It's very good that old ICBMs are being converted into space launchers. Among other things, we get to know some data on ICBM reliability.
Kosmotras, which markets SS-18-based Dnepr space launcher, making a presentation at the Paris air show put reliability of SS-18 at 97% in more than 160 launches (this includes the four space launches conducted so far). This number must include launches of all SS-18 modifications, from R-36M to R-36MUTTH to R-36M2, since it is highly unlikely that it refers to the R-36M2 modification only - there were just about 50 R-36M2 missiles deployed, so there is no way 160 of these missiles were flight tested.
Since SS-18/R-36M is a relatively new missile, its success rate is higher than the overall average success rate for Soviet ICBMs, which stands at about 92%.
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Apologies, since this is only tangentially related to your post's point about converted ICBMs, but I understand that a civilian solar sail mission is to be launched from a Russian sub, and I wonder if you think there will be similar future launches from Russian subs.
Do you know of a reason a Russian sub would be the preferred launch platform for such a mission?
As I understand, this is a second attempt to launch Cosmos 1 - the first one on July 20, 2001 was unsuccessful. The choice of the launcher - Volna (which is a converted R-29R missile) - is probably because it offers the right combination of price and capability. Volna is one of the conversion launchers offered by the Russian military and they are usually quite attractive for small scientific payloads. I doubt there is a big market out there for this kind of launchers, but they have their niche.