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Plesetsk - Missile Testing

This table attempts to correlate Soviet/Russian reporting of missile test activity at Plesetsk with Western intelligence reports of such activity. The key element is the PL [Plesetsk] designators. Western intelligence assigned alpha-numeric designators to Soviet missile systems, that took the form of two letters inidicating the launch site [eg, KY Kapustin Yar, TT for Tyuratam, etc], followed by a number that indicated the sequence in which the system had been detected.

Easier said than done. If it were a fact, it wouldn't be intelligence. Some of the PL designators, indicated in bold such as PL-05 are well attested, such as in declassified intelligence documents. Others can be estimated based on being bracketed by well attested bookend designators.

• Some tests were simply not detected by Western intelligence. Included in these were the early captured German rockets which were tested prior to the development of Western collection capabilities.
• The apparent failure to detect early Soviet solid propellant test programs [eg, TR-1, RT-1, RT-2, Gnome, etc] is particularlhy noteworthy.
• It may be assumed, possibly incorrectly, that all variants of the same missile have the same PL designator, even though tested over an extended period of time.
• Programs retain their initial launch site designator even if they are subsequently tested at a another range [eg, the PL19 Nudol ASAT, seemingly tested at Kapustin Yar after have initially been identified at Plesetsk.

According to Rocosmos, since the launch of the first spacecraft in March 1966 to around 2020, over 1600 launches of carrier rockets had been carried out from the Plesetska launch sites, about 2100 spacecraft for various purposes had been launched into near-earth orbits, 10 types of carrier rockets had been tested and put into operation, 11 space rocket complexes, 60 types of spacecraft, about 500 launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles were carried out, 13 missile systems were tested. The Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces of the Russian Federation Viktor Boldyrev noted in Februar 2018 about 600 tests of ballistic missiles had been launched to date.

But there are way too many missing numbers. Clearly the open literature provides a poor record of missile testing [as opposed to space launch] activity at Plesetsk. Unlike Baikonur / TyuraTam or Kapustkin Yar, apart from a few well attested IBM launch facilities, Plesetsk does not seem to have much in the way of reported missile launch plds.

The Plesetsk cosmodrome was created as the first domestic missile base with the code name "Angara" for the launch of R-7 and R-7A intercontinental ballistic missiles. From 1957 to 1963, nine launch complexes were built at the Angara facility, including 15 launchers for four types of missiles: R-7 / R-7A, R-16, R-16U and R-9A. The first missile launch from the Angara facility took place on October 22, 1963 - an R-16U ballistic missile was launched from a silo launcher. In the 1960s, the leadership of the USSR made a decision to use launch complexes in Plesetsk for launching spacecraft.

In 1982, the official separation of the structures responsible for launching spacecraft and the divisions involved in testing ballistic missiles took place. The 4th Test Center is designed to test ICBM missile systems. It includes three silos [15P765 for RT-2PM2 "Topol-M". 15P765M for RS-24 "Yars", 15P728 for RS-28 "Sarmat", two launch positions for PGRK, a railway position for BZHRK Barguzin, and four technical positions (TP) for the preparation of ICBMs. On July 1, 2001, the cosmodrome was withdrawn from the Strategic Missile Forces and included in the Russian Space Forces. After the Russian military left the Baikonur cosmodrome, Plesetsk is and remains the main missile testing ground for Russian ground-based intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Plesetsk acquired its official status in accordance with the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of November 11, 1994 on the creation of the 1st State Test Cosmodrome of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation (Plesetsk Cosmodrome). Over the next 20 years, 145 launches of space rockets were carried out from the Plesetsk cosmodrome, which put more than 200 spacecraft (SC) into orbit, and more than 50 intercontinental ballistic missiles were launched. In total, since 1957, the joint combat crews of the Aerospace Defense Forces and the Strategic Rocket Forces had carried out about 500 launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles from the Plesetsk cosmodrome. By the year 2014 a total 13 missile systems had been tested, 3 of which were on alert at present. It should be noted that the Russian mililtary and Western intelligence might have different counts of types of missiles tested.

Over the 25 years since 1994, about 180 launches of space rockets had been carried out from the Plesetsk cosmodrome, which put into orbit more than 350 spacecraft for various purposes, as well as about 80 launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles. In total, from the establishment in 1957 to 2019, the joint combat crews of the Plesetsk cosmodrome and the Strategic Rocket Forces have carried out over 500 launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles from the northern cosmodrome, and 20 missile systems had been tested.

From the Plesetsk cosmodrome near Arkhangelsk, the first launch of the newest intercontinental ballistic missile, developed at the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering, was carried out. “The launch was carried out in mid-June and was recognized as successful,” a source in the military-industrial complex told TASS. The type and characteristics of the tested weapon are also unknown. The Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering is a leading developer of solid-propellant ballistic missiles.