R-5 Pobeda

R-5
R-5 on display at the Zhytomyr Korolyov Museum
TypeTheatre ballistic missile
Medium-range ballistic missile
Place of originUSSR
Service history
In service1956 – 1967
Production history
ManufacturerYuzhmash
Specifications
Mass29,100 kg
Length20.75 m
Diameter1.65 m
Warhead80 kt, 1 Mt thermonuclear warhead

EngineRD-103M, 8D52[1]
PropellantLiquid (92% Ethanol/water solution & LOX)
Operational
range
1,200 km (750 mi)
Guidance
system
inertial guidance plus radio command guidance
Accuracy1.5 km

The R-5 Pobeda[2] (Побе́да, "Victory") was a medium range ballistic missile developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The upgraded R-5M version, the first Soviet missile capable of carrying a nuclear weapon, was assigned the NATO reporting name SS-3 Shyster and carried the GRAU index 8K51.

The R-5 was developed by OKB-1 as a single-stage missile with a detachable warhead reentry vehicle. The R-5M was a nuclear armed missile with greater payload and weight entered service in March 1956, was deployed along the western and eastern Russian borders, and in 1959 was installed in East Germany, the first Soviet nuclear missile bases outside the USSR. The missile was retired in 1967, superseded by the R-12.

In 1958, R-5A rockets were used to launch pairs of dogs to altitudes above 450 km (280 mi).

  1. ^ "R-5 / SS-3 SHYSTER". Federation of Atomic Scientiits. 29 July 2000.
  2. ^ "Soviet/Russian missile designations". Johnston's Archive.