In the early stages of the development of tactical missile systems in our country, a variety of projects of such systems were proposed, including those that differed in some original ideas and features. So, it was proposed to develop a promising R-18 missile for a land complex on the basis of an existing product that was part of the submarine ammunition. For a number of reasons, this project did not reach mass production and operation in the army, but it was still able to contribute to the development of domestic missile technology.
Since the mid-fifties, the employees of SKB-385 (Miass) under the leadership of V. P. Makeeva worked on the project of the D-2 submarine missile system with the R-13 missile. Certain successes of this project, outlined by the 1958 year, made it possible to proceed with the further development of this development, which was supposed to lead to the emergence of a new version of the missile system. On August 28, 1958, the USSR Council of Ministers issued a decree on the development of a new operational-tactical complex, which should have been based on the existing developments on the latest missiles for submarines. Moreover, one of the project options involved the use of the maximum possible number of components and assemblies of an existing product.
The mock-up demonstrates the rise of the rocket to the launch position
In accordance with the resolution of the Council of Ministers, SKB-385 was supposed to develop a missile system based on a self-propelled chassis with a missile capable of delivering a special warhead at a distance of up to 600 km. To simplify and accelerate the development, the project was to be based on the developments for the D-2 / R-13 complex. In the first quarter of 1959, the development organization was supposed to submit a draft version of the project, and by the beginning of the 60th, the project should have been brought to flight tests. It was supposed to complete all work on the new project and take the complex into service by the middle of 1961. A promising ballistic missile for the ground forces received the designation R-18. The exact name of the complex is unknown.
SKB-385 was supposed to be the lead developer of the new project. It was also planned to involve the Leningrad Kirovsky plant in the work, which was entrusted with the design of a self-propelled launcher. In addition, in order to comply with the established deadlines, the plant No. 66 (Chelyabinsk) had to be transferred to the subordination of SKB-385.
According to available data, within the framework of the R-18 project, it was proposed to develop two versions of the rocket with different designs. The first was planned to be created on the basis of existing experience, with minimal borrowing of ready-made components and assemblies. The second version, in turn, was supposed to be a modified version of the "sea" rocket R-13 and have maximum unification with it. Regardless of the type of missile, the complex was supposed to include a self-propelled launcher on a tracked chassis.
It is known that the self-propelled launcher or launcher for the R-18 missile was named "Object 812". This machine was supposed to be based on the design of the ISU-152K ACS. The Leningrad Kirov Plant already had some experience in rebuilding self-propelled guns into launchers, which should have been used in a new project. For this reason, the finished "Object 812" had to have a certain similarity with the machines from the composition of other missile systems of that time.
The basis of the "Object 812" was a tracked chassis based on existing units. It had a V-2-IS diesel engine with a power of 520 hp. and received a mechanical transmission. On each side of the hull, six small-diameter road wheels with individual torsion bar suspension were provided. Such a power plant and chassis were supposed to provide movement along the highway and rough terrain with overcoming various obstacles necessary to deliver a ballistic missile to the launch position.
A hull of a characteristic design with a large front wheelhouse and aft engine compartment was mounted on the chassis. In front of the wheelhouse, which had a lowered central part of the roof, there were places for the crew. Access to the cockpit was carried out through the front side doors, and the driver's seat was in the front of the hull and was equipped with large windshields. In addition to the crew, a set of equipment was located in the wheelhouse, which was necessary for topographic reference, preparation of the rocket for launch and performing other procedures.
On the stern sheet of the hull there were supports for the rocking devices of the launcher. Next to them were placed support devices for hydraulic drives for lifting the rocket. To transport the R-18 missile, the Object 812 received a lifting ramp. This device was supposed to be a set of beams and transverse curved elements with grips, on which the rocket was placed and fixed in the transport position. For additional protection of the product, large grilles were located on the side and head parts of the ramp. First of all, they were necessary to protect the head of the rocket from possible strikes when moving over rough terrain.
It was proposed to launch the rocket using a compact launch pad. On the main frame of this device, a support ring was attached for installing a rocket, a gas shield and other necessary equipment. The frame of the launch pad was mounted on hinges placed on the supports of the swinging ramp. Thanks to this, the table could be raised into transport position or lowered into working position.
Together with the Object 812, the Object 811 transport-loading vehicle was to be operated. It was planned to build it on the same chassis as the self-propelled launcher. The differences between the two machines should have been a set of special equipment. So, the "Object 811" should have been equipped with means for transporting and reloading a rocket onto a launcher. Possibility of lifting to a vertical position, starting table, etc. were absent.
In the future, it was planned to develop a new version of a self-propelled launcher on a wheeled chassis. By that time, it was already known that tracked vehicles have a number of negative features that complicate their use as a carrier of missiles with special warheads. The wheeled chassis were more soft and did not have serious restrictions. Thus, in the future, a wheeled vehicle with the required characteristics could become the carrier of the R-18 rocket. The exact shape of such a machine, however, was not determined due to the early stoppage of work.
There is no exact information about the first version of the R-18 rocket project, which was planned to be developed from scratch. It is quite possible that for several months of work on the complex, the specialists of the development organization simply did not have time to form the appearance of such a product and determine its technical features. As for the variant of the R-18 rocket, based on the R-13 design, then in this case there is enough information to compose a complete picture.
R-18 rocket model
Being a slightly modified version of the R-13 submarine missile, the R-18 product had to retain all its main features. The R-18 was supposed to be a single-stage liquid-propellant ballistic missile with on-board control systems. During the development of a new project, the specialists of SKB-385 had to change some of the design features of the rocket due to a different method of application and other characteristic features of the land complex. However, such changes should not have led to a significant change in the characteristics or appearance of the rocket.
The R-18 rocket was supposed to have a cylindrical body of large elongation with a large conical head fairing. In the tail section, there were small X-shaped stabilizers. There were no other large and noticeable details on the outer surface of the case. It was proposed to use a standard layout of internal volumes with the placement of the warhead inside the head fairing, the engine in the tail and tanks in the remaining volumes. The location of the control equipment could be borrowed from the R-13 project: this rocket had a small inter-tank compartment with guidance systems, located near the center of gravity.
The unification of the new rocket with the existing one was supposed to lead to the use of a liquid-propellant rocket engine of the C2.713 type. This product had one large cruising chamber and four smaller helmsmen. The central cruise chamber was responsible for creating thrust, and the side rudders could be used for maneuvering. To do this, they had the ability to swing around axes perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the rocket. The engine was supposed to use TG-02 fuel and an AK-27I oxidizer. The engine thrust reached 25.7 tons.
According to some reports, it was decided to equip the R-18 rocket with a new guidance system, which is a development of existing units. An inertial guidance system capable of tracking rocket movements and generating commands for engine steering chambers was planned to be created using devices borrowed from the R-17 rocket project. The required guidance systems were based on gyroscopes, as well as new computing facilities.
It was planned to equip a promising ballistic missile with a special warhead, the development of which should have been entrusted to KB-11. The parameters of such a warhead are unknown, but the dimensions and characteristics of the rocket made it possible to carry a warhead with a capacity of up to 1 Mt.
The R-13 base model rocket had a length of 11.835 m and a maximum diameter of 1.3 m with a stabilizer span of 1.91 m. The launch weight of the product reached 13.75 tons. There is reason to believe that the R-18 rocket, which was a further development of the R -13, was supposed to have similar dimensions and weight characteristics.
In accordance with the terms of reference, the missile system with the R-18 missile was supposed to be able to attack targets at ranges from 250 to 600 km. The maximum deviation from the calculated point of impact should not exceed 4 km in any direction, which imposed corresponding requirements on guidance systems.
The preparation of the missile system for firing was given no more than 1 hour after arrival at the position. During this time, the calculation of the self-propelled launcher had to lower the launch pad to the ground, then raise the rocket to a vertical position, fix it on the table and lower the ramp. Simultaneously with this, the coordinates of the machine were determined, and the flight program was calculated, intended for input into the missile control systems. After completing all the necessary procedures, the startup could be performed.
It was proposed to launch the rocket from a vertical position, without using a starting guide. During the active phase of the flight, the automation was supposed to keep the rocket on the required trajectory. After running out of fuel, the rocket had to go into an uncontrolled flight along a given trajectory. After firing, the crew of the "Object 812" could transfer the complex to the transport position and go to another site to reload.
The development of the R-18 missile project and other means of a promising operational-tactical missile system continued until December 1958. By this time, specialists from SKB-385 and other organizations involved in the project had time to work out some issues and prepare a set of documentation in a draft version. In addition, apparently, it was at this time that a certain number of mock-ups of a self-propelled launcher with a rocket were made.
At the end of 1958, work on the R-18 project was discontinued. The exact reasons for this are unknown, but there are some assumptions. The most plausible is the version associated with a change in the goals and objectives of SKB-385. Until the end of the fifties, this organization was engaged in the development of missile systems of various classes, intended for use by different types of armed forces. Later, it was decided to entrust SKB-385 specialists only to projects developed in the interests of the fleet. Thus, in the future, Miass designers had to develop only submarine ballistic missiles. The development of land complexes was entrusted to other organizations.
Fighting vehicle ready to launch
For these or possibly other reasons, by the beginning of 1959, all work on the R-18 rocket was stopped, stopping at an early stage. The preliminary design of the new missile system was not completed. As a result, the technical design was not developed, and prototypes were not built or tested. The ground forces did not receive an operational-tactical complex with the ability to fire at a distance of up to 600 km.
After the project was closed, SKB-385 had a certain amount of technical documentation. In addition, by this time, layouts of promising products were assembled. One model of the Object 812 vehicle with the R-18 rocket is now kept in the museum of the Kirov Plant (St. Petersburg), which at one time was responsible for the development of a self-propelled launcher.
Due to the termination of work on land-based missile systems, SKB-385 was unable to further implement the little experience gained when creating the R-18 project. In the future, this organization was engaged only in missile systems for submarines, where developments on self-propelled launchers, etc. could not find an application. Nevertheless, there is an opinion that the ideas and solutions of the R-18 project were nevertheless implemented in practice, even with significant changes.
Among foreign historians of military technology, there is a version about the application of developments on the R-18 missile by North Korean engineers in their projects of land-based missile systems. Documentation on the Soviet project could get into the DPRK, where it was used to create missile systems of the Nodong family. At the same time, direct evidence of such a version has not yet been cited, there are only indirect evidence that can be interpreted in its favor.
In the late fifties, Soviet engineers worked on several projects of promising missile systems for the ground forces. Systems were developed with various chassis options, different missiles, differing in characteristics and types of warheads. Not all such developments, for one reason or another, managed to reach mass production and operation in the army. In addition, in some cases, the development of the project was not even completed. One of these unsuccessful developments was the project of a complex with the R-18 missile. Its closure at the end of 1958 did not make it possible to test in practice the potential and prospects for the unification of modern ballistic missiles of submarines and land complexes.
