Today we are going to visit the Academy of the Strategic Missile Troops of the Russian Federation located in Balabanovo-1, the Kaluga Region.

Reporters and bloggers were shown a mobile intercontinental ballistic missile RS-12M Topol.

In the hangar.

Inside a command and control vehicle.

Another command and control vehicle and a launcher.

A telescopic antenna in the rear of the vehicle.

A general view of the hangar.

The rear of the launcher.

The front. “Do not tread”

Except for two axles in the middle, they are all driving. Three axles in the front are also steering.

The engine has just been started.

The mobile intercontinental ballistic missile has been rolled outdoors.

There is a diesel power station in the front of the vehicle.

The rear is for the combat team.

It looks like compartments in here and there’s very little space. There are 2 compartments. One compartment is four-berth and the other one is double.

There is also a kitchen over here. In the photo there is its fridge.

A gun emplacement.

“Battle station”.

This is where missiles are launched from.

The hangar.

The vehicles performed a lap of honor.

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The mobile intercontinental ballistic missile RS-12M Topol.

The rear support of the vehicle.

This is where powder to launch the missile is kept.

This missile is intended for students but it’s still functioning.

The vehicles return back to the hangar.

Let’s go its museum. It is called the Museum of Strategic Missile Troops of the Russian Federation.

Here you will find rockets and missiles the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation used over the last 60 years.

Photography is allowed not everywhere (just the oldest ones can be photographed).

Here you will find the legendary R-2, R-5M, R-12, R-14, R-16, R-9A, UR-100, R-36 and RT-2.

The R-2 rocket was developed based on R-1 design. This was an improved version of the German V-2 rocket manufactured by the Soviet Union. The R-1 was quickly followed by an evolutionary improvement, the R-2 (SS-2), which had a longer range and at least four major differences in design. The weight was increased by 50%, but the range was more than doubled, to 600 km.

Its engine became 1.4 times as light.

The first test flight of the R-2 took place in September 1949, and it was accepted for service in November 1951, actually entering service in large numbers around 1953. A grand total of 1,545 R-1 and R-2 missiles were produced.

The R-5 Pobeda (“Victory”) was a theatre ballistic missile developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The R-5M version was assigned the NATO reporting name SS-3 Shyster.

The R-5 was originally designed as a single-stage missile with a detachable warhead reentry vehicle. The R-5M was a nuclear armed missile – the first nuclear missile to be deployed by the Soviet Union – with greater payload and weight but better reliability than its predecessor. The R-5M entered service in 1956 (retired in 1967).