SS-25

[dsj]

Is the ss-25 actually more useful than the peace keepers? It's so far my favourite ICBM, it seems so handy by being able to be trucklaunched no one else can do that in the world.

 

[Mark Conley]

well...

when you looked at the original minuteman concept, it also included a semi-truck type launcher and a rail road container launcher option. Unfortunately, the US military also reconized that we have these large free reign open territorys that cant be guarded against every tom dick and harry that wanted a free minuteman warhead, large mobile support teams to guard the missile was prohibitively expensive, so the project was scrapped.

heres a link to the container concept. this later went straight to the transporter and errector that serviced the missiles.

http://www.nps.gov/mimi/history/srs/fig3-17.jpg

and the rail concept

http://www.strategic-air-command.com/missiles/Minuteman/Minuteman_Missile_History.htm

Now the soviet union was a little different: not so much uncontrolled travel, the use of large guard teams was practical to support the missiles, and large tracts of land to always make the missile a little harder to find makes the mobile launcher in their case a better option.

 

[SHERMAN]

Hmmm, ICBMs are not really my favorites...A nuclear war can really ruin your day....

 

[Mark Conley]

oh come on Sherman...any war can ruin your day...

 

[J.Hawk]

Is the ss-25 actually more useful than the peace keepers? It's so far my favourite ICBM, it seems so handy by being able to be trucklaunched no one else can do that in the world.

It certainly makes a lot of sense for the Russians. On the US side, the role of a mobile and undetectable strategic missile platform is fulfilled by SSBNs. Russian subs were considerably more vulnerable, however, and this made the road- and rail-mobile missiles more of a ncecessity for them.