Missile RT-2PM Topol (SS-25 Sickle)

Development of the RT-2PM Topol (NATO reporting name SS-25 Sickle) was approved in July 1977 as a three-stage solid-propellant mobile intercontinental ballistic missile intended to replace earlier Soviet systems, including variants of the UR-100. The missile incorporated technology from the RT-21 Temp 2S and RSD-10 Pioneer programs. Flight testing took place at the Plesetsk test site from February 1985 through December 1987. A scheduled test launch on September 1, 1983, was canceled 24 minutes prior to execution on the night Korean Air Lines Flight 007 was shot down after entering Soviet airspace. The first Topol regiment entered operational service in July 1985.

The missile features three composite-material solid-propellant stages. First-stage flight control is executed through four aerodynamic vanes and four jet vanes, with four trellised aerodynamic surfaces providing stabilization. Control during second- and third-stage flight is achieved via gas injection into the diverging nozzle section. The missile carries a single nuclear warhead with a reported yield ranging between 550 and 1,000 kilotons and an accuracy (CEP) of 900 meters. Test firings with two and four MIRVs were conducted, but multiple-warhead variants were not fielded. Guidance is provided by an onboard inertial navigation system integrated with a topo-geodesic subsystem, enabling independent launches from field deployment points or garrison garages equipped with sliding roofs. The missile is carried in a launch canister mounted on a 7-axle cross-country transporter-erector-launcher chassis, accompanied by a mobile command post on a 4-axle chassis.

The RT-2PM was operated by the Strategic Missile Troops of the Soviet Union and subsequently Russia. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, 81 missiles stationed in Belarus were placed under Russian control and returned to Russia by late 1996. To verify INF Treaty compliance, radiation detection measuring fast neutron flux was utilized to distinguish single-warhead Topol canisters from three-warhead RSD-10 canisters. Multiple test launches were conducted from Plesetsk and Kapustin Yar between 2007 and 2019 to evaluate service life extensions up to 25 years and test evasion of ground-based detection systems. The missile saw no combat use. Russia phased out the system in favor of the Topol-M and RS-24 Yars, removing the final Topol regiment from combat duty in December 2023.