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R-16^[1]
R-16
Service history
In service	1961–1976
Used by	Soviet Union
Production history
Designer	Mikhail Yangel, Valentin Glushko
Manufacturer	Plant 586, Glushko OKBM, Hartron OKB
Specifications
Mass	Between 140.6 tonnes (154,98 tons); and 141.2 tonnes (155,65 tons), depending on warhead
Length	Between 30,440 mm (99.86 ft); and 34,300 mm (112.53 ft), depending on warhead
Diameter	3,000 mm (9.84 ft)
Blast yield	3–6 Mt
Engine	Two storable, liquid fueled stages; First Stage: 1x RD-218; + 1x RD-68; Second Stage: 1x RD-219; + 1x RD-69
Propellant	AK27I + UDMH
Operational; range	11,000–13,000 km
Guidance; system	inertial guidance
Accuracy	2.7 km

The R-16 was the first successful intercontinental ballistic missile deployed by the Soviet Union. In the West it was known by the NATO reporting name SS-7 Saddler, and within Russia, it carried the GRAU index 8K64.

Description

The missile was 30.4 m long, 3 m in diameter and had a launch weight of 141 tons. The maximum range was 11,000 km with a 5–6 Mt thermonuclear warhead and 13,000 km with a 3 Mt warhead. The missile had a circular error probable (CEP) of 2.7 km.

History

During development, a massive failure occurred on October 24, 1960, when a prototype rocket exploded on the pad killing an estimated 54–300 personnel.^[3]^[4] After decades of coverup, the government finally revealed this incident in 1989, referred to as the Nedelin catastrophe.^[5] A fatal accident with the R-9 missile occurred exactly three years later, causing October 24 to be referred to as Baikonur's "Black Day." No launches have been attempted on that date at Baikonur ever since.

After the delays associated with the deaths of many people working on the project, the first flight of the missile took place on 2 February 1961. Initial operational capability was achieved on 1 November 1961. The missile continued to serve until 1976, with maximum deployment numbers reached in 1965 with 202 missiles deployed. The Soviets had fewer than 50 of these missiles deployed in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis. It is possible that only around 20 interim R-16 launchers were operational during the height of the crisis.

The R-16 was a true first-generation intercontinental missile and a vast improvement over the largely experimental 'zeroth' generation R-7 Semyorka. The missile used a hypergolic bipropellant combination of unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH) fuel in combination with red fuming nitric acid (RFNA) oxidiser. The Soviets initially deployed it at soft sites which were not shielded from nuclear attack. On normal duty the missiles were stored in hangars, and it took one to three hours to roll them out, fuel them, and reach launch readiness. The missiles could remain fueled for only a few days due to the corrosive nature of the nitric acid. After this, the fuel would have to be removed and the missile sent back to the factory for rebuilding. Even when fueled and in an alert posture, the Soviet missiles still needed to wait up to twenty minutes to spin up the gyroscopes in their guidance systems before launch was possible. Despite these shortcomings, the R-16 was unquestionably the first truly successful intercontinental ballistic missile developed by the Soviet Union.

The Soviets were aware of the missile's vulnerability, and from 1963 onward some R-16U missiles were based in silos, with around 69 silo launchers put into service. Each launch complex consisted of three silos clustered together for economic reasons to allow them to use a common refueling system, making them vulnerable to a single U.S. missile.

The control system of this rocket was designed at OKB-692^[6] (Kharkov, Ukrainian SSR).

Operator

Soviet Union: The Strategic Rocket Forces were the only operator of the R-16.

References

^ Pavel Podvig (2004). Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces. MIT Press. ISBN 0262661810. The R-16 missile was the first intercontinental missile with storable liquid fuel
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "R-16 intercontinental ballistic missile". russianspaceweb.com. Archived from the original on 27 May 2022. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
^ "1980 Soviet Rocket Accident Killed 50". The New York Times. 28 September 1989. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
^ "1960 Soviet Rocket Disaster Reported". The New York Times. 17 October 1965. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
^ "Soviet article reports 1960 launch blast". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 17 April 1989. p. 3. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
^ Krivonosov, Khartron: Computers for rocket guidance systems