, lit. "brave man" or "fine fellow"; NATO reporting name: SS-24 Scalpel) was a cold-launched, three-stage, solid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missile developed and produced before 1991 by the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau in Dnipro, Ukraine (ex-Soviet Union). It came in silo- and rail-based variants, and was armed with 10 MIRV warheads (GRAU index: 15Ф444) of 550 kt yield.
History
thumb|left|150px|The overhead line short-circuiting and diverting mechanism
thumb|left|150px|Railcar [[outriggers, deployed before launch]]
The missile and rail-based missile complex – or BZhRK (, lit. "Combat Rail-based Missile Complex") – were developed by the brothers Vladimir and Alexei Utkin as chief engineers in Yuzhnoye Design Bureau and Design Bureau for Special Machine-Building respectively.
The missile was tested through the 1980s and was deployed in 1987. and seventeen railcars: a camouflaged tank with diesel fuel and lubricants reserve, three 3-car autonomous launching modules (a launch support systems car, a car with an erectable RT-23 launcher and a launcher command post car), a regiment command post car, a communications systems car, a main diesel generator car, a provision storage car with refrigerators and water tanks, a dining car, and two separate living compartment cars for officers and enlisted personnel. All the railcars were camouflaged as either refrigerated vans or passenger cars. The lead locomotive was driven by three Railway Troops officers with good knowledge of a patrolling route, while the two others were operated by enlisted personnel. Shortly after ejection by the powder pressure accumulator, at a height of 20–30 m, the missile would incline itself, so that the first-stage exhaust would not damage or overturn the railcar launcher, and then ignite the first-stage engine. In order to prevent damage to the railroad tracks caused by high weight of the launching car with a missile (>200 tons), The missile train was able to function autonomously for up to 28 days. Prior to that, in 1988, at Semipalatinsk Test Site, the rail-based complex took part in the "Siyanie" (, lit. "Shining") and "Groza" (, lit. "Thunderstorm") experiments, meant to evaluate its EMP and lightning protection effectiveness. A total of 46 missiles remained in service by April 1997 with the Strategic Missile Forces (10 silo- and 36 rail-based).
Its successor, BZhRK Barguzin, was reportedly under development for the Strategic Missile Forces (RVSN), but in 2017 it was announced the project had been frozen due to insufficient funding.
Versions
{| class="wikitable"
|+ class="nowrap" | RT-23 versions comparison
|
| | Service
|colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | RT-23 || colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | RT-23 UTTKh
|-
| | GRAU
| 15Zh44 || 15Zh52 || 15Zh60 || 15Zh61
|-
| | DIA
| SS-24 PL-04 (R&D index) || SS-24 Mod 0 || SS-24 Mod 2 || SS-24 Mod 1
|-
| | Bilateral
| || RS-22B || RS-22A || RS-22V
|-
| | Design bureau
|colspan="4" style="text-align:center;" | SKB-586, NPO Yuzhynoy Acad. V. F. Utkin
|-
| | Approved
| 23 July 1976 || 1 June 1979 || 9 August 1983 || 9 August 1983
|-
| | Years of R&D
|January 1969 – March 1977 || November 1982 – 1987 || 1983–1989 || 1983–1989
|-
| | First flight test
| 26 October 1982, failure; <br/>December 1982, success || April 1984 || 31 July 1986 || 27 February 1985
|-
| | IOC
| Canceled || 19 August 1988 || December 1988 || December 1987
|-
| | Deployment date
| Canceled || November 1987 || 28 November 1989 || 28 November 1989
|-
| | Type of warhead
| colspan="4" style="text-align:center;" | MIRV
|-
| | Warheads
|colspan="4" style="text-align:center;" | 10
|-
| | Payload (t)
|colspan="4" style="text-align:center;" | 4.05
|-
| | Total length (mm)
| 23,300 || 23,400–23,800 || 18,800–23,400 || 23,300
|-
| | Total length warhead (mm)
| 18,800; 19,000 || 19,000 || 19,000 || 19,000
|-
| | Missile diameter (mm)
|colspan="4" style="text-align:center;" | 2,400
|-
| | Launch mass (t)
|colspan="4" style="text-align:center;" | 104.5
|-
| | Operating range (km)
| 10,000 || 10,000–11,000 || 10,100-11,000 || 10,100–10,450
|-
| | CEP (m)
|colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | 500 ||colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | 150–250
|-
| | Basing mode
| || Silo || Silo || Railroad
|}
Former operators
; and : The Strategic Missile Troops were the only operators of the RT-23 until the breakup of the Soviet Union.
:Silo-based with 46th Rocket Division in Pervomaisk and 60th Rocket Division in Tatischevo.