On Thursday, November 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the first combat use of the latest domestic Oreshnik medium-range hypersonic missile system. However, before that, the USSR had developed about a dozen systems of this class of weapons.
The most advanced were the mobile ground-based solid-propellant Pioneers. They are also known as SS-20 Saber or RSD-10, which belonged to the third generation.
The original version entered combat duty back in 1976. Its maximum range was estimated at 5,000 km. It was equipped with two types of warheads: three individually guided warheads of 150 kt and a thermonuclear monoblock with a capacity of one megaton in TNT equivalent. The launch weight is about 37,000 kg.
The launcher is a MAZ-547V (6x6), maximum speed is 40 km/h, engine power is 650 hp. A total of 441 launchers were deployed by 1986.
In 1981, the upgraded Pioneer-UTTH with a range of up to 5,500 km and increased accuracy was adopted.
Four years later, tests of the Pioneer-3 system began, which was classified as the fourth generation. It provided for the use of one warhead, as well as three individually guided blocks. Moreover, in the first version, the flight range was about 7,500 km. All work on it was curtailed in 1988.
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Putin: Russia used the latest Oreshnik ballistic hypersonic missile
