he "Tsyklon-2", a derivative of the R-36 (NATO designator SS­9 "Scarp"), the largest  ICBM in the Soviet armoury before the appearance of the SS-18. It has two stages, employs liquid storable propellants and was first displayed in Moscow at 7 November 1967. The R-36 missile could carry warheads on both intercontinental and low orbital trajectories.  Its orbital flights earned the R-36-O (for orbital) the Sheldon designation F1 and DoD designation SL-11. This variant of the R-36,  was used for tests of the Fractional Orbital Bombardment System (FOBS), so described because the payloads reached orbit, but reentered over their targets before completing one full revolution. Many of these flights were assigned COSPAR designations and provided with "Kosmos" numbers, even though they were in unstable orbits. The missiles were launched directly south, flying over the southern hemisphere, coming around from behind the U.S. early warning radar lines, approaching the U.S. from the Gulf of Mexico. These tests ran from 1965 through 1971. When the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty was signed, this system was abandoned. The "Tsiklon 2" is derived from the R-36-O and is designed to launch conventional spacecraft rather than warheads. It was designated F1m (m for maneuverable) because its early payloads had an in-orbit maneuvering capability that was interpreted in the West as a maneuverable upper stage. The "Tsyklon-2" was introduced in 1966 as a two stage launcher for space payloads, typically ocean surveillance satellites, launched from Tyuratam.  

The "Tsyklon-2"  has a lift capacity of about 4,000 kg (8,800 lbs.) into LEO. In 1977, a third stage was added. The resulting launch vehicle, the "Tsyklon-3" and is designated F2 in the Sheldon system and SL-12 in the DoD system. The "Tsyklon-3" assumed many of the missions previously performed by the "Kosmos" SL­8 such as ELINT, "Meteor" weather satellites, LEO communications satellites and some scientific payloads. The "Tsyklon-3" has only been launched from Plesetsk. The first launch from Plesetsk was at 24 June 1977 ("Kosmos-921"). In 1987, it was offered as a commercial launch vehicle with a lift capacity of about 8,800 lbs. (4,000 kg) into LEO.