R-1 rocket
The R-1 rocket (SS-1) (and its evolved version R-2 or SS-2)
was a copy of the German V-2 rocket manufactured by the Soviet Union. Even though it was a copy, it was manufactured using Soviet industrial plants and expertise, and gave the Soviets valuable experience which later enabled
the USSR to construct its own much more capable rockets.
In 1945 the Soviets captured several key production facilitities of the
V-2 rocket, and also gained the services of some German scientists and
engineers connected to the project. In particular the Soviets gained
control of the main V-2 manufacturing facility at Nordhausen, and had
30 V-2 missiles assembled there by September, 1946.
In October, 1946 the Soviets forcibly transferred the German missile engineers
working for them to a special research facility near Moscow, where they
were forced to remain until the mid-1950's. However, the best members
of the German V-2 design team ended up in the USA, and the group in
Moscow played only a secondary, though still useful, role in the Soviet
effort. The Soviets established a missile design bureau of their own (OKB-1), under the direction of Sergey Korolev. This team was directed to create a Soviet capability to build missiles, starting with a Soviet
copy of the German V-2 and moving to more advanced, Soviet-designed
missiles in the near future. In April, 1947 Stalin authorised the production of the R-1 missile, the designation for the Russian copy of V-2. The first tests of the
missile began in September, 1948. The system was accepted by
the Soviet army in November,1950. The R-1 missile could carry a
785 kg warhead of conventional explosive to a maximum range of
270 km, with an accuracy of about 5 km.
R-2 rocket The R-1 was quickly followed by an evolutionary improvement, the
R-2 rocket (SS-2), which had more range. The weight was increased
by 50%, but the range more than doubled, to 600 km (370 miles).
The test flight of the R-2 rocket 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 successful R-2 missile was the last Soviet missile based on
German designs. In the future, while some German influences would
clearly remain, the Soviet missile designs would be fully home grown.
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