RSD-10 Pioneer

RSD-10 Pioneer
SS-20 Saber
RSD-10 Pioneer ; SS-20 Saber
	solid-fuel rocket
Operational; range	5,800 km (3,600 mi)
Maximum speed	Up to 7.43 km/s
Guidance; system	Inertial
Accuracy	150-450 m CEP
Launch; platform	Road-mobile TEL

The RSD-10 Pioneer (

GRAU designation 15Ж45 (15Zh45). Its NATO reporting name

was SS-20 Saber.

Its deployment was a major cause of NATO's 'Double-Track Decision', which led to the deployment of more medium-range nuclear weapons in Western Europe. The RSD-10 was withdrawn from service under the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.

Specifications

The missile was 21.5 metres (71 ft) high, 2.18 metres (7.2 ft) in diameter and weighed 47.1 tons. It was based on two solid-fuel

MIRV devices (Pioneer UTTH). The CEP was also reduced from 550 metres (1,800 ft) to 150 to 450 metres (490 to 1,480 ft). The missile was the first Soviet missile equipped with solid fuel instead of liquid fuel, which meant that it could be launched once the order had been given instead of requiring hours doing the dangerous work of pumping the missile with liquid fuel.^[2]

^: 241

The missile used a

Belarusian SSR by the Minsk Automobile Plant. The TEL was originally designed for the RT-21 Temp 2S

intercontinental ballistic missile.

On 10 August 1979 testing of the modernized "Pioneer"-UTTKh (15Zh53) began at the Kapustin Yar test site. It continued through 14 August 1980, and on 17 December 1980 the missile was deployed. Designated by NATO as SS-20 Mod3, this variant had the same propulsion system as earlier versions, but due to upgrading of a command structure and instrumentation-service unit it was possible to improve accuracy (CEP) from 550 to 450 meters, to increase maximum range by 10%, and to increase the area covered by the warheads.[3] This latest RSD-10 variant subsequently received NATO reporting name SS-28 Saber 2.^[4]

Development

It was intended to replace, or augment, the

Strategic Missile Forces

.

There were several theories as to why the Soviet Union developed the RSD-10:

Some in the United States such as Richard Perle saw it as a part of a bid for global power on the part of the Soviet Union.^[2]^: 243
Another popular theory held that the SALT treaties, by placing quantitative limits on long-range missiles, had encouraged the Soviets to place more emphasis on medium-range missiles, which were not covered by SALT.^[2]^: 244
Another theory held that the RSD-10 was the "son" of the failed RT-21 Temp 2S ICBM project. Following the failure of the RT-21, the Soviets simply used the technology and parts that had been developed for the RT-21 for the RSD-10.^[2]^: 244
Others argued that it was part of an attempt on the part of the Soviet military to develop a more sophisticated nuclear strategy that did not call for an all out nuclear first strike as soon as World War III began by giving the Soviets a second strike capability that they had previously lacked.^[2]^: 244

During the 1960s, Soviet missile procurement was dominated by the ideas of Defence Minister, Marshal

military-industrial complex over the military as regarding weapons procurement that was the most important reason for the Pioneer.^[2]

^{: 251–252}

Deployment

While the Warsaw Pact arguably enjoyed a massive conventional superiority over NATO in Central Europe, Soviet leaders assumed that NATO would use tactical nuclear weapons to stop a massive Warsaw Pact offensive.^[6] The RSD-10 provided the Soviet Union with an in-theater "selective" targeting capability that it previously had lacked. The RSD-10 had the capacity to destroy all NATO bases and installations with negligible warning. Thus, the Soviet Union acquired the capability to neutralise NATO's tactical nuclear forces with surgical nuclear strikes.

In 1979 NATO decided to deploy US Pershing II and BGM-109G Ground Launched Cruise Missile missiles in Western Europe in attempt to counter the RSD-10. In 1979, when the NATO decision was taken, the Soviet Union had 14 (1 operational) RSD-10 launch sites.

Decommissioning

654 missiles were built in total. These and the 499 associated mobile launchers were destroyed by May 1991 in accordance with the

BGM-109G Gryphon and seven Pershing II missiles were preserved to commemorate this agreement. One RSD-10 can be seen in the grounds of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War, one at the Ukraine Air Force Museum in Vinnytsia, Ukraine, and another is inside the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum at Washington, D.C.

, US.

BM25 Musudan missile.^[7]