History, Development, and Use of the  SS-X-10 'Scrag' / UR-200 Ballistic Missile

 

The late 1950's were very good for Soviet missile scientists.  Missiles had been developed to fulfill a variety of roles from battlefield support to strategic intercontinental bombardment.  There soon was discussion of creating a long range strategic rocket that could carry out a variety of missions - including the development of a Fractional Orbital Bombardment System (FOBS).  The rocket was designated the Global Rocket-1 (GR-1) and in 1961 a competition was held amongst the larger rocket bureaus to see which would best meet the design requirements.  Three designs were quickly proposed by Yangel, Korolev, and V. Chelomei.

Yangel's design was a two stage rocket called the R-36.  It was not terribly successful and was never flight tested as part of the GR-1 program.  The Korolev concept was known as the 8K713, but it was cancelled in 1964 before flight testing because of engine delays.  Neither of these designs were selected, although they were both allowed to continue their research until the entire program was cancelled in 1964.

It was the UR-200 developed by Chelomei that was deemed to be the most promising of the three.  The UR-200 rocket had originally been intended as a simpler version of the SS-9 'Scarp'.  It was a two stage design that used a cryogenic liquid propellant and would carry a payload of 2.7 to 3.3 tons depending on the warhead used.  It was expected to be both surface and silo launched.  The silos that it would use were those of the R-16U (known as the SS-7 Saddler in the West).

The UR-200 had several characteristics that set it apart from other Soviet missiles.  The first was that it used gimbaled engines for attitude control during first stage flight.  No other Soviet missile ever used such a system.  For guidance control the rocket used an autonomous internal guidance system that could be corrected by radio from the ground.

On 16 March 1961, Chelomei's design bureau (OKB-52) received approval to begin work on the UR-200 rocket.  Like earlier rockets the UR-200 was to serve as both a space launch system for satellites and as a strategic missile.  Flight testing began on 4 November 1963 at Baikonur.  Nine test launches were carried out over the next year.  The longest flight took place on 20 October 1964 where it flew 6,500 miles over the Pacific.  

These tests had not gone unnoticed by intelligence agencies in the West who were busy trying to discover everything they could about the missile.  It was this thirst for information led them to one of the more interesting intelligence errors of the Cold War.  It occurred when the Soviets first displayed competing GR-1 rockets during the 1965 May Day parade.  Western analysts thought that these rockets were identical to those being flight tested at Baikonur (which were actually UR-200 rockets).  They then took the pictures of the GR-1, the flight data of the UR-200 and codenamed it the SS-X-10 'Scrag'.  It should be mentioned that the Western analysts were correct that the GR-1 was a FOBS design, but it is unclear if they knew that the GR-1 and UR-200 were different systems.

The UR-200 program was cancelled suddenly in 1965.  There were several reasons for this.  One reason was the success of the SS-9 'Scarp' which used a storable hypergolic fuel that made the cryogenic liquid oxygen and kerosene used by the UR-200 obsolete.  Another reason was the political downfall of Nikita Khrushchev who had been Chelomei's political patron.  

This was because Leonid Brezhnev was skeptical of most projects that Khrushchev had supported.  He directed a commission of experts to review all of Chelomei's projects.  Not surprisingly this commission cancelled both Chelomei's UR-200 and his Raketoplan in favor of other rockets.  All that remains of the SS-X-10 'Scrag' today are scale models and mock-ups in museums.

Tactical Use and Limitations

The SS-X-10 'Scrag' / UR-200 was designed to be a multi-purpose rocket system that could be adapted for scientific use as well.  In the strategic military role the rocket would be to carry a nuclear warhead (5 or 15 megaton) over a range of 6,000 miles or launch a FOBS multi-warhead system.  The FOBS system was designed to carry a number or warheads on a carrier satellite.  This unit would perform a partial orbit then release its warheads at targets anywhere in the world.

In the satellite launch role the rocket was expected to orbit several satellites, including the US nuclear powered naval intelligence satellite.  Perhaps the most ambitious role laid out for the UR-200 was as a launch platform for Chelomei's Raketoplan.  The Raketoplan was a military spaceplane that was designed to plunge down on an enemy from orbit to strike at strategic targets.

None of these systems came into active service in their original configuration, and many never saw service at all.  This was a direct result of the commission appointed by Brezhnev and not due to any technological difficulty.  If the UR-200 would have seen service, the Cold War would have gotten much more interesting as the Western nations tried to catch up and develop countermeasures.

The SS-X-10 was never deployed as it ran afoul of changing political regimes, but it was an ambitious project aimed at advancing technologies that were used in other missiles.  Here you can see what vehicles the SS-X-10 'Scrag' influenced.  You can find out more about each weapon system if we have them on our site by clicking on the links below.