The
RT-2PM Topol (
Russian:
РТ-2ПМ Тополь ("Poplar");
NATO reporting name SS-25 Sickle;
GRAU designation:
15Ж58 ("15Zh58"); START I designation:
RS-12M Topol)
[5] is a mobile
intercontinental ballistic missile designed in the
Soviet Union and in service with
Russia's
Strategic Missile Troops. By the early 2020s, all SS-25 ICBMs will be replaced by versions of
Topol-M
Recent history
On October 18, 2007, another successful test launch was conducted. One Topol from a mobile launcher at Plesetsk test site reached its target on Kamchatka. As the Strategic Rocket Forces representative reported, it allowed for the extension of Topol's service life to 21 years.
Another test of the RT-2PM Topol was carried out on Thursday, August 28, 2008. The launch was said to be specially tasked to test the missile's capability to avoid ground-based detection systems. The test included the use of a new warhead, designed to penetrate missile defense systems.
Another test was conducted on October 12, 2008 when a Topol was launched from the Plesetsk test site in northern Russia. The missile, with a dummy warhead, hit a target at the Kura Test Range on the Kamchatka Peninsula. Russian president Dmitry Medvedev observed the test on site.
Tests conducted on 28 October 2011 and 3 November 2011, confirmed service life extension to 23 years (to 2019).[12][13] More tests for extension to 25 years were announced, and on October 30, 2012, an RS-12M Topol Intercontinental Ballistic Missile was launched from the Plesetsk site in northern Russia
On 4 March 2014, Russia test fired an RS-12M Topol Intercontinental Ballistic Missile from Kapustin Yar testing ground near the Caspian Sea, successfully hitting its target at a test ground in Kazakhstan. Although the United States had received advanced notice about the test it had coincided with the crisis in the Ukraine.
On 20 March 2014, Russia test fired an RS-12M Topol Intercontinental Ballistic Missile from Kapustin Yar testing ground.< Russia Successfully Test Launches Topol Ballistic Missile
September 11, 2016 - The Russian Strategic Missile Forces have conducted a successful test launch of a RS-12M Topol intercontinental ballistic missile, the Defense Ministry said Friday. According to the ministry, the missile, launched from the Plesetsk space center in northwestern Russia has hit a designated target on the Kamchatka peninsula "with high precision." The RS-12M Topol (SS-25 Sickle) is a single-warhead intercontinental ballistic missile, which entered service in 1985. It has a maximum range of 10,000 km (6,125 miles) and can carry a nuclear warhead with a yield of up to 550 kilotons.
The Topol will eventually be replaced by the road-mobile version of the Topol-M missile.
US Air Force National Air and Space Intelligence Center estimating that as of June 2017 about 100 launchers were operationally deployed
RT-2PM Topol
SS-25 Sickle
