RT-2PM2 - Topol-M / SS-27 - Design

The single-warhead RT-2UTTH Topol-M is an advanced version of the silo-based and mobile Topol intercontinental ballistic missile. While the SS-25 Topol is generally similar to the American Minuteman-2, the more sophisticated SS-27 Topol-M is comparable to the American Minuteman-3.

Intercontinental ballistic missile RT-2PM2 "Topol-M" consists of mobile ground missile system 15P155 and stationary (mine) missile system 15P165. In order to maintain strategic parity between the USSR and the USA in the face of strict conditions of treaty restrictions on strategic launch vehicles and warheads, the deployment of a promising layered US missile defense system with space-based elements (“Strategic Defense Initiative”) and building up US strategic capabilities in the late 1980s, the development of a new missile system (RK) with a universal intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) for stationary and mobile basing options was started.

The Topol-M is 22.7 meters (75 feet) long and has a diameter of 1.95 meters (6 feet 3 inches). The missile weighs 47.2 metric tons and has a range of 11,000 kilometers (6,900 miles). The solid-propellant three-stage Topol-M missile complex, with a standardized (silo and mobile) missile, is to become the foundation of the Russian strategic nuclear forces in the 21st century. It was planned to accommodate Topol-M both on self-propelled launchers as well as in silos. High survivability of the mobile complex is achieved by the capability of off-road movement, comprising of continuous change in location and of a missile launch from any point along the movement route.

The decision of the Military Industrial Commission of September 9, 1989, prescribed the creation of two missile systems (stationary and mobile) and a universal solid-fuel three-stage intercontinental ballistic missile for them. This experimental design work was called "Universal", the developed complex - designation RT-2PM2. The development of the complex was carried out jointly by the Moscow Institute of Heat Engineering and Dnepropetrovsk "Yuzhnoye".

The rocket should have been unified for both types of complexes, but in the initial design, a difference in the combat unit breeding system was assumed. The combat stage for the missile-based missile was to be equipped with LPRE on the promising mono-fuel SPONIT. For the mobile MIT, he developed a propulsion system for solid fuel. There were also differences in the transport-launch container. For a rolling complex it was to be made of fiberglass. For stationary - from metal, with fastening on it of some systems of the ground equipment. Therefore, the rocket for the mobile complex received the index 15Zh55, and for the stationary one - 15Zh65.

The stationary complex RT-2PM2 includes 10 intercontinental ballistic missiles 15Zh65 mounted in silo launchers 15P765-35 (converted silos 15P735 and 15P718 missiles 15A35 and 15A18M) or 15P765-60 (converted missile silos 15J60), as well as the command post 15V222. The stand-alone launcher 15U175 of the mobile complex is a single 15H55 missile placed in a high-strength fiberglass TPK mounted on an eight-axle landing gear MZKT-79221.

The rocket 15Zh65 (15Zh55) consists of three stages with solid-propellant marching engines. March stages are made of composites, by winding like a cocoon. All three stages are equipped with a swivel nozzle for deflecting the thrust vector (there are no latticed aerodynamic rudders). The first stage has a mass of 26 tons, of which the weight of the stage is 3 tons, the length is 8.5 meters, the operating time is 60 seconds. The second stage has a mass of 13 tons, of which 1.5 tons, a length of 6 meters, the operating time of the stage is 64 seconds. The third stage has a mass of 6 tons, one of them is a stage, a length of 3.1 meters, and a running time of 56 seconds.

The RT-2PM2 ICBM uses new solid fuels of increased energy, the most lightweight design due to the use of high-strength organoplastics of the hull and propulsion systems, and special protective coatings. To successfully overcome the missile defense space echelon, almost the entire upper stage of the flight passes within the atmosphere due to a significant reduction in the operating time of the first and second stage engines. The use of rotary control nozzles in combination with the use of the capabilities of the new onboard control equipment made it possible for the first time to implement variants of an anti-missile trajectory maneuver to evade space-based missile defense interceptors.

To ensure an effective mortar launch, carried out using a powder pressure accumulator. The launch method is mortar for both variants. The solid-propellant rocket engine of the rocket allows it to gain speed much faster than previous types of missiles of a similar class, created in Russia and the Soviet Union. This greatly complicates its interception by means of anti-missile defense in the active part of the flight.

The missile is equipped with a detachable warhead with one thermonuclear warhead unit with a capacity of 550 kt of TNT. The GP is also equipped with a set of means for overcoming missile defense. PCB PRO consists of passive and active false targets, as well as means of distortion of the characteristics of the head. Several dozen auxiliary correction engines, instruments and control mechanisms allow the combat unit to maneuver on the trajectory, making it difficult to intercept on the final section of the trajectory. Some sources claim that LCs are indistinguishable from combat units in all ranges of electromagnetic radiation (optical, infrared, radar).

The autonomous launcher (APU) was developed at the Volgograd Central Design Bureau "Titan" under the leadership of the chief designer Shurygin V.A. based on the eight-axle all-wheel drive special wheeled chassis of the Minsk Wheel Tractor Plant MZKT-79221 (MAZ-7922) with high cross-country ability. Six of the eight pairs of wheels are swivel, which provides a turning radius of 18 meters. The pressure on the ground of the installation is two times less than that of a conventional truck.

PGRK "Topol-M" has improved means of camouflage against both optical and other reconnaissance means (including by reducing the infrared component of the unmasking field of the complex, as well as the use of special coatings that reduce radar visibility).

The launch of the Topol-M PGRK missile can be carried out from field combat launch positions, from any point of the missile division’s positional area, suitable for launching due to the state of the ground and the slope of the terrain, and from shelters of the Krona type, which are located at points of permanent deployment in the amount, equal to the number of autonomous launchers.

By 2023 tow the Strategic Missile Forces were armed with 60 such ICBMs in the silo version and 18 ICBMs in the version of the mobile ground missile system (PGRK). "Topol-M" was replaced by a more advanced missile "Yars" , which also replaced all the old "Topol" in two versions and on the basis of which new missile systems "Yars-M" and "Osýna" ["Aspen" SS-X-32] are being created. It is believed that it is the "Aspens" in the coming years that will begin to replace the old mine "Topol-M".

15P182 Osina-RV - SS-X-32 The 15P182 missile system is being created as a modernization of the existing versions of the Yars-M combat missile system with indices 15P180 and 15P181. On 05 September 2019, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation signed a state contract to conduct the Osina-RV R&D to create a new strategic missile system 15P182, according to which JSC "Corporation" Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering "( MIT) is the lead developer. The 15P182 missile system is being created as a modernization of the existing versions of the Yars-M combat missile system with indices 15P180 and 15P181. As reported by the Voenno-boltovoy Telegram channel in June 2021 with reference to the open documentation for the object of the state environmental examination, on September 5, 2019, a state contract No. "Corporation" Moscow Institute of Heat Engineering "(MIT) is the lead developer. The basis for the development of the 15P182 missile system is the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of December 26, 2018 and the tactical and technical task of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation of February 17, 2019. The 15P182 missile system is being created as a modernization of the existing versions of the Yars-M combat missile system with the 15P180 and 15P181 indices. Source is documentation for the object of the state ecological expertise. Interested persons can familiarize themselves with the documentation in the department of road and transport infrastructure, entrepreneurship and labor protection of the administration of the MO "Plesetsk district" at the address: Arkhangelsk region, Plesetsk district, p. Plesetsk, st. Lenin, 33, office. 52. Reception hours: from 9-00 to 17-00 on weekdays. Public hearings on the object of the state ecological expertise were to be held on June 28, 2021 at 15:00 at the address: Arkhangelsk region, Plesetsk district, p. Plesetsk, st. Lenin, 33, office. 40. The documentation for the Osina-RV ROC indicates that the need to create a 15P182 missile system is determined by a number of factors of a political, military-technical and economic nature, including:

• objectively increased requirements for the nomenclature and quality of solving target tasks in the interests of ensuring the defense capability and security of the state;
• technical wear and tear of the operated complexes and their components, up to the element base.

Compared with the existing complexes, the expected effect from the creation and operation of the 15P182 complex is:

• increasing the level of solving individual problems in accordance with modern requirements through the use of new design solutions, technologies, hardware components, software and methodological support;
• expanding the range of tasks to be solved due to the inclusion of additional tasks and the integration of tasks solved by the predecessor complexes;
• improving the operational characteristics of the complex;
• achieving parity at the level of solving target problems with similar foreign products.

As part of the stationary launcher of the 15P182 missile complex, it is envisaged to use several modifications of the silo launcher, obtained as a result of the conversion of launchers of existing complexes that are being decommissioned in accordance with the treaty obligations of the Russian Federation. The complex being created should provide the ability to deliver various payload options to the trajectory. The tactical and technical assignment provides for the widespread use of proven technical solutions, assemblies, systems and assemblies of solid-propellant missiles and ground equipment of missile systems. The composition of the 15P182 complex (at the stage of flight tests):

• a flight product for delivering various payload options to the trajectory;
• stationary control center of the 15V242 type;
• mobile communication complex as a part of units on the Kamaz-6350 chassis;
• transport and loading unit, consisting of an active semitrailer with a KZKT-74284 tractor (probably, unit 15?414);
• technical complex;
• stationary launcher;
• security system;
• educational and training means.

Flight tests of the 15P182 rocket complex were to take place at the Plesetsk cosmodrome in 2021-2022. The flight test program announced at least two launches along the Mirny - Kura route. Presumably, the first launch as part of flight tests were to take place no earlier than August 2021. Flight tests of the 15P182 complex were planned to be carried out in a stationary version. Silo 15P765-35 at the Yuzhnaya launch site will be upgraded to silos 15P782-35, revision will be carried out using resource-saving technology with the preservation of the protective roof, barbet, drum, shaft with a bottom and reuse of most of the starting equipment - protective roof drives, depreciation systems, elevators and other equipment. The insignificant amount of modifications to the launcher means that any of the existing missile regiments of the Strategic Missile Forces with missile systems developed by MIT can subsequently be re-equipped on the 15P182 complex: starting with the already obsolete Topol-M and ending with the newest Yars-M, whose tests were supposed to end in 2020. Flight tests of the 15P182 missile system in a stationary (mine) version were planned at the Plesetsk cosmodrome in 2021-2022, with at least two launches along the Mirny-Kura route. To do this, the mine launcher (SHPU) 15P765-35 at the Yuzhnaya launch pad of the 1st State Test Cosmodrome was to be finalized to SHPU 15P782-35 using resource-saving technology. An insignificant amount of improvements to the launcher means that any of the existing missile regiments of the Strategic Missile Forces with missile systems developed by MIT, starting with the already obsolete Topol-M and ending with the latest Yars-M, can subsequently be re-equipped with the 15P182 complex. TASS news agency reported on 28 June 2021 a successful launch of the latest intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) developed by the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering (MIT, part of the Roscosmos state corporation) took place from the 1st State Test Cosmodrome (Plesetsk) of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.