SS-2 Sibling

R-2

R-2 missile at Korolev City of Moscow region
Type Short-range ballistic missile
Place of origin USSR
Specifications

Operational
range
600 km (370 mi)
R-2

The R-2 Short-range ballistic missile (NATO reporting name SS-2 Sibling, GRAU index 8Zh38) was developed based on the R-1 design. This was an improved version of the German V-2 rocket manufactured by the Soviet Union.

The R-1 was quickly followed by an evolutionary improvement, the R-2 (SS-2), which had a longer range and at least four major differences in design. The weight was increased by 50%, but the range was more than doubled, to 600 km (370 mi). R-2 had the following major differences from the R-1's (and hence from the V-2's) design:[1]

The first test flight of the R-2 took place in September 1949, and it was accepted for service in November 1951, actually entering service in large numbers around 1953. A grand total of 1,545 R-1 and R-2 missiles were produced.

The R-2 missile was the last Soviet missile based on German designs. While some German influences would clearly remain, Soviet missiles after the R-2 would be based on original designs by the OKB-1 group.

The R-2A geophysical rocket was developed for vertical sounding flights. It carried dogs, monkeys, hamsters, and various high-altitude physics experiments in its nose cone. Two pods performed atmospheric analysis and were ejected from the missile's side to avoid contamination by engine exhaust.

The R-2 design was exported to China, where it was built as the Dongfeng 1

Operators

 Soviet Union

References

  1. (Russian) First Steps of the Domestic Rocket Construction
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