RT-2PM2 - Topol-M / SS-27 - Design

The single-warhead RT-2UTTH Topol-M is an advanced version of the silo-based and mobile Topol intercontinental ballistic missile. While the SS-25 Topol is generally similar to the American Minuteman-2, the more sophisticated SS-27 Topol-M is comparable to the American Minuteman-3.

Intercontinental ballistic missile RT-2PM2 "Topol-M" consists of mobile ground missile system 15P155 and stationary (mine) missile system 15P165. In order to maintain strategic parity between the USSR and the USA in the face of strict conditions of treaty restrictions on strategic launch vehicles and warheads, the deployment of a promising layered US missile defense system with space-based elements (“Strategic Defense Initiative”) and building up US strategic capabilities in the late 1980s, the development of a new missile system (RK) with a universal intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) for stationary and mobile basing options was started.

The Topol-M is 22.7 meters (75 feet) long and has a diameter of 1.95 meters (6 feet 3 inches). The missile weighs 47.2 metric tons and has a range of 11,000 kilometers (6,900 miles). The solid-propellant three-stage Topol-M missile complex, with a standardized (silo and mobile) missile, is to become the foundation of the Russian strategic nuclear forces in the 21st century. It was planned to accommodate Topol-M both on self-propelled launchers as well as in silos. High survivability of the mobile complex is achieved by the capability of off-road movement, comprising of continuous change in location and of a missile launch from any point along the movement route.

The decision of the Military Industrial Commission of September 9, 1989, prescribed the creation of two missile systems (stationary and mobile) and a universal solid-fuel three-stage intercontinental ballistic missile for them. This experimental design work was called "Universal", the developed complex - designation RT-2PM2. The development of the complex was carried out jointly by the Moscow Institute of Heat Engineering and Dnepropetrovsk "Yuzhnoye".

The rocket should have been unified for both types of complexes, but in the initial design, a difference in the combat unit breeding system was assumed. The combat stage for the missile-based missile was to be equipped with LPRE on the promising mono-fuel SPONIT. For the mobile MIT, he developed a propulsion system for solid fuel. There were also differences in the transport-launch container. For a rolling complex it was to be made of fiberglass. For stationary - from metal, with fastening on it of some systems of the ground equipment. Therefore, the rocket for the mobile complex received the index 15Zh55, and for the stationary one - 15Zh65.

The stationary complex RT-2PM2 includes 10 intercontinental ballistic missiles 15Zh65 mounted in silo launchers 15P765-35 (converted silos 15P735 and 15P718 missiles 15A35 and 15A18M) or 15P765-60 (converted missile silos 15J60), as well as the command post 15V222. The stand-alone launcher 15U175 of the mobile complex is a single 15H55 missile placed in a high-strength fiberglass TPK mounted on an eight-axle landing gear MZKT-79221.

The rocket 15Zh65 (15Zh55) consists of three stages with solid-propellant marching engines. March stages are made of composites, by winding like a cocoon. All three stages are equipped with a swivel nozzle for deflecting the thrust vector (there are no latticed aerodynamic rudders). The first stage has a mass of 26 tons, of which the weight of the stage is 3 tons, the length is 8.5 meters, the operating time is 60 seconds. The second stage has a mass of 13 tons, of which 1.5 tons, a length of 6 meters, the operating time of the stage is 64 seconds. The third stage has a mass of 6 tons, one of them is a stage, a length of 3.1 meters, and a running time of 56 seconds.

The RT-2PM2 ICBM uses new solid fuels of increased energy, the most lightweight design due to the use of high-strength organoplastics of the hull and propulsion systems, and special protective coatings. To successfully overcome the missile defense space echelon, almost the entire upper stage of the flight passes within the atmosphere due to a significant reduction in the operating time of the first and second stage engines. The use of rotary control nozzles in combination with the use of the capabilities of the new onboard control equipment made it possible for the first time to implement variants of an anti-missile trajectory maneuver to evade space-based missile defense interceptors.

To ensure an effective mortar launch, carried out using a powder pressure accumulator. The launch method is mortar for both variants. The solid-propellant rocket engine of the rocket allows it to gain speed much faster than previous types of missiles of a similar class, created in Russia and the Soviet Union. This greatly complicates its interception by means of anti-missile defense in the active part of the flight.

The missile is equipped with a detachable warhead with one thermonuclear warhead unit with a capacity of 550 kt of TNT. The GP is also equipped with a set of means for overcoming missile defense. PCB PRO consists of passive and active false targets, as well as means of distortion of the characteristics of the head. Several dozen auxiliary correction engines, instruments and control mechanisms allow the combat unit to maneuver on the trajectory, making it difficult to intercept on the final section of the trajectory. Some sources claim that LCs are indistinguishable from combat units in all ranges of electromagnetic radiation (optical, infrared, radar).

The autonomous launcher (APU) was developed at the Volgograd Central Design Bureau "Titan" under the leadership of the chief designer Shurygin V.A. based on the eight-axle all-wheel drive special wheeled chassis of the Minsk Wheel Tractor Plant MZKT-79221 (MAZ-7922) with high cross-country ability. Six of the eight pairs of wheels are swivel, which provides a turning radius of 18 meters. The pressure on the ground of the installation is two times less than that of a conventional truck.

PGRK "Topol-M" has improved means of camouflage against both optical and other reconnaissance means (including by reducing the infrared component of the unmasking field of the complex, as well as the use of special coatings that reduce radar visibility).

The launch of the Topol-M PGRK missile can be carried out from field combat launch positions, from any point of the missile division’s positional area, suitable for launching due to the state of the ground and the slope of the terrain, and from shelters of the Krona type, which are located at points of permanent deployment in the amount, equal to the number of autonomous launchers.