304th Guards Red Banner Missile Regiment

304-й гвардейский ракетный Краснознаменный полк

Military Unit: 14372, from 1978: 21649

Activated 9.5.60 at Rakvere, Estonia, under the 23rd Guards Missile Division, from the 284th Guards Motorised Rifle Regiment.

The regiment consisted of two battalions with each 4 R-12 (SS-4) pads.

The first battalion went on alert duty 25.9.61 (the first two R-12 pads) and 1.1.62 (the remaining two R-12 pads), while the second battalion went on alert duty 1.1.62 (four R-12 pads).

The R-12 battalions stood down 15.3.78.

The regiment was relocated to Yurya, Kirov Oblast, during 1978, and was attached to the 8th Missile Division.

The regiment went on alert duty with 9 RSD-10 Pioner-K (15P645K) (SS-20) missiles 15.10.79.

The regiment stood down August 1984, and began conversion to the RT-2PM (SS-25) missile - went on alert duty 20.12.85 with 9 missiles.

US designation (1960-1978): Rakvere MRBM complex (Simuna and Vaike-Maarja launch sites). Type II (pad) sites.

Simuna launch site (59 08 44N, 26 26 23E):

Vaike-Maarja launch site (59 11 16N, 26 20 39E):

Three alternative fixed field sites for the pad launchers, were set up at Tamsalu (59 08 40N, 26 09 33E), Kadina (59 16 35N, 26 10 13E) and Tapa (59 16 45N, 26 03 15E), but all appeared to have become inactive by 1967.

Yurya launch site BSP-31 (15P645K missiles 1979-1984, and 15P158 missiles from 1985) (59 11 27N, 49 46 38E):

No drawing.