UDC

94(47).084.9:629.762

DOI

10.37482/2687-1505-V472

Authors

Roman S. Klimov¹ –  Cand. Sci. (Tech.), Major General, Assoc. Prof., Deputy Head of the Department of Public Administration and National Security
¹Military Academy of General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia,
e-mail: vagsh@mil.ru, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-2891-0951
Aleksandr V. Tolochko^2* –   Cand. Sci. (Hist.), Retired Colonel, Lecturer at the Department of History and Philosophy
²Mozhaisky Military Space Academy, St. Petersburg, Russia,
e-mail: zvezdny68@mail.ru*, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-9292-0598

Abstract

The article attempts to reconstruct the process of formation of the experimental test facility for intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) at the 53rd Research Proving Ground of the USSR Ministry of Defence in the 1960s – 1990s. The historical-systematic and problem-chronological methods were applied to examine the creation, use and evolution of silo launchers for the second- to fourth-generation ICBMs at Plesetsk Proving Ground. The authors turned to archival sources and documents from military test units as well as Arsenal and Yuzhnoye Design Bureaus. In addition, reminiscences of the participants in the events were studied, including those that had not been published before. The basis of the experimental test facility for stationary ICBMs is silo launchers. The article provides updated information on their creation, improvement and use. Silo launchers should be built in advance and their number must ensure the implementation of test programmes. At the same time, partial use of the existing launch facilities for testing ICBMs of subsequent generations seems to be the most optimal way. As a result of the works carried out at Plesetsk Proving Ground, several combat missile systems were approved for service use, with individual silo launchers consistently taking part in the testing of each system. The findings can be applied in writing a detailed history of the Strategic Missile Forces and a military chronicle of the Arkhangelsk Region as well as in the planning of tests of promising military equipment.

Keywords

combat missile system, experimental test base, intercontinental ballistic missile, missile weapons, solid fuel, history of missile engineering

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