The RS-24 Yars (NATO: SS-27 Mod 2) is a three-stage solid fuel missile that reportedly carries a payload of three reentry vehicles (RV) and penetration aids.
RS-24 Yars (SS-27 Mod 2) at a Glance
- Originated from
- Russia
- Possessed by
- Russia
- Alternate names
- SS-27 Mod 2, SS-29, RS-24, Yars/Yantz/Yahres
- Class
- Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM)
- Basing
- Road-mobile, silo-based
- Length
- 22.5 m
- Diameter
- 2.0 m (first stage)
- Launch weight
- 49,600 kg
- Payload
- Three MIRV warheads, 1,200 kg
- Warhead
- Nuclear, 150-200 kT
- Propulsion
- Three-stage solid propellant
- Range
- 10,500 km
- Status
- Operational
- In service
- 2010
Yars test launch at Plesetsk Cosmodrome, 2017. Photo: Russia MoD 
Yars transporter-erector-launcher. 
Yars launch at Plesetsk, n.d. Photo: Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology
RS-24 Yars Development
The RS-24 Yars is believed to have entered into service in February 2010. While details about the missiles specifications and capabilities are limited, it is reported to be designed similarly to Russia’s SS-27 (Topol M) ICBM and the Bulava (SS-NX-32) SLBM.1
Development of the RS-24 Yars is believed to have started in 2004. Its first flight test was made in May of 2007. The RS-24 was tested again in December of 2007 and November of 2008. These first test flights were conducted from mobile Transporter-Erector-Launcher (TEL) vehicles.2 The first RS-24s to be declared operational were road mobile, but it is believed that the missile will eventually be deployed in silos. A Russian state news agency report from December 2014 alleges that the RS-24 was in fact successfully test fired from a silo-based position.3
Specifications
The missile is estimated to be 22.5 meters in length and 2 meters in diameter.4
The missile is also believed to be fitted with a newer RV design that will allow the RV’s to maneuver in space and during re-entry.5 The total launch weight of the RS-24 is assessed to be 49,000 kg and is expected to have a minimum range of 2,000 km and a maximum of 10,500 km.6
Footnotes
- “RS-24 Yars,” in IHS Jane’s Weapons: Strategic 2015-2016, ed. James C. O’Halloran (United Kingdom: IHS, 2015), 98-99.
- Ibid.
- “Russia Successfully Test Launches RS-24 Yars ICBM From Plesetsk: Ministry,” Sputnik News, December 26, 2014, http://sputniknews.com/russia/20141226/1016255505.html.
- “Russia excludes rail-mobile system from armament, focuses on Sarmat missile,” TASS, December 6, 2017, https://tass.com/defense/979334; “Yars: Russia’s Strategic Armament,” TASS, 2019, https://raketa-yars.tass.ru/.
- Jane’s Strategic, 98-99.
- Ibid.