Our Response to the Minuteman (on the Flight Tests of the RT-2P Intercontinental Ballistic Missile)

The article attempts to reconstruct the development flight tests of the RT-2P intercontinental ballistic missile that were performed at the 53rd Research Proving Ground of the USSR Ministry of Defence in 1969–1972. The paper aims to, through the use of the historical-systematic and problem-chronological methods, consider the creation of test formations and the experimental test base as well as the missile’s flight tests as a single process of development flight testing. The use of a multidisciplinary approach allowed the author to view the testing process as a single man–machine–environment system that operated in the Soviet Union during the period of developed socialism. The study is based on the literature of Arsenal Design Bureau, archival sources, documents of military test units, as well as reminiscences of the participants in the events, including those that had not been published before. The paper provides updated information on the establishment, improvement and use of the experimental test base, changes in the structure and composition of test formations, as well as test results. The author points out that experimental test bases should be built in advance, taking into account the existing facilities, with the direct participation of operating organizations. While searching for optimal applications, the structure and composition of test formations can be dynamic; at the same time, working with just one type of missile appears to be the most effective way. The RT-2P missile tests resulted in the approval for service use of the first solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile and in the introduction of changes to the missile operating system in the Strategic Missile Forces. The findings can be used in writing a detailed history of the Strategic Missile Forces and a military chronicle of the Arkhangelsk Region, as well as in the planning of tests of promising military equipment.