D-6 - Legacy
After the completion of the design work, it was planned to begin testing new weapons. At the beginning of the 1960, a ballistic test was planned, and then tests with full-fledged launches of new missiles. The first checks were proposed to be conducted at the ranges of the Black Sea Fleet. In addition, the sites of other fleets could be used for inspections.
The development of the D-6 submarine missile system continued until the beginning of the summer of 1961. On June 4, a new resolution was issued by the Council of Ministers of the USSR, according to which all work on the complex was stopped. The result of the regular discussion at the top was disappointing conclusions about the prospects of the D-6 system. The command of the armed forces and the leadership of the defense industry considered the new complex with a solid-fuel rocket unpromising. Further work on it was considered inexpedient. The same Decree, it was decided to establish a new missile complex d-7 with BR RT-15 for solid fuels. In connection with the construction of the submersible stand for D-6 at plant No. 444 also was suspended at about 47 percent of the technical readiness.
The design of the missile, launch systems and submarine-carriers was never completed. According to various sources, the reason for refusing further development of the project was the difficulties with the creation of certain components of the prospective complex. In addition, in the early sixties there was a technical and technological breakthrough in the field of liquid rockets for submarines. The development and implementation of a number of new ideas and solutions made it possible to significantly improve the characteristics of new missiles, thereby reducing the potential for solid-fuel products and the need for them.
Nevertheless, the development of solid-propellant ballistic missiles of submarines has not stopped. The decree of June 4, 1961 set the development of a new system of this class. Employees SKB-385 (now the State Rocket Center) under the leadership of V.P. Makeyev had to create a new complex D-7 using a rocket with solid fuel RT-15M.
By order dated April 4, 1961 at OKB-1 was established on land-based experimental medium-range strategic missile RT-1, in which the basic principles of construction were used the BR complex D-6, as well as motors, are created in NII-125. The results of the D-6 project were subsequently used to create the first domestic intercontinental ballistic missile RT-1, intended for missile forces. In 1962, this product went on trial, but showed unsatisfactory results. In particular, the range of fire did not exceed 2500 km, and the reliability of various systems left much to be desired. The missile was tested in 1962.
The D-6 missile system project, intended for installation on submarines, did not give the expected results. Nevertheless, it allowed to obtain the most important experience necessary for the creation of new weapons for the navy's underwater forces. Taking into account the successes and failures of the D-6 project and other developments of the time, it was possible to create several other systems that were adopted and used for a long time.
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