R-12 Dvina
Sign in to saveAlso known as Dvina, 8K63, SS-4 Sandal, Sandal, SS4
Soviet intercontinental ballistic missile
Key facts
- Type
- Medium-range ballistic missile
- In service
- 4 March 1959–1993
- Manufacturer
- Yuzhmash
- Unit cost
- unknown
- Mass
- Fully loaded: 41.7 t , Empty: 3.15 t
- Length
- 22,100 mm
- Diameter
- 1,650 mm
- Wingspan
- 2,940 mm (116 in)
- Warhead
- Thermonuclear
- Blast yield
- 1.0–2.3 Mt
- Engine
- RD-214 , 635.2 kilonewtons (142,800 lbf)
- Payload capacity
- 1.6 t
- Propellant
- liquid ( AK-27I / TM-185 )
- Fuel capacity
- 37 t
- Operational range
- 2,000–2,500 km (1,200–1,600 mi)
- Maximum speed of vehicle or missile span
- 3,530 m/s (Mach 10)
- Guidance system
- autonomous inertial
- Accuracy
- 2.4–5.16 km (1.49–3.21 mi) CEP
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Subclass of
- medium-range ballistic missile
- Named after
- Daugava
- Operator
- Soviet Strategic Rocket Forces
- Country of origin
- Soviet Union
- Developer
- Mikhail Yangel
- Manufacturer
- Pivdenmash
- Image
- Soviet-R-12-nuclear-ballistic missile.jpg
Show 4 more facts
- Commons category
- R-12
- NATO reporting name
- Sandal
- service entry
- 1959-03-04
- total produced
- 2300
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~11 min read
Encyclopedic overview
The cupola of the underground R-12U launching silo in Plokštinė missile base, Lithuania The R-12 Dvina was a theatre ballistic missile developed and deployed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Its GRAU designation was 8K63 (8K63U or 8K63У in Cyrillic for silo-launched version), and it was given the NATO reporting name of SS-4 Sandal. The R-12 rocket provided the Soviet Union with the capability to attack targets at medium ranges with a megaton-class thermonuclear warhead and constituted the bulk of the Soviet offensive missile threat to Western Europe. Deployments of the R-12 missile in Cuba caused the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. A total of 2335 missiles were produced; all were destroyed in 1993 under the START II treaty.
As well as the single-stage ballistic technology, the R-12 Dvina had a two-stage capability that allowed payloads to be placed into low Earth orbit.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “R-12 Dvina” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.