RS-26 Rubezh / Avangard
Road Mobile ICBM
The Rubezh [Frontier or Border] nomenclature is a bit confusing, since the Rubezh coastal missile system was put out of service in 2006 and replaced by a new Bal-E-type mobile coast-based missile system. As of 2019 the RS-26 missile has not been seen in public. On 03 July 2013 a vehicle, described as MZKT-27291, was shown at the Independence Day parade in Minsk, Belarus. This missile system was reportedly first to be revealed to the United States as part of the New START notification process some time in the fall of 2012. On 18 November 2015, the demonstration of the newest Russian ballistic missile RS-26 Rubezh to American inspectors was postponed until next year. "By decision of the Defense Ministry leadership, the demonstration of our new RS-26 intercontinental ballistic missile to a group of American inspectors has been postponed from November 2015 to 2016; new dates for the demonstration have not yet been determined," the agency's source said. The diplay was delayed indefinitely.
The RS-26 Rubezh was probably created on the basis of RS-24 Yars with a theater strike mission. The new upgraded missile will have multiple warheads and is expected to be lighter than Yars. The RS-26 ICBMs was to be only mobile launched, as no silo basing is envisaged for them. The Topol-M is a single warhead missile, while the Yars is a variation of the Topol that carries multiple warheads. But both fly to much longer ranges than the 5,800 kilometers demonstrated by the RS-26. As a result, it is possible that the payload for the RS-26, particularly during its shorter-range tests, contained a substantially different payload than the missile tested to the longer range.
According to a Western source, the RS-26 is the same concept and a direct replacement for the RSD-10 Pioneer — known to NATO as the SS-20 Saber — which was banned under the INF treaty. This missile is intended to suppress missile defense systems in Europe. It is also intended to supplement the Russian ballistic missile fleet as a more mobile weapon system with shorter range.
In mid-March 2018 it was reported that the newest hypersonic strategic missile system "Avangard" will be adopted for service no later than 2019. "Vanguard" with a hypersonic planning and maneuvering warhead has already been put into serial production. The strategic hypersonic missile system (RK) "Vanguard" of silo-based basing is included in the state armament program (GPO) until 2027, it will replace the mobile RK "Rubezh".
There is little information about the new missile, which is launched from a mobile launcher. Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin called the missile a "killer of US missile defense." the RS-26 is a Pioneer-3 at a new level. Based on the first and second stages of the Yars and a new individual method of distributing the BBs - without a "bus". Each warhead has its own "moped" - which basically removes the restrictions on the number of warheads for a missile with a short flight time, since the distributing of all the blocks to their targets occurs not sequentially, but simultaneously.
The developer of the RS-26 Rubezh missile is the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering, and the manufacturer is the Votkinsk Plant, which is also responsible for the production of Iskander ballistic missiles. The missile appears to be an intermediate-range missile based on the first two stages of RS-24 Yars. In mid-March 2018 it was reported that the newest hypersonic strategic missile system "Avangard" will be adopted for service no later than 2019. "Vanguard" with a hypersonic planning and maneuvering warhead has already been put into serial production. The strategic hypersonic missile system (RK) "Vanguard" of silo-based basing is included in the state armament program (GPO) until 2027, it will replace the mobile RK "Rubezh".
Some Western analysts contended that Russia had violated the INF Treaty with the development of the RS-26, because Russia had tested this missile to ranges below 5,500 kilometers, the upper limit for missile covered by the INF Treaty. Others disputed this conclusion, noting that Russia has also tested the missile to more than 5,500 kilometers, which would place it outside INF range and characterize it as a long-range, intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). The Obama Administration did not mention this missile in the 2014 Compliance Report, possibly indicating that it either did not consider the missile to be an INF violation or did not have sufficient information to draw a conclusion.
Initially, it was planned to include both the Avangard and the Rubezh in the GPO [state budget], but later it became clear that there were not enough funds for the simultaneous financing of these two projects. Therefore, the final version of the new GPO included Avangard, as having more importance for ensuring the country's defense capability. Because of the impossibility of simultaneous financing of all missile programs in the interests of the Strategic Missile Forces, the new combat railway missile complex Barguzin was not included in the GPV-2027.
Commander of the Russian Strategic Missile Forces (RVSN) Colonel General Sergei Karakayev said on 17 December 2014 the new missile would have lower mass than Yars. “We always say that we need to reduce the size (of missile systems). Speaking of the Yars land-based mobile missile system, to date, its launcher weighs more than 120 tonnes. We will make the improved missile’s weight characteristics under 80 tonnes,” said the commander.
“By improving the rocket fuel component, a solid fuel component, we are creating a new missile system, which we can deploy also on different soils and in different positioning areas. You understand that it has a better off-road capability and it is smaller in size, so its combat survivability will be higher, and it will require less camouflaging facilities,” Karakayev said. “We will not put it in silos, as it’s a land-based mobile missile system,” he added.
The RS-26 is said to be smaller than the SS-27 Mod 2 ICBM. The new ICBM represents a deep modernization of Topol-M or Yars. On the basis of this information, the all-up-weight of the missile is estimated by some to be at least 60 tons. A missile, as well as other similar systems, is supposedly made according to a three-stage scheme. From messages about the latest launch it follows that the Rubezh was equipped with multiple warheads. The authors of the portal MilitaryRussia.ru suggest that for the missiles Rubezh a new maneuvering warhead can be constructed.
The RS-26 Rubezh is an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), meaning that it follows a ballistic trajectory to reach the target. During the descending section of that trajectory, with only a few hundred miles left to the target, the warhead dives, loses altitude, and with the Avangard hypersonic vehicle continues the approach almost as a cruise missile. These new Russian ICBM warheads were developed in response to America’s plans to deploy a global missile defense system along Russia's borders.
Initially it was unknown whether this missile would carry a single warhead or Multiple Independent Re-entry Vehicles (MIRVs). Both configurations were tested in 2013. Rubezh was said by Russian sources to be more accurate than current ballistic missiles and is capable of penetrating even the most sophisticated missile defenses.
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