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The R-36M/SS-18- DIA designation, (NATO reporting name "Satan") is a massive ICBM capable of a +6000 nm (6600 mi, 10,600 km) flight, and the delivery of ten 0.55 Mt warheads or a single variable yield warhead with a power of 18 to 20 Mt. The throw-weight varies between 7,2 and 8,8 tons, depending on version. The Soviet Union first approved the design on the SS-18 in 1969, as a counter to the American Minuteman program and as a successor to the older SS-9 heavy ICBM.
The initial design of the SS-18 called for a single massive 12-Mt warhead to be delivered over a range of 10,600 km. This was supposed to deliver a first strike ability that could knock out hardened Minuteman silos and control centers before the Minuteman missiles could be launched. The missile was first tested in 1973 but this test ended in failure. After several delays the SS-18 was deployed in December of 1975. This "Mod-1" design was delivered with a single 18-20 Mt warhead and a range of just over 11000 km.
The SS-18 has gone through six separate modifications, with the first modification (Mod-1) being phased out by 1984. The final modification (Mod-6) designated R-36M2 "Voivode" was deployed in August of 1991. This missile could deliver the same 18-20 Mt warhead 16,000 km. Modifications prior to Mod-6 mainly introduced MIRV (Multiple independent reentry vehicles) warheads. These missiles (Mods-2, 4, and 5) in many ways surpassed the American Peacekeeper in terms of megatons delivered, accuracy, survivability, and mobility.
Upon launch, the SS-18 is literally shot from its 39 m deep silo before main engine ignition to prevent damage to the missile body. The rocket is two stages. The first is a 460-ton thrust motor with four combustion chambers and nozzles. The second stage is a a single chamber 77-ton thrust motor.
At full deployment, before the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, 308 SS-18 launch silos were operational. After the breakup of the USSR, 204 of these were located on the territory of the Russian Federation and 104 on the territory of newly independent Kazakhstan. In the next few years Russia reduced the number of SS-18 launch silos to 154 to conform with the Start I treaty. The missiles in Kazakhstan were all deactivated by 1995. The subsequent Start II treaty was to eliminate all SS-18 missiles but it did not enter into force and the missiles remained on duty.
In the last decade Russian armed forces have been steadily reducing the number of SS-18 missiles in service, withdrawing those that age past their designed operational lifetime. However, 120 of these missiles remain in service as of 2004. Russia's effort to maintain them has been made more difficult by the fact that their main production facility is now located in independent Ukraine. According to statements from Russian military officials, at least some missiles might serve until 2020.
Several remaining SS-18 missiles has been modified for surface launch and now carry lightweight satellites to low earth orbit. Ironically, several of these satellites have been American.'
Ukraine's Yuzhnoe Design Bureau continues to manufacture a launch vehicle based on the SS-18, named Dnipro.
Attributions: Federation of American Scientists
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