MissileThreat.com

Alternate Name:	53T6
Country:	Russia
Warhead:	Nuclear, 10 Kt
Range:	80 km
Basing:	Land

Details

The Gazelle (SH-08/ABM-3), also known by its Russian designation, 53T6, is a short-range, high-acceleration interceptor missile designed and manufactured by the Soviet Union.(1) At present, 68 Gazelle interceptors are deployed around Moscow as part of System A-135.

 

In 1978, the Soviet Union decided to build a new anti-ballistic missile system around Moscow. System A-135 was designed with two tiers of defense: (1) long-range exoatmospheric interceptors and (2) short-range endoatmospheric interceptors. During the late 1970s, the Soviets began testing its short-range interceptor, the Gazelle, developed by the Novator Design Bureau. By 1988, U.S. intelligence sources estimated that the Soviets had manufactured 500 Gazelle interceptors, although some CIA analysts at the time believed that as many as 3,000 could have been manufactured.(2)

 

By 1988, a total of 68 Gazelle interceptors had been deployed in underground silos around Moscow.(3) Including the 32 long-range Gorgon (SH-11/ABM-4) interceptors, System A-135 was technically compliant with the 1972 ABM Treaty, which allowed a total of 100 missiles. However, a loophole in the treaty allowed the Soviet missiles to protect both the capital city as well as nearby ICBM bases, thus maximizing System A-135’s functionality. Had the U.S. gone ahead with a similar system, for instance, it would have had to choose between defending either Washington, DC, or the ICBM silos in North Dakota: not both.

 

State acceptance tests of System A-135 were completed by the end of 1989. That same year, the Soviets decided to modernize the system even further to improve its combat performance. Thus, work continued on the new system during its period of experimental use, which lasted until the middle of 1994. At that point, the Gazelles were placed on full combat alert.(4)

 

As the endoatmospheric tier of System A-135, the Gazelle missiles were designed to intercept ballistic missiles within the Earth’s atmosphere in their final or terminal descent phase. In the event of an attack on Moscow, the Gazelle was responsible for destroying any warheads that managed to evade the long-range exoatmospheric Gorgon interceptors. It served as a last line of defense against nuclear annihilation.(5)

 

To accomplish this task, the Soviets designed the Gazelle as a high-acceleration weapon, capable of operating at speeds of over Mach 10 and able to withstand G-loads several times greater than those of convention surface-to-air missiles. The Soviets used high-strength, low-weight aluminum and titanium alloys and a special heat barrier to allow the missile to withstand the intense thermal build-up caused by its high acceleration.(6) The Gazelle was equipped with solid-fueled boosters, giving it a range of approximately 80 kilometers. Each missile was initially armed with a 10-kiloton nuclear warhead.(7)

 

The Gazelles were located in special hardened silos developed by the General Machine-Building Design Bureau, which also designed most of the Soviet Union’s intercontinental ballistic missile silos. The silos were equipped with fast-opening covers that permitted rapid missile launches.(8) A total of 68 Gazelles are currently deployed around Moscow in four underground launch sites containing 17 missiles each.(9)

 

In early 1998, Russia announced that, in the interest of safety, it had removed the original nuclear warheads from the short-range Gazelle interceptors. Many had warned that a low-altitude nuclear explosion would contaminate a 77-square-mile area, making Moscow virtually unlivable. On April 21, Col. Gen. Alexander Yesin, Deputy Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, stated that System A-135’s interceptors had been newly equipped with conventional high explosive warheads. It is unclear, however, whether all of the Gazelle interceptors currently carry conventional warheads, or if some are still armed with nuclear warheads.(10)

 

In 1999, the Russians flight-tested a Gazelle at the Sary-Shagan proving ground in Kazakhstan.(11) It was the first test of a System A-135 interceptor missile since 1993. According to Commander General Vladimir Yakovlev, head of the Strategic Rocket Forces, the Gazelle test confirmed the combat readiness of System A-135. Many in the international community, however, saw this test merely as a warning to the U.S. not to go ahead with its own missile defense expansions.(12)

 

In recent years, many in the U.S. and elsewhere have pointed out that, while the Gorgon and Gazelle interceptors might be effective against a single warhead attack, they would be quickly overwhelmed in the event of a multi-warhead strike.(13) Others have claimed that the interceptor missiles would have a difficult time distinguishing between warheads and other objects, a factor that severely limits the effectiveness of System A-135 in the present age of sophisticated decoys and countermeasures.(14)

 

In 2002, Anatoliy Sokolov, former commander of Russia’s missile and space defense army, confirmed U.S. suspicions that the Gorgon and Gazelle interceptors had become obsolete: “It makes no sense to maintain a dying system, as the existing antimissile defense is unable to provide efficient protection of the area, let alone the entire country.”(15)

 

 

 

 

Footnotes

 

1. NATO originally referred to the 53T6 as the SH-08 due to its testing at the Sary-Shagan proving ground in Kazakhstan. The missile was later renamed the ABM-3 “Gazelle” by U.S. intelligence. For further explanation, see: Steven J. Zaloga, “Moscow’s ABM Shield Continues to Crumble,” Jane’s Intelligence Review, 1 February 1999, p. 10.
2. Duncan Lennox, “Battling with the Ballistic Threat,” Jane’s Defence Weekly, 20 March 1993, p. 25; Pavel Podvig, ed., Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces (Cambridge, Mass: The MIT Press, 2001), 417; Steven J. Zaloga, “Moscow’s ABM Shield Continues to Crumble.”
3. Lennox, p. 25.
4. Podvig, 417.
5. Christoph Bluth, “Russian Attitudes to Missile Defense,” Jane’s Intelligence Review, 1 January 1996, p. 16; Barry Schweid, “U.S. Intelligence Concludes Moscow Getting Improved Missile Defense,” The Associated Press, 25 October 1989.
6. Zaloga, p. 10.
7. David C. Isby, “Russia Tests ABM Interceptor,” Jane’s Missiles and Rockets, 1 December 2002; Hans M. Kristensen, Matthew G. McKinzie, and Robert S. Norris, “The Protection Paradox,” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 60 (2004), pp. 68-77; Federation of American Scientists.
8. Zaloga, p. 10.
9. A. Karpenko, “ABM and Space Defense,” Nevsky Bastion, 4 November 1999, pp. 2-47.
10. Frank Barnaby, “Russia’s Strategic Rocket Forces, Russia’s Current Arsenal,” Jane’s Defence Weekly, 10 February 1999, p. 63; Nuclear Threat Initiative; Robert S. Norris and William M. Arkin, “Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces, End of 1998,” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 1 March 1999; “Russia Has Abandoned Plans,” Aviation Week & Space Technology, 2 March 1998; “Russia Removes Nuclear Warheads From Moscow ABM System,” Armed Forces Newswire Service, 8 May 1998.
11. James Hackett, “Moscow’s Overlooked Missile Defenses,” The Washington Times, 17 May 2000, sec. A, p. 19; David Hoffman, “Russia Test-Fires Interceptor Missile: Military Lobs Warning Shot to Counter Talk of U.S. National Defense System,” The Washington Post, 4 November 1999, sec. A, p. 25; Nikolai Novichkov, “Test Aimed at Extending Missile Life,” Jane’s Defence Weekly, 5 November 1999.
12. Hoffman, p. 25. 
13. Kristensen, et al., pp. 68-77.
14. Hoffman, p. 25; Nuclear Threat Initiative.
15. “Russia Should Focus on Modern Antimissile Defence System, Says Ex-Commander,” Military News Agency (Moscow), 15 April 2002.

Russia Tests Gazelle Missile Interceptor

October 13, 2007 :: News

Russia reports the successful test of a missile defense interceptor from the Sary Shagan test site on on Lake Balkash in Kazakhstan, according to Space Forces spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Alexei Zolotukhin.  Zolotukhin said that the test launch of a Gazelle interceptor was made to assess extending the service life of the A-135 missile defense system which has long been deployed around Moscow. 

"A combined team of the Space Forces, the Sary Shagan testing site and industry officials fired a short-range interceptor missile at a target missile," said Zolotukhin.  According to the same report, the Sary Shagan site "recently has experienced a spate of testing by the Russian Strategic Missile Forces, which have tested six anti-missile systems, 12 air defence systems, seven types of missile interceptors, 12 types of ground-to-air missiles and 18 radars at the site." (Article, Link) 

» Additional report of Russian interceptor test

» More stories on: Russian Missile Defenses, Russia, Testing - Foreign

» Missile system details for: System A-135, Gazelle (SH-08/ABM-3)

Russian A-135 System to Receive Upgrades

May 10, 2005 :: Itar-Tass :: News

Itar Tass reports that Russia’s missile defenses which protect central Russia will be increased in size and capacity in the coming year. Lieutenant General Sergey Kurushkin, a commander of the Russian Space Troops, told the Russian news agency that “measures to improve a number of components in the A-135 system, which provides antimissile defense for the central region of Russia, will soon be completed.” “Last year tests were completed on the modernized active parts of the system—the interceptor missiles, and the training-combat launch of one of these was successfully carried out at the southern Sary Shagan range,” he is quoted as saying, as well as that Russia has “in prospect the deployment of promising radar equipment in the system for warning of a missile attack, and also the acquisition of new specialized equipment for monitoring space…We are talking about new technology and high-quality features which rival the best foreign models.”
       A-135 is the name for the missile defense system which still surrounds Moscow. The recent test at Sary Shagan to which Kurushkin referred may have been the November 29, 2004 test of the Gazelle interceptor, which was successful.  (Article, Link) 

» Nov. 29, 2004: Russian test of Gazelle interceptor successful

» More stories on: Russia, Russian Missile Defenses

» Missile system details for: System A-135, Gazelle (SH-08/ABM-3)

Russia Tests Modernized Missile Defense System

November 29, 2004 :: Itar-Tass :: News

Russia today conducted a successful test of an upgraded version of its A-135 ballistic missile defense system. The test took place at the Sary Shagan Missile Range, located in Kazakhstan. Defense Minister Sergey Ivanov described the test as flawless: “The missile accurately hit the training target.” Putin was reported as having responded to the test, saying “Good, congratulations.” According to RIA Novosti, Ivanov also said that “We intend to upgrade and modernize the anti-ballistic missile defense system further.”
        The A-135 system, based around and designed to defend Moscow and the surrounding areas, consists of two interceptor missiles, the short range “Gazelle” and the long range “Gorgon.”
        Pavel Podvig cites one Russian source indicating that today’s test was of the shorter range 53T6 “Gazelle” missile, a report he terms “quite likely.” According to Podvig, the Gazelle was last tested on November 2, 1999; and the Gorgon was last tested on October 2, 2002.
        Update: Dec. 1: The following is an excerpt from a Russian television broadcast on November 30, Ren TV in Moscow, which reported on the recent missile interceptor test. The report confirmed that the test was of the 53T6 or Gazelle interceptor, and furthermore indicated that tests of the Russian missile defenses will henceforth be conducted at Sary Shagan at least twice a year. Text of the report: (More »»») 

» Nov. 29: UPI analysis: Cold War Has Never Been Colder

» Podvig on Russian ABM test

» More stories on: Russia, Russian Missile Defenses

» Missile system details for: System A-135, Gazelle (SH-08/ABM-3), Gorgon (SH-11/ABM-4)