Global Rocket 1

The Global Rocket 1 (GR-1) was a Fractional Orbital Bombardment System (FOBS) intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) developed but not deployed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The system also was given the NATO reporting name SS-X-10 Scrag, and carried a Soviet industry designation of 8K713.

Development

In 1961, faced with the prospect of development in the United States of an anti-ballistic missile (ABM) system to intercept conventional ICBMs, the Soviet Union began development of a fractional orbital bombardment system (FOBS) to defeat these interceptors. The concept was to include launching a missile into orbit (150 km), from where a warhead could be dropped to its targets in a non-ballistic manner, and without giving away its target until final descent. Three Soviet design centers developed proposals for the system, with OKB-1 (S. P. Korolev) proposing the Global Rocket 1.

The GR-1 was a liquid cryogenic propellant fuelled rocket. It was intended to utilize the launch pads of the R-9 Desna which was being phased out of service. The GR-1 project was cancelled in 1964 citing engine delays, a fate which became permanent for all of the FOBS designs after the SALT II agreement of 1979. Even earlier, in 1972, the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty removed the primary reason for such a weapon.

Operator

Soviet Union

The Soviets cancelled the GR-1 before it entered operational service with the Strategic Rocket Forces.

See also

• List of missiles