R-5 Pobeda

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, carrying a nuclear warhead yielding at least 80 kilotons (kt). Later, the R-5M received a 1 megaton (mt) thermonuclear warhead. == Development ==

The R-1 and R-2, developed by NII-88 under the supervision of Chief Designer Sergei Korolev were essentially direct descendants of the German V-2 rocket developed during World War Two. Korolev's next design, the -long, range R-3, was a bold step forward in the fulfillment of Josef Stalin's 1947 request for a "transatlantic" Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM). By far the largest and costliest ballistic missile program in the USSR to date, its innovations were to include fuel and oxidizer tanks that were integral to (not separate from) the frame of the rocket. In addition, the large, heavy graphite stabilizing fins of its predecessors were to be omitted. Rather than use ethanol as fuel, the R-3 would use the more-efficient kerosene. Neither Valentin Glushko of OKB-486 nor NII-1's Aleksandr Polyarniy were able to produce the advanced engines required for the design. As a result, in the spring of 1951, Korolev revised his plans to instead concentrate on an easier stepping stone toward an ICBM. His team had already managed to create the R-3A, an experiment rocket with a range of . Using the RD-103 engine, a evolution of the RD-101 used in the R-2 missile, and by reducing the weight of the rocket through use of integrated tankage (while at the same time increasing propellant load by 60% over the R-2), the R-5 would have a range of . The military had much more confidence in this incremental design than the radical leap forward that was the R-3, and work proceeded apace. Other innovations over the R-1/R-2 included small aerodynamic rudders run by servomotors to replace the big fins of the R-1/R-2, and longitudinal acceleration integrators to improve the precision of engine cutoff and thus accuracy. The R-5 missile used combined autonomous inertial control with lateral radio-correction for guidance and control. == Testing ==

The R-5 underwent its first series of eight test launches from 15 March to 23 May 1953. After two failures, the third rocket, launched 2 April, marked the beginning of streak of success. Seven more missiles were launched between 30 October and December, all of which reached their targets. A final series of launches, designed to test modifications made in response to issues with the first series, was scheduled for mid-1954. 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. == Military service ==

The R-5 entered military service in 1955. Known by the American Department of Defense as the SS-3 and by NATO as the "Shyster", the R-5M left service in 1967, superseded by the more effective R-12. == Variants ==

A scientific version of the R-5, the R-5A, was finished in 1958. 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==