R-14 (SS-5 Skean) Russian Medium Range Ballistic Missile
A logical geometrical scale of Sandal, this missile is longer and considerably fatter and moves into the Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile class with a vengeance. First flown in the late 1950s and deployed with RVSN troops prior to 1964 (the year in which it was disclosed in a parade), Skean was one of the first Soviet missiles to dispense with aerodynamic fins. It also features a blunt nose on its reentry vehicle, the radius being about 6 inches. The engine is the twin-chamber GLD RD-216, or a close relative, burning storable propellants (almost certainly RFNA and kerosene) and having a vacuum rating of 198,413 pounds. Vehicle control is by jet vanes in both effluxes. Guidance is inertial, and the warhead is estimated at 1 megaton. Films show this missile in silos, and about 100 are still deployed (as of 1979), mainly in western IRBM complexes to menace Western Europe. With a restartable second stage SS-5 has launched some of the larger Cosmos military satellites, such as Nos 655 and 611. SS-20 is the replacement.
Dimensions: Length about 82 feet; diameter about 8 feet.
Launch weight: About 132,275 pounds.
Range: Estimated at 2,175 miles.
