missile - Antiship missile.

P-70. - anti-ship missile - Sub-launched antiship missile.

P-700. - anti-ship missile - Ship-launched antiship missile. Replacing SS-N-12.

P-750. - intermediate range cruise missile - IOC in 1988 est 1992+. SS-C-5 GLCM banned in INF.

P-800. - anti-ship missile - New vertical-launched antiship missile for naval craft. Also known as ONIKS.

P-900. - air-to-surface missile - AS-21 may be assigned to either the P-900 Alfa or the Yakhont.

Pantsir-S1. - surface-to-air missile - Developed Tunguska - extended-range truck-mounted single-vehicle missile-gun anti-aircraft system for the export market.

Pioner. - intermediate range ballistic missile - Mobile solid propellant intermediate range multiple warhead ballistic missile. Seen as an enormous threat to NATO. 405 launchers deployed by 1987 when the missile was banned by the INF Treaty.

Polyblock UR-500. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Design 1962. UR-500 design studies considered two variants of the first stage: polyblock and monoblock. The polyblock variant consisted of a centre large diameter oxidizer tank surrounded by several smaller diameter fuel tanks. This version could be assembled in a special rig with the lateral blocks being sequentially mounted on the centre. In January 1962 this design was chosen as most advantageous, following studies that indicated improved wind loads and bending moment characteristics compared to the monoblock design. The developed version of the design would become known as the Proton.

Polyot 11A59. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Out of production. Two stage version of Vostok 11A57. Used for flight test of prototype Chelomei ASAT after cancellation of UR-200 booster and before availability of Tsiklon.

PR-38. - air-to-air missile - Intended for T-37 and P-37, cancelled

PR-90. - short range ballistic missile - Short-range air-augmented ballistic missile. Tested concepts for Gnom ICBM.

Priboy/Surf. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Design 1993. Launch vehicle using the 1st stage of the SS-N-20 SLBM topped by an SS-N-23 SLBM (RSM-52+RSM-54). Liftoff mass 104 tonnes. Can be launched from stationary or mobile platforms.

Proton 8K82. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Out of production. The Proton launch vehicle has been the medium-lift workhorse of the Soviet and Russian space programs for over forty years. Although constantly criticized within Russia for its use of toxic and ecologically-damaging storable liquid propellants, it has out-lasted all challengers, and no replacement is in sight. Development of the Proton began in 1962 as a two-stage vehicle that could be used to launch large military payloads or act as a ballistic missile with a 100 megaton nuclear warhead. The ICBM was cancelled in 1965, but development of a three-stage version for the crash program to send a Soviet man around the moon began in 1964. The hurried development caused severe reliability problems in early production. But these were eventually solved, and from the 1970's the Proton was used to launch all Russian space stations, medium- and geosynchronous orbit satellites, and lunar and planetary probes.

Proton 8K82K. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: In production. Development of a three-stage version of the UR-500 was authorised in the decree of 3 August 1964. Decrees of 12 October and 11 November 1964 authorised development of the Almaz manned military space station and the manned circumlunar spacecraft LK-1 as payloads for the UR-500K. Remarkably, due to continuing failures, the 8K82K did not satisfactorily complete its state trials until its 61st launch (Salyut 6 / serial number 29501 / 29 September 1977). Thereafter it reached a level of launch reliability comparable to that of other world launch vehicles.

Proton 8K82K / 11S824. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Out of production. This four stage version of the Proton was originally designed to send manned circumlunar spacecraft into translunar trajectory. Guidance to the Block D stage must be supplied by spacecraft. The design was proposed on 8 September 1965 by Korolev as an alternate to Chelomei's LK-1 circumlunar mission. It combined the Proton 8K82K booster for the LK-1 with the N1 lunar Block D stage to boost a stripped-down Soyuz 7K-L1 spacecraft around the moon. The Korolev design was selected, and first flight came on 10 March 1967. The crash lunar program led to a poor launch record. Following a protracted ten year test period, the booster finally reached a level of launch reliability comparable to that of other world launch vehicles.

Proton 8K82K / 11S824F. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Out of production. This four stage version of the Proton was a modification of the original Block D / 11S824M for launch of late 1980's Lavochkin OKB probes on missions to Mars. Guidance to the Block D-2 stage must be supplied by spacecraft.

Proton 8K82K / 11S824M. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Out of production. This derivative of the original four stage Block D / 11S824 version of the Proton was used from 1978 to launch Lavochkin OKB planetary probes (Mars, Venera) and high earth orbit astronomical observatories (Astron, Granat). Guidance to the Block D-1 stage must be supplied by spacecraft. Equipped with N2O4/UDMH verniers for precise placement of payloads in high orbits or planetary trajectories.

Proton 8K82K / 11S86. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Out of production. The original four stage Proton / Block D configuration was used until 1976, at which time it was replaced by a modernised version equipped with N2O4/UDMH verniers for precise placement of payloads in geosynchronous orbit and its own self-contained guidance unit. This was accepted into military service in 1978 with the first Raduga launch. The stage was first developed for launch of gesynchronous military communications and early warning satellites (Raduga, Ekran, Gorizont, Potok, SPRN). Its later versions continue in use for launch of MEO and geosynchronous comsats, and was Russia's most successful commercial launcher.

Proton 8K82K / 11S861. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: In production. This improved four stage version uses the Block DM-2 / 11S861 fourth stage, which has its own guidance unit. This reduces payload but does not require the spacecraft's guidance system to provide steering commands to booster. Replaced the original Block DM / 11S86 version from 1982 to 1995. Used for launch of Glonass navigation satellites into medium earth orbit; and launch of Luch, Ekran-M, Potok, Raduga, Gorizont, Raduga-1, Elektro, and Gals communications satellites into geosynchronous orbit. Commercial version with Saab payload adapter-seperation system for Western payloads was dubbed 'Block DM1'.

Proton 8K82K / 11S861-01. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: In production. This four stage version uses the Block DM-2M / 11S861-01 upper stage, which has its own self-contained guidance unit. This reduces payload but does not require the spacecraft's guidance system to provide steering commands to booster. Used for launches of Russian geosynchronous satellites from 1994 on.

Proton 8K82K / 17S40. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: In production. Version of Proton using Block DM-5 / 17S40 fourth stage. This stage has a new payload adapter for use with heavier paylods launched into sub-synchronous orbits. Used for launch of Arkon reconnaisance satellite.

Proton 8K82K / Briz-M. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: In production. Improved Proton. Improvements in lower stages to reduce structural mass, increase thrust, and fully utilize propellants (reducing release of toxic chemicals in stage impact areas). Briz M storable propellant upper stage replaces Block D cyrogenic stage.

Proton 8K82M. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: In production. 4 stage vehicle consisting of 1 x 8S810M + 1 x 8S811 + 1 x 8S812M + 1 x Briz-M

R-1. - short range ballistic missile - Status: Out of production. Stalin did not decide to proceed with Soviet production of this copy of the German V-2 until 1948. Despite the threatening supervision of the program by Stalin's secret police chief, Beria, and the assistance of German rocket engineers, it took eight years for the German technology to be absorbed and the missile to be put into service. It was almost immediately superseded by later designs, but the effort laid the groundwork for the Soviet rocket industry. Surplus R-1's were converted to use as a sounding rockets for military and scientific research missions.

R-10. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Design 1960. Glushko booster - 1500t, Korolev I evo delo p. 307

R-101. - surface-to-air missile - Post-war Russian version of German Wasserfall surface-to-air missile. Never put into production, but technology used for further surface-to-air and surface-to-surface missile developments in Russia.

R-102. - surface-to-air missile - Post-war Russian version of German Schmetterling surface-to-air missile. 16 test flights made at Kapustin Yar between 18 October and 19 December 1949. Not put into production, cancelled in favour of the R-112.

R-103. - surface-to-air missile - Post-war Russian version of German Taifun anti-aircraft barrage rocket. Developed and tested in 1947-1951 but abandoned in favour of the R-110.

R-108. - surface-to-air missile - All-Russian second generation version of the R-101, itself a derivative of the German Wasserfall. Development began in May 1949 but the missile did not reach flight test stage before its cancellation in 1951.

R-109. - surface-to-air missile - Russian derivative of the German Wasserfall, an interim design between the R-101 and R-108. The missile did not reach flight test stage before it was cancellation in 1951.

R-11. - short range ballistic missile - Status: Out of production. First Russian ballistic missile using storable propellants. Enlargement/elaboration of German Wasserfall SAM. Developed by Korolev OKB, then Makeyev OKB spun off to develop Army and SLBM derivatives. Range 270 km with 690 kg, accuracy 1.5 km/0.75 km. Maximum altitude 78 km. Time of flight 5.4 minutes. Max velocity at burnout 1430 m/s.

R-110. - surface-to-air missile - Larger caliber Russian version of the German Taifun anti-aircraft barrage rocket. Developed and tested in 1948-1956 and reached the initial production stage, but cancelled due to the inability to produce an economical rocket with the necessary consistent range accuracy for the barrage role.

R-112. - surface-to-air missile - Soviet surface-to-air missile design of 1948-1951. Propulsion and guidance based on that of the R-102 (copy of German Schmetterling) but with new aerodynamics. Cancelled without ever flying in 1951 when decision was made to proceed with a new generation of SAM designs.

R-117. - surface-to-air missile - Soviet surface-to-air missile design of 1948-1950. Developed in competition with the R-112 (derrived from the German Schmetterling) but with new aerodynamics. Cancelled without ever flying in 1950 in favour of further development of the R-112.

R-11FM. - short range ballistic missile - Status: Out of production. First Russian submarine-launched ballistic missile. Range 150 km with 967 kg warhead. Accuracy 1.5 km in range, 0.75 km lateral. Following protracted testing the design was accepted by the military in 1959 but never put into operational service.

R-13. - intermediate range ballistic missile - Developed from 1956-1960. First nuclear-armed SLBM.

R-14. - intermediate range ballistic missile - Status: Out of production. The R-14, with a range of 3600 km, was the only missile of that range class to be fielded. A key element in the Cuba missile crisis, it thereafter was part of the nuclear deterrent targeted at NATO and China. Built in relatively limited numbers by Soviet standards, it was perhaps more important as the basis for the first stage of the R-16 ICBM and the Kosmos-3 launch vehicle. The latter continued in use into the 21st Century.

R-15. - intermediate range ballistic missile - Yuzhnoye 1000-km range submarine-launched ballistic missile. According to Przybilski, it was related to the light ICBM later designated R-26/8K66.

R-17. - short range ballistic missile - Status: Out of production. The final refinement of the R-11 design, the R-17, was exported and became infamous around the world as the Scud. Perhaps the most famous ballistic missile of the post-war period due to its use in the Iran-Iraq 'War of the Cities' and the Gulf War. This was the definitive production version of what was essentially a storable-propellant rocket with the perforamnce of the V-2. The original design was by Makeyev but the missile itself was produced by the Votkinsk Machine Building Plant.

R-2. - intermediate range ballistic missile - Status: Out of production. The Soviet R-2 ballistic missile was developed in 1947-1953, nearly in parallel with the R-1 from which it derived. It incorporated many detailed improvements, had double the range of the R-1 and V-2, and was equipped with a deadly radiological warhead. The ethyl alcohol used in the V-2 and R-1 was replaced by methyl alcohol in the R-2, eliminating the problem of the launch troops drinking up the rocket fuel. Versions of the R-2 for suborbital manned flight were studied by Korolev in 1956-1958, but it was decided instead to move directly to orbital flights of the Vostok. However some equipment tested on the R-2 found its way onto canine flights of Sputnik and Vostok. The R-2 design was transferred to China in 1957 to 1961, providing the technical basis of the Chinese rocket industry.

R-20. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Design 1960. Glushko booster - 2000t, Korolev I evo delo p. 307

R-21. - intermediate range ballistic missile - First flight 1962. NATO code Serb may apply to SS-N-6 instead. First subsurface launched SLBM (development began at OKB- 586 and transferred to SKB-385).

R-27. - intermediate range ballistic missile -

R-29. - intercontinental ballistic missile - The variants of this missile have been given three different DoD designations over the years (SS-N-8, SS-N-18, and SS-N-23).

R-3. - intermediate range ballistic missile - Status: Development ended 1949. Development of the long-range R-3 missile was authorised at the same time as the V-2-derived R-1 and R-2 rockets in April 1947. Supplemental authorisation was contained in a government decree of 14 April 1948.The specification was an order of magnitude leap from the other vehicles - to deliver a 3 tonne atomic bomb to any point in Europe from Soviet territory - a required range of 3000 km. To achieve this objective innovative technology was needed in every area of the missile design. Korolev was again in direct competition with the design to the same specification of the captured Germans (Groettrup's G-4).

R-31. - intermediate range cruise missile - First Soviet submarine-launched ballistic missile to reach production using solid propellants. Deployed from 1980, but withdrawn in 1990 under the terms of the SALT-2 Treaty.

R-33. - air-to-air missile - Used on MiG-31. Improved R-37. Not in service. Fixed forward canards, four folding rear fins

R-37. - air-to-air missile - Used on MiG-31M. R-37M also reported.

R-38. - intercontinental ballistic missile - Status: Study 1962. Small, economical ICBM studied by Yangel as an alternative to Chelomei's UR-100. Both one and two stage variants were considered. Work ended when Yangel was ordered to concentrate on R-36.

R-39. - intercontinental ballistic missile -

R-39M. - intercontinental ballistic missile -

R-3A. - intermediate range ballistic missile - Status: Development ended 1951. So much new technology was involved for the R-3 that it was deemed necessary to build an R-3A intermediate experimental rocket, based on the R-2. This would be flown to test new construction methods, guidance systems, and high energy propellants. The R-3A was specified in 1949 to have a 900 to 1000 km range with a payload of 1530 kg; an unfuelled mass of 4100 kg; 20,500 kg of propellants; and a lift-off thrust of 40 tonnes. The R-3A could also serve as a prototype for a more modest IRBM. Flight tests of the R-3A were scheduled for October 1951.

R-40. - air-to-air missile -

R-5. - intermediate range ballistic missile - Status: Out of production. The R-5 was the first Soviet missile to be armed with a nuclear warhead, the first for which the new southern facility at Dnepropetrovsk took over full design and production responsibility. The R-5 could deliver a 1425 kg warhead over a range of 1200 km, doubling the performance of the R-2. It was also the end of the road in being the ultimate extrapolation of German V-2 technology. Later missiles of both Yangel and Korolev would use other propellants and engine designs. After reaching a velocity of 3044 m/s at burnout, the missile arced up to a maximum altitude 300 km during a 10.5 minute before impacting in the target area with an accuracy of 6 km in range, 5 km laterally. CEP was 1.4 km.
The R-5 was designed primarily for delivery of a radiological weapon. It seems not to have been deployed, in preference to the nuclear-tipped R-5M.

R-500. - surface-to-air missile - Status: Development ended 1961. MiG design for an equivalent to the US Bomarc extremely long-rane surface-to-air missile. Never got beyond the design stage.

R-5M. - intermediate range ballistic missile - Status: Out of production. The R-5M was the first Soviet missile to be armed with a nuclear warhead, and the first to launch a live nuclear warhead in test. The technical characteristics were virtually the same as those of the R-5 basic model, except for an increase in the propellant load. 48 launchers were deployed from 1956 to 1968, tipped with nuclear warheads of 80 kiloton, 300 kiloton, or 1 megaton.

R-60. - air-to-air missile -

R-7. - intercontinental ballistic missile - The world's first ICBM and first orbital launch vehicle. The 8K71 version was never actually put into military service, being succeeded by the R-7A 8K74.

R-73. - air-to-air missile -

R-74. - air-to-air missile -

R-77. - air-to-air missile -

R-7A. - intercontinental ballistic missile - Status: Out of production. The R-7A was an improved version of the R-7 first ICBM, and the one actually deployed to pads in Baikonur and Plesetsk. The missile saw service from 1960 to 1968. Four pads at Plesetsk, and one reserve pad at Baikonur, were operational at the peak of deployment in 1962. These were the Soviet Union's only strategic missile deterrent during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

R-8. - intercontinental ballistic missile - Glushko project 1956 for multistage 650t ICBM powered by Lox/UDMH.

R-88. - air-to-air missile - K-8 with K-13 seeker, cancelled

R-9. - intercontinental ballistic missile - Status: Out of production. ICBM developed by Korolev OKB using liquid oxygen/kerosene propellants. The Soviet military favoured storable propellants as advocated by Glushko and implemented by Yangel and Chelomei. Development of the R-9 was protracted and it was deployed in only very limited numbers between 1964 and 1974.

RDD. - tactical ballistic missile - The RDD - Long range rocket - was assigned to Korolev in November 1944 in response to the German V-2. Korolev was given charge of a team of 60 engineers and required to provide a draft project in three days. The resulting two-stage design used Lox/Alcohol propellants and an autopilot for guidance. It was proposed that a 5 tonne thrust rocket, 110 mm in diameter, would be available by 1945. A 250 tonne thrust, solid fuelled, 280 mm diameter, 4 m long rocket would be ready by 1949. These designs evolved into the more refined D-1 and D-2 before being overtaken by the post-war availability of V-2 technology.

Reflex. - anti-tank missile -

Riksha. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Design 1994. New design launch vehicle based on SLBM technology.

RLA-120. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Design 1974. This medium booster concept was proposed by Glushko in 1974. It was part of the RLA (Rocket Flight Apparatus) family of modular, lox/kerosene powered vehicles designed to meet the Soviet military's third-generation space launch requirements. The launcher had a payload to low earth orbit of 30 metric tons using the RLA-120 core and a 150 metric ton upper stage. Glushko proposed that the RLA-120 would boost reconnaissance satellites and modules of his POS Permanent Orbital Station into a sun synchronous orbit beginning in 1979. The government rejected the RLA concept, but this design led directly to the successful Zenit-2 booster.

RLA-135. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Design 1974. This heavyweight booster concept was proposed by Glushko in 1974. It was part of the RLA (Rocket Flight Apparatus) family of modular, lox/kerosene powered vehicles designed to meet the Soviet military's third-generation space launch requirements. The RLA-135 had a payload to low earth orbit 100 metric tons using two modules as the first stage and the RLA-120 core. Glushko proposed that the booster could launch a Soviet manned lunar landing by 1981. The government rejected the RLA concept, but it did lead to the Zenit-2 and Energia boosters of the 1980's.

RLA-150. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Design 1974. This super-booster concept was proposed by Glushko in 1974. It was part of the RLA (Rocket Flight Apparatus) family of modular, lox/kerosene powered vehicles designed to meet the Soviet military's third-generation space launch requirements. The RLA-150 had a payload to low earth orbit 250 metric tons using six modules as the first stage and the RLA-120 core. Glushko proposed that the booster could launch a Soviet manned Mars landing by 1983. The government rejected the RLA concept, but it did lead to the Energia booster of the 1980's.

RNII Sounding Rocket. - sounding rocket - P I Ivanov at RNII (Reaction Scientific Research Institute) developed a four-stage solid rocket capable of reaching 40 km altitude in 1944-1946. Two launches were made, but the project was considered generally unsuccessful and not followed up.

Rokot. - all-solid orbital launch vehicle - Status: In production. Launch vehicle based decommissioned UR-100N ICBMs. 106 tonne liftoff mass with Briz-KM upper stage.

RS. - intermediate range cruise missile - Status: Development ended 1961. Soviet Mach 3 manned air-launched ramjet aircraft, developed in 1954-1961, but cancelled before the first full-scale test article could be flown.

RS-24. - intercontinental ballistic missile - New mobile, solid-propellant ICBM, heavier than the Topol-M, designed to carry up to ten MIRV warheads and to replace the R-36M2 and UR-100N liquid propellant missiles.

RSS-40. - intercontinental ballistic missile - First flight tests (2 Apr 86, Aug 86) failures. Tests in Dec 86, Oct 87, early 88 successful. SS-18 Replacement. The designation SS-X-26 was originally assigned to the RSS-40, but the number was reused for another missile after its cancellation.

RSS-52. - test vehicle - Status: Development ended 1957. Hypersonic ramjet-powered research vehicle proposed by Myasishchev in 1958. This version of the cancelled Buran intercontinental cruise missile would have been air-launched at supersonic speed from a derivative of the M-50 bomber. It would then use its own ramjet to accelerate to hypersonic velocity.

RT-1. - intermediate range ballistic missile - The RT-1 (RT = rocket, solid in Russian) was the first large Soviet solid propellant ballistic missile. It was developed and tested in 1959-1963, but no production was undertaken due to its poor performance.

RT-15. - intermediate range ballistic missile - The RT-15 IRBM used the second and third stages if the RT-2 ICBM. After protracted development in 1961-1970 with a range of alternative self-propelled mobile launchers, limited numbers ('few' to 19) of two types of launchers were deployed in 1970. The various transporters tested created confusion in the West (with designations SS-14 Scapegoat and Scamp being applied).

RT-2. - intercontinental ballistic missile - Development of the RT-2, the Soviet Union's first solid propellant ICBM, was undertaken by Sergei Korolev and his successor from 1961-1968. It was a huge technical challenge, involving technology in which the Russians had no prior experience. The high-priority RT-2 preoccupied Korolev and his team throughout the period of the moon race, and could be considered a factor in the loss of that race to the Americans. In the end only sixty were deployed, but these provided the technical basis for Russian ballistic missiles of the 1980's and beyond.

RT-20. - intermediate range ballistic missile - First and third stages of SS-13. Cancelled after 8 test firings. Claims to have been deployed briefly.

RT-21. - intercontinental ballistic missile - Project work began in 1963 on this three-stage solid propellant ICBM. Five train-launched variants were studied, as well as a silo-launched version. Studies were completed in 1966 but it was decided not to proceed with the concept.

RT-22. - intercontinental ballistic missile - The RT-22 was a follow-on study to the RT-21 for a train-launched solid-propellant ICBM. It reached the stage of an advanced project in 1969. The three stage rocket would have a total mass of 80 tonnes including its transport container. A train would have a total of 22 cars, six of which would be missile launchers.

RT-25. - intermediate range ballistic missile - Decree 316-157 of 4 April 1961 authorised development of a family of solid propellant launch vehicles utilising various combinations of three stages (the RT-2, RT-15, and RT-25). The RT-25 IRBM used the first and third stages of the RT-2 ICBM. M Yu Tsirulnikov at SKB-172 in Perm was responsible for development of the RT-25. However there was little interest in this variant and in 1963 further development was dropped.

S-125. - surface-to-air missile - Russian all-solid propellant mid-range surface-to-air missile system.

S-2. - short range cruise missile -

S-200. - surface-to-air missile - Enormous surface-to-air missile developed by Grushin after the failure of the Dal project. Deployed in limited numbers and exported to countries in the mideast to defend against American high-altitude, high-speed SR-71 reconnaissance aircraft.

S-225. - anti-ballistic missile - Status: Development ended 1978. Anti-ballistic missile system developed in parallel with the A-35, but not put into production.

S-25. - surface-to-air missile - First surface-to-air missile deployed by the Soviet Union. Under a crash program ordered by Stalin, development began in 1951, first guided launch was in 1953, and by 1956, 2,640 launchers were deployed in defence of Moscow. The system was upgraded with improved missiles and ground systems into the 1960's.

S-300. - surface-to-air missile - Third generation family of surface-to-air missiles developed in the 1970's based on new principles. The same launch system could use either 5V55 or 48N6 series missiles, of both mid- and long-range types.

S-300V. - surface-to-air missile - Mobile, multiple-target, universal integrated surface-to-air missile. The S-300V system can fire either of two versions of the containerised missiles loaded: long range and medium range. These missiles are given different NATO designations. However any mix of the two missiles can be loaded as needed in the vertical launcher cells.

S-400. - surface-to-air missile - Fourth generation surface-to-air missile system that replaced the Army's S-300V (SA-12) and the Air Defence Force's S-300PMU (SA-10). The system would feature twice the engagement area of the S-300PMU. Initial service was by the end of 2007.

S-5. - cruise missile - P-5S / Progress designations as well.

S-500. - surface-to-air missile - New anti-aircraft, anti-missile system design in competitive development with Antey's S-400 to produce a Russian equivalent to THAAD.

S-75. - surface-to-air missile - Known in the west as the SA-2 Guideline, this weapon was responsible for the downing of more American aircraft than any missile in history. It was deployed worldwide beginning in 1957, and improvements and updates, many by third parties, continued into the 21st Century.

Sheksna. - anti-tank missile -

Shkval. - surface-to-air missile - Grushin developed the V-611 missile, for the M-11 4K60 naval surface-to-air missile system. The installation requirements resulted in an unusually stout and hevay missile comared to typical designs. The system was accepted by the VMF in 1968 under the code name Shkval. A modernised version, the Shkval-M, was delivered beginning in 1972.

Shmel. - anti-tank missile -

Skorost. - intermediate range ballistic missile - Status: Development ended 1987. Soviet medium range ballistic missile, flown once but cancelled after being outlowed by INF Treaty.

SNARS-250. - anti-submarine missile -

Sodruzhestvo. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Design 2000. Joint Kazakh-Russian-Ukrainian project announced in 2000 to produce an 'ecologically safe' replacement of the Proton booster that would use Energia launch facilities at Baikonur. No details available, and no more heard about it.

Soyuz 11A511. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Out of production. Standardized launch vehicle designed to replace a proliferation of earlier models (8K72, 8A91, 8K74, 8K78, 11A57). Designed initially to support launch of the Soyuz complex (7K manned, 9K rocket stage, and 11k tanker) and Zenit-4 reconnaisance satellite. Later 'U' model extended to cover a range of follow-on satellites. Compared to 11A57, the telemetry system was reduced in mass to no more than 150 kg, and engines were cherry-picked for the vehicle core to ensure that specific impulse was no less than 252 seconds at sea level, 315 in vacuum.

Soyuz 11A511L. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Out of production. 11A511 with reinforced second stage, large fairing for earth orbit test of LK lunar lander.

Soyuz 11A511M. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Out of production. Development of the Soyuz-M began in 1967 to launch the 6.6 metric ton Soyuz 7K-VI manned military spacecraft into a 65-degree inclination earth orbit. The spacecraft was cancelled, but development continued, and eight were Soyuz-M's were built and used to launch Zenit-4MT reconnaissance satellites in 1971-1976. The differences compared to the Soyuz-U are not known, and what (if anything) differentiated these Zenit-4MT missions from others is also a mystery.

Soyuz 11A511U. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: In production. A standardised orbital launch vehicle derived from the original R-7 ICBM that was launched in the greatest numbers in history. Not coincidentally, the most reliable launch vehicle as well. After over 30 years service in Russia, ESA is building a new launch pad at Kourou which will likely extend its service deep into the 21st Century.

Soyuz 11A511U / Fregat. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Design 2000. Standard Soyuz universal booster with the Fregat upper stage, derived from the propulsion system for Lavochkin interplanetary probes.

Soyuz 11A511U / Ikar. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Design 1999. Standard Soyuz universal booster with the Ikar upper stage, derived from the propulsion system for the Kozlov Yantar series of spy satellites.

Soyuz 11A511U2. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Out of production. Soyuz 11A511U2 used synthetic kerosene ('Sintin') in first stage for launch of premium reconnaisance satellite and manned payloads requiring just a bit more payload than the standard 11A511 could offer. Further use of the 11A511U2 abandoned in 1996 due to Sintin production stoppage. Later Soyuz spacecraft launched on standard Soyuz, with reduced payload and rendezvous with Mir in lower orbit accepted.

Soyuz 11A514. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Development ended 1966. Version of Soyuz launcher with increased payload, designed to launch Soyuz R military reconnaisance satellite. Cancelled along with the Soyuz R project in 1966. Unknown differences to standard Soyuz to reach payload requirement of circa 6700 kg to 65 degree orbit.

Soyuz 11K55. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Design 1963. Version of the Soyuz launcher envisioned for the cancelled Soyuz B translunar rocket stage.

Soyuz 11K56. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Design 1963. Version of the Soyuz launcher envisioned for the cancelled Soyuz V tanker spacecraft.

Soyuz FG. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: In production. Uprated Soyuz booster designed for high performance Russian government missions - delivery of Soyuz and Progress spacecraft to the International Space Station. Upgraded engines, modern avionics, reduced non-Russian content. Unknown differences to Soyuz ST.

Soyuz M. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Development ended 2000. Rus project was to result in first major propulsion upgrade to R-7 family in forty years, using first stage engines derived from those developed for Zenit second stage to boost performance. It would have permitted launches from Plesetsk with same or greater payload than launch of standard Soyuz-U from Baikonur, permitting move of more launch operations back onto Russian territory. Instead the more modest Soyuz ST / Soyuz FG upgrades were made.

Soyuz ST. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: In production. Uprated Soyuz booster designed for commercial customers. Upgraded engines, modern digital avionics, reduced non-Russian content. Can be used with either Ikar or Fregat upper stages. The 'FG' was the military version.

Soyuz ST / Fregat ST. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: In production. Uprated Soyuz booster designed for commercial customers. Upgraded engines, modern avionics, reduced non-Russian content. Uses Fregat upper stage.

Spiral 50-50. - winged orbital launch vehicle - Status: Development ended 1975. The Soviet Air Force had an enduring interest in a horizontal takeoff/horizontal landing, manned, reusable space launch system that could ferry crews and priority supplies between earth and space on the same basis as conventional aircraft. Between 1960 and 1976 Mikoyan developed this manned partially reusable space launch system. It consisted of a reusable hypersonic air-breathing booster; two expendable rocket stages; and the reusable Spiral manned spaceplane. The effort was never properly funded by the government, and by the mid-1970's had only reached the stage of flight tests of subscale versions of Spiral. Development was discontinued in 1976 in favor of the Buran, a copy of the US space shuttle. However it was resurrected in improved form in the 1980's as the MAKS spaceplane.

SS-N-11. - tactical cruise missile -

Start. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: Out of production. Launch vehicle based on decommissioned SS-25 ICBM's (differs from ICBM/basic Start-1 in having second stage used twice, in tandem, for increased payload). Launched from mobile transporter. Liftoff mass 60 tonnes.

Start-1. - orbital launch vehicle - Status: In production. Launch vehicle based on decommissioned ICBM's. Launched from mobile transporter. Liftoff mass 47 tonnes.

Strela-1. - surface-to-air missile - Widely exported man-portable surface-to-air missile.

Strela-10. - surface-to-air missile - Light vehicle-mounted surface-to-air missile designed to defend Soviet tank forces from helicopters and low-flying NATO aircraft.

Strela-2. - surface-to-air missile - Man-portable surface-to-air missile developed in parallel with the Strela-1 and widely deployed with Soviet Army, Navy, Warsaw Pact, and allied nations.

Strela-3. - surface-to-air missile - The Strela-3 began development in 1968 in parallel with the Strela-1M. It was accepted by the military for production in 1974, and featured further improved range, target speed, ability to discriminate between decoys and the true target, and altitude capability. It also featured an all-aspect homing head.

Sturm. - anti-tank missile -

Sturm-V. - anti-tank missile - Sturm-V. AS-8 was a variant of AT-6 for helicopters. No NATO name was assigned.

Superraket. - nuclear orbital launch vehicle - Status: Development ended 1959. The ancestor of the N1 lunar launch vehicle, this was the first heavy lift launch vehicle actively considered in the USSR. The 2,000 tonne liftoff mass was similar to the later N1 design, but the first stage would use a staggering cluster of around 66 Kuznetsov NK-9 engines (as opposed to the modest 24 NK-15's of the first N1 configuration). The real difference was in the second stage, which used the nuclear YaRD engine, giving the launch vehicle nearly double the later N1's payload capacity.

System 49. - winged orbital launch vehicle - Status: Study 1981. The Spiral project was not cancelled with the decision to proceed with the large Buran spaceplane. Instead flight test of the orbiter continued but the launcher design was rethought. The ambitious Mach 4 air-breathing first stage was abandoned. Instead the rocket stages and the manned Spiral orbiter were mounted on the back of an An-124 subsonic transport. This concept would evolve through the Bizan concept to the MAKS of the 1980's, which reached the hardware development stage.

System 49-M. - winged orbital launch vehicle - Status: Study 1981. The 49M was an application of the system 49 design concept, but with a larger carrier aircraft. The system would have a 770 tonne gross takeoff mass. The orbiter/rocket stage combination weighted 370 tonnes, with the orbiter mass being 28 tonnes in orbit, including a 9 tonne payload in a 8.0 m x 3.3 m diameter payload bay. The tripropellant single rocket stage was equipped 1 x NK-43 / 11D112 engine burning Lox/Kerosene and 2 x RD-57 / 11D57 engines burning Lox/LH2. The orbiter could have one or two crew, and was designed for 100 reuses. Development costs for the new heavy lift aircraft and larger orbiter would be too high, and the design was abandoned in favour of the Bizan concept.

T-1. - intercontinental ballistic missile - Original conceptual design for ICBM. Final design was R-7 due to unachievability of mass ratio for this single stage design. Data from chart at Russian Space Agency HQ.

Taran. - anti-ballistic missile - Status: Development ended 1964. Anti-ballistic missile design that was part of the basic capability of the UR-100. Studied in 1962-1964 but abandoned.

Temp-2S. - intercontinental ballistic missile - World's first operational mobile ICBM. Deployed in greaty secrecy in 1976-1987 contrary to the terms of the SALT-2 Treaty.

Temp-S. - intermediate range ballistic missile - The Temp-S was the first solid propellant tactical guided missile deployed in the USSR. It was designed by A D Nadiradze at NII-1 and formed the basis of subsequent designs leading to current modern Russian ICBM's.

Temp-S.2M. - intercontinental ballistic missile - Status: Study 1965. The Temp-S.2M was the first strategic rocket designed by A D Nadiradze at NII-1. The desig