SS-N-6 Serb** SLBM VARIANT(S) AND/OR ALTERNATE NAME(S):
---- R-27 (Russian designation)
---- RSM-25 Zyb (manufacturer's designation)
---- mobile land-based SS-N-6 (possible North Korean variant)
---- SS-NX-13** (radio command guidance variant)
EQUIPMENT CATEGORY: Nuclear/Biological/Chemical -- Nuclear
Missiles/Rockets/Bombs -- Strategic
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Russia PICTURES OF: SS-N-6 Serb** SLBM
**US/NATO code name or designation
DESCRIPTION
The SS-N-6 Serb** (Russian designation R-27) submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) is a single-stage, storable liquid-propellant missile designed for the Yankee-class nuclear submarine.
It was developed in three main variants: The first three used an inertial guidance system, while the fourth variant (see Variants, below) used radio command guidance.
Each Yankee-class SSBN carried 16 SS-N-6 missiles. The missiles could be launched while the Yankee was submerged and underway -- with a reaction time of about 15 minutes when under normal patrol status and in one minute at peak alert status. The submarine could maintain peak alert status for up to one hour.
The design of the SS-N-6 is particularly notable for the placement of the rocket engines inside the fuel tank, reducing the external dimensions of the vehicle. The squat, cylindrical body of the missile was made of aluminum alloys, with the oxidizer and fuel tanks having a common bottom. A hermetically sealed container in the lower interior of the oxidizer tank contained the command and control systems, which eliminated the need for an instrument module. The sensors of the command system were placed on a gyro-stabilized platform.
A single-chamber sustainer and a dual-chamber control engine comprise the propulsion system. Rather than the usual arrangement of four thrust chambers aligned on the stabilization axis of the missile, the SS-N-6 oriented the thrust chambers of the attitude control engine at an angle of 45 degrees from the axis.
These design innovations, when combined with a lack of aerodynamic stabilizers and the metallic-rubber shock absorbers used to cushion the missile during loading, gave the entire launch tube smaller dimensions, assisting in fitting the system into the Yankee-class subs.
To fire the missile, the tube was flooded and a gas bubble created by the docking adapter cushioned the hydraulic shock caused by igniting the engine in the tube. The missile's warhead contained a single 1-megaton multi-stage thermonuclear device. The missiles could be launched singly in 8-second intervals or as two volleys of eight missiles each.
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