R-9 Desna 1489468 223559849 2008-07-04T16:48:33Z Sardanaphalus 427947 updating link using [[Project:AutoWikiBrowser|AWB]] {{Infobox Weapon |is_missile=yes |name = R-9 Desna |image = |type = [[Intercontinental ballistic missile|ICBM]] |vehicle_range = 11,000 [[km]] |filling = 1 |yield = 1.65Mt ("light") or 2.3Mt ("heavy") warheads |engine = two-stage liquid fuel ([[kerosene]] + [[LOX]]) #first stage engine RD-111 (8D716) by OKB-456 of V.P.Glushko. #second stage engine RO-9 (8D715) by OKB-154 of S.A.Kosberg |guidance = inertial, Control system by NII-885 of N.A.Pilyugin and M.S.Ryazanski. Hygoscopes by NII-944 of V.I.Kuznetsov. |cep = 2000 metres |speed = |length = |diameter = |weight = |payload = |manufacturer = |unit_cost = |service = 1964&ndash;1976 |used_by = [[Soviet Union]] }} The '''R-9''' ([[NATO reporting name]]: SS-8 Sasin) was a two stage [[ICBM]] of the [[Soviet Union]]. Designed in [[1959]] and first tested in [[1961]], the R-9 was a great improvement over previous Soviet missile designs. The missile, capable of delivering a 3,500 lb (1600 kg) payload about 6,000 nautical miles (11,000 km) to an accuracy of 1 nautical mile (2 km), was not only very accurate, but was also far more tactically useful to the Soviet Union. Previous Soviet designs, fuelled with cryogenic [[LOX]] and kerosene, commonly took hours to fuel and launch. The R-9, on the other hand, could be launched 20 minutes from the time a launch order was given. First put into active service in [[1964]], the R-9 carried a 1.65 to 5 Mt warhead. Though the last Soviet missile to use cryogenic propellant, this design is one of the most widely deployed ICBMs to use cryogenic fuel. The initial stage of the two stage missile was a four-chambered closed cycle design developed by OKB-456 (later renamed to [[NPO Energomash]]). The second stage, connected by trusses to the first stage (much like the modern [[Soyuz launch vehicle]]) was also four-chambered, but utilized open combustion chambers more suited to very high altitudes. This rocket engine was a product of the OKB-154 design team. Guidance of the warhead, like most ICBMs before and after it, was totally inertial save the final ten seconds before detonation of the warhead, which was controlled by a radio-altimeter correction system. The initial design called for a mobile surface launched system, but a changing cold war situation saw a silo-based R-9 developed in tandem with the ground-based system. The ground-based system, however, would never achieve the hoped-for mobility of the initial design parameters. In total, three launch sites were constructed, but only two were used. "Desna-V", the silo launch area, consisted of three underground silos with the ability to launch the R-9 within 20 minutes, and the ability to store the missile in an unfuelled ready condition for one year. "Valley", the first of two above-ground launch sites, was mostly automated and could fire the R-9 within 20 minutes as well, and repeat the process within two and a half hours. The final launch site, "Desna-N", was also an above-ground site, but was never stocked with R-9s as the site was not automated and needed at least two hours to launch a single missile. In [[1971]] the above-ground R-9 launch sites where decommissioned, and by [[1976]] all R-9 missiles had been decommissioned. ==Data== <!-- I started converting this inbto an infobox--> * Fuel: kerosene + oxygen. * Control system by NII-885 of N.A.Pilyugin and M.S.Ryazanski. * Hygoscopes by NII-944 of V.I.Kuznetsov. * Launcher by GSKB "Spetsmash" of V.P.Barmin. * First stage engine RD-111 (8D716) by OKB-456 of V.P.Glushko. * Second stage engine RO-9 (8D715) by OKB-154 of S.A.Kosberg. * 1.65Mt ("light") and 2.3Mt ("heavy") warheads. * Tested at "ground No 51" at NIIP-5 (Baikonur/Tura-Tam) until crash in October 1962. * Serial production at facility No1 in Kuibyshev. * Deployed 2 regiments of ground based missiles at Kozelsk, 1 regiment of ground based missiles at Plesetsk, 1 regiment of underground silo missiles at Kozelsk. == Operators == ; {{USSR}}: The [[Strategic Rocket Forces]] were the only operator of the Desna. ==External links== *[http://www.aviation.ru/missile/#R-9 R-9] *[http://www.palba.cz/viewtopic.php?t=1867 R-9A /SS-8 Sasin] czech - More photos *[https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/kent-csi/docs/v13i3a03p_0001.htm The SS-8 Controversy] Discusses the CIA's bewilderment about the new missile, with one camp interpreting it as a 100 megaton weapon, and other analysts interpreting it as a much smaller missile. {{Russian and Soviet surface-to-surface missiles}} {{Russian and Soviet military designation sequences}} [[Category:Cold War intercontinental ballistic missiles of the Soviet Union]] [[Category:Strategic Rocket Forces guided missiles]] [[bg:Р-9]] [[ru:Р-9А]] [[fi:R-9 Desna]]