Russian intermediate range cruise missile. Development of three variants of this cruise missile was authorised on 9 December 1976. The Meteorit-M strategic version would be deployed from 667M submarines with 12 launchers per boat. The air-launched Meteorit-A would be launched from Tu-95 bombers. The land-based version was designated Meteorit-N. The missile was also sometimes referred to by the code-name Grom. The first test launch, on 20 May 1980, was unsuccessful, as were the next three attempts. The first successful flight did not come until 16 December 1981. The first launch from a 667M submarine took place on 26 December 1983 from the Barents Sea. However all variants were cancelled in 1988 as a result of the INF Treaty.
The missile was designed by Chelomei at NPO Mashinostrenniye and designated the SSC-X-5 GLCM by the Pentagon. The turbojet-powered missile would cruise at Mach 2.5 to 3.0 at 20 km altitude over its 3000 km range. It was equipped with a 1 MT thermonuclear warhead and used inertial navigation with data link updates.
Maximum range: 3,000 km (1,800 mi).
Status: Cancelled 1988.
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Soviet Strategic Cruise Missiles As in America, in the 1946 assessments of German military technology, the technical problems of the intercontinental ballistic missile seemed far less than a high-speed cruise missile for the same mission. The Soviet Union developed several such missiles, counterparts to the American Navaho. As in America, it turned out that the ICBM was ready before the cruise missiles were - the navigation and propulsion issues of Mach 3 intercontinental flight were much more difficult than those for Mach 22 ballistic flight. As in America, the projects were cancelled, although they contributed greatly to the national technological base. More...
missile Guided self-propelled military weapon (as opposed to rocket, an unguided self-propelled weapon). More...
Associated Manufacturers and Agencies
Chelomei Russian manufacturer of rockets, spacecraft, and rocket engines. Chelomei Design Bureau, Reutov, Russia. More...
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