R-5M Pobeda

8K51 SS-3 Shyster (NATO) Pobeda (Victory)

Mission Profile

The R-5M Pobeda (8K51, SS-3 Shyster) was a single-stage Soviet medium-range ballistic missile in the Aggregat lineage, the world's first nuclear-armed ballistic missile and a major milestone in Cold War weapons technology. Standing 20.8 m tall with a 1.7 m diameter and a liftoff mass of 29.1 tonnes, it generated 404 kN of thrust. First flying in March 1953, the R-5M Pobeda (Victory) entered operational service in 1956 and demonstrated that ballistic missiles could reliably deliver nuclear warheads, fundamentally altering the strategic balance of the Cold War.