8K79

Russian intermediate range ballistic missile. Korolev 1961 design for a single stage military rocket. A competing missile was selected for the requirement.

From 1960 to 1961 Korolev's design bureau worked on this lightweight single stage IRBM. The 25 metric ton missile could hurl an 800 kg warhead over a 2300 km range. Described as a 'bubble around an engine', the compact conical missile's toroidal tanks surrounded a single-chamber Isayev engine using AK-27I/TM-185 storable propellants. The rocket featured automatic guidance, instantaneous launch capability, and was air-transportable. Both mobile and fixed versions were designed, and the small missile was easy to camouflage. Brezhnev inspected a mock-up of the missile in 1960, and development was planned for 1962-1965. However a competing missile was selected for the requirement and Korolev closed the project work in September 1961.

Maximum range: 2,300 km (1,400 mi).