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The R-2 rocket (NATO reporting name SS-2 Sibling) was developed based on R-1 design. This was an improved version of German V-2 rocket manufactured by the Soviet Union.

The R-1 was quickly followed by an evolutionary improvement, the R-2 rocket (SS-2), which had more range and at least four major differences in design. The weight was increased by 50%, but the range more than doubled, to 600 km (370 miles). R-2 had the following major differences from R-1 (and hence from V-2) design:^[1]

• its warhead separated from the rocket prior to the atmospheric reentry, this eliminated rocket hull strength problem, one of V-2 weakest places
• alcohol-water mixture tank of the rocket (in contrast to the bearing hull of the rocket for R-1) became the bearing construction for other parts of the rocket, this reduced rockets weight
• control devices module was moved from above alcohol-water mixture tank to below liquid oxygen tank, this made rockets pre-start preparations easier; as this module was now placed over the engine, vibrations from the latter were reduced by using steel instead of aluminium for the hull of the tail-end
• radiocorrection was introduced to improve side pointing accuracy, this made its impact accuracy to be not worse than that of R-1, despite the doubled range

The test flight of the R-2 rocket took place in September 1949, and it was accepted for service in November, 1951, actually entering service in large numbers around 1953. A grand total of 1,545 R-1 and R-2 missiles were produced.

The successful R-2 missile was the last Soviet missile based on German designs. In the future, while some German influences would clearly remain, the Soviet missile designs would be fully home grown.

1. ^ (Russian) First Steps of the Domestic Rocket Construction

• R-2