Submarine Launched Ballistic & Missiles

 Selected submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM)

Vehicle name*	Industrial name	Treaty name	US name	NATO name	Developer	Submarine carrier
R-11FM	8A61FM	-	SS-1b	Scud	OKB-1	D-1 complex
D-6 (R)	?	?	?	?	TsKB-7 Arsenal	Project 629, 658 and 667
Elbrus	9K72	?	SS-1c	Scud-B	Makeev	-
Aerofan	9K72	?	SS-1d	Scud-C	Makeev	-
R-13	4K50	?	SS-N-4	Sark	SKB-385	D-2 complex
R-15	?	-	-	-	OKB-586	D-3 complex
R-21	4K55	-	SS-N-5	Sark	SKB-385	Project 639, D-4 complex
R-21A	-	-	-	-	SKB-385	Navaga (16 missiles)
R-27	4K10	RSM-25	SS-N-6	Serb	SKB-385	D-5 complex
R-27U	?	RSM-25	SS-N-6 Mod 2	Serb	SKB-385	D-5U complex
R-29D	?	RSM-40	SS-N-8	Sawfly Mod 2	SKB-385	D-9 complex with 18 Murena-M submarines with 16 missiles each
R-29RL	?	RSM-50	SS-N-18	Stingray Mod 2	SKB-385	Calmar (16 missiles)
R-29RM (Sineva)	3M37	RSM-54	SS-N-23	Skiff	SKB-385	D-9RM complex (Delfin) (16 missiles) Project 667
R-31	3M17	RSM-45	SS-N-17 mod 1, 2	Snipe	TsKB-7 Arsenal	D-11 complex (667 AM-project)
R-39	3M65	RSM-52	SS-N-20	Sturgeon	SKB-385	D-19 complex with Taifun submarines (20 missiles)
R-39U	?	?	SS-NX-28	-	SKB-385	Akula (?) submarines
Bark (Variant)	3M91	RSM-52	-	-	KB Mash	Project (Failed test launches from around 1995 (canceled around 1998)
R-30 (Bulava)	3M30	RSM-56	SS-NX-30	-	MIT	955/Borei project; Solid-propellant missile (in development);

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Tech specs for submarine-launched missiles:

Vehicle name*	Stages / Type	Number of warheads x yield Mt	Length, m	Diameter, m	Range, km	Payload, tons	Launch mass, tons	Accuracy, km	Deployed
R-11FM	1 x Liquid	1 x 0.5	10.4	0.88	150	0.967	5.4	1.5	1959
Elbrus	Liquid	-	-	-	162 (miles)	-	-	-	-
Aerofan	Liquid	-	-	-	100 (miles)	-	-	-	-
D-6 (R)	-	-	-	-	800	-	-	-	project
R-13	1 x liquid	1 x 1 Mt	12	1.3	600	1.6	14	4	Oct. 1961
R-15	1	?	?	?	1,000	?	?	?	Project
R-21	1 x liquid	1 x 1 Mt	12.9	1.4	1,300-1,600	1.2	16.6	2.8	May 1963
R-21A	1 (liquid)	1 x 1	-	-	-	-	-	3	1973
R-27	1 x liquid	1	9.65	1.5	2,400	0.65	14.2	1.9	1968
R-27U	-	1 or 3 MIRV	9.65	1.5	3,000	0.65	14.2	1.3	1974
R-29D	2 (liquid)	1 x 0.8	13	1.8	9,100	1.1	33.3	3.5	March 1974
R-29RL	2 (liquid)	7 x 0.1	14.1	1.8	6,500	1.65	35.3	3.5	1979
R-29RM	3 (liquid)	4 x 0.55	14.8	1.9	8,300	2.8	40.3	1.4	1986
R-31	2 (solid)	1 x 500	11.06	1.54	3,900	0.45	26.9	1.4	1980
R-39	3 (solid)	10 x 0.1	16	2.4	8,300	2.55	84.0	1.4	1983
R-39U	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
R-30 Bulava	3 (solid; liquid 3rd)	6-10 x 1-1.5	12.1	2	8,000	1.15	36.8	-	-

Selected submarine-based launches:

1955 Sept. 16: The R-11FM became the first Soviet missile launched from a submarine stationed on the surface.

1960 Sept. 10: The first launch of the Soviet ballistic missile from a submerged submarine. (78)

1961 Oct. 19: The R-13 missile flew a test mission in preparation for the launch with the live nuclear warhead.

1961 Oct. 20: The R-13 missile blasted off from the submarine with the live nuclear warhead. A one-megaton charge detonated at the Novaya Zemlya nuclear test site. (194)

1968 February: The R-29D missile flies a test mission from a new navy test site in Severodvinsk.

1983 June: The R-29RM missile flies its first test mission. (114)

1991: K-407 Novomoskovsk became the world's only submarine launching 16 ballistic missiles at an interval of several seconds and all of them hit their targets successfully.

1991 December: The R-21A/Zyb (SS-N-6) missile launched a 450-kilogram Sprint capsule designed to carry a 100-kilogram microgravity payload.

1992 Dec. 9: The R-21A/Zyb (SS-N-6) missile launched a 650-kilogram Efir capsule designed to carry up to 65-80-kilogram of payload for bio-medical research, known as Meduza (jellyfish) experiment. The flight and the retrieval of the capsule was successful, however, the payload failed to conduct the experiment.

1993 December: Re-flight of the Meduza experiment.

1995 June 7: R-29 RL/Volna (SS-N-18) missile launched an experimental reentry capsule with the microgravity experiment for the German space agency.

1996: K-407 Novomoskovsk and the K-447 submarines fired a batch of ballistic missiles.

1997 Nov. 19: The Bark missile failed and exploded during its third and last test flight. The program was discontinued after this attempt.

1998: Russia conducted first ever orbital launch from a submarine, delivering two small satellites. (K-407 Novomoskovsk)

2001 Feb. 16, 13:28 Moscow Time (5:28 a.m. EST): An unidentified "sea-based" ballistic missile was launched during training exercise of the Russian Northern Fleet, the Ministry of Defense said. The launch apparently took place from the submarine in the Barents Sea and involved long-range ballistic missile.

2001 June 5, 15:32 Moscow Time (7:32 a.m. EDT): A submerged submarine launched a ballistic missile toward Kamchatka's Kura landing range during the exercise, Russian Ministry of Defense said.

2001 July 20, 4:31 Moscow Time (8:31 p.m. EDT, Thursday, July 19): The R-29RL (RSM-50) ballistic missile, also known as Volna launcher, carrying the solar-sailing spacecraft blasted off from the submerged Borisoglebsk nuclear sub stationed in the Barents Sea. After reaching an apogee of its ballistic trajectory at the altitude of about 400 kilometers, the experimental spacecraft was expected to deploy a pair of fan-like sections of the solar sail, which would be held in place by an inflatable frame. The spacecraft then expected to reenter dense atmosphere and land, using inflatable heat shield at the Kura impact range in the Kamchatka Peninsula. The elements of the sail would burn up on the reentry. However, due to software failure, the spacecraft did not separate from the third stage of the launch vehicle and burned up over the Kamchatka.

2001 Sept. 18: The long-range ballistic missile blasted off from the Podolsk submarine in the Sea of Okhotsk and successfully reached the target in the Barents Sea, navy announced.

2001 Oct. 18, 12:00 Moscow Time: Russia's Northern fleet conducted a training launch of the submarine-based ballistic missile from the nuclear-powered sub stationed in the White Sea.

2002 July 12: A Russian strategic submarine launched a ballistic missile carrying an inflatable reentry device designed to return cargo from orbit to Earth.

The Volna rocket blasted off at 03:58 Moscow Time from the strategic nuclear submarine Ryazan stationed in the Barents Sea, a representative of the Russian Navy said. (The Volna is the "civilian designation" for the R-29RL submarine-based ballistic missile.) The launch targeted the Kura testing ground located on the Kamchatka Peninsula, however several days after the launch, the search team in the area was unable to locate the reentry device and its experimental payload, designated Demonstrator-2.

The inflatable reentry technology, known as IRDT, was originally developed by the Khimki-based NPO Lavochkin design bureau for a Martian lander, within the Mars-96 project. Later the technology was adapted for use in low-Earth orbit and tested in three different configurations during two launches in 2000 and 2001. Only in one previous case, an experimental payload, called Demonstrator, was successfully returned to Earth. Attempts to return a solar-sailing spacecraft in 2001 failed. In 2000, a Fregat upper stage was believed to have successfully reentered the atmosphere using the IRDT, however, the search for the stage in the landing area yielded no results.

2002 Oct. 12: Russian armed forces had a busy weekend on Saturday, October 12, 2002, conducting the most extensive missile launching exercise in years. According to the Russian media, the nation's submarines stationed in the Sea of Okhotsk and the Barents Sea fired long-range missiles at the targets at Cape Kanin Nos in the Russia's northern regions and at Kamchatka Peninsula, respectively.

On the same day, strategic bombers launched cruise missiles aimed at targets beyond the polar circle and the Volga River region. To complete the picture, the Topol ICBM flew a training mission from Plesetsk to Kamchatka Peninsula.

2003 Dec. 11: First "throw" tests of the Bulava missile from Dmitry Donskoi sub from the surface position. A solid-propellant pressure generator, PAD, sent a dummy of the missile to the altitude of several dozens of meters.

2004 Feb. 16: In the course of Security-2004 military exercise, in Severomorsk, President Putin boards the submarine TK-17 Arkhangelsk, which around 19:00 Moscow Time departs for the training area in the Barents Sea to monitor the launches of two R-29RM (Sineva) ballistic missiles from the submerged submarine K-407 Novomoskovsk (Delta IV by Western classification) scheduled for 10:15 and 10:22 Moscow Time next day. According to the Russian press, one missile was intended to fly toward the Kura impact site on the Kamchatka Peninsula, while another would become a target for the antimissile system onboard the cruiser Peter the Great, also stationed in the Barents Sea. A number of journalists were onboard the cruiser to witness the exercise.

2004 Feb. 17: Both attempts to launch R-29RM missiles from the K-407 apparently failed. Accounts of the events onboard the submarine varied wildly. An official statement from the Northern Fleet said that a satellite blocked signals for launches. However, Russian media reported that one missile either moved several centimeters in its silo, or was ejected from the submarine and then plunged to the bottom of the sea nearby. Search crews were reportedly attempting to locate the missile. To add to the confusion, admiral Vladimir Kuroyedov, the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy, claimed that the submarine exercise envisioned a "virtual launch" only and no attempt of to actually fire the missile had ever been planned. He called reports about the failures a "gossip." Remembering awkward statements of the Russian navy in the days of the Kursk disaster in August 2000, few people in Russia believed such an explanation. From bits of information available at the time, it seemed that launches had been planned, but both missiles had never left their silos.

While the independent Russian press scrambled to find out details of the events, the country's major TV channels, controlled by the government, "forgot" to mention the problems in the Barents Sea.

By mid-March 2004, Russian media reported that a special commission investigating the mishaps during Security 2004 exercise, had concluded that the failure of the ADK-3M/Sluz automated launch system had caused aborts of missile firings on February 17.

2004 Feb. 18, 12:30 Moscow Time: The submarine Karelia (also Delta IV class ship) stationed in the Barents Sea fired a R-29RM (Sineva) ballistic missile toward the Kura impact range on the Kamchatka Peninsula. The missile lifted off successfully, however after 98 seconds in flight it deviated from the assigned trajectory and self-destructed, according to Igor Dygalo, chief of the Russian Navy's press center.

2004 March 18, 15:08 Moscow Time: A month and a day after high-profile failures of submarine-based missiles, Russia conducted another training launch from beneath the sea. On March 18, 2004, at 15:08 Moscow Time, the nuclear submarine K-407 Novomoskovsk, stationed in the Barents Sea, fired a R-29RM missile. The launch took place one month after a dual firing of such missiles from the same submarine was aborted due to technical problems.

2004 June 29: Russian Strategic Missile Forces, RVSN, test-fired an R-36M missile from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The flight aimed to certify the service life of such systems for a 20-year period.

In the meantime, the submarine Yekaterinburg (Dolphin Class, Project 667) from the Russian Northern Fleet launched a D-9RM ballistic missile from its underwater position in the Barents Sea. The missile's warhead successfully reached the Kura impact range on Kamchatka Peninsula.

On the same day, a Tupolev-95MS strategic bomber conducted a training launch of a long-range cruise missile. After takeoff from its base in the town of Engels, Saratov Region, the aircraft covered around 3,000 kilometers before releasing the missile. The weapon reportedly hit its target on the island of Novaya Zemlya in the Arctic Ocean.

2004 Sept. 23: A second "throw" test of the Bulava submarine-based ballistic missile. The nuclear submarine Dmitry Donskoy based in the White Sea tested its launch system by ejecting a mockup of the Bulava missile, while in submerged position. The PAD pressure generator pushed the mockup to the altitude of around 30-40 meters.

2004 Nov. 2: The submarine St. George based in the Sea of Okhotsk successful fired an unidentified ballistic missile toward the Chaise impact range at Cape Canine Los in Northern Russia, the Russian Navy said.

In the meantime, the submarine Yekaterinburg (Dolphin Class, Project 667) from the Russian Northern Fleet launched a D-9RM ballistic missile from its underwater position in the Barents Sea. The missile's warhead successfully reached the Kura impact range on Kamchatka Peninsula.

2005 Sept. 27: The first test launch of the Bulava missile ended with mixed results as its warhead exploded before reaching the Kura impact range, the Kommersant newspaper reported. Later sources indicated the failure of the third stage. The rocket was launched from a submarine stationed on the ocean surface.

2005 Sept. 28: According to the Kommersant newspaper, technical problems onboard the Borisoglebsk submarine scrubbed a training launch of the R-29RL (RSM-50) Volna missile, scheduled for 01:30 Moscow Time. It would be the first launch of this missile since its failure in June 2005 to deliver the Cosmos-1 solar-sailing spacecraft into orbit. Apparently, as early as September 26, 2005, the launch was delayed by at least 24 hours, and sometimes later, the decision was made to return the submarine to its base in Gadzhievo.

According to Kommersant, problems with Solid Pressure Accumulator, PAD, which creates initial trust to push the rocket out of its silo and brings it to the altitude of around 20 meters above the surface of the water where main engine ignites, caused the cancellation of the launch.

The launch finally took place on October 7, 2005 at 01:30 Moscow Time from the Barents Sea. The Volna rocket carrying the Demonstrator D-2R inflatable breaking device, NTU, flew what appeared to be a normal flight toward the Kura impact range in the Kamchatka Peninsula.

However, initial efforts to locate the landing craft at the impact site were unsuccessful. The analysis of the telemetry from the launch showed that the inflatable device separated from the rocket and was spin-stabilized. Its navigation, video-monitoring and autonomous radio-telemetry systems were activated. The telemetry transmission from the spacecraft was received at the Kura impact range and the reentry device was released and inflated some 356 seconds after the launch and the altitude of 238 kilometers.

The spacecraft entered the discernible atmosphere at the altitude of 100 kilometers and soon after its transmission was interrupted by the layer of plasma, as expected during the reentry. With the dissipation of plasma, the radio contact was restored and continued for 25 seconds. No further data came from the craft and no debris was found at the expected landing site.

Some preliminary information indicated that the spacecraft might have overflown Kamchatka and fell into the Pacific Ocean.

2005 Dec. 21: Russia achieved the first successful launch of the Bulava missile. Dmitry Donskoy submarine fired the missile from a submerged position. The test was a success, according to the official Russian reports, with MIRV warheads reaching the Kura impact range on the Kamchatka Peninsula.

2006 May 26: A small Russian satellite orbited Earth following an unusual launch from the depths of the sea. After a two-day delay due to technical problems, the Shtil converted ballistic missile blasted off from a submerged K-84 Yekaterinburg submarine in the Barents Sea on May 26, 2006, at 22:50 Moscow Summer Time. The rocket carried an 86-kilogram Compass-2 science satellite designed to study physical phenomena associated with earthquakes. According to official Russian sources, the vehicle reached a 400 by 620-kilometer orbit with the inclination 78.9 degrees toward the Equator at 23:06 and the payload separated at 23:06:48 Moscow Time.

2006 June 30: A submerged Northern Fleet submarine of the 667BDRM Project stationed in Barents Sea launched the R-29RM Sineva missile. The missile blasted off at 10:25 MSK (06:25 UTC) and flew toward the Kura test site in Kamchatka. According to the Russian Navy, the warhead successfully reached its target.

The Russian press reported that the submarine that launched the missile was K-114 Tula. If confirmed, this would be the first launch from that vessel after its return from overhaul in January 2006.

2006 Sept. 7: Test launch of the Bulava missile from the Dmitry Donskoy submarine failed after several minutes in flight due to the problems in the flight control system. The missile fell into the sea about a minute after the launch. The sub was not affected and was returning to Severodvinsk base submerged, according to the Russian navy spokesman. Later reports blamed the engine of the first stage for the failure, as well as its flight control system.

2006 Sept. 9: The Yekaterinburg submarine fired R-29RM Sineva missile from the north pole region toward the impact range in the Arkhangelsk Region.

2006 Oct. 25, 17:05 Moscow Time: A test launch of the Bulava-M missile from Dmitry Donskoy submarine deployed in the White Sea failed some 200 seconds after liftoff due to the apparent failure of the flight control system, the Kommersant newspaper reported. Navy spokesman told Interfax-AVN news agency that the missile deviated from the nominal trajectory and most likely self-liquidated. According to the Kommersant, a string of failures during test threatens an ambitious schedule of no more than 10 test launches of the Bulava before its acceptance into the armaments of the Russian navy previously scheduled for 2007.

In the meantime, in July 2006, Interfax reported that the launch of the Yuri Dolgoruky submarine previously scheduled for December 2006 was delayed to the first quarter of 2007 by minor technical issues.

2006 Dec. 21: A test launch of the Bulava ballistic missile failed as a result of the flight control failure onboard the third stage of the missile some three minutes after the liftoff. A self-destruct mechanism was apparently activated.

2007 June 28: After a string of failures, Russia new-generation ballistic missile designed for submarines completed a successful test flight, Russian military announced. The Bulava (Mace) strategic missile lifted off on June 28, 2007, from Dmitry Donskoy submarine stationed underwater in the White Sea. The missile flew toward the Kura impact range in the Kamchatka Peninsula. According to the spokesman for the Russian navy, the missile's warhead successfully reached the target area. Reports about the tests on Russian state-controlled TV showed no footage of the actual launch, instead rolling an animation of a hypothetical missile destroying a barn! In reality, the Bulava is a strategic nuclear tipped missile with a potential to wipe out entire cities. Later reports revealed that the system of separation of the MIRV warheads malfunctions causing one of the warheads miss the target.

2007 Nov. 11: A test launch of the Bulava missile failed, triggering a self-destruct mechanism some 23 seconds after a liftoff.

2007 Dec. 25: The Tula submarine of the Northern fleet launched a Sineva missile (R-29RM), Roskosmos announced. The agency said that the testing of the missile complex was completed in 2004 and its was accepted into the armaments in July 2007.

2008 Sept. 18: Dmitry Donskoy submarine conducted a successful test launch of the Bulava missile, Russian space agency said. The submarine was deployed in the White Sea. According to the representative of the Russian defense ministry, warhead mockups of the missile reached the Kura impact range at 19:05 Moscow Time. Several days after the launch, a well-informed Kommersant newspaper reported that multiple warheads of the missile failed to separate during the final phase of the otherwise successful launch.

2008 Oct. 11: The K-114 Tula submarine launched the R-29RM Sineva missile from Barents Sea to the equatorial region of the Pacific Ocean, demonstrating the maximum range of the vehicle, reaching 11,547 kilometers

2008 Oct. 12: The Zelenograd submarine in submerged position launched a ballistic missile from the Sea of Okhotsk to the Chizha impact range on the Cape of Kanin Nos in northern Russia.

2008 Oct. 12: The Yekaterinburg submarine in a submerged position launched a ballistic missile for the Barents Sea to the Kura impact range on the Kamchatka Peninsula. Launches were conducted within Stabilnost (Stability) 2008 strategic and command war games.

2008 Nov. 28: A Bulava missile successfully hit all its multiple targets at the Kura impact range on the Kamchatka Peninsula after a test launch from the Dmitry Donskoy submarine stationed in a submerged position in the White Sea.

2008 Dec. 23: A long-anticipated launch of the Bulava missile ended in another failure, prompting soul-searching within the Russian military industrial complex. According to the official Russian sources, the missile lifted off from Dmitry Donskoy submarine in the White Sea on Dec. 23, 2008, at 06:00 Moscow Time, targeting the Kura impact range on the Kamchatka Peninsula. Russian press quoted various sources saying that in-flight problems arose soon after the separation of the first stage. The Vzglyad newspaper quoted an anonymous source on Dec. 23, claiming that two first stages worked flawlessly and the third stage was a culprit. At the same time, RIA Novosti quoted a Russian Navy representative as saying that the number of test launches of the Bulava missile scheduled for 2009 was increased from three-four to at least five. The launch was previously scheduled for Dec. 21, 2008. The Russian press later cited faulty pyrobolts as culprits in the failure and poor quality during the manufacturing was blamed.

2009 July 15: Another attempt to rehabilitate the Bulava ballistic missile ended in failure. Dmitry Donskoy submarine submerged in White Sea fired the missile on July 15, 2009. However 28 seconds after the liftoff the missile deviated from its course and self-destructed. Only a day later, the information about the failure appeared in the Russian media. Four days later, a semi-official Interfax news agency quoted a member of the investigation commission as saying that a gas generator producing power for the flight control system was a culprit. In the wake of the failure, Yuri Solomonov, the head of Moscow Institute of Thermal technology, which developed the missile, resigned his post on July 22. On July 26, 2009, admiral Vladimir Vysotsky, the supreme commander of the Russian Navy, told RIA Novosti news agency that testing of the Bulava missile would continue, even though it was not an ideal weapon for the fleet. Vysotsky said that advanced planning for a new generation weapon had already been done, although the development of the Bulava missile would not be reconsidered.

source : russianspaceweb