TEST PROGRAM FOR LARGE ROCKET MOTOR/LAUNCH CANISTER AT PAVLOGRAD SOLID MOTOR TEST FACILITY, USSR

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: NGA Records (Formerly NIMA)
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78T05162A000300010031-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: December 28, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 9, 2011
• Sequence Number: 31
• Publication Date: June 1, 1973
• Content Type: REPORT

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PHOTOGRAPHIC
INTERPRETATION
REPORT
NATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHIC
INTERPRETATION CENTER
TEST PROGRAM FOR LARGE ROCKET
MOTOR/LAUNCH CANISTER AT PAVLOGRAD
SOLID MOTOR TEST FACILITY, USSR
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COPY NO.
8 PAGES
PIR-019/73
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TOP SECRET RUFF
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LDAI
INSTA I LAT ION OR ACTIVITY NAME
Test Program for Large Rocket Motor/Launch Canister at Pavlograd
Solid Motor Test Facility
NA I See below ISee belo+' See below
ACIC. USATC, Series 200, Sheet 0234-22, scale 1: 200 , 000
FMSAC/AID/STRB C-DS3-87,851
Installation Name Coordinates
Pavlograd Solid Motor 48-26-05N
Test Facility 035-58-17E
Pavlograd Rocket Motor
Assembly and Test Support 48-27-30N
Facility 035-57-OOE
1. A test program for a large rocket motor/launch canister began at Pavlograd
Solid Motor Test Facility in May 1971. Sections of the multisegment motor/canister
have been observed at the test facility and at Pavlograd Rocket Motor Assembly and
Test Support Facility since that time. A comparable motor/canister and motor/
canister sections have also been observed at Tyuratam Missile Test Center.
2. This report includes a diagrammatic drawing of the motor/canister, anno-
tated photographs, and a tabular breakdown of the accumulation of segments at
both Pavlograd facilities.
3. The Pavlograd Solid Motor Test Facility is 7 nautical miles (nm) southeast
of Pavlograd, USSR, and has been operational since 1965. The upward-firing test
position associated with the large motor/canister has been operational since the
summer of 1971. The Pavlograd Rocket Motor Assembly and Test Support Facility,
2 nm northwest of the test facility, was operational in 1965. The Pavlograd facilities
are 1,800 nm west of Tyuratam Missile Test Center yuratam SSM
Complex).
PAVLOGRAD ROCKET MOTOR/LAUNCH CANISTER
4. A large rocket motor/launch canister was first observed at Pavlograd
Rocket Motor Test Facility aligned with the erector-loader serving 25X1
upward-firing test position 2. A diagram of the motor/canister is presented in
Figure 1 with all obtainable measurements. Figure 1 represents a composite drawing
based on all available photographic coverage. Not all of the bands shown in the
drawing are observed on all coverages, but two bands are usually seen and are
annotated as "prominent bands." It should be noted that the dimensions are not
rounded off; this does not reflect increased accuracy in measurement capability,
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but results from averaging many repetitive measurements from several observations
and, particularly, from dividing overall lengths into equal segments. The first
motor/canisters observed were
d of eight
segments,) and a top
segment. The segment on the top end (as placed in the upward-firing test position)
is either a whole segmen r consists of two parts, one the
same length as the other eight segments and the other
5. A longer version of the motor/canister was first observed at upward-firing
test position 2
additional
This version (Figure 1) appeared to have one
It has been observed in the same position at the test position on
_____]segment added to the top,
all subsequent missions to date.
6. After testing, the motor/canisters are separated into one-, two-, three-,
four-, five-, and six-segment sections. Some sections are left in the test facility, but
most are removed and placed in a boneyard (Figure 2) at the Pavlograd Rocket Motor
Assembly and Test Support Facility (RMA&TSF). The large size of the segments pro-
bably necessitates outside storage and also makes them useful as storage huts. Seg-
ments have been observed in the test facility and at RMA&TSF being used for that
purpose. A definite pattern of separation has been observed. During the earlier
stages of the test program, there were instances of separation into four-segment,
three-segment, and two-segment sections. Shortly before and after the appearance
of the longer version there were instances of five-segment, three-segment, and two-
segment sections. Table 1 presents a detailed chronology of the appearances of these
segments at both facilities. A descriptive chronology of the test activity at Pavlograd,
based on the appearance and disposition of the motor/canisters and segments, is
presented in a later section.
Pavlograd Motor/Canister at Tyuratam Missile Test Center
7. The longer version of the Pavlograd motor/canister
was observed on a special three-car train at Tyuratam Missile Test Center in November
1971 (Figure 3A). The location of the train could not be associated with a specific
launch or support area. Debris which can be identified as Pavlograd motor/canister
sections appeared at Complex H at Tyuratam during the same period (Figure 3B) .
The same type of three-car train used to transport the motor/canister at Tyuratam
was observed empty in the RMA&TSF at Pavlograd in March 1973.
8. The Tyuratam Missile Test Center is testing at least two new liquid propel-
lant missile systems, designated the SS-X-17 and the SS-X-18.1 Evidence suggests
that these systems may use a sabot or zero-stage launch technique, which may require
the use of solid propellants.
TEST ACTIVITY AT PAVLOGRAD
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9. The first large rocket motor/launch canister was tested in Ma 1971. Six or
seven (a rate of two per month) were tested The 25X1
estimate of six or seven motor/canisters is based in part on the observation of 27
segments in the test facility . There was no coverage of the RMA&TSF on 25X1
that date, but 33 segments were observed in the RMA&TSF on the next available cov-
erage, , for a total of 60 segments at the two facilities. It is pro- 25X1
bable that all of the 33 segments in the RMA&TSF were from the 1971 summer test
program, inasmuch as repetitive coverage of the test facilit indicates that there was
no test activity Although it is possible 25X1
that the 19 segments came from somewhere other than the test facility, it seems more
logical to consider them part of the 1971 summer test program at Pavlograd.
TOP SECRET RUFF
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Table 1. Accumulation of Segments at Pavlograd Facilities
Increase (I)
or Decrease (D) Combinations Cumulative
From Last Date Total
ROCKET MOTOR ASSEMBLY AND TEST
SUPPORT FACILITY
Increase (I)
or Decrease (D) Combinations Cumulative
From Last Date Total
9 segs present 1 9-seg 9 segs Not covered
5 segs (I) 1 3-seg 14 segs 14 segs present 1 4-seg 14 segs
1 2-seg 2 3-seg
2 2-seg
13 segs (I) 1 9-seg 27 segs Not covered
4 1-seg
No change 27 segs Not covered
No change 27 segs 19 segs (I) 2 3-seg 33 segs
5 2-seg
3 1-seg
No change 27 segs No change 33 segs
9 segs (D) 1 9-seg 18 segs 9 segs (I) 1 4-seg 42 segs
1 3-seg
1 2-seg
No change 18 segs No change
No change 18 legs No change
Not covered 24 legs (1)
2 5-seg
2 3-seg
4 2-seg
1 2-seg
2 1-seg
42 segs
42 segs
66 segs
No change 18 segs No change 70 segs
Not covered No change 70 segs
No change 18 segs No change 70 segs
13 segs (I) 1 10-seg 31 segs Not covered
1 3-seg
No change 31 segs Not covered
No change 31 segs No change 70 segs
No change 31 segs 10 segs (I) 1 5-seg 80 segs
1 3-seg
1 2-seg
No change 31 segs No change 80 segs
No change 31 segs 10 segs (I) 1 5-seg 90 segs
1 3-seg
1 2-seg
No change 31 segs No change
No change 31 segs Not covered
TOP SECRET RUFF ZARF
BOTH
FACILITIES
Combined
Cumulative
Total
9 segs
28 segs
41 segs
60 segs
60 segs
60 segs
60 segs
60 segs
84 segs
88 segs
88 segs
88 segs
101 segs
101 segs
101 segs
111 segs
111 segs
121 segs
121 segs
121 segs
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10. There was no evidence of test activity at Pavlograd during the period from
This is strongly supported by the fact that
a whole motor/canister remained on the only transporter there during this period.
One nine-segment motor/canister was transferred from the test facility to the RMA&TSF
in February 1972 and separated into four-segment, three-segment, and two-segment
sections. No additional segments were observed until April 1972.
11. Six domes with holes in their centers appear-
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ed in the test facility The same type of 25X1
domes have been seen at Tyuratam along with the previously mentioned debris. During
this same period, 28 additional segments were observed at the RMA&TSF. The six domes
and the 28 segments indicate that at least three more motor/canisters were tested at
Pavlograd during this period. This brought the total tested since May 1971 to at least
nine or ten.
21 September 1972
12. There was one test between making a
total of ten or 11 motor/canisters tested. Between these two dates a ten-segment
motor/canister was removed from the test position and placed on the dolly aligned with
the erector-loader. It has remained there on all subsequent photography
indicating
the cutoff date for information used in this report. There was
there was no test activity at the test facility between
no increase observed in the number of segments at the RMA&TSF, although there was
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some of shifting of locations, until March 1973. The equivalent of one ten-segment
/canister was delivered to the RMA&TSF 25X1
nt of another ten-segment motor/canister arrived 25X1
he latter had a dark, burned appearance. This was during a 25X1
period of inactivity at the test facility, and no segments were transferred. It appears
as though these 20 segments came from somewhere other than the test facility. The
three-car missile-associated train appeared at the RMA&TSF during this time, on
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ACIC. US Air Target Chart, Series 200, Sheet 0234-22, scale 1: 200,000
1. GMAIC. USIB-D-33.4/64, Memorandum for the United States Intelligence
Board, 9 Feb 73 (TOP SECRET RUFF ZARF)
Project 251958
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