R-16 (missile)
The R-16 ( NATO reporting name SS -7 Saddler, GRAU index 8K64 ) was the first intercontinental ballistic missile mass-produced in the USSR.
It was developed from 1957, the test phase began in 1960. The reasons were major difficulties in production and maintenance of the R- 7th In 1962, the commissioning and the stock was in 1965 a maximum of 202 pieces. As of 1976 their number was scaled down in order to be finally placed in the context of the SALT I Agreement decommissioned.
The rocket was about 30 feet long, had a diameter of three meters and a mass of 141 tons. As fuel hypergolic mixture of UDMH was used as fuel and the oxidizer nitric acid, a total of 124 tons. You could carry nuclear warheads with an explosive force of three to six megatons from 11,000 to 13,000 miles. The missiles were stored in hangars and could be brought and filled within three hours position. In filled readiness standing, the start could be made after 20 minutes after the gyroscopes of the tax system were started. In readiness filled the missiles could only stay a few days. After the aggressive fuels had to be drained and the launchers will be revision to the manufacturer.
Due to the high range of the R- 16, the Soviet Union was the first in the position to make the centers in the United States, provided they überflöge while the North Pole. Your circle of confusion radius ( CEP) was 2.7 km; This means that a hit with a probability of 50 % was within a radius of 2.7 km. During the first stage was almost exclusively transported ballistically toward the target, contributed an onboard flight control system, the second stage, additional ground controlled trajectory corrections were possible. Due to the less precise accuracy, they were often fitted with warheads of 5 megatons.
Due to the fact that this model was not shown on parades in Moscow and other Soviet cities that Western intelligence agencies had little data and they often confused with its successor, the R -9 (SS -8 Sasin ). Three different variants of the R-16 were built, with different loading and range. In addition, there were modifications that were suitable for deployment in silos, which NATO went out of four different models of the same type.
When testing the missile came in 1960 to Nedelin disaster, considered the biggest misfortune of rocketry.