Missile of the Day: SS-9 Scarp

The SS-9 Scarp was a Soviet ICBM introduced in the late 1960s. During the height of it's service, it was considered the most formidable thermonuclear weapon because of it's 20/25 megaton warhead. An experimental weapon called the FOBS(fractional orbital bombardment system) was going to be deployed on some SS-9 missiles. FOBS was a small orbital satellite which could drop a nuclear bomb on any spot on the planet once launched into orbit. Although the Soviet Union never finished developing FOBS, the SS-9 scarp was used to launch some small research satellites in the mid 1970s. Of the 1200 Soviet ICBMs deployed in 1970 one quarter of them were SS-9s.

First exhibition of an SS-9 Scarp during the Moscow parade of November 7, 1967