The R-5 Pobeda (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 The missile was retired in 1967, superseded by the R-12.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 .

Description

The R-5 was a single-stage Medium Range Ballistic Missile (MRBM) with a range of . Using 92% ethanol for fuel and liquid oxygen as an oxidizer, the rocket had a dry weight of (fueled, ) and carried a detachable reentry vehicle with a payload capacity of . Quickly upgraded to the nuclear-capable R-5M, this missile was just under long and in diameter, had a dry weight of (fueled, ), and carried a payload. The R-5 had an accuracy of downrange and cross-range from the aim point, substantially greater than that of the R-1 and R-2 missiles. With its range (five times that of the R-1; more than twice that of the R-2), accuracy, and atomic armament, the R-5M was the Soviet Union's first real strategic missile, The R-5 missile used combined autonomous inertial control with lateral radio-correction for guidance and control. with a yield of less than 3 kilotons. This flight earned Korolev and his deputy, Vasily Mishin, the title Hero of Socialist Labor. 20 engineers at NII-88 received the Order of Lenin.

Known by the American Department of Defense as the SS-3 and by NATO as the "Shyster", Its first flight was 21 February 1958, and in its subsequent three flights, the rocket carried pairs of space dogs to altitudes of more than ,

Operators

;

  • Soviet Army

See also

  • List of missiles
  • Soviet rocketry

References

  • Global Security: R-5 / SS-3 SHYSTER
  • R-5
  • page from FAS
  • Encyclopedia Astronautica: R-5