R-12 Dvina

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R-12
Soviet R-12 (NATO designation SS-4) in Kapustin Yar museum, Znamensk, Russia.
Type	Medium-range ballistic missile
Service history
In service	4 March 1959–1993
Production history
Manufacturer	Yuzhmash
Unit cost	unknown
Specifications
Mass	Fully loaded: 41.7 t Empty: 3.15 t
Length	22,100 mm
Diameter	1,650 mm
Wingspan	2,940 mm (116 in)
Warhead	Thermonuclear
Blast yield	1.0–2.3 Mt[1][2][3]
Engine	RD-214[4] 635.2 kilonewtons (142,800 lbf)[4]
Payload capacity	1.6 t
Propellant	liquid (AK-27I / TM-185)[4]
Fuel capacity	37 t
Operational range	2,000–2,500 km (1,200–1,600 mi)[3]
Maximum speed	3,530 m/s (Mach 10)
Guidance system	autonomous inertial
Accuracy	2.4–5.16 km (1.49–3.21 mi) CEP[1][2]
Launch platform	open-launch and silo-based

The R-12 Dvina was a theatre ballistic missile developed and deployed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Its GRAU designation was 8K63 (8K63U or 8K63У in Cyrillic for silo-launched version), and it was given the NATO reporting name of SS-4 Sandal. The R-12 rocket provided the Soviet Union with the capability to attack targets at medium ranges with a megaton-class thermonuclear warhead and constituted the bulk of the Soviet offensive missile threat to Western Europe. Deployments of the R-12 missile in Cuba caused the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. A total of 2335 missiles were produced; all were destroyed in 1993 under the START II treaty.^[5]

As well as the single-stage ballistic technology, the R-12 Dvina had a two-stage capability that allowed payloads to be placed into low Earth orbit.

The Iranian Shahab-4 missile is likely an offshoot of the R-12 Dvina.^[6]