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R-2 (missile)
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R-2 (missile)
The R-2 (NATO reporting name SS-2 Sibling) was a Soviet short-range ballistic missile developed from and having twice the range as the R-1 missile (itself a copy of the German V-2). Developed from 1946-1951, the R-2 entered service in numbers in 1953 and was deployed in mobile units throughout the Soviet Union until 1962. A sounding rocket derivative, the R-2A, tested a prototype of the dog-carrying capsule flown on Sputnik 2 in 1957. The same year, the R-2 was licensed for production in the People's Republic of China, where it entered service as the Dongfeng 1.
In 1945 the Soviets captured several key A-4 (V-2) rocket production facilities, and also gained the services of some German scientists and engineers related to the project. Under the supervision of the Special technical Commission (OTK) established by the Soviet Union to oversee rocketry operations in Germany, A-4s were assembled and studied. This prompted the 13 May 1946 decree of the Soviet Council of Ministers for, in part, the development of a Soviet copy of the A-4, which would be the first domestically produced ballistic missile. A further decree on 16 May converted the M.I. Kalinin Plant No. 88, which had produced artillery and tanks during World War II into NII-88, tasked with managing the Soviet Union's long-range rocketry programs. In April 1947 Josef Stalin authorized the production of the R-1 missile, the designation for the Soviet copy of V-2. NII-88 chief designer Sergei Korolev oversaw the R-1's development. Testing of the R-1 proceeded from 1948 to 1950, and the R-1 missile system entered into service in the Soviet Army on 28 November 1950.
By the latter half of 1946, Korolev and rocket engineer Valentin Glushko had, with extensive input from German engineers, outlined a successor to the R-1 with an extended frame and a new engine designed by Glushko. The R-2 would have a range of 600 kilometres (370 mi), twice that of the R-1, while maintaining a similar payload of around 1,000 kilograms (2,200 lb).
Korolev proposed commencement of the R-2 project in January 1947, but it was declined by the Soviet government, which favored development of the more technologically conservative R-1. Moreover, development of the R-2 was in direct competition with the G-1 missile being concurrently developed by Helmut Gröttrup, head of a German team of engineers. Though the G-1 was a compelling design, able to lift a payload three times heavier than that of the A-4, and with higher precision and a shorter launch preparation time, it was politically infeasible to leave the Soviet missile program in the hands of Germans. Thus, on April 14, 1948, the same decree that authorized the operational production of the R-1 also sanctioned development of the R-2. The G-1 was ultimately never completed.
Like its predecessor, the R-1, the R-2 was a single-stage missile using ethanol as a fuel and liquid oxygen as an oxidizer. At a length of 17.65 m (57.9 ft) and a mass of 19,632 kg (43,281 lb), the R-2 was 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) longer and the dry weight of 4,528 kg (9,983 lb) was about 500 kg (1,100 lb) heavier than the R-1. Maximum body diameter remained 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in), the same as the R-1, and in the interests of conservatism, the R-2 retained the R-1's graphite stabilizing fins, though they reduced lifting capacity and caused heating and stress issues.
The R-2 design included four major improvements over the R-1:
Test launches of an experimental version of the R-2, designated R-2E, began on 25 September 1949. Five of these slightly shorter (17 m (56 ft)) rockets were fired from Kapustin Yar, three of them successfully. The R-1A, a variant of the R-1 developed largely to test the separable warhead concept to be used in the R-2, was also test-flown in 1949. Launches of the full-scale R-2 began on 21 October 1950, the last being fired on 20 December. None of the 12 flights in this series fulfilled their primary objectives due to engine failures, warhead trajectory errors, and malfunctions with the guidance systems.
A second series of tests was carried out between 2-27 July, 1951. The R-2 had been made more reliable by then, and twelve of the thirteen flights successfully reached their targets. A subsequent series of 18 launches in 1951 had 14 successes. Per an order dated 27 November, 1951, the R-2 was formally adopted as operational armament for the Soviet Union, and production was authorized at factory 586 in Dnepropetrovsk three days later. Mass production began at this factory in June 1953. As with the R-1, reliability remained suboptimal. In a series of 14 operational R-2s test-launched in 1952, only 12 reached their target.
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R-2 (missile)
The R-2 (NATO reporting name SS-2 Sibling) was a Soviet short-range ballistic missile developed from and having twice the range as the R-1 missile (itself a copy of the German V-2). Developed from 1946-1951, the R-2 entered service in numbers in 1953 and was deployed in mobile units throughout the Soviet Union until 1962. A sounding rocket derivative, the R-2A, tested a prototype of the dog-carrying capsule flown on Sputnik 2 in 1957. The same year, the R-2 was licensed for production in the People's Republic of China, where it entered service as the Dongfeng 1.
In 1945 the Soviets captured several key A-4 (V-2) rocket production facilities, and also gained the services of some German scientists and engineers related to the project. Under the supervision of the Special technical Commission (OTK) established by the Soviet Union to oversee rocketry operations in Germany, A-4s were assembled and studied. This prompted the 13 May 1946 decree of the Soviet Council of Ministers for, in part, the development of a Soviet copy of the A-4, which would be the first domestically produced ballistic missile. A further decree on 16 May converted the M.I. Kalinin Plant No. 88, which had produced artillery and tanks during World War II into NII-88, tasked with managing the Soviet Union's long-range rocketry programs. In April 1947 Josef Stalin authorized the production of the R-1 missile, the designation for the Soviet copy of V-2. NII-88 chief designer Sergei Korolev oversaw the R-1's development. Testing of the R-1 proceeded from 1948 to 1950, and the R-1 missile system entered into service in the Soviet Army on 28 November 1950.
By the latter half of 1946, Korolev and rocket engineer Valentin Glushko had, with extensive input from German engineers, outlined a successor to the R-1 with an extended frame and a new engine designed by Glushko. The R-2 would have a range of 600 kilometres (370 mi), twice that of the R-1, while maintaining a similar payload of around 1,000 kilograms (2,200 lb).
Korolev proposed commencement of the R-2 project in January 1947, but it was declined by the Soviet government, which favored development of the more technologically conservative R-1. Moreover, development of the R-2 was in direct competition with the G-1 missile being concurrently developed by Helmut Gröttrup, head of a German team of engineers. Though the G-1 was a compelling design, able to lift a payload three times heavier than that of the A-4, and with higher precision and a shorter launch preparation time, it was politically infeasible to leave the Soviet missile program in the hands of Germans. Thus, on April 14, 1948, the same decree that authorized the operational production of the R-1 also sanctioned development of the R-2. The G-1 was ultimately never completed.
Like its predecessor, the R-1, the R-2 was a single-stage missile using ethanol as a fuel and liquid oxygen as an oxidizer. At a length of 17.65 m (57.9 ft) and a mass of 19,632 kg (43,281 lb), the R-2 was 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) longer and the dry weight of 4,528 kg (9,983 lb) was about 500 kg (1,100 lb) heavier than the R-1. Maximum body diameter remained 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in), the same as the R-1, and in the interests of conservatism, the R-2 retained the R-1's graphite stabilizing fins, though they reduced lifting capacity and caused heating and stress issues.
The R-2 design included four major improvements over the R-1:
Test launches of an experimental version of the R-2, designated R-2E, began on 25 September 1949. Five of these slightly shorter (17 m (56 ft)) rockets were fired from Kapustin Yar, three of them successfully. The R-1A, a variant of the R-1 developed largely to test the separable warhead concept to be used in the R-2, was also test-flown in 1949. Launches of the full-scale R-2 began on 21 October 1950, the last being fired on 20 December. None of the 12 flights in this series fulfilled their primary objectives due to engine failures, warhead trajectory errors, and malfunctions with the guidance systems.
A second series of tests was carried out between 2-27 July, 1951. The R-2 had been made more reliable by then, and twelve of the thirteen flights successfully reached their targets. A subsequent series of 18 launches in 1951 had 14 successes. Per an order dated 27 November, 1951, the R-2 was formally adopted as operational armament for the Soviet Union, and production was authorized at factory 586 in Dnepropetrovsk three days later. Mass production began at this factory in June 1953. As with the R-1, reliability remained suboptimal. In a series of 14 operational R-2s test-launched in 1952, only 12 reached their target.
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