R-39
Missile · Russia
Original archive entry. The text, images and links below are kept as they were written.
Russian submarine-launched ballistic missile. First Russian solid-propellant submarine-launched ballistic missile. Deployed on six Typhoon subs, 1984-2004. Proposed as the basis for numerous satellite launchers.
In 1971 Soviet Defence Minister Dmitri Ustinov ordered work to begin on the Soviet Union’s first solid propellant submarine-launched ballistic missile. Although Chief Designer Makeyev preferred to continue using storable liquid propellants due to their higher performance, Ustinov believed the Soviet Union had to follow the American lead in eliminating liquid-propellant systems from its military arsenal. Development of the R-39 missile, its D-19 launch system, and Typhoon / Akula submarine was officially authorized in September 1973. The new missile was to match the American Trident in having 10 independently-targetable warheads, intercontinental range, and high accuracy. Each enormous Typhoon submarine would carry 20 of the missiles.
These were ambitious goals. Development of large solid propellant rocket motors in the Soviet Union was at least 15 years behind that of the Americans. Korolev and Nadiradize had developed the first primitive multi-stage long-range solid propellant missile sin the late 1960’s. These had poor performance and reliability. Makeyev had no experience with solid propellants missiles, and consequently development was dogged by test failures and delays. The missile itself was enormous, much larger than its US counterparts or an equivalent Makeyev liquid propellant missile, due to the lower performance of Russian solid propellants.
Phase 1 launch testing consisted of two series of tests of the cold-launch missile ejection system, nine from a floating platform and seven from a specially adapted submarine. Phase 2 consisted of 17 launches from the Soviet Navy’s land-based test site at Nenoksa. More than half of these were failures due to first and second stage engine problems. Fixes were made, and in Phase 3, 11 of 13 launches from the TK-208 Typhoon submarine were successful. The first combat deployment aboard the TK-208 took place in 1984.
In 1985 development of the R-39M with better accuracy and a more capable warhead deployment bus was begun. These were deployed from 1989.
The collapse of the Soviet Union doomed the missile to a short service career. Production of the Akula submarines totalled only six and ended in 1990. The R-39 missile had a short certified service life, and three submarines were scrapped in 1996-1997. Attempts by Makeyev to develop a radically improved successor, the R-39UTTKh, were unsuccessful. The competing Bulava missile from Nadiradize was selected in 1998 for further development.
By 2004 only 10 R-39’s remained deployed aboard the TK-208. The other two submarines were decommissioned in 2004/2006. TK-208 was converted for use as a trials vessel for the Bulava SLBM. There was an intention to upgrade the other two boats to use the Bulava and recommission them whenever that missile went into production.
The R-39 was designed to be capable of being launched from extreme depths in open seas or from the surface after the submarine had broken through the Arctic ice. For this reason a powerful cold-launch gas generator system was developed. The 6 metric ton ARSS device surrounding the top of the missile provided the seal between the launch tube and the sea, and the structural attach point of the missile. In normal handling and operation, the missile was literally hanging from the ARSS in the launch tube. At launch, a solid-propellant gas generator in the first stage ending nozzle produced the pressure to pop the missile out of the tube. The ARSS cushioned the shock of ejection. A solid propellant device in the ARSS produced a gas envelope around the missile, allowing protected and low-friction ascent through the water to the surface. It also imparted a lateral motion to the missile, so it would not be directly over the submarine when it broke the surface. Once the missile cleared the water, the first stage engine ignited, and the ARSS was boosted away from the missile by yet another solid propellant charge.
Vector control during first stage burn was via eight gas-injectors opening into the main thrust chamber. The second and third stages used gimballed nozzles. The fourth stage liquid-propellant post-boost control system dispensed the six to ten warheads onto independent trajectories. The inertial navigation unit and stellar navigation tracker were in the pressurized bay at the top of the stage. Below this were the manoeuvring system and the pressurized flight control electronics compartment. The warheads were arrayed at the base of the stage, around the rocket nozzle, and ‘dropped’ off onto their separate trajectories.
Maximum range: 8,310 km (5,160 mi). Number Standard Warheads: 10. Warhead yield: 100 KT. CEP: 0.90 km (0.55 mi).
Subtopics
3M20 Russian submarine-launched ballistic missile. First flight 1979. Four unsuccessful tests in 1980, two successful in 1981. Development completed 1983. SLBM on Typhoon subs.- 3M65 First flight 1983. As of March 1986 only Russian SLBM in production.
- Grom Russian orbital launch vehicle derived from R-39 SLBM.
Priboy/Surf Russian orbital launch vehicle. Launch vehicle using the 1st stage of the SS-N-20 SLBM topped by an SS-N-23 SLBM (RSM-52+RSM-54). Liftoff mass 104 metric tons. Can be launched from stationary or mobile platforms.- R-39M Russian submarine-launched ballistic missile. Improved version with better accuracy, increased spread of independently-guided re-entry vehicles. Entered development 1985; tested in 1988; deployed from 1989.
- R-39UTTKh Russian submarine-launched ballistic missile, developed for launch from new Borey-class submarines. Intended successor of the R-39. Cancelled in 1998, after three test launch failures, in favor of Bulava missile from Nadiradize design bureau.
- Rif Russian orbital launch vehicle. R-39 SLBM adapted for use as suborbital test vehicle or orbital launch vehicle.
Rif-MA Russian orbital launch vehicle. Orbital launch vehicle derived from R-39 SLBM. Air-launched from An-124. Ignition mass 79 metric tons.
Related
- Family
- submarine-launched
- Country
- Russia
- Agency
- Makeyev bureau
Photo Gallery
ICBM-Derived LVs
The range of launch vehicles derived from decommissioned ballistic missiles offered for sale by Russia after the cold war.
Credit: © Mark Wade
Chronology
144 events
1980 January 1
Launch Site: Nenoksa. LV Family: R-39. Launch Vehicle: Rif.1980 January 1
Launch Site: Nenoksa. LV Family: R-39. Launch Vehicle: Rif.1980 January 1
Launch Site: Nenoksa. LV Family: R-39. Launch Vehicle: Rif.1980 January 1
Launch Site: Nenoksa. LV Family: R-39. Launch Vehicle: Rif.1980 October 3
Launch Site: Nenoksa. LV Family: R-39. Launch Vehicle: Rif.1980 December 3
Launch Site: Nenoksa. LV Family: R-39. Launch Vehicle: Rif.1981 January 27
Launch Site: Nenoksa. LV Family: R-39. Launch Vehicle: Rif.1981 April 1
Launch Site: Nenoksa. LV Family: R-39. Launch Vehicle: Rif.1981 April 22
Launch Site: Nenoksa. LV Family: R-39. Launch Vehicle: Rif.1981 November 27
Launch Site: Nenoksa. LV Family: R-39. Launch Vehicle: Rif.1981 December 1
Launch Site: Nenoksa. LV Family: R-39. Launch Vehicle: Rif.1981 December 22
Launch Site: Nenoksa. LV Family: R-39. Launch Vehicle: Rif.1982 January 28
Launch Site: Nenoksa. LV Family: R-39. Launch Vehicle: Rif.1982 February 12
Launch Site: Nenoksa. LV Family: R-39. Launch Vehicle: Rif.1982 March 3
Launch Site: Nenoksa. LV Family: R-39. Launch Vehicle: Rif.1982 April 11
Launch Site: Nenoksa. LV Family: R-39. Launch Vehicle: Rif.1982 April 23
Launch Site: Nenoksa. LV Family: R-39. Launch Vehicle: Rif.1982 June 9
Launch Site: Nenoksa. LV Family: R-39. Launch Vehicle: Rif.1982 June 29
Launch Site: White Sea Launch Area. Launch Platform: TK-208. LV Family: R-39. Launch Vehicle: Rif.1982 July 21
Launch Site: White Sea Launch Area. Launch Platform: TK-208. LV Family: R-39. Launch Vehicle: Rif.1982 July 22
Launch Site: White Sea Launch Area. Launch Platform: TK-208. LV Family: R-39. Launch Vehicle: Rif.1982 August 12
Launch Site: White Sea Launch Area. Launch Platform: TK-208. LV Family: R-39. Launch Vehicle: Rif.1982 August 12
Launch Site: White Sea Launch Area. Launch Platform: TK-208. LV Family: R-39. Launch Vehicle: Rif.1982 September 1
Launch Site: White Sea Launch Area. Launch Platform: TK-208. LV Family: R-39. Launch Vehicle: Rif.1982 September 1
Launch Site: White Sea Launch Area. Launch Platform: TK-208. LV Family: R-39. Launch Vehicle: Rif.1982 September 1
Launch Site: White Sea Launch Area. Launch Platform: TK-208. LV Family: R-39. Launch Vehicle: Rif.1982 October 14
Launch Site: White Sea Launch Area. Launch Pad: 65.5 N x 38.0 E. Launch Platform: TK-208. LV Family: R-39. Launch Vehicle: Rif.- Test mission - . Nation: Russia. Agency: RVSN. Apogee: 1,000 km (600 mi). Launched from White Sea Launch Area, Beloye More, Archangel'sk Oblast' - Latitude: 65.50 N - Longitude: 38.00 E..
1982 October 14
Launch Site: White Sea Launch Area. Launch Pad: 65.5 N x 38.0 E. Launch Platform: TK-208. LV Family: R-39. Launch Vehicle: Rif.1982 October 14
Launch Site: White Sea Launch Area. Launch Pad: 65.5 N x 38.0 E. Launch Platform: TK-208. LV Family: R-39. Launch Vehicle: Rif.- Test mission - . Nation: Russia. Agency: RVSN. Apogee: 1,000 km (600 mi). Launched from White Sea Launch Area, Beloye More, Archangel'sk Oblast' - Latitude: 65.50 N - Longitude: 38.00 E..