R-2 (missile)

The R-2, given the NATO reporting name SS-2 Sibling, was a Soviet short range ballistic missile built by Yuzhmash and OKB-1 as an improved successor to the R-1, entering service on November 27, 1951. It roughly doubled the range of the R-1 to about 576 kilometers while keeping a similar payload, and it added warhead separation and a more powerful engine that made it more reliable than earlier Soviet missiles. A variant called the R-2A was used as a sounding rocket to test capsules carrying dogs ahead of the Sputnik 2 mission in 1957, and the Soviet Union licensed the R-2 design to China, where it became the basis for the Dongfeng 1.