Zvezda 5003 1/72 Russian Missile System "Topol" SS-25 "Sickle"

This is a plastic model kit, which comes unassembled and unpainted. So glue, model paints and other basic modelling tools are additionally required.

The RS-12M Topol ("Poplar Tree") missile, designated the SS-25 "Sickle" by NATO, is a three-stage, solid fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that measures nearly 30 meters in length. It can deliver an 800 kiloton warhead up to 10,000 kilometres away, with an accuracy of 200 meters, and is equipped with decoys to evade enemy air defences. The missile was designed in the 1970s and 1980s. Over 300 of these missiles were built, and many of them are still in operation today.

The Topol missile was designed in response to the U.S. "Midget man" road-mobile ICBM system under development at that time. The mobility offered by such a system would allow a country to redeploy their missiles quickly to avoid an enemy attack.

In order to transport the Topol missile, a very heavy-duty seven-axle "14x12" truck, or "Transporter Erector Launcher" (TEL), was needed. These mobile launchers would be assembled in the Minsk Wheeled Truck-Tractor Manufacturing Plant, located in Belarus. The launcher included a system of hydraulic and pneumatic jacks to create a stable firing platform nearly anywhere.