RS-24Country: Russian FederationAlternate Name: Yantz/YahresClass: ICBMBasing: Silo/TELPayload: 6 MIRVWarhead: 150kT nuclear; 500kT nuclearPropulsion: 3-stage solidRange: 10,500 kmStatus: OperationalIn Service: December 2009 or July 2010DetailsThe RS-24 missile probably represents the future of Russian nuclear deterrence. As the missile has just entered operation, little is known with certainty about its design or specification. It is probably a three-stage, solid propellant, MIRV-capable ICBM with a range of 10,500 km.(1)
Many sources concur that the RS-24 is merely an improved version of the Topol-M (RS-12) missile that brings MIRV and ABM-evasion measures to its predecessor.(2) Some sources suggest that the missile is a wholly new project.(3) The problem is heavily complicated by the START treaties, which make certain allowances and prohibitions regarding new missiles, missile prototypes, and upgrades to existing missiles.(4) The Russian government may be trying to stay within these rules (or “loosely” within the rules) or simply to keep secret any performance specifications which stray outside the rules. Speculation about whether the missile is based on the Topol-M seems to follow from the supposed specifications of the new missile. For example, if the RS-24 missile will carry 6 MIRV, then it will require some substantial changes to the Topol-M design to account for the necessary extra thrust: such changes could be significant enough to make the RS-24 qualify as a new missile instead of simply an upgrade missile (under START I regulations).(5) Perhaps due to these regulations, there may be some connection between the end of the START I treaty and the release of the RS-24 missile (in December 2009).
The missile also likely borrows from the Bulava 30 (SS-NX-30) SLBM missile program. The Bulava program, started in 1998, is expected to equip its missiles with between 4 and 10 MIRV armed with a corresponding number of 150kT nuclear warheads. These MIRV are believed to employ side-thrust motors, fins, and decoys to outmaneuver missile defense systems before dropping on targets with an accuracy of 250 to 300 m CEP. There may be an alternate-payload version which would use a single RV with a 500 kT nuclear warhead.(6) With such heavy payloads combined with an average accuracy, both the Bulava 30 and the RS-24 (assuming it uses the same or similar RVs) announce a clear message of deterrence. They would likely be most effective against large, soft targets and not very effective as counterstrike weapons.
Though the Russian designator, RS-24, suggests a silo-based missile (the RS-18 and RS-20, which the missile is supposed to replace, are both silo-based), testing suggests otherwise. At least two of the three test firings have used TEL vehicles as the launch platform. Test launches have been made in May 2007, December 2007, and November 2008.(7) It is possible that the missile will replace the RS-18 and RS-20 with a silo-based variant while replacing the Topol-M with a TEL-based version.
In April 2010, Russian nuclear scientist Yuri Solomon indicated that the missile entered operation in December 2009, though official Russian military sources did not announce that the missile had entered operation until July 2010.(8) The missile is expected to stay in production until 2025.(9)
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美国好像说是6弹头