Russian Nuclear Weapons: Question Thread

Militarov wrote:Nitric acid and nitrogen tetroxide was the mix you are refering to as a red fume. We still have some of it undisposed here, remnants of Dvinas.

Ahh...  now your past experiences make sense...     you are talking about tactical missiles.  Yes, many older Soviet tactical missiles were powered with non-storable hypergolics, eg Kh-22 use IRFNA and Tonka/R-Stoff, while Scuds use kerosene and IRFNA with UDMH as an igniter.  These needed to be fuelled prior to launch because the nitric tends to eat its containers.....