MOSKVA SOLID MOTOR PRODUCTION PLANT LYUBERTSY STRATEGIC WEAPONS INDUSTRIAL FACILITIES USSR (Sanitized)

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: NGA Records (Formerly NIMA)
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78T04563A000800010001-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 12
• Document Creation Date: December 28, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 29, 2003
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: August 1, 1970
• Content Type: REPORT

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NATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHIC
INTERPRETATION CENTER
BASIC IMAGERY
INTERPRETATION
REPORT
MOSKVA SOLID MOTOR
PRODUCTION PLANT LYUBERTSY
P SECRET
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STRATEGIC WEAPONS INDUSTRIAL FACILITIES
USSR
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TOP SECRET 25X1
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COPY NO-9
9 PAGES
GROUP 1 EXCLUDED FROM
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Moskra Solid Motor Production Plant Lyubertsy
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55-37-OON 037-51-35E
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ACIC. USATC, Series 200 Sheet M0167-5HL 3d ed, Jul 67, scale 1:200,000
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ABSTRACT
1. The Moscow Solid Motor Production Plant Lyubertsy consists of five areas: the
probable double-base propellant area, the probable composite propellant area, the test area
which contains three test cells, the possible nondestruct test area, and the probable waste
propellant disposal area.
2. A research and development function is suggested by the diversity of the production
and testin f
'1
aci
g i ies present in the plant. The facility was probably operational
1- 1
3. Included in this report are a location map, a. photograph, and line drawings of the
more significant areas of the facility with tabulated mensural data, functional
identifications of individual structures, and an update in the chronological development of
the facilit
The i
f
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y.
n
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n this report is current through
INTRODUCTION
4. The Moscow Solid Motor Production Plant Lyubertsy is located on the northern
bank of the Moscow river, 12 nautical miles (nm) southeast of the center of Moscow (Figure
1). This facility may be the production area and proving ground for solid propellant
formulations and rocket motor designs conceived in the engineering buildings Of the
Lyubertsy Explosives and Propellants Research and Development Facility, 1.6 nm to the
west. A small secured storage area, probably functionally related to the solid motor
production plant, is 1.2 nm to the northwest.
5. Security at the Lyubertsy site is provided by a wall and a fence surrounding the
entire facility. There are two road entrances at the northeastern corner of the facility; each
has a guardhouse.
BASIC DESCRIPTION
6. The solid motor plant at Lyubertsy consists of 85 structures situated on
approximately 250 acres (Figure 2). It is probably a solid rocket motor research and
development facility but may incorporate some tion capability. The facility has
approximately of floorspace and appears to have
the capability to produce and test both cast double-base and composite propellant rocket
motors. The small size of the production areas for motors of both basic types suggests an
R&D effort. Major structures are shown on Figure 3, keyed to Table 1. Nine areas have been
delineated on Figure 3 to facilitate discussion of the facility; five of these areas are key areas
and are described below.
7. Eleven structures in the facility are equipped with large gantry cranes, indicating
that those structures are involved with the handling of heavy rocket motors and
components at various stages of production and testing. The large number and size of the
gantry cranes might be explained by the necessity for more handling equipment because of
the lack of rail transportation or by the handling problems which might be encountered if
rocket motors were being cast into heavy, reusable steel cases. None of the other Soviet
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MOSCOW/ SHE 011C ME TYEVO
AIRFIELD
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PLANT KHIMKI 301
MOSCOW' KHI
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Krasnogorsk
GUIDEiTaISSILE PLANT
1 TUSHIN.O 82
MISSILE AND SPACE PROPULSION
DE V ELQPM TCENTER KHIMK 1456
MOSCOW/FIU
"AIR F I EL
---Railroad, double track
Railroad, single track
Road
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FIGURE 1, LOCATION OF MOSKVA SOLID MOTOR PRODUCTION PLANT LYUBERTSY
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Ksiiningrad-
MISSILE AND SPACE DEVELOPMENT
CENTER KALININGRAD 88 A
MOSCO//W/SUPON I~N'O I
(AIRFIELD
Ilahu'shkin
MOSCOW EXPL~ S
,HD PROPELLANTS R&
14CILI YUBRTSY,
AIRFIELD
CENTRAL AEROHYDRODYNAMIC
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rocket motor facilities has such a large number of cranes. Three rocket motor test cells are
located in a valley. Test cell 1 (item 27, Figure 3) fires north toward the southern side of the
earthen barricade that isolates the probable waste propellant disposal area. A smaller blast
deflector serves test cells 2 and 3 (items 32 and 33).
Key Areas
Probable Double-Base Propellant Area
8. Buildings apparently associated with propellant mixing and casting in the probable
double-base propellant area and in the probable composite propellant area were among the
first to be constructed at the Lyubertsy solid motor production plant.
9. The probable double-base propellant area consists of five processing buildings.
Ingredients storage and/or preparation functions for double-base casting probably are
handled in a building (item 47), which is connected by a covered walkway to the probable
casting powder preparation building (item 53). This building is linked by another covered
walkway to a heavily barricaded casting building (item 55). Immediately to the west of the
casting building barricade is a mound through which the cast motors are hauled after
leaving the main barricade. This configuration, excluding item 47, is similar to the
arrangement of the probable double-base casting powder preparation building and one of
the probable casting buildings at Kamensk-Shakhtinskiy Chemical Combine 101.1 Both
buildings were present in mid-1962, but it is possible that the double-base casting
arrangement at the Lyubertsy plant may predate the one at Kamensk-Shakhtinskiy.
10. After emerging from the casting building, the motors probably are moved to the
finishing building (item 52) where mold disassembly and mandrel removal processes may
be accomplished. This building is also similar to a building at Kamensk-Shakhtiinskiy
Chemical Combine 101 which was identified as a probable mold disassembly and mandrel
removal building. Machining and other finishing processes probably take place in the
finishing building, item 50.
Probable Composite Propellant Area
11. This area has been identified as the probable composite propellant area because of
the appearance of the processing buildings in the area five of which are heavily barricaded,
and because test cell 1 in the test-area is nearly identical to a section of the large test cell at
Kemorove Solid Propellant Rocket Motor Test Facility.2 It also is similar to the large test
cell at the Krasnoarmeysk Solid Motor Development Facility.3 Both the Kemerovo and
Krasnoarmeysk facilities are believed to be composite propellant rocket motor producers.
12. The probable composite propellant area appears to have two separate mixin?; and
casting lines. One line consists of a probable ingredients preparation and mix building
(item 10) and a probable casting building (item 11). The second consists of a probable
ingredients preparation and mix building (item 8) and a probable casting building (item 7).
Item 9 may serve as a magazine for intermediate storage of partially processed composite
propellant rocket motors, or the building could be used for the curing of small rocket
motors. Three curing buildings at the composite propellant rocket motor production area in
Kamensk-Shakhtinskiy are similar in size and configuration to the possible
magazine/curing building at Lyubertsy.4
13. The probable temperature conditioning and motor finishing building (item 14)
was the latest major building constructed in the probable composite propellant area. The
southern end of the building is divided into three equal-sized bays, which probably function
as the temperature conditioning section. Three pipes on the roof of the building connect the
low bay on the eastern side with each of three bays.
14. If the large number and the size of gantry cranes in the facility are necessary
because of the weight of the rocket motors being handled, and the weight is attributed in
part to the use of heavy reuseable casings, it might then be advantageous to have a case
preparation building near the test cells for easy transfer of the heavy rocket motor cases
after test firing for cleaning and preparation for reuse. A possiblecase preparation building
(item 35) was constructed during the same time period that the double-base and composite
mixing and casting buildings were built; it is served by a large gantry crane and appears
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physically capable of handling case preparation functions. Two storage/support buildings
(items 36 and 37) may support this preparation building.
Possible Nondestruct Test Area
15. An area on the western side of the facility is designated the possible nondestruct
test area where ultrasonic or radiographic motor inspection could take place. The area
consists of four major buildings, three of which are heavily and individually barricaded and
serviced by one large gantry crane (items 2, 3, and 4). Each building is connected by pipe or
cable to a protected control house within the western barricade. The fourth building-(item
1) is a drive-through, A-frame structure.
Probable Waste Propellant Disposal Area
16. The area identified as a probable waste propellant disposal area is the best
candidate for that function in the facility. The area is bounded on three sides by high
natural barricades with a building at the open side. Other Soviet waste propellant disposal
areas are remote and are barricaded so that no hazard to nearby structures is likely. A
control building usually is present.
Test Area
17. The principal facilities in the test area are the three test cells, Figure 3. Test cell 1
is the largest and is similar to the larger part of the dual position test cell at the Kemerovo
Solid Propellant Rocket Motor Test Facility and to the large test cell at the Krasnoarmeysk
Solid Motor Development Facility.
18. Test cell 2 has similarities to the four test cells at Leningrad Solid Propellant
Rocket Motor Test Facility 1.5 In particular, the flared configuration of the firing end of
test cell 2 at Lyubertsy resembles the construction of the firing end of the four Leningrad
test cells.
19. There are no other known Soviet test cells like test cell 3. It is, however, somewhat
similar to the test position at the horizontal test site at Pei-ching Guided Missile
Development-and Production Center, Chang- hsin-tien, China.6
Chronology
20. It is possible that a solid propellant research and development program may have
begun at the nearby Moscow Explosives and Propellant R&D Facility, Lyubertsy (Figure 1)
with small-scale bench testing of solid propellant formulations. The program could then
have progressed to the construction of experimental solid propellant casting plants and test
facilities at the Moscow Solid Motor Production Plant, Lyubertsy, where larger research
-.,a rlnc,ntnnrnPnf PXncriments could be carried out. Examination of
established the fact that no structures were tnen present. 111 u11C aivcL hurt
occupied by the Moscow Solid Motor Production Plant, Lyubertsy.
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Present i
21. The first interpretable I coverage of the facility on 25X1
photography indicated that most of the structures in the probable double-base and
composite propellant areas were present, as well as several support structures. Double-base
propellant production structures present in 1962 included the probable casting powder
preparation building (item 53), the casting building (item 55), the finishing building (item
52), and a support building (item 51). Elements of the probable composite propellant area
included both probable ingredients preparation and mix buildings (items 8 and 10) and
both probable casting buildings (item 7 and 11), the possible magazine/curing building
(item 9), and a warehouse (item 5). In addition, the possible rocket motor case preparation
building (item 35) was present in 1962.
22. The probable waste propellant disposal area (Figure 3) was present at the northern
end of the facility. The area consists of a probable burning pit isolated from the remainder
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of the facility on three sides by a high barricade. Support elements present in 1962 included
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 Present in 1962
Completed between
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_--PROPELLANT
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conveyer
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Gantry crane
METERS (APPROX)
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200
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the steamplant (item 15), administration or administration/engineering buildings (items 21
and 43), and a warehouse (item 44).
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23. Most structures in the facility appeared complete and were probably operational
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included the probable ingredients storage/preparation building (item an the finishing
building (item 50) in the probable double-base propellant area, the four principal buildings
in the possible nondestruct test area (items 1-4), and the three test cells (items 27, 31, and
32).
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24. The most important structure built during this period was the probable
temperature conditioning and motor finishing building (item 14). The only other structures
completed during this period were support buildings, primarily in the vicinity of test cell 1.
Other significant construction started during this period occurred on the east side of the
facility, where the secured area was expanded. Expansion activity was first observed on
25X1 I hotography. By he security wall delineating the new area had
been nearly completed, and early construction activity at two points was observed (Figure
3).
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canisters, approximately , that were located in the newly 25X1
secured part of the support area in the northern part of the plant on 25X1
25. The primary construction at the facility during this period was the completion of
two buildings (Figure 3, items 57 and 58) in the newly secured area on the eastern side of the
facility. Other construction in the area consisted of a building in the early stage of
construction and an unidentified area of construction. A building was also under
construction in the probable composite propellant area. The support area on the northern
side of the facility has been expanded to include an open storage area.
Production Activity
26. The only evidence of production to date consists of 28 cylindrical objects, possibly
Essential Services
27. The support area in the center of the facility consists of four buildings: a
steamplant (item 15), a probable storage building (item 19), a probable engineering
building (item 20), and an administrative/engineering building (item 21). The probable
source of power is the Moscow Heat and Power Plant, Lyubertsy TETS 22, 1.8 nm west of
the facility.
28. The facility is not served by rail, but there is an apparently heavy-duty road
network. Materials apparently are received and some of them probably stored in the
support area surrounding the gate entrance. A warehouse (item 44) is located outside of the
old security wall and fence. The long, separately secured storage building (item 40) may be
used for storing flammable ingredients.
29. The probable storage building (item 19) has a gantry crane at its northern end and
could be used for storage of rocket motors prior to testing. Items 20 and 21 appear to be used
for research and engineering functions, and items 23 and 43 appear to serve an
administrative function.
30. A previously unidentified building (item 45) may be a laboratory building. A
building similar in size and configuration is located at the probable composite modified
double-base plants at Biysk Solid Propellant Rocket Motor Test and Propellant Production
Facilities7 and at Perm Munitions and Chemical Combine K. Kirov 98.8
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ACIC. USATC, Series 200, Sheet M0167-5HL 3d ed, Jul 67, scale 1:200,000 (SECRETI
1. NPIC. Kamensk-Shakhtinskiy Chemical Combine 101, Dec 68 (TOP SECRET
125X1
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2. NPIC. Chronological Development of the Solid Pr ellant Rocket Motor Production and Test '
Facilities, Kemerovo, USSR, _Jun 67 (TOP SECRET ODEWORD 5X1
3. NPIC.
(TOP SECRET
Krasnoarmeysk Solid Motor Development Facility, USSR, Jan 70
4. NPIC. Advanced Solid Propellant Production Area Chemical Combine No. 101 1'Camensk-
5? NPIG.
Leningrad Solid Motor Test Facilities 1, 2, and 3, USSR, Aug 69 (TOP SECRET
7q__ -
-
Shakhtms y, , ec 66 (TOP SECRET IODEWORD-
NPIC. 1
1 Pei-thing Guided Missile Development and Production Center Chan -hsin-Tien in
Oct 66 (TUP SECRET I CODEWORD-
0
7. NPIC. Chronological Development of Solid Pro ellant Rocket Motor Test and Propellant Pro-
duction aca : zes, tys c, SSR, Dec 66 (TOP SECRET II
Chronological Development of Selected Solid Propellant Facilities at the Munitions
and Chemical Combine K. Kirov No. 98 Perm USSR Feb 67 (TOP SECRET
I
REQUIREMENT
COMIREX BR J04
NPIC Project 221314
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