Why are there no nuclear warheads atop the latest Russian strategic missile "Topol-M"/SS-27, asks journalist Dmitry LITOVKIN? Because, he answers, the weapon is still undergoing a series of tests, and dummies substitute for the real nuclear charges. And this is almost everything that is known of the new warhead - unlike the missile itself, which is actually born under the watchful eyes of US inspectors at the Votkinsk plant, and whose flying tests are filmed and measured by US spy satellites. The missile is 22.7 meters long and 1.95 meters in diameter, its take-off weight is 47.2 metric tons and combat load - 1,200 kilos. SS-27 flies more than 10,000 kilometers, and is able to evade any "existing or future" ballistic missile defense.
Topodis
Journalist Mikhail PERVOV explains how it came to pass that the latest weapon system has got its Russian index PC-12M variant 2, which may confuse even some experts. The original PC-12 was built by Perm and Leningrad designers more than 30 years ago. But PC-12M (presumably, for "modernized") was a completely different mobile missile designed by "Moscow Heating Engineering Institute" - MIT, and given that strange index to lure foreign intelligence or diplomatic services, or both. The current "Topol-M" system has been born by joint efforts of the new, entirely Russian network of missile-building plants, led by MIT director academician Yury Solomonov.
Topol-M to form core of Russian missile arsenal after 2015
Moscow, 15 May: Silo-launched and mobile Topol-M intercontinental ballistic missiles will form the core of the Strategic Missile Troops grouping after 2015, director of the Moscow Institute of Heat Technology and designer-general of the Topols Yuriy Solomonov told journalists today. "Missiles of the previous generation will in practical terms be incapable of alert status by that time, they are becoming obsolescent," he said. "Certainly, Topol-M is the most modern missile. It belongs to the next generation of missile weaponry and differs fundamentally from everything that has been done before in this field in our country and abroad. This concerns its tactical technical features and also the features of its combat use, which is designed for conditions of possible counteraction by antimissile defence systems," he said. The standardized solid-fuel three-stage Topol-M missile can be fitted with a single or multiple warhead and was designed at the Moscow Institute of Heat Technology. It has a range of over 11,000 km, it has a launch weight of 47 tonnes and a warhead weight of 1.2 tonnes. There are currently four Strategic Missile Troops regiments armed with the silo-launched Topol-M system which are on alert status. Flight tests of the Topol-M missile system using a mobile launch pad are to be completed this year. The first regiment armed with mobile Topol-M missiles could go on alert status in 2006.
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