RS-26 Rubezh

RS-26 Rubezh
Type Intercontinental ballistic missile
Place of origin Russia
Service history
Used by Russian Strategic Missile Troops
Production history
Designer Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology
Produced 2011
Specifications
Weight (49) 20 to 50 Ton, up to 80 Ton max
Length (23) 12-19 to 26-30 m
Diameter (2,1) < 2,6 m
Warhead 3x < 500 kt to 6x 150 kt , 4x 5x each 300 Kt MIRVs , single Mt to up to 12/16x 100/150 kt MaRV, Avangard HGV 100 kt to < 900 kt (up to 8 each < 1-3 Mt or single > 5 Mt )
Engine Solid-fueled (last stage or warhead block can have liquid)
Propellant solid, third or fourth stage (warhead block) can be liquid
Operational
range
 5800 km demonstrated [1]
Flight altitude Several tens of km
Speed over Mach 20 (24,500 km/h; 15,220 mph; 6.806 km/s)
Guidance
system
 Inertial with GLONASS
Accuracy 90-250 m CEP
Launch
platform
 Road-mobile TEL

The RS-26 Rubezh (in Russian: РС-26 Рубеж) (limit or boundary, also known under the name of its R&D program Avangard Авангард) SS-X-31 or SS-X-29B (another version of SS-27),[2] is a Russian solid-fueled, maneuverable reentry vehicles (MARV)-equipped with MIRVs or Avangard hypersonic glide vehicles to bypass anti-ballistic missiles[3], thermonuclear intercontinental ballistic missile reportedly based on RS-24 Yars.[4][5]

After an initial failure in 2011, it was first test-launched successfully from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome on May 26, 2012,[6][7] hitting its target at the Kura Range 5,800 km away minutes later. Further successful tests were performed from Kapustin Yar to Sary Shagan on October 24, 2012,[8][9] and June 6, 2013.[10]

According to the commander of the Russian Strategic Missile Forces, Colonel-General Sergei Karakayev, the RS-26 Rubezh could become operational in 2016.[11]

The missile have been criticized by western defense observers for indirectly breaching the INF Treaty. The missile demonstrated, with a light or no payload, the ability to reach above the agreed 5500 km limit of the treaty. However all further testing have been flights with significantly shorter ranges. The RS-26 was twice tested at a distance of about 2000 km.[12] The deployment of the missile is speculated to have the same strategic impact as the SS-20 Saber.[13] While the RS-26 is technically an ICBM, its range falls just barely inside the ICBM category. In reality, the RS-26 is exactly the same concept and a direct replacement for the RDS-10 Pioneer—known to NATO as the SS-20 Saber—which was banned under the INF treaty.[14]

The RS-26 is designed to pose a strategic threat to European capitals and has the ability to target NATO forces in Western Europe. According to an article by Jeffrey Lewis entitled "The Problem With Russia's Missiles", the purpose of these weapons is to deter Western forces from coming to the aid of the NATO's newer eastern members that are located closer to Russia's borders.[15]

In March 2015 it was acknowledged that RS-26 Rubezh is a shorter version of the RS-24 Yars ICBM with one less stage, much similar to the SS-20 Saber being a shorter version of the SS-16 Sinner.[16]

In 2018, it was reported that the RS-26 was frozen until at least 2027 in favor of the Avangard hypersonic missile system.[17]

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.military-today.com/missiles/rs26_rubezh.htm
  2. ↑ https://fas.org/blogs/security/2014/05/russianmodernization/
  3. ↑ http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/18906/heres-the-six-super-weapons-putin-unveiled-during-fiery-address
  4. ↑ "RS-26 Rubezh / Avangard - Road Mobile ICBM". Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  5. ↑ "Russia's hypersonic trump card edges closer to reality". 23 Oct 2013. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  6. ↑ "Russia tests secret missile after Nato shield launched". BBC. 23 May 2012. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  7. ↑ "Russia tests prototype of a new ICBM". russianforces.org. 23 May 2012. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  8. ↑ "Russia to create new missiles to compete with U.S." Missile Threat. 9 January 2013. Archived from the original on 21 January 2013. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  9. ↑ "New ICBM tested in Kapustin Yar". 24 Oct 2012. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  10. ↑ "Russia continues tests of new ICBM, named Rubezh". 6 Jun 2013. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  11. ↑ "Russia's New Ballistic Missile Can Become Operational in 2016". 29 Dec 2014. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  12. ↑ https://jamestown.org/program/russias-rubezh-ballistic-missile-disappears-off-the-radar/
  13. ↑ http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/natosource/russia-s-new-intermediate-range-missiles-back-to-the-1970s
  14. ↑ http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/russias-dangerous-nuclear-forces-are-back-19442
  15. ↑ https://foreignpolicy.com/2014/07/29/the-problem-with-russias-missiles/
  16. ↑ http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/natosource/russia-s-new-intermediate-range-missiles-back-to-the-1970s
  17. ↑ http://tass.com/defense/995628
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