The development of the Albatross missile system was started by government decree No. 173-45 of February 9, 1987 at NPO Mashinostroyenia under the leadership of Herbert Efremov. The complex was supposed to become an asymmetric response of the USSR to the development of the SDI program in the USA. Experimental flight tests were carried out in 1991-1992. This decree prescribed the development of the Albatross missile system capable of overcoming the promising multi-echeloned US missile defense system, the creation of which was announced by the Reagan administration. There were three options for basing this complex: a mobile ground, stationary mine and redeployed mine.
The Albatross three-stage solid-propellant rocket was to be equipped with a gliding cruise unit (PCB) with a nuclear charge capable of flying up to targets at a sufficiently low altitude and maneuvering in the target area. All elements of the rocket, as well as the launcher, were supposed to have increased protection against nuclear explosions and laser weapons in order to ensure the delivery of a guaranteed retaliatory strike against any potential enemy counteraction.
Development of the Albatross complex was entrusted to NPO (designer G. A. Efremov) with launch tests in 1991. The decree noted the particular state importance of the implementation of this development, since the government and military circles of the USSR were seriously concerned about the problem of overcoming the American missile defense system and were looking for ways to ensure its solution. However, at the same time, it was surprising that the creation of such a complex complex was entrusted to an organization that had practically no experience in the development of solid-propellant missiles and mobile missile systems. In addition, the development of a gliding winged unit, making an intercontinental flight in the atmosphere at high speed, in fact, was a qualitatively new task that did not correspond to the experience of NPO Mashinostroyenia.
The idea of creating the Albatross rocket came from the search for a warhead capable of evading an anti-missile missile. It was this BB that the Albatross was called back in the late 1970s. The combat unit carrying a nuclear charge was supposed to detect the start of the enemy's anti-missile and evade it by performing a special complex maneuver. The combinations of the elements of such a maneuver could be different, which would ensure the unpredictability of the direction of movement of the block for the enemy's anti-missile and the impossibility of plotting its course of reaching the target in advance. Then this idea grew into the Albatross ICBM project. The requirements have changed accordingly. The planning BB with YaZ was supposed to be delivered to the target not by a ballistic missile, but by a low-flying missile. The highlight of the Albatross was the launch trajectory with an entry angle of only a few degrees, for the formation of which the launch vehicle practically did not go beyond the height of 250-300 km. The launch itself could be fixed, but to predict the trajectory and issue target designation to intercept, no. The flight of the PKB took place at the border of the atmosphere due to kinetic energy so that the aerodynamic forces were sufficient for flight and maneuver, and plasma formation did not interfere with sighting. That is, the PKB could not be recorded against the background of space. Maneuvering along the course did not allow predicting the meeting point with the anti-missile, and the hypersonic cruising speed did not allow hitting the PKB along a catching trajectory.
The preliminary design of the Albatross RC developed at the end of 1987 caused dissatisfaction with the Customer, since the implementation of a number of technical solutions laid down in the EP seemed quite problematic. Nevertheless, work on the implementation of the project continued throughout the next year. However, at the beginning of 1989, it became quite clear that the creation of this RK, both in terms of technical indicators and the timing of its implementation, were in danger of disruption. In addition, there were already strong foreign policy factors.
On September 9, 1989, in the development of the government decree of February 9, 1987, the Military-Industrial Complex Decision No. 323 was issued, which prescribed the creation of two new RCs instead of the Albatross RC: a mobile ground and stationary mine based on a universal three-stage solid-propellant rocket for both complexes, developed by the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering (MIT) for the Topol-2 mobile soil complex. The theme was named "Universal", and the rocket-index RT-2PM2 (8Ж65). The development of a mobile ground RK with the RT-2PM2 rocket was entrusted to MIT, and the stationary mine - to the Yuzhnoye design bureau. Subsequently, this missile system was named "Topol-M".
There are sufficient grounds to assert that flight tests with the design bureau were carried out in 1991-1992, although then they had already abandoned the creation of this project.
