Page "RSD-10 Pioneer" Paragraph 2

It was intended to replace, or augment, the R-12 Dvina ( SS-4 Sandal ) and R-14 Chusovaya ( SS-5 Skean ) missiles deployed from 1958 and 1961 respectively in the USSR and Warsaw Pact states.

It entered the development stage in 1966 and a design concept was approved in 1968 and the task given to the Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology and Alexander Nadiradze.

Flight testing began in 1974 and deployment commenced on March 11, 1976, with the first supplied units becoming operational in August of that year.

Up to 1986 a total of 48 launch sites, including a site at Pavschino, were equipped with 405 RSD-10 missiles under control of the Strategic Rocket Forces.