Russia to extend service life of UR-100N ‘Stiletto' ICBM to 2023

The service life of Russia's UR-100N (SS-19 ‘Stiletto') intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is to be extended to 2023, NPO Mashinostroyenia general director Alexander Leonov told the RIA Novosti news agency on 18 October.

The last UR-100N missile was delivered to Soviet forces in 1985 with a guaranteed service life of 10 years, which Leonov said was repeatedly extended by checking the missile's fuel tanks, the condition of the liquid propellant, and the safety margins of the load-bearing structures.

The first silo-based UR-100N variant entered service in 1979 and was modified three times to become the UR-100NUTTH (SS-19 Mod 3), which carried six multiple independent re-entry vehicle (MIRV) warheads.

The MIRV warheads of 12 remaining UR-100NUTTH missiles are to be replaced by the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle, the TASS news agency reported in 2018. Many of the remaining silo-based UR-100N series missiles have been replaced by the road-mobile Yars R-24 ICBM.

Meanwhile, the ground-launched P-800 Oniks anti-ship cruise missile that arms the Bastion-P coastal defence system has been modified to enable it to engage land targets, Leonov told RIA Novosti. “It can be used by submarines, surface ships, aircraft, and land-based coastal missile systems,” Leonov said.