Universal
Missile · Ukraine
Original archive entry. The text, images and links below are kept as they were written.
Ukrainian intercontinental ballistic missile. Yuzhnoye solid-propellant ICBM designed for mass production to counter US 'Star Wars' program. Two built before break-up of Soviet Union. Some design features incorporated into all-Russian Topol-M.
Universal was a Yuzhnoye solid-propellant ICBM designed to be produced cheaply in mass quantities in order to overwhelm planned American Strategic Defense Initiative anti-ballistic missile systems. Work began on a crash basis in the late 1980's and the first missile was delivered to Plesetsk for flight tests on 30 December 1991. The project was cancelled on the break-up of the USSR. The two completed missiles were handed over to MIT for design of an all-Russian counterpart, the Topol-M.