I’m a bit confused on seeing a few Russian missile markings. I’ve seen three distinct types of markings and I’d like to get some information on what they mean.
The first is missiles with red caps, like these R-60s and R-27s:
The second is missiles with black stripes, like the R-27s and R-73s here:
The final type are pure white missiles, like these R-77s:
So I am inclined to believe one is inert training rounds, one is live and the other is a mockup. I just need some guidance as to which one is which.
Help is appreciated.
By: CayceG - 7th August 2010 at 23:44
Great info. Thanks a lot.
Now are the inert rounds just dummies, or are they actually usable in training? Or do they expend live missiles as opposed to specially designed training rounds?
By: Arabella-Cox - 7th August 2010 at 22:06
The striped missiles are inert rounds, merely representative in weight and shape. Those red bits on your first picture are not actually part of the missiles, they’re protective “remove before flight” caps – so unsurprisingly you never see them on in-flight photos. It follows that these are probably live rounds, since there’s nothing really to protect on the dummy weapons (seeker, fuzes, control surfaces). Finally, the R-77s should be live.
Sign In
August 7, 2010 at 8:51 pm