R-29RM Shtil

The R-29RM Shtil[4] (Russian: Штиль, lit. "Calmness", NATO reporting name SS-N-23 Skiff) was a liquid propellant, submarine-launched ballistic missile in use by the Russian Navy. It had the alternate Russian designations RSM-54 and GRAU index 3M27.[5] It was designed to be launched from the Delta IV submarine, each of which is capable of carrying 16 missiles. The R-29RM could carry four 100 kiloton warheads and had a range of about 8,500 kilometres (5,300 mi).[6] They were replaced with the newer R-29RMU2 Sineva and later with the enhanced variant R-29RMU2.1 Layner.

R-29RM Shtil/RSM-54
TypeSLBM
Service history
In service1986–2010
Used bySoviet Navy
Russian Navy
Production history
DesignerMakeyev Rocket Design Bureau
ManufacturerKrasnoyarsk Machine-Building Plant
Specifications
Mass40.3 tonnes[1]
Length14.8 metres[1]
Diameter1.9 m[1]
WarheadThe payload (2800 kg) was capable of carrying ten 100 kT yield MIRV warheads, though only a four MIRV warhead version entered production.
Blast yield200 kt each [2]
EngineThree-stage liquid fueled stages using N2O4/UDMH propellant[3]
Operational
range
8,300 kilometres (5,200 mi)[1]
Guidance
system
Astroinertial[1]
AccuracyCEP 500 metres[1]

History

Development

Development of the R-29RM started in 1979 at the Makeyev Rocket Design Bureau. The navy accepted the armament in 1986 and subsequently installed the D-9RM launch system consisting of a cluster of 16 R-29RM onboard the nuclear-propelled Project 667BDRM submarines.[3]

Operation Behemoth
Main article: Operation Behemoth

On 6 August 1991 at 21:09, K-407 Novomoskovsk, under the command of Captain Second Rank Sergey Yegorov, became the world's only submarine to successfully launch an all-missile salvo, launching 16 R-29RM (RSM-54) ballistic missiles of the total weight of almost 700 tons in 244 seconds (operation code name "Behemoth-2"). All the missile hit their designated targets at the Kura Missile Test Range in Kamchatka.[7]

Space Launch Vehicle

Several R-29RM were retrofitted as Shtill carrier rockets to be launched by Delta-class submarines, the submarines being mobile can send a payload directly into a heliosynchronic orbit, notably used by imaging satellites. Outside the confines of the Russian military, this capability has been used commercially to place three out of four microsatellites into a low Earth orbit with one cancellation assigned to the Baikonur Cosmodrome for better financial terms.

End of service

The last boat carrying R-29RM, K-51 Verkhoturye, went into refit to be rearmed with the newer R-29RMU Sineva on 23 August 2010.[8]

Operators

Former operators
 Russia
 Soviet Union

See also

References
  1. "R-29RM / SS-N-23 SKIF". nuke.fas.org. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  2. "ВОЕННАЯ ЛИТЕРАТУРА --[ Техника и вооружение ]-- Стратегическое ядерное вооружение России". militera.lib.ru.
  3. "R-29RM / SS-N-23 SKIFF". globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  4. "Aviation.ru – Missiles". Archived from the original on 4 November 2008.
  5. "R-29RM Shetal/Sineva (SS-N-23 'Skiff'/RSM-54/3M27) (Russian Federation), Offensive weapons". Janes.com.
  6. "R-29RM Shtil (SS-N-23)". Missile Threat.
  7. "Submarine-launched ballistic missiles". russianspaceweb.com. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  8. "SSBN K-51 Verkhoturye arrived to Zvezdochka for repairs today". Rusnavy.com. 23 August 2010.
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