The RT-2PM Topol was a mobile intercontinental ballistic missile designed in the Soviet Union and in service with Russia's Strategic Missile Troops. As of 2014, Russia planned to replace all RT-2PM ICBMs with versions of Topol-M. In December 2023, the last Topol regiment was taken off combat duty.
A Topol on a MAZ-7917 mobile launcher at a Victory Day Anniversary Parade Rehearsal in Moscow, 2007.
Artist's depiction of a RT-2PM in Siberia
Launch-Assisting Support vehicle of Topol at the Saint-Petersburg Artillery Museum
Troposphere Relay Station vehicle of Topol at the Saint-Petersburg Artillery Museum
Intercontinental ballistic missile
An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range greater than 5,500 kilometres (3,400 mi), primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery. Conventional, chemical, and biological weapons can also be delivered with varying effectiveness, but have never been deployed on ICBMs. Most modern designs support multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRVs), allowing a single missile to carry several warheads, each of which can strike a different target. The United States, Russia, China, France, India, the United Kingdom, Israel, and North Korea are the only countries known to have operational ICBMs.
A US Peacekeeper missile launched from a silo
An SM-65 Atlas, the first US ICBM, first launched in 1957
ICBMs can be deployed from transporter erector launchers (TEL), such as the Russian RT-2PM2 Topol-M
Artist's concept of an SS-24 deployed on railway