SS-18 (R-36M) SATAN - THE DEADLIEST MISSILE ON THE PLANET

With invention of gun powder back in 9^th century, military technology has mainly evolved to use it for longer range, higher accuracy and faster speed. Initially there were guns & canons. Later rockets were developed for longer range and better accuracy.

Though the date of first use of rocket is highly debated some historians consider the first use of rocket  as way back as in 1232 by the Chinese against the Mongols. Early text describes use of first multistage rockets in the 14^th century.

First use of Metal cylinder rocket artillery was used by Tipu Sultan in the 1780s during the Anglo-mysore wars against the British army. This rockets had a range of 2 Kms. V-2 rockets developed by Nazi Germany was the first of the modern day rockets. First produced in 1943 V-2 rockets had a range of 300Km and with later developments increased it’s accuracy to few meters.

Post Second World War with the introduction of Nuclear weapons and space programs rocket were needed to be of much longer range and absolute accuracy. During the Cold war both USA and the Soviet Union invested heavily on developing Rockets(missiles) to counter each other, hence led to the development of the Intercontinental Ballistic  Missiles (or ICBMs).

SS-18 being transported

SS-18 Being test fired

During this phase Soviet Union developed arguably the most deadly missile of all time - the R-36M series (NATO Name SS-18 Satan).Just to understand the deadliness of this ICBM – The nuclear Bomb used in Hiroshima (which took 70,000 human life)was of 15 KT yield while a single SS-18 carries nuclear warhead of 20000KT i.e 1333.33 times more powerful.

SS-18 is the heaviest of any missile ever built with a max weight of 211000kg and a range of 16000Km which is also the longest range for any missile ever built by human. This missile have the highest throw-rate of 8,800 kg(In comparison to  LGM-118 Peacekeeper which had a throw-weight of 4000kgs).

First introduced in 1967 this silo launched MIRV (multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle) is capable of carrying 10 warheads(In comparison Minuteman carries 3 warheads) and up to 40 penetration aids (like decoys, radar jammers, chaff etc).

Comparison of US & USSR ICBMs

SS-18 have a lower accuracy (220-700m) than their US counterparts but when you are deploying a 20MT nuclear device the accuracy does not matter much.

At its peak 308 SS-18(61,60,000 KT) launch silos were operational in 1991.In July 2009 only 59 (all 10 MIRVs) of these are operational i.e a total yield of 11,80,000 KT of TNT.

A SS-18 Silo

The SS-18 was deployed in modified SS-9 silos, and employed a cold-launch technique with the missile being ejected from the silo prior to main engine ignition. These specially hardened silos are 39 meters deep and had a diameter of 5.9 m. According to Western estimates, the SS-18 was deployed in a silo with a hardness of at least 4,000 psi, and possibly as high as 6,000 psi (In comparison American missile silos are hardened to 300 psi)

Technical Details :

Weight  -                            209,600 kg (462,100 lb)

Length  -                            32.2 m (106 ft)

Diameter -                          3.05 m (10.0 ft)

Warhead -                          Three stage fission-fusion-fission, over 20 Mt of TNT

Detonation mechanism  - Airburst

Engine -                             Two-stage liquid propellant

Fuel -                                  UDMH

Operational range -          10,200–16,000 km (depending on R-36M missile variants)

Speed  -                              >7.9 km/s

Guidance system  -          Inertial, autonomous

Accuracy -                         220–700 m CEP (depending on R-36M missile variants)

Launch platform -             Silo

Canister length (m)  -        27.9

Canister diameter (m) -     3.5

Sources:fas.org, www.military-today.com, wikipedia.org, in.rbth.com

Images: gdb.voanews.com, www.ausairpower.net, ic.pics.livejournal.com, www.defence-point.gr, englishrussia.com