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The Soviet R-1 Missile and its Variants

The R-1 missile was the first large rocket that was made in the Soviet Union. It was basically a copy of the German V-2 missile but made with parts that were built in the Soviet Union. The original V-2 missile was not useful as a weapon, since it was very inaccurate and was too expensive for the little damage it caused. The R-1 had similar performance to the V-2 and so was also not a useful weapon. The R-1 still helped the Soviets to build the necessary facilicities and institutions for building better rockets in the future. Variants of the R-1 were used for scientific research and for testing separating warheads and guidance systems for use in later missiles.

History of the R-1

In 1944, the Soviet Union had captured parts of a German A-4 (V-2) missile and began studying them. The Soviets also brought V-2 missiles and German scientists to work in the Soviet Union after the end of the second world war. On 13 May 1946, the Council of Soviet Ministeries published the decree 1017-419ss, which ordered the creation of a copy of the V-2, the creation of a rocket firing range at Kapustin Yar, and the establishment of the Scientific-Research Institute 88 (NII-88), which would be in charge of all rocket-related activities. To carry out rocket launches at Kapustin Yar, the Special Purpose Brigade of the Reserve of the Supreme High Command (BON RVGK) was created on 14 July 1946.

The Experimental Design Bureau 456 (OKB-456) was formed on 3 July 1946, by the order of the Ministery of Aviation Industry decree 424. OKB-456 was headed by Valentin Glushko and was tasked with designing the engine for the copy of the V-2. The Ministry of Armaments decree 83-K made Sergei Korolev the chief designer of the V-2 copy on 9 August 1946. The missile was now named R-1. Since the Soviet knew that the R-1 would not be a useful weapon, there was a debate about whether the R-1 should be built or whether another better rocket should be built. In 1947, Stalin decided that the R-1 should be built. On 14 April 1948, the decree 1175-440 (most likely by Council of Soviet Ministers) authorized the production of R-1 missiles, although prototypes had already been built.

Soviets had already tested German V-2 missiles at Kapustin Yar in 1947. The tests of the first R-1 missiles started in Kapustin Yar on 11 September 1948, with a static ignition test. The first launch was performed on 14 September 1948 and resulted in the engine failing. The first successful launch of the R-1 was on 10 October 1948, when the missile flew and hit its target. The mass production of R-1’s was started in 1952 at Factory 586 in Dnepropetrovsk. Using the R-1 from submarines was studied but the project was abandoned.

Military units and other facilities related to the R-1 in 1954

On 25 November 1950, the R-1 was accepted into service by the Council of Soviet Ministeries decree 4730-2047. The R-1 would be used by BON RVGK units. The original BON RVGK had been renamed as the 92nd BON RVGK in 1948 and again renamed as the 22nd BON RVGK in 1950. On 20 December 1950, the 23rd BON RVGK was formed from the personnel of the 22nd BON RVGK. The 22nd BON RVGK remained in Kapustin Yar and the 23rd BON RVGK was moved to Kamyshin, in Stalingrad Region. On 14 December 1951, an order for the formation of two more BON RVGK’s was made. The 54th BON RVGK was formed in Kapustin Yar and the 56th BON RVGK was formed in Kremenchug. The 22nd BON RVGK was moved from Kapustin Yar to Medvedev in 1952. On the 26 February 1952, the 77th Engineer Brigade and the 80th Engineer Brigade were formed to operate R-1’s. They were stationed in Belokorovichi. In 1953, the BON RVGK units were renamed to engineer brigades. The 22nd became the 72nd Engineer Brigade, the 23rd became the 73rd Engineer Brigade,The 54th became the 85th Engineer Brigade, and the 56th became the 90th Engineer Brigade. The 233rd Engineer Brigade, the seventh and final R-1 brigade was formed in July of 1954 in Klintsy. The R-1 was removed from service in 1958.

R-1 / 8A11 Missile (Р-1 / 8А11)

R-1 missile with dimensions

The R-1 missile received the GRAU index 8A11. It had a range of 270 km and could carry an 815 kg or 1 100 kg (sources vary) conventional explosive warhead. The missile took 5 minutes to fly to its target and would reach a maximum altitude of 77 km and a maximum speed of 1 465 m/s during its flight. The circular error probable, which is the radius of the circle where 50 % of all rounds will fall, was 6.94 km. The R-1 had a smaller payload and a shorter range than the V-2, which it was a copy of.

The R-1 was 14.275 m, 14.02 m or 14.15 m long (sources vary), and it had a diameter of 1.65 m and a finspan of 3.56 m. It had a launch weight of 13 400 kg, 13 248 kg or 12 630 kg (sources vary) and an empty mass of 4 015 kg or 4 066 kg (sources vary). The size and weight of the R-1 was similar to the V-2 and the diameter and finspan were the same as in the V-2.

The engine of the R-1 was the RD-100 (GRAU index 8D51) that was designed by Glushko’s OKB-456. The engine used Alcohol as a fuel and Liquid Oxygen as an oxidizer. The Alcohol consisted of 75 % ethanol and 25 % water. The engine would run for 65 or 63 seconds (sources vary) and would produce 267 kN or 271.5 kN (sources vary) of thrust at sea level and 304 kN or 307.085 kN (sources vary) of thrust in vacuum. The specific impulse of the RD-100 was 203 s or 206 s (sources vary) at sea level and 237 s or 233 s (sources vary) in vacuum.

R-1A Experimental Missile (Р-1А)

The R-1A was a variant of the R-1 that was created for testing a separable warhead that was to be used in later Soviet missiles. The Physics Institute of the Academy of Sciences of USSR (FIAN) also used R-1A missiles to fly scientific instruments up to 100 km above the Earth’s surface. These scientific instruments were containers located at the level of the fins and were separated from the missile when it reached about 100 km. The containers collected air samples during their flight and landed with parachutes near the launch point. 6 R-1A missiles were fired from Kapustin Yar in 1949.

The R-1A had the same diameter and finspan as the R-1. The separable warhead and the scientific containers raised the weight of the R-1A to 13 910 kg and made the missile 14.96 m tall. The payload of the missile was also reduced to 800 kg.

R-1B and R-1V Sounding Rockets (Р-1Б, Р-1В)

In the late 40’s, the Academy of Sciences decided to perform more scientific experiments with the R-1 rockets. Sergei Korolev also wanted to use animals to test the possibilities of manned flight. The R-1B and R-1V rockets were made for these scientific experiments. The R-1B was an R-1 with two containers, that contained dogs, attached to the rocket. Various other instruments were also flown on R-1B rockets. The R-1V was similar to the R-1B and contained a parachute for also recovering the entire rocket after flight. Four R-1B and two R-1V rockets were fired in 1951.

R-1D and R-1Ye Sounding Rockets (Р-1Д, Р-1Е)

After the R-1B and R-1V flights, the Academy of Sciences decided to do more experiments with flying dogs with the R-1 rockets. The R-1D and R-1Ye (usually called R-1E) were both similar to the earlier sounding rockets but had some new modifications. The R-1D flew two dogs but instead of having them in containers, the dogs wore a space suit with a parachute. The R-1D also carried other scientific instruments with it. Three R-1D rockets were launched in 1954. In 1955 and 1956, six R-1Ye rockets were launched. In addition to flying dogs, the R-1Ye rockets were used for testing the recovery of the rocket with a parachute, like the R-1V.

R-1UK / 8A12 Experimental Missile (Р-1УК / 8А12)

The R-1UK was an R-1 with a new guidance system that would make the missile more accurate. The R-1UK had the GRAU index 8A12 according to some sources, however some sources say that there is no 8A12 in the GRAU index. R-1UK missiles were successfully tested in Kapustin Yar in 1956. The tests were successful, but better rockets had already been made and the project was abandoned.

Sources

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  1. The Soviet R-2 Missile and its Variants – VK Pictures

    […] R-2 missile was the second large rocket, that was built in the Soviet Union. Like the R-1, the R-2 was also based on the German A-4 (V-2) missile. The R-2 was basically a streched R-1 with […]

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