сука блять...

[Skyfire77]

Images of an unusual traffic accident appeared on the internet recently, showing a heavily weathered military vehicle involved in a head on crash with a civilian vehicle. The date and circumstances of the accident are not known (but it's a safe bet that alcohol probably played a part on one or both sides), but the vehicle involved is a rather rare road-mobile ICBM Driver Training Vehicle, specifically one for the RT-2PM Topol ("Poplar") ICBM (NATO reporting name SS-25 Sickle).

Western artist's impression of several Topol TELs and a BTR-60 support vehicle operating in eastern Siberia.

Developed in the late 1970s, the Topol is a 3-stage, single warhead ICBM 21.5 meters in length and 1.7 meters in diameter. The missile has a range of 11,000 km, and can deliver an 800kt nuclear warhead with an accuracy of 200m (claimed). For mobility, the SS-25 is typically mounted on a Transporter Erector Launcher (TEL) based on either a MAZ-7310 or MAZ-7917 8-wheeled heavy truck, and the missile can be fired from unimproved areas or sliding roof bunkers.

A Topol TEL on display at the Saint Petersburg Artillery museum

To train soldiers on driving and working with the SS-25 and its TEL, the Soviet Union fabricated an unknown (but probably small) number of driver training vehicles similarly based on the MAZ-7917, but without the mechanisms for erecting or launching a missile. The ICBM is also absent, and is replaced by tank of the same general size and configuration which can be filled by sand or water to simulate the weight of an SS-25. The DTVs, like the TELs, are cumbersome to drive, with the MAZ-7917 chassis alone having a curb weight of 35.8 tons (32.5 metric tons) and being around 61.3 feet long (18.71 meters).These dimensions result in a turning radius of some 88.5 feet (27 meters).

In the 2020 Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists review of Russian nuclear forces, 36 were known to be deployed, down from a high of 360 units in 1996. The RT-2PM2 Topol-M (NATO: SS-27 Sickle B) is replacing the Topol, with a new TEL based on the MZKT-79221 "Universal" 16-wheeled heavy truck, and as a result a new driver training vehicle, the BMS ICBM driver training vehicle, has been developed.

[WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAthenGTInowA4]

@Skyfire77 Imagine the thoughts going through your head as you're about to crash into a fucking missile the size of a tanker truck.

EDIT: Also, those trucks are extremely badass.

EDIT EDIT: Guess I'm playing Snowrunner tonight.

[ForSweden]

it is both a strategic and tactical weapon

[RamblinRover]

@Skyfire77

[ranwhenparked]

@Skyfire77 well, if the driver ever decides to defect, they'll be a job waiting for him at Swift

[Skyfire77]

@WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAthenGTInowA4 Hell, I'd be okay so long as it's only my thoughts going through my head and not my windshield, or his cab.

[WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAthenGTInowA4]

@ranwhenparked said in сука блять...:

well, if the driver ever decides to defect, they'll be a job waiting for him at Swift

I think you mean YRC. I used to manage a warehouse and the Yellow drivers that showed up were fucking terrible. The trucks were always 2 inches from death as well. Never ship anything through Yellow (YRC) if you can avoid it.

[WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAthenGTInowA4]

@Skyfire77 said in сука блять...:

as it's only my thoughts going through my head and not my windshield, or his cab.

Or the stratosphere.

[AkioOhtori]

@Skyfire77 Man now I want to play Red Alert 2...

[Mr.Ontop]

@Skyfire77 That looks a little too organic to just be some kind of camo....Makes me wonder if the ones with the actual nukes in them are in any better condition?

[Skyfire77]

@AkioOhtori All I know about Red Alert, and the wider Command & Conquer series, is from the Tim Curry clip:

[Skyfire77]

@Mr-Ontop That's what I thought at first but I'm pretty sure it's just camo netting, although it looks like it's been on the vehicle since '96.

[AkioOhtori]

@Skyfire77 It is pretty delightfully campy and features some units like the ones pictured

[Mr.Ontop]

@Skyfire77 Time Curry was the best.

[Bloody-the-resident-LandRover-apologist]

@RamblinRover Given the current state of the Russian military, because of well... You're probably not far off...

[AkioOhtori]

@Mr-Ontop Still alive, though mostly seems to be doing voice acting after the stroke

[415s30]

@Skyfire77 I was listening to a guy who was in Naval Intel for years etc.. and he was making guesses about the invasion of Ukraine. He discovered certain ethnic groups in Ukraine had more alcohol in the gas station markets so he suspected they would get bogged down in those areas. He was right. I wonder how many of those stuck vehicles etc.. were because of being drunk or hung over haha.

[415s30]

@AkioOhtori Oh this guy I served with had the older one on his computer and I played it a lot. I did get to try the newer one. He has a program to make his own maps and I had the most fun doing that.