SS-13 Savage

The RT-2 was an intercontinental ballistic missile deployed by the Soviet Union, which was in service from December 1968 until 1976. It was assigned the NATO reporting name SS-13 Savage and carried the GRAU index 8K98. It was designed by OKB-1 and about 60 were built by 1972.

History

The RT-2 was the first solid-propellant ICBM in Soviet service, and was a development of the earlier RT-1 series. It was a three-stage inertially-guided missile that is comparable to the American Minuteman III. It was armed with a single 600 kiloton warhead and was silo-launched, although a rail-based version was contemplated by Soviet planners. It was deployed in the Yoshkar-Ola missile field.

The two upper stages of the RT-2 were used to develop the RT-15 mobile IRBM system. The RT-2PM Topol is supposedly a modernized version of the RT-2

Operations

The RT-2 was capable of delivering a 1,200 lb (540 kg) class payload to a maximum operational range of approximately 5,500 nautical miles

Command and Control

RTÉ2

RTÉ2 is a free-to-air general entertainment channel operated by Irish national broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann. It is available to 98% of viewers across the Republic of Ireland through Saorview and available in Northern Ireland through Freeview. It is also available through digital television services Virgin Media Ireland, Sky Ireland, eVision and in Northern Ireland on Virgin Media. Content from RTÉ2 is available on the RTÉ Player both nationally and internationally.

RTÉ2 broadcasts in both standard definition and high-definition.

History

In the 1970s the Irish government considered three options for the introduction of a second television service: the re-transmission of BBC1 Northern Ireland; authorization of an independent commercial service; or charging RTÉ with the establishment of a second national channel. It was the last of these that was finally chosen.

The channel, the Republic of Ireland's second, began transmissions on 2 November 1978 with an opening broadcast of a gala ceremony from Cork Opera House. Owing to a technical fault, audio from BBC2 was played during the countdown instead of the proper soundtrack, and when the channel commenced programmes, there was no audio for the initial 15 seconds or so. At first the new channel broadcast in the evenings only. The first broadcast on RTÉ 2 was on 6 June 1978, it was largely aimed at those in "single channel land". Programmes included The Streets of San Francisco and Duchess of Duke Street.