RSD-10 Pioneer

"SS-20" redirects here. For other uses, seeSS-20 (disambiguation).

TheRSD-10Pioneer(Russian:ракета средней дальности (РСД) «Пионер»tr.:raketa sredney dalnosti (RSD) "Pioner";English:Medium-Range Missile "Pioneer") was anintermediate-range ballistic missilewith anuclear warhead,deployed by theSoviet Unionfrom 1976 to 1988. It carriedGRAUdesignation15Ж45(15Zh45). ItsNATO reporting namewasSS-20 Saber.

RSD-10 Pioneer SS-20 Saber
RSD-10 Pioneer missile and launcher on display in Vinnytsia
Type	Intermediate-range ballistic missile
Place of origin	Soviet Union
Service history
In service	1976 – 1988
Used by	SovietStrategic Rocket Forces
Production history
Designer	Alexander Nadiradze(Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology)
Manufacturer	Votkinsk Machine Building Plant
Specifications
Mass	37,100 kg (81,800 lb)
Length	16.5 m (54 ft)
Diameter	1.8 m (5 ft 11 in)
Warhead	1 x 1Mtor 3 x 150kt
Engine	Two-stagesolid-fuel rocket
Operational range	5,800 km (3,600 mi)
Maximum speed	Up to 7.43 km/s
Guidance system	Inertial
Accuracy	150-450 mCEP
Launch platform	Road-mobile TEL

Its deployment was a major cause of NATO's'Double-Track Decision',which led to the deployment of more medium-range nuclear weapons in Western Europe. The RSD-10 was withdrawn from service under the 1987Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.

Specifications

The missile was 16.5 metres (54 ft) high, 1.8 metres (5.9 ft) in diameter and weighed 37.1 tons. It was based on two solid-fuelfiberglassclad stages of theRT-21 Temp 2S(SS-16Sinner), so it was also known as theRT-21MPioneer.The missile's range was from 600 to 5,700 kilometres (370 to 3,540 mi) initially; the final model had a maximum range of possibly 7,500 kilometres (4,700 mi). Initially the missile was fitted with a single 1megaton,1.6 ton warhead. Later models could take one or two (and from 1980, three) additional 150 kilotonMIRVdevices (Pioneer UTTH). TheCEPwas also reduced from 550 metres (1,800 ft) to 150 to 450 metres (490 to 1,480 ft). The missile was the first Soviet missile equipped with solid fuel instead of liquid fuel, which meant that it could be launched once the order had been given instead of requiring hours doing the dangerous work of pumping the missile with liquid fuel.

The missile used aMAZ-547A/MAZ-7916transporter erector launcher(TEL) produced in theBelarusian SSRby theMinsk Automobile Plant.The TEL was originally designed for theRT-21 Temp 2Sintercontinental ballistic missile.

On 10 August 1979 testing of the modernized "Pioneer" -UTTKh (15Zh53) began at the Kapustin Yar test site. It continued through 14 August 1980, and on 17 December 1980 the missile was deployed. Designated by NATO as SS-20 Mod3, this variant had the same propulsion system as earlier versions, but due to upgrading of a command structure and instrumentation-service unit it was possible to improve accuracy (CEP) from 550 to 450 meters, to increase maximum range by 10%, and to increase the area covered by the warheads.This latest RSD-10 variant subsequently receivedNATO reporting nameSS-28 Saber 2.

Development

It was intended to replace, or augment, theR-12 Dvina(SS-4Sandal) andR-14 Chusovaya(SS-5Skean) missiles deployed from 1958 and 1961 respectively in the USSR andWarsaw Pactstates. It entered the development stage in 1966and a design concept was approved in 1968 with the task given to theMoscow Institute of Thermal TechnologyandAlexander Nadiradze,who also developed theRT-21 Temp 2Sin the same period. Flight testing began in 1974 and deployment commenced on 11 March 1976, with the first supplied units becoming operational in August of that year. Up to 1986, a total of 48 launch sites including a site atPavschino,were equipped with 435 RSD-10 missiles under control of theStrategic Missile Forces.

There were several theories as to why the Soviet Union developed the RSD-10:

• Some in the United States such asRichard Perlesaw it as a part of a bid for global power on the part of the Soviet Union.
• Another popular theory held that theSALTtreaties, by placing quantitative limits on long-range missiles, had encouraged the Soviets to place more emphasis on medium-range missiles, which were not covered by SALT.
• Another theory held that the RSD-10 was the "son" of the failedRT-21 Temp 2SICBM project. Following the failure of the RT-21, the Soviets simply used the technology and parts that had been developed for the RT-21 for the RSD-10.
• Others argued that it was part of an attempt on the part of the Soviet military to develop a more sophisticated nuclear strategy that did not call for an all out nuclear first strike as soon asWorld War IIIbegan by giving the Soviets a second strike capability that they had previously lacked.

During the 1960s, Soviet missile procurement was dominated by the ideas of Defence Minister, MarshalAndrei Grechkowho was opposed to the idea of nuclear weapons as a weapon of last resort, and planned, if World War III commenced, to begin that conflict with an immediate nuclear strike on the NATO nations.By the early 1970s, Grechko's views had caused opposition within the military and the political leadership, who wanted the Soviet Union to have a second strike capacity in order to prevent a war with the United States from going nuclear immediately as Grechko preferred.More importantly, the increasing influence of MarshalDmitriy Ustinovheralded a shift in Soviet thinking about nuclear weapons.Ustinov was a man closely connected with the various Soviet design bureaus, and who generally sided with demands of the design bureaus against the military regarding weapons procurement.The decision to order and introduce the Pioneer in the mid-1970s was in large part due to Ustinov's wishes to shift military procurement out of the hands of the military and into the design bureaus, who in turn pressed for more and varied weapons as a way of increasing orders.The British historian James Cant wrote that it was the triumph of the Soviet version of themilitary-industrial complexover the military as regarding weapons procurement that was the most important reason for the Pioneer.

Deployment

RSD-10missile and itstransporter erector launcher

While theWarsaw Pactarguably enjoyed a massive conventional superiority overNATOin Central Europe, Soviet leaders assumed that NATO would usetactical nuclear weaponsto stop a massive Warsaw Pact counteroffensive.The RSD-10 provided the Soviet Union with an in-theater "selective" targeting capability that it previously had lacked. The RSD-10 had the capacity to destroy all NATO bases and installations with negligible warning. Thus, the Soviet Union acquired the capability to neutralise NATO's tactical nuclear forces withsurgical nuclear strikes.

In 1979NATOdecided to deploy USPershing IImissiles andBGM-109G Ground Launched Cruise Missilesin Western Europe in attempt to counter the RSD-10. In 1979, when the NATO decision was taken, the Soviet Union had 14 (1 operational) RSD-10 launch sites.

Decommissioning

RSD-10 Pioneer missile with re-entry bodies next to a Pershing II at the USNational Air and Space Museum

654 missiles were built in total. These and the 499 associated mobile launchers were destroyed by May 1991 in accordance with theIntermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.Fifteen RSD-10, eightBGM-109G Gryphonand seven Pershing II missiles were preserved to commemorate this agreement. One RSD-10 can be seen in the grounds of theNational Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War,one at the Ukraine Air Force Museum inVinnytsia,Ukraine,and another is inside theSmithsonianNational Air and Space MuseumatWashington, D.C.,US.

North Koreahas acquired an unknown number of demilitarized RSD-10transporter erector launchersfrom Russia or from Belarus for use with theBM25 Musudanmissile.

Operators

Former operators

Soviet Union

• 23rd Guards Rocket Division,Kansk,Krasnoyarsk Krai,c.1983–1988
• Other rocket divisions

External links

• SS-20 - Saber - (MAZ-547A base), RSD-10, Pioneer – Walk around photos
• SS-20 Installations