Soviet road-mobile ICBM and TEL projects

Tuomasn

Tuomasn

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As requested by styx...

The MAZ-7906 and MAZ-7907 were 16x16 and 24x24 wheeled chassis respectively, intended as TELs for the "Tselina-2" road-mobile variant of the SS-24 ICBM. The MAZ-7906 from 1984 had a diesel engine and the MAZ-7907 from 1985 a 1,200 hp gas turbine with electric transmission. Eventually neither was put into production.
 

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Re: Soviet road-mobile ICBM projects

If you haven't already you'll want to check out the vehicle they considered moving Peacekeeper around with in the other thread.
 
Re: Soviet road-mobile ICBM projects

sferrin said:
If you haven't already you'll want to check out the vehicle they considered moving Peacekeeper around with in the other thread.
Click to expand...

Did so already when you posted it. However, the pics are so small its difficult to make out the vehicle configuration.

Here's one more Soviet giant: the MAZ-7904 12x12 chassis had a load capacity of 220 tonnes and total mass of 360 tonnes. Built in 1982, it was tested at Baikonur for use as a TEL. Unfortunately I have no idea what missile it was intended for.
 

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Re: Soviet road-mobile ICBM projects

Meteorit said:
sferrin said:
If you haven't already you'll want to check out the vehicle they considered moving Peacekeeper around with in the other thread.
Click to expand...

Did so already when you posted it. However, the pics are so small its difficult to make out the vehicle configuration.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's a bummer. Supposedly had tires 8 feet tall and topped out at 750 tons.
 
Re: Soviet road-mobile ICBM projects

Meteorit said:
sferrin said:
If you haven't already you'll want to check out the vehicle they considered moving Peacekeeper around with in the other thread.
Click to expand...

Did so already when you posted it. However, the pics are so small its difficult to make out the vehicle configuration.

Here's one more Soviet giant: the MAZ-7904 12x12 chassis had a load capacity of 220 tonnes and total mass of 360 tonnes. Built in 1982, it was tested at Baikonur for use as a TEL. Unfortunately I have no idea what missile it was intended for.
Click to expand...

So do you know of any book or website that lists all the MAZ trucks developed over the years? It would certainly make for some interesting reading.


(edit. Found this site but it's kinda slow and I don't read Russian. http://denisovets.narod.ru/maz/mazpages/maz7904.html )
 
Re: Soviet road-mobile ICBM projects

sferrin said:
So do you know of any book or website that lists all the MAZ trucks developed over the years? It would certainly make for some interesting reading.

(edit. Found this site but it's kinda slow and I don't read Russian. http://denisovets.narod.ru/maz/mazpages/maz7904.html )
Click to expand...

I don't think a complete list exists, at least in the web. There are several pages listing vehicles, but then they also lack some.

However, here's my own, very incomplete, list around certain "blocks".

MAZ-500 4x2 Truck with platform 1964
MAZ-501 4x2 Log transporter 1953
MAZ-502 4x4 Cross-country truck with platform
MAZ-503 4x2 Dump-truck 1970
MAZ-504V 4x2 Tractor truck 1970
MAZ-505 4x4 Cross-country truck with platform
MAZ-525 4x2 Dump-truck 1952
MAZ-528 4x4 Truck with platform
MAZ-529 4x4 Motorscraper
MAZ-530 6x4 Dump-truck 1957
MAZ-532 ?x? Log transporter
MAZ-535A 8x8 Heavy cross-country truck with platform
MAZ-535V 8x8 Heavy cross-country tractor truck
MAZ-537A 8x8 Heavy cross-country truck with platform
MAZ-537V/G/D/E/K 8x8 Heavy cross-country tractor truck
MAZ-538 4x4 Heavy tractor truck
MAZ-543 8x8 Cross-country wheeled chassis SS-1, SS-12, SSC-3, SSC-4
MAZ-547 10x10 Cross-country wheeled chassis 196? Prototype
MAZ-547A 12x10 Cross-country wheeled chassis 197? Temp-2S, Pioner
MAZ-547V 12x10 Cross-country wheeled chassis 1974 Pioner
MAZ-547E 12x12 Cross-country wheeled chassis 198? 800 hp gas turbine with electric transmission

MAZ-7310 8x8 Heavy cross-country truck with platform (MAZ-543)198?
MAZ-7311 8x8 'ballast tractor' (MAZ-543) 1970
MAZ-7410 8x8 Heavy cross-country tractor truck (MAZ-543) 1970
MZKT-7413 8x8 Cross-country tractor truck 198?
MZKT-7414 8x8 Cross-country tractor truck 1988
MZKT-7429 8x8 Cross-country tractor truck "Volat" 199?

MAZ-7904 12x12 Cross-country wheeled chassis 1982 Load capacity 220 t, total mass 360 t, tested at Baikonur
MAZ-7905 12x12 Cross-country wheeled chassis 198? Improved MAZ-547V
MAZ-7906 16x16 Cross-country wheeled chassis 1984 Tselina-2, diesel engine
MAZ-7907 24x24 Cross-country wheeled chassis 1985 Tselina-2, 1,200 hp gas turbine with electric transmission
MAZ-7908 8x8 Cross-country wheeled chassis 1986 Skorost
MAZ-7909 8x8 Cross-country wheeled chassis 1987 Kurier
MAZ-7910 8x8 Cross-country wheeled chassis 198? S-300?, pipe transport
MAZ-7911 8x8 Cross-country wheeled chassis "Oplot" 1970 ?
MAZ-7912 14x12 Cross-country wheeled chassis 198? Topol
MAZ-7916 12x12 Cross-country wheeled chassis 1986 Pioner-3
MAZ-7917 14x12 Cross-country wheeled chassis 198? Topol
MAZ-7919 12x12 Cross-country wheeled chassis 1988 Civilian?
MZKT-7922 16x16 Cross-country wheeled chassis 1995 Topol-M
MZKT-7923 16x16 Cross-country wheeled chassis 1995 Electric transmission
MAZ-7929 10x8 Cross-country wheeled chassis 1988 Kurier
MZKT-7930 8x8 Cross-country wheeled chassis "Astrolog" 199? Iskander, 96L6, TMM-6
Click to expand...
 
Re: Soviet road-mobile ICBM projects

I'm pretty sure the S-300P uses the MAZ-543 chassis.
 
Re: Soviet road-mobile ICBM projects

Hmmm I have difficulties to see if this thread is about road mbile ICBMs or the trucks to carry them...
can I add the GNOM air augmented ICBM of 1965 ? :-\

http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/gnom.htm
 
Sorry don't know how to translate but some pictures
Click to expand...

Translation: Google Translate and a dose of imagination

Pictures: excellent and comprehensive. Many thanks for sharing it.
 
A couple of posts from another thread:

Missileer said:
Does anybody have photos or drawings of the Soviet "Kuryer" (Courier) ICBM? I've seen many short descriptions of the missile - the USSR's counterpart to the US Small ICBM (SICBM) or "Midgetman." I've even seen photos that were claimed to be the TEL chassis (a 4-axle TEL similar to that used for the CSSC-X-4 GLCM). Never seen the missile itself though. Any help out there?
Click to expand...

flateric said:
Courier (RSS-40 /SS-X-26) was a direct answer to MGM-134A Midgetman plans, and became the smallest ICBM not only in USSR arsenal, but in the world. It could be transported inside any railroad vagon, even Sovavtotrans trucks (Sovavtotrans was an international truck transport monopoly in USSR, often used for GRU intel missions in Europe), barges and many transport aircrafts.

http://www.vokrugsveta.ru/popup/vs/?item_id=3230
Click to expand...

EDIT: From Meteorit's list above (I'm assuming that Kuryer and Kurier are the same missile, apologies If I am wrong):
Meteorit said:
MAZ-7909 8x8 Cross-country wheeled chassis 1987 Kurier
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

EDIT 2: It looks like they were two separate projects after all (a bit of deliberate misdirection on the part of the Soviets?).
 
From the other thread:

"Kurier
Years: 1981-1991
Bilateral Designation: RSS-40
DoD Designation: SS-X-26
Designer: MITT
Lenght:
Diameter:
Launch Weight: 15,000 kg
Warhead: 500 kg nuclear
Propulsion: Three-stage solid-propellant rocket
Guidance: Inertial
Maximum Range: 11,000 km
CEP:
Launch Vehicle
Designation: MAZ-7909/MAZ-7929
Weight: ?/60,000 kg
Load Capacity: 27,500/35,000 kg
Engine: YaMZ-8424.10 420 hp diesel
Crew: 3/3
The development of the Kurier small ICBM began at MITT in 1981 under the management of A.D. Nadiradze, replaced in 1987 by B.N. Lagutin. The draft design was finalized in 1984, and the system was approved for development. According to some sources the missile was first tested in 1986, whereas other sources claim that major system components were tested separately, and flight tests were to begin 1992. In any case the program was cancelled on 6 October 1991. The missile was launched from its launch container with a solid-propellant gas generator. The prototype of the MAZ-7909 8x8 wheeled chassis was built in 1987, and that of the MAZ-7929 10x8 wheeled chassis in 1988."
 

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Re: Soviet road-mobile ICBM projects

Meteorit said:
sferrin said:
If you haven't already you'll want to check out the vehicle they considered moving Peacekeeper around with in the other thread.
Click to expand...

Did so already when you posted it. However, the pics are so small its difficult to make out the vehicle configuration.

Here's one more Soviet giant: the MAZ-7904 12x12 chassis had a load capacity of 220 tonnes and total mass of 360 tonnes. Built in 1982, it was tested at Baikonur for use as a TEL. Unfortunately I have no idea what missile it was intended for.
Click to expand...

The RS-28 Sarmat weighs 220 tonnes according to Wikipedia. That's not of the same era but I'm speculating that the RS-28's concept is not as new as we assume it to be.

There's also mention of a "Celina" missile complex in this article on the MAZ-7904.

MAZ 7904 (Concept vehicles) - Trucksplanet

www.trucksplanet.com www.trucksplanet.com

EDIT: It seems that Soviet "heavy" ICBMs (R-36 series) in general are in the 200-ton range, so this reinforces my belief that the MAZ-7904 is some sort of heavy ICBM TEL.

Also, I found these things on the Peacekeeper TEL.

View: https://youtu.be/44zytG8O40w?t=134


https://imgur.com/sfbm4xL
View: https://i.imgur.com/sfbm4xL.jpg


https://imgur.com/XNM6uye
View: https://i.imgur.com/XNM6uye.jpg


It appears that the prototype's rear end is just another truck in reverse, kinda like the "Atomic Annie" guns. The graphics depicting the missile's deployment look entirely different though, something more like the Soviet TELs. Moreover, there appear to be two types of vehicle - one blue and one gray. ???
 
Re: Soviet road-mobile ICBM projects

GWrecks said:
Meteorit said:
sferrin said:
If you haven't already you'll want to check out the vehicle they considered moving Peacekeeper around with in the other thread.
Click to expand...

Did so already when you posted it. However, the pics are so small its difficult to make out the vehicle configuration.

Here's one more Soviet giant: the MAZ-7904 12x12 chassis had a load capacity of 220 tonnes and total mass of 360 tonnes. Built in 1982, it was tested at Baikonur for use as a TEL. Unfortunately I have no idea what missile it was intended for.
Click to expand...

The RS-28 Sarmat weighs 220 tonnes according to Wikipedia. That's not of the same era but I'm speculating that the RS-28's concept is not as new as we assume it to be.

There's also mention of a "Celina" missile complex in this article on the MAZ-7904.

MAZ 7904 (Concept vehicles) - Trucksplanet

www.trucksplanet.com www.trucksplanet.com

EDIT: It seems that Soviet "heavy" ICBMs (R-36 series) in general are in the 200-ton range, so this reinforces my belief that the MAZ-7904 is some sort of heavy ICBM TEL.

Also, I found these things on the Peacekeeper TEL.


https://imgur.com/sfbm4xL

https://imgur.com/XNM6uye

It appears that the prototype's rear end is just another truck in reverse, kinda like the "Atomic Annie" guns. The graphics depicting the missile's deployment look entirely different though, something more like the Soviet TELs. Moreover, there appear to be two types of vehicle - one blue and one gray. ???
Click to expand...

Some more MX stuff here:


Re. the transporter, it was apparently built by Terex, "Terex 8x4 model 33-11".

 
Why was SS-16 a failure?
I always thought it would have had significant cost savings, what with reusing much of the infrastructure for SS-20 and all that.
 
chimeric oncogene said:
Why was SS-16 a failure?
I always thought it would have had significant cost savings, what with reusing much of the infrastructure for SS-20 and all that.
Click to expand...
James Farquhar's The development of the SS-20: a case study of Soviet defence decision making during the Brezhnev era puts it's failure down to internal politics within the Soviet defense industry, and that although it had technical issues, they were not insurmountable.
 
Well, there was rather... nonstandard "Gnom" ICBM project in early 1960s...

1647364391432.png
1647364413172.png

Essentially, "Gnom" was supposed to be semi-air-breathing ICBM. The solid booster (first stage) launched missile from container and accelerated to Mach 1.75. At this velocity, second stage - air-breathing ramject on solid fuel - switched on, and pushed missile up to Mach 5.5-5.8, and 40 km altitude. After that, third and fourth stages - both solid-fuel rockets - ignited.

The whole missile was supposed to be reasonably compact (launch weight about 30 tons, length 16 meters), and was supposed to be transported on TEL based on T-10M heavy tank.

The second-stage ramjet engine was tested several times, and first-stage booster prepared for testing, but the project was cancelled circa 1965, probably due to liquid fuel ICBM lobby.
 
If that had made it into service, SAC would have been quite rightly in a panic, not to mention that dear old McNamara would have been pretty much toast, along with the insanity that was 'Strategic Sufficiency'.
 
Grey Havoc said:
If that had made it into service, SAC would have been quite rightly in a panic, not to mention that dear old McNamara would have been pretty much toast, along with the insanity that was 'Strategic Sufficiency'.
Click to expand...
Yep) And I point out that air-breathing stage was quite elegant solution, allowing to make a very compact, mobile missile on 1960s tech. If "Gnom" was put into service - thus ensuring second-strike capability in any reasonable scenario - USSR may be much less interested in deploying more heavy ICBM's.
 
Last edited:
Dilandu said:
Well, there was rather... nonstandard "Gnom" ICBM project in early 1960s...

View attachment 675514
View attachment 675515

Essentially, "Gnom" was supposed to be semi-air-breathing ICBM. The solid booster (first stage) launched missile from container and accelerated to Mach 1.75. At this velocity, second stage - air-breathing ramject on solid fuel - switched on, and pushed missile up to Mach 5.5-5.8, and 40 km altitude. After that, third and fourth stages - both solid-fuel rockets - ignited.

The whole missile was supposed to be reasonably compact (launch weight about 30 tons, length 16 meters), and was supposed to be transported on TEL based on T-10M heavy tank.

The second-stage ramjet engine was tested several times, and first-stage booster prepared for testing, but the project was cancelled circa 1965, probably due to liquid fuel ICBM lobby.
Click to expand...

First time I see a description of that one outside of Astronautix (and its well known reliability issues).
A smart concept, really, shame it never got a chance. Or better, because maybe the world would have exploded into nuclear carnage.
 
Archibald said:
First time I see a description of that one outside of Astronautix (and its well known reliability issues).
A smart concept, really, shame it never got a chance. Or better, because maybe the world would have exploded into nuclear carnage.
Click to expand...

Well, I hold the position that many light mobile ICBM are safer than a small number of heavy silo-based ICBM's. Mobile missiles are less vulnerable to possible strike, and since they could not carry too many warheads, they aren't very good as first strike weapon also.
 
I've just browsed Bondaryuk and his OKB-670 and... wow.
It brings together
- Buran & Burya cruise missiles
- Tsybin RSR
- Gnom ICBM
- some bits of Soviet NTR early research
- Tupolev Voron
- La-19 (both drones)
Very impressive.
 

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