R-21 (missile)

R-21 (NATO reporting name: SS-N-5 'Sark'/'Serb')

Type	submarine-launched ballistic missile
Place of origin	Soviet Union
Service history
In service	15 May 1963 until 1991
Used by	Soviet Union
Production history
Designer	Makeyev Rocket Design Bureau
Specifications
Weight	16.5 t (16.2 long tons; 18.2 short tons)^[1]
Length	13.0 m (42 ft 8 in)^[1]
Diameter	1.2 m (47 in)^[1]
Warhead	single nuclear
Blast yield	800kt^[1]

Engine	liquid-fuel rocket, single stage
Operational range	1,300 km (700 nmi) upgraded to 1,650 km (890 nmi)^[1]
Guidance system	inertial^[1]
Accuracy	2.8 km CEP
Launch platform	Golf II-class, Hotel II-class submarines

The R-21 (Russian: Р-21; NATO: SS-N-5 'Sark/Serb'; GRAU: 4K55) was a submarine-launched ballistic missile in service with the Soviet Union between 1963 and 1989. It was the first Soviet nuclear missile that could be launched from a submerged submarine, and also had twice the range of earlier missiles. It replaced the R-11FM and R-13 (SS-N-4) on many Golf and Hotel-class submarines, and was in turn superseded by the R-27 (SS-N-6 'Serb') missile carried by Yankee-class submarines.

Development

Development of the R-15 and R-21 was initially assigned to Mikhail Yangel's Yuzhnoye Design Office (OKB-586) on 20 March 1958. The project was transferred to Viktor Makeyev's SKB-385 on 17 March 1959. It was intended for the Golf-class submarines (Project 629B); the complete missile system was called the D-4 weapon complex.^[2]

The 4th Research Institute had been conducting trials of underwater missile launch systems since 1955^[2] with modified Scuds but the first successful launch was in 1960^[2] and the first flight of a standard R-21 was in 1962.^[2] Over the lifetime of the missile, 193 out of 228 launches were successful.^[3]

The R-21 was probably the basis for the design of the North Korean No Dong (Rodong-1) missile.^[4]

Design

Unlike Western designs, the R-21 used a cold launch solid rocket to eject the missile from the flooded launch tube before the main motor ignited.^[2] This allowed missiles to be launched in a water depth of 40-60m.^[5] The propulsion system used an IRFNA-amine fuel, AK-27I/TG-02. AK-27I was a mixture of 73% nitric acid, 27% nitrogen tetroxide, and an iodine passivant.^[6] The fuel was originally used in the Wasserfall rocket under the name TONKA-250 and consisted of 50% triethylamine and 50% xylidine.^[6] This gave the R-21 a range of 1,400 km (760 nmi), double that of first-generation sub-launched missiles.^[5] The Naval Institute Guide suggests that the range was initially 1300 km, and extended to 1650 km later in the life of the missile.^[1] There was a single warhead of approximately 800 kilotons.^[1]

Variants

R-21 (4K55) - original design
R-21A (4K55A) - subsequent modification^[2]

There was some confusion about the SS-N-4/5/6 series of missiles in the West, the SS-N-5 is normally given the NATO reporting name 'Sark' like the SS-N-4 first carried by the Golf submarines,^[7] but some variants were assigned the name 'Serb' normally used for the SS-N-6.^[1] Jane's uses 'Sark'.^[2]

Operational history

The missiles replaced first-generation R-11FM and R-13 missiles on some Golf (Project 629) and Hotel (Project 658) class SSBNs, with three missiles per submarine,^[2] between 1963 and 1967.^[5] They were succeeded from 1967 by Yankee-class submarines carrying 2400 km-range R-27 (SS-N-6 'Serb') missiles.^[8] Seven of the eight Hotel I (Project 658) subs were upgraded to Hotel II (Project 658M) standard, which were retired by 1991.^[9]

Operators

North Korea

North Korean Navy

Soviet Union

Soviet Navy

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Polmar, Norman (1991), The Naval Institute Guide to the Soviet Navy, Naval Institute Press, p. 387, ISBN 978-0-87021-241-3
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "R-21 (SS-N-5 'Sark' and 4K55)", Jane's Strategic Weapon Systems, 2008-09-12, retrieved 2009-02-14
↑ Bukharin (2004) p319
↑ "No Dong 1/2 (Korea, North)", Jane's Strategic Weapon Systems, 2008-09-02, retrieved 2009-02-14
1 2 3 Bukharin; et al. (2004), Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces, MIT Press, p. 238, ISBN 978-0-262-66181-2
1 2 Wade, Mark. "Nitric acid/Amine TG-02". astronautix.com.
↑ Bukharin (2004) p585 for an example of the use of 'Sark'
↑ Bukharin (2004) p240
↑ Bukharin (2004) p292

External links

R-21 / SS-N-5 SERB GlobalSecurity.org has lots of historical details
www.aviation.ru R-21

Russian and former Soviet military designation sequences for radar, missile and rocket systems

Radar
systems

Land-based	A-100 P-3 P-8 P-10 P-12 P-14 P-15 P-18 P-19 P-20 P-30 P-35 P-37 P-40 P-70 P-80 P-100 Kabina 66 Kasta 2E RSN-225 Azov SNR-75 SA-6 30N6 36D6 64N6 76N6 96L6E 9S15 9S19 9S32 Duga Dnestr Dnepr Daryal Dunay Volga Don 2N Voronezh Container

Ship-borne

Airborne	N001 N002 N005 N006 N007 N008 N010 N011 N012 N014 N019 N025 N035 N036

Missiles

ICBM	GR-1 R-7 R-9 R-16 R-26 R-36 R-36M R-46 RS-24 RS-26 RSS-40 RT-2 RT-2PM RT-2PM2 RT-20 RT-21 RT-23 RS-28 UR-100 UR-100MR UR-100N UR-200

IRBM	R-14 RSD-10

MRBM	R-5 R-12 RT-15 RT-25

SRBM	9K720 R-1 R-2 R-11 R-11A R-17 OTR-21 OTR-23 TR-1

SLBM	R-13 R-15 R-21 R-27 R-29 R-39 RSM-45 RSM-56

Surface-to-surface (cruise)

Surface-to-surface (naval)	P-1 P-5 P-15 P-70 P-120 P-270 P-500 P-700 P-750 P-800 P-900 P-900A P-1000 RKV-500A RPK-2 RPK-6 RPK-7 URPK-3 URPK-4 URPK-5

Air-to-surface	KSR-5 KS-1 K-10S Kh-11 Kh-15 Kh-20 Kh-22 Kh-23 Kh-25 Kh-25MP Kh-26 Kh-28 Kh-29 Kh-31 Kh-35 Kh-41 Kh-55 Kh-58 Kh-59 Kh-59M Kh-80 Kh-90 9M114V

Air-to-air	R-3 R-4 R-8 R-23 R-27 R-33 R-37 R-40 R-60 R-73 R-77 R-172

Anti-tank	9M15

Unguided
rockets

Air-launched	RP-1 RP-5 RP-6 RP-9 RP-15 RP-21 RS-82 RS-132

Surface-launched	BM-21 BM-27 BM-30 TOS-1

Engines

NATO designation for Russian and former Soviet Union missiles

Air-to-air missiles complete list

AA-1 Alkali AA-2 Atoll AA-3 Anab AA-4 Awl AA-5 Ash AA-6 Acrid AA-7 Apex AA-8 Aphid AA-9 Amos AA-10 Alamo AA-11 Archer AA-12 Adder AA-13 Arrow

Air-to-surface missiles complete list

AS-1 Kennel AS-2 Kipper AS-3 Kangaroo AS-4 Kitchen AS-5 Kelt AS-6 Kingfish AS-7 Kerry AS-8 Kokon AT-6 AS-9 Kyle AS-10 Karen AS-11 Kilter AS-12 Kegler AS-13 Kingbolt AS-14 Kedge AS-15 Kent AS-16 Kickback AS-17 Krypton AS-18 Kazoo AS-X-19 Koala AS-20 Kayak AS-X-21 AS-22 AS-23 AS-24

Anti-tank missiles complete list

AT-1 Snapper AT-2 Swatter AT-3 Sagger AT-4 Spigot AT-5 Spandrel AT-6 Spiral AT-7 Saxhorn AT-8 Songster AT-9 Spiral-2 AT-10 Stabber AT-11 Sniper AT-12 Swinger AT-13 Saxhorn-2 АТ-14 Spriggan АТ-15 Springer AT-16 Scallion

Ground based	SA-1 Guild SA-2 Guideline SA-3 Goa SA-4 Ganef SA-5 Gammon SA-6 Gainful SA-7 Grail SA-8 Gecko SA-9 Gaskin SA-10 Grumble SA-11 Gadfly SA-12 Gladiator/Giant SA-13 Gopher SA-14 Gremlin SA-15 Gauntlet SA-16 Gimlet SA-17 Grizzly SA-18 Grouse SA-19 Grison SA-20 Gargoyle SA-21 Growler SA-22 Greyhound SA-23 Gladiator/Giant SA-24 Grinch Morfey S-350E

Naval based	SA-N-1 Goa SA-N-2 Guideline SA-N-3 Goblet SA-N-4 Gecko SA-N-5 Grail SA-N-6 Grumble SA-N-7 Gadfly SA-N-8 Gremlin SA-N-9 Gauntlet SA-N-10 Grouse SA-N-11 Grison SA-N-12 Grizzly SA-N-14 Grouse SA-N-20 Gargoyle

ABMs	ABM-1 Galosh ABM-3/53T6 Gazelle S-500

Ground based	SS-1 Scud SS-2 Sibling SS-3 Shyster SS-4 Sandal SS-5 Skean SS-6 Sapwood SS-7 Saddler SS-8 Sasin SS-9 Scarp SS-10 Scrag SS-11 Sego SS-12 Scaleboard SS-13 Savage SS-14 Scamp/Scapegoat SS-15 Scrooge SS-16 Sinner SS-17 Spanker SS-18 Satan SS-19 Stiletto SS-20 Saber SS-21 Scarab SS-22 Scaleboard SS-23 Spider SS-24 Scalpel SS-25 Sickle SS-26 Stone SS-27 Sickle B SS-28 Saber 2 SS-29 Yars SS-X-31 Rubezh SS-X-32Zh Barguzin SS-X-30 Sarmat

Naval based	SS-N-1 Scrubber SS-N-2 Styx SS-N-3c Shaddock SS-N-3a Shaddock 3b Sepal SS-N-4 Sark SS-N-5 Sark/Serb SS-N-6 Serb SS-N-7 Starbright SS-N-8 Sawfly SS-N-9 Siren SS-N-12 Sandbox SS-NX-13 SS-N-14 Silex SS-N-15 Starfish SS-N-16 Stallion SS-N-17 Snipe SS-N-18 Stingray SS-N-19 Shipwreck SS-NX-20 Sturgeon SS-N-21 Sampson SS-N-22 Sunburn SS-N-23 Skiff R29RM SS-N-23A Skiff SS-N-23B Skiff SS-NX-24 Scorpion SS-N-25 Switchblade SS-N-26 Strobile SS-N-27 Sizzler SS-N-30A 3M-14 SS-NX-28 SS-N-29 SS-N-32 SS-NX-30? SS-NX-34

Coordinates: 38°05′N 178°57′E / 38.083°N 178.950°E / 38.083; 178.950

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