Intercontinental ballistic missile- an impressive human creation. Huge size, thermonuclear power, a column of flame, the roar of engines and the menacing rumble of launch ... However, all this exists only on earth and in the first minutes of launch. After their expiration, the rocket ceases to exist. Further into the flight and the performance of the combat mission, only what remains of the rocket after acceleration - its payload - goes.

With long launch ranges, the payload of an intercontinental ballistic missile goes into space for many hundreds of kilometers. It rises into the layer of low-orbit satellites, 1000-1200 km above the Earth, and briefly settles among them, only slightly behind their general run. And then, along an elliptical trajectory, it begins to slide down ...

What exactly is this load?

A ballistic missile consists of two main parts - an accelerating part and another, for the sake of which acceleration is started. The accelerating part is a pair or three large multi-ton stages, stuffed to the eyeballs with fuel and with engines from below. They give the necessary speed and direction to the movement of the other main part of the rocket - the head. The accelerating stages, replacing each other in the launch relay, accelerate this warhead in the direction of the area of ​​​​its future fall.

The head part of the rocket is a complex cargo of many elements. It contains a warhead (one or more), a platform on which these warheads are placed along with the rest of the economy (such as means of deceiving enemy radars and anti-missiles), and a fairing. Even in the head part there is fuel and compressed gases. The entire warhead will not fly to the target. It, like the ballistic missile itself before, will be divided into many elements and simply cease to exist as a whole. The fairing will separate from it not far from the launch area, during the operation of the second stage, and somewhere along the road it will fall. The platform will fall apart upon entering the air of the impact area. Elements of only one type will reach the target through the atmosphere. Warheads.

Close up, the warhead looks like an elongated cone a meter or a half long, at the base as thick as a human torso. The nose of the cone is pointed or slightly blunt. This cone is a special aircraft whose task is to deliver weapons to the target. We will return to warheads later and get to know them better.

Head of the "Peacemaker"
The pictures show breeding stages of the American heavy ICBM LGM0118A Peacekeeper, also known as MX. The missile was equipped with ten 300 kt multiple warheads. The missile was decommissioned in 2005.

Pull or push?

In a missile, all of the warheads are located in what is known as the disengagement stage, or "bus". Why a bus? Because, having freed itself first from the fairing, and then from the last booster stage, the breeding stage carries the warheads, like passengers, to the given stops, along their trajectories, along which the deadly cones will disperse to their targets.

Another "bus" is called the combat stage, because its work determines the accuracy of pointing the warhead at the target point, and hence the combat effectiveness. The breeding stage and how it works is one of the biggest secrets in a rocket. But we will still take a little, schematically, look at this mysterious step and its difficult dance in space.

The breeding stage has different forms. Most often, it looks like a round stump or a wide loaf of bread, on which warheads are mounted on top with their points forward, each on its own spring pusher. The warheads are pre-positioned at precise separation angles (on a missile base, by hand, with theodolites) and look in different directions, like a bunch of carrots, like a hedgehog's needles. The platform, bristling with warheads, occupies a predetermined, gyro-stabilized position in space in flight. And at the right moments, warheads are pushed out of it one by one. They are ejected immediately after the completion of the acceleration and separation from the last accelerating stage. Until (you never know?) they shot down this entire unbred hive with anti-missile weapons or something failed on board the breeding stage.

But that was before, at the dawn of multiple warheads. Now breeding is a completely different picture. If earlier the warheads “sticked out” forward, now the stage itself is ahead along the way, and the warheads hang from below, with their tops back, turned upside down, like the bats. The “bus” itself in some rockets also lies upside down, in a special recess in the upper stage of the rocket. Now, after separation, the disengagement stage does not push, but drags the warheads along with it. Moreover, it drags, resting on four cross-shaped "paws" deployed in front. At the ends of these metal paws are rear-facing traction nozzles of the dilution stage. After separation from the booster stage, the "bus" very accurately, precisely sets its movement in the beginning space with the help of its own powerful guidance system. He himself occupies the exact path of the next warhead - its individual path.

Then, special inertia-free locks are opened, holding the next detachable warhead. And not even separated, but simply now not connected with the stage, the warhead remains motionless hanging here, in complete weightlessness. The moments of her own flight began and flowed. Like one single berry next to a bunch of grapes with other warhead grapes that have not yet been plucked from the stage by the breeding process.

fiery ten
K-551 "Vladimir Monomakh" is a Russian strategic nuclear submarine (Project 955 Borey), armed with 16 Bulava solid-propellant ICBMs with ten multiple warheads.

Delicate movements

Now the task of the stage is to crawl away from the warhead as delicately as possible, without violating its precisely set (targeted) movement of its nozzles by gas jets. If a supersonic nozzle jet hits a detached warhead, it will inevitably add its own additive to the parameters of its movement. During the subsequent flight time (and this is half an hour - fifty minutes, depending on the launch range), the warhead will drift from this exhaust “slap” of the jet half a kilometer-kilometer sideways from the target, or even further. It will drift without barriers: there is space in the same place, they slapped it - it swam, not holding on to anything. But is a kilometer to the side the accuracy today?

To avoid such effects, four upper “paws” with engines spaced apart are needed. The stage, as it were, is pulled forward on them so that the exhaust jets go to the sides and cannot catch the warhead detached by the belly of the stage. All thrust is divided between four nozzles, which reduces the power of each individual jet. There are other features as well. For example, if on a donut-shaped breeding stage (with a void in the middle - this hole is worn on the booster stage of the rocket, like a wedding ring on a finger) of the Trident-II D5 rocket, the control system determines that the separated warhead still falls under the exhaust of one of the nozzles, then the control system disables this nozzle. Makes "silence" over the warhead.

The step gently, like a mother from the cradle of a sleeping child, fearing to disturb his peace, tiptoes away in space on the three remaining nozzles in low thrust mode, and the warhead remains on the aiming trajectory. Then the “donut” of the stage with the cross of the traction nozzles rotates around the axis so that the warhead comes out from under the zone of the torch of the switched off nozzle. Now the stage moves away from the abandoned warhead already at all four nozzles, but so far also at low gas. When a sufficient distance is reached, the main thrust is turned on, and the stage moves vigorously into the area of ​​​​the aiming trajectory of the next warhead. There it is calculated to slow down and again very accurately sets the parameters of its movement, after which it separates the next warhead from itself. And so on - until each warhead is landed on its trajectory. This process is fast, much faster than you read about it. In one and a half to two minutes, the combat stage breeds a dozen warheads.

Abyss of mathematics

The foregoing is quite enough to understand how the warhead's own path begins. But if you open the door a little wider and look a little deeper, you can see that today the turn in space of the disengagement stage carrying the warhead is the area of ​​​​application of the quaternion calculus, where the onboard attitude control system processes the measured parameters of its movement with continuous construction of the orientation quaternion on board. A quaternion is such a complex number (above the field of complex numbers lies the flat body of quaternions, as mathematicians would say in their exact language of definitions). But not with the usual two parts, real and imaginary, but with one real and three imaginary. In total, the quaternion has four parts, which, in fact, is what the Latin root quatro says.

The breeding stage performs its work quite low, immediately after turning off the booster stages. That is, at an altitude of 100-150 km. And there the influence of gravitational anomalies of the Earth's surface, heterogeneities in the even gravitational field surrounding the Earth still affects. Where are they from? From uneven terrain, mountain systems, occurrence of rocks of different densities, oceanic depressions. Gravitational anomalies either attract the step to themselves with an additional attraction, or, on the contrary, slightly release it from the Earth.

In such heterogeneities, the complex ripples of the local gravity field, the disengagement stage must place the warheads with precision. To do this, it was necessary to create a more detailed map of the Earth's gravitational field. It is better to “explain” the features of a real field in systems of differential equations that describe the exact ballistic motion. These are large, capacious (to include details) systems of several thousand differential equations, with several tens of thousands of constant numbers. And the gravitational field itself at low altitudes, in the immediate near-Earth region, is considered as a joint attraction of several hundred point masses of different "weights" located near the center of the Earth in a certain order. In this way, a more accurate simulation of the real gravitational field of the Earth on the flight path of the rocket is achieved. And more accurate operation of the flight control system with it. And yet ... but full! - let's not look further and close the door; we have had enough of what has been said.

Flight without warheads

The disengagement stage, dispersed by the missile in the direction of the same geographical area where the warheads should fall, continues its flight with them. After all, she can not lag behind, and why? After breeding the warheads, the stage is urgently engaged in other matters. She moves away from the warheads, knowing in advance that she will fly a little differently from the warheads, and not wanting to disturb them. The breeding stage also devotes all its further actions to warheads. This maternal desire to protect the flight of her “children” in every possible way continues for the rest of her short life.

Short, but intense.

Space for a little while
The payload of an intercontinental ballistic missile spends most of the flight in the mode of a space object, rising to a height three times the height of the ISS. A trajectory of enormous length must be calculated with extreme precision.

After the separated warheads, it is the turn of other wards. To the sides of the step, the most amusing gizmos begin to scatter. Like a magician, she releases into space a lot of inflating balloons, some metal things resembling open scissors, and objects of all sorts of other shapes. Durable balloons sparkle brightly in the cosmic sun with a mercury sheen of a metallized surface. They are quite large, some shaped like warheads flying nearby. Their surface, covered with aluminum sputtering, reflects the radar signal from a distance in much the same way as the warhead body. Enemy ground radars will perceive these inflatable warheads on a par with real ones. Of course, in the very first moments of entry into the atmosphere, these balls will fall behind and immediately burst. But before that, they will distract and load the computing power of ground-based radars - both early warning and guidance of anti-missile systems. In the language of ballistic missile interceptors, this is called "complicating the current ballistic situation." And the entire celestial host, inexorably moving towards the area of ​​impact, including real and false warheads, inflatable balls, chaff and corner reflectors, this whole motley flock is called "multiple ballistic targets in a complicated ballistic environment."

Metal scissors open and become electric chaff - there are many of them, and they reflect well the radio signal of the early warning radar beam that probes them. Instead of ten required fat ducks, the radar sees a huge fuzzy flock of small sparrows, in which it is difficult to make out anything. Devices of all shapes and sizes reflect different wavelengths.

In addition to all this tinsel, the stage itself can theoretically emit radio signals that interfere with enemy anti-missiles. Or distract them. In the end, you never know what she can be busy with - after all, a whole step is flying, large and complex, why not load her with a good solo program?

House for "Mace"
Submarines of project 955 "Borey" - a series of Russian nuclear submarines of the fourth generation "strategic missile submarine cruiser" class. Initially, the project was created for the Bark missile, which was replaced by the Bulava.

Last cut

However, in terms of aerodynamics, the stage is not a warhead. If that one is a small and heavy narrow carrot, then the stage is an empty vast bucket, with echoing empty fuel tanks, a large non-streamlined body and a lack of orientation in the flow that begins to flow. With its wide body with a decent windage, the step responds much earlier to the first breaths of the oncoming flow. The warheads are also deployed along the stream, penetrating the atmosphere with the least aerodynamic resistance. The step, on the other hand, leans into the air with its vast sides and bottoms as it should. It cannot fight the braking force of the flow. Its ballistic coefficient - an "alloy" of massiveness and compactness - is much worse than a warhead. Immediately and strongly it begins to slow down and lag behind the warheads. But the forces of the flow are growing inexorably, at the same time the temperature warms up the thin unprotected metal, depriving it of strength. The rest of the fuel boils merrily in the hot tanks. Finally, there is a loss of stability of the hull structure under the aerodynamic load that has compressed it. Overload helps to break bulkheads inside. Krak! Fuck! The crumpled body is immediately enveloped by hypersonic shock waves, tearing the stage apart and scattering them. After flying a little in the condensing air, the pieces again break into smaller fragments. The remaining fuel reacts instantly. Scattered fragments of structural elements made of magnesium alloys are ignited by hot air and instantly burn out with a blinding flash, similar to a camera flash - it was not for nothing that magnesium was set on fire in the first flashlights!

America's Underwater Sword
The American Ohio-class submarines are the only type of missile carriers in service with the United States. Carries 24 Trident-II (D5) MIRVed ballistic missiles. The number of warheads (depending on power) - 8 or 16.

Everything now burns with fire, everything is covered with red-hot plasma and shines well around with the orange color of coals from the fire. The denser parts go forward to slow down, the lighter and sail parts are blown into the tail, stretching across the sky. All burning components give dense smoke plumes, although at such speeds these densest plumes cannot be due to the monstrous dilution by the flow. But from a distance, they can be seen perfectly. Ejected smoke particles stretch across the flight trail of this caravan of bits and pieces, filling the atmosphere with a wide trail of white. Impact ionization generates a nighttime greenish glow of this plume. Due to the irregular shape of the fragments, their deceleration is rapid: everything that has not burned down quickly loses speed, and with it the intoxicating effect of air. Supersonic is the strongest brake! Standing in the sky, like a train falling apart on the tracks, and immediately cooled by high-altitude frosty subsound, the band of fragments becomes visually indistinguishable, loses its shape and order and turns into a long, twenty minutes, quiet chaotic dispersion in the air. If you are in the right place, you can hear how a small, burnt piece of duralumin clanks softly against a birch trunk. Here you have arrived. Farewell, breeding stage!

sea ​​trident
In the photo - the launch of an intercontinental missile Trident II (USA) from a submarine. At the moment, Trident ("Trident") is the only family of ICBMs whose missiles are installed on American submarines. The maximum casting weight is 2800 kg.

Comparative evaluation was carried out according to the following parameters:

firepower (number of warheads (AP), total AP power, maximum firing range, accuracy - KVO)
constructive perfection (launching mass of the rocket, overall characteristics, conditional density of the rocket - the ratio of the launch mass of the rocket to the volume of the transport and launch container (TLC))
operation (based method - mobile ground missile system (PGRK) or placement in a silo launcher (silo), the time of the inter-regulation period, the possibility of extending the warranty period)

The sum of scores for all parameters gave an overall assessment of the compared MBR. At the same time, it was taken into account that each MBR taken from the statistical sample, compared with other MBRs, was estimated based on technical requirements of his time.

The variety of land-based ICBMs is so great that the sample includes only ICBMs that are currently in service with a range of more than 5,500 km - and only China, Russia and the United States have such (Great Britain and France abandoned land-based ICBMs , placing them only on submarines).

Intercontinental ballistic missiles

According to the number of points scored, the first four places were taken by:

1. Russian ICBM R-36M2 "Voevoda" (15A18M, START code - RS-20V, according to NATO classification - SS-18 Satan (Russian "Satan"))

Adopted, g. - 1988
Fuel - liquid
Number of accelerating stages - 2
Length, m - 34.3
Maximum diameter, m - 3.0
Starting weight, t - 211.4
Start - mortar (for silos)
Thrown mass, kg - 8 800
Flight range, km -11 000 - 16 000
Number of BB, power, kt -10X550-800
KVO, m - 400 - 500

28.5

The most powerful ground-based ICBM is the 15A18M missile of the R-36M2 "Voevoda" complex (the designation of the Strategic Missile Forces is RS-20V, the NATO designation is SS-18mod4 "Satan". The R-36M2 complex has no equal in terms of technological level and combat capabilities.

15A18M is capable of carrying platforms with several dozen (20 to 36) individually targetable nuclear MIRVs, as well as maneuvering warheads. It is equipped with a missile defense system that allows it to break through a layered missile defense system using weapons based on new physical principles. R-36M2 are on duty in ultra-protected mine launchers, which are resistant to shock waves at a level of about 50 MPa (500 kg / sq. cm).

The R-36M2 design is based on the ability to launch directly during the period of massive enemy nuclear impact on the positional area and blocking the positional area with high-altitude nuclear explosions. The missile has the highest resistance to the damaging factors of nuclear warheads among the ICBMs.

The missile is covered with a dark heat-shielding coating that makes it easier for the cloud of a nuclear explosion to pass through. It is equipped with a system of sensors measuring neutron and gamma radiation, registering a dangerous level and turning off the control system for the time the rocket passes through the cloud of a nuclear explosion, which remains stabilized until the rocket leaves the danger zone, after which the control system turns on and corrects the trajectory.

A strike of 8-10 15A18M missiles (fully equipped) ensured the destruction of 80% of the industrial potential of the United States and most of the population.

2. US ICBM LGM-118A "Peacekeeper" - MX

Basic tactics specifications(TTX):

Adopted, g. - 1986
Fuel - solid
Number of accelerating stages - 3
Length, m - 21.61
Maximum diameter, m - 2.34
Starting weight, t - 88.443
Start - mortar (for silos)
Thrown weight, kg - 3 800
Flight range, km - 9 600
Number of BB, power, kt - 10X300
KVO, m - 90 - 120

Sum of points for all parameters - 19.5

The most powerful and advanced American ICBM - the MX three-stage solid-propellant rocket - was equipped with ten with a capacity of 300 kt. She had increased resistance to the effects of PFYAV and had the ability to overcome the existing missile defense system, limited by an international treaty.

The MX had the greatest capability of any ICBM in terms of accuracy and ability to hit a heavily protected target. At the same time, the MXs themselves were based only in the improved silos of the Minuteman ICBMs, which were inferior in terms of security to the Russian silos. According to American experts, the MX was 6-8 times superior in combat capabilities to the Minuteman-3.

In total, 50 MX missiles were deployed, which were on alert in a state of 30-second readiness for launch. Removed from service in 2005, missiles and all equipment of the positional area are mothballed. Options are being considered for using the MX for delivering high-precision non-nuclear strikes.

3. ICBM of Russia PC-24 "Yars" - Russian solid-propellant mobile-based intercontinental ballistic missile with multiple reentry vehicle

Main tactical and technical characteristics (TTX):

Adopted, g. - 2009
Fuel - solid
Number of accelerating stages - 3
Length, m - 22.0
Maximum diameter, m - 1.58
Starting weight, t - 47.1
Start - mortar
Thrown mass, kg - 1 200
Flight range, km - 11 000
Number of BBs, power, kt - 4x300
KVO, m - 150

Sum of points for all parameters - 17.7

Structurally, the PC-24 is similar to the Topol-M, and has three stages. Differs from RS-12M2 "Topol-M":
a new platform for breeding blocks with warheads
re-equipment of some part of the missile control system
increased payload

The rocket enters service in the factory transport and launch container (TLC), in which it spends its entire service. The body of the rocket product is coated with special compositions to reduce the effects of a nuclear explosion. Probably, the composition was additionally applied using the stealth technology.

Guidance and control system (SNU) - an autonomous inertial control system with an on-board digital computer (OCVM), astro-correction is probably used. The alleged developer of the control system is the Moscow Research and Production Center for Instrumentation and Automation.

The use of the active section of the trajectory has been reduced. To improve the speed characteristics at the end of the third stage, it is possible to use a turn with the direction of a zero increment of the distance until the last stage is completely used up.

The instrument compartment is completely sealed. The missile is able to overcome the cloud of a nuclear explosion at the start and perform a program maneuver. For testing, the missile will most likely be equipped with a telemetry system - the T-737 Triada receiver.

To counter missile defense systems, the missile is equipped with a countermeasures complex. From November 2005 to December 2010, missile defense systems were tested using Topol and K65M-R missiles.

4. Russian ICBM UR-100N UTTH (GRAU index - 15A35, START code - RS-18B, according to NATO classification - SS-19 Stiletto (English "Stiletto"))

Main tactical and technical characteristics (TTX):

Adopted, g. - 1979
Fuel - liquid
Number of accelerating stages - 2
Length, m - 24.3
Maximum diameter, m - 2.5
Starting weight, t - 105.6
Start - gas dynamic
Thrown mass, kg - 4 350
Flight range, km - 10,000
Number of BB, power, kt - 6X550
KVO, m - 380

Sum of points for all parameters - 16.6

ICBM 15A35 - a two-stage intercontinental ballistic missile, made according to the "tandem" scheme with sequential separation of stages. The rocket has a very dense layout and virtually no "dry" compartments. According to official data, as of July 2009, the Russian Strategic Missile Forces had 70 deployed 15A35 ICBMs.

The last division was previously in the process of liquidation, however, by the decision of the President of the Russian Federation D.A. Medvedev in November 2008, the liquidation process was terminated. The division will continue to be on duty with 15A35 ICBMs until re-equipped with "new missile systems" (apparently either Topol-M or RS-24).

Apparently, in the near future, the number of 15A35 missiles on combat duty will continue to decrease until stabilization at a level of about 20-30 units, taking into account the purchased missiles. Missile complex The UR-100N UTTKh is extremely reliable - 165 test and combat training launches were carried out, of which only three were unsuccessful.

The American magazine of the Air Force Missile Association called the UR-100N UTTKh missile "one of the most outstanding technical developments of the Cold War." The first complex, still with UR-100N missiles, was put on combat duty in 1975 with a warranty period of operation of 10 years. When it was created, all the best design solutions worked out on previous generations"hundreds".

The high reliability indicators of the missile and the complex as a whole, which were then achieved during the operation of the improved complex with the UR-100N UTTKh ICBM, allowed the military-political leadership of the country to set before the RF Ministry of Defense, the General Staff, the Strategic Missile Forces command and the lead developer in the person of NPO Mashinostroeniya the task of gradually extending the service life of the complex with 10 to 15, then to 20, 25 and finally to 30 and beyond.

NATO members gave the name "SS-18 "Satan" ("Satan") to a family of Russian missile systems with a heavy ground-based intercontinental ballistic missile, developed and put into service in the 1970s - 1980s. According to the official Russian classification, this is R- 36M, R-36M UTTH, R-36M2, RS-20. And the Americans called this missile “Satan” for the reason that it is difficult to shoot down, and in the vast territories of the USA and Western Europe these Russian missiles will make hell.

SS-18 "Satan" was created under the leadership of chief designer VF Utkin. In terms of its characteristics, this missile surpasses the most powerful American missile "Minuteman-3".

"Satan" is the most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile on Earth. It is intended, first of all, to destroy the most fortified command posts, ballistic missile silos and air bases. A nuclear explosive from a single missile can destroy a large city, quite a large part of the US. Hit accuracy is about 200-250 meters.

"The missile is located in the most durable mines in the world"; initial reports 2500-4500 psi, some mines 6000-7000 psi. This means that if there is no direct hit by American nuclear explosives on the mine, then the rocket will withstand a powerful blow, the hatch will open and "Satan" will fly out of the ground and rush towards the United States, where in half an hour it will give the Americans hell. And dozens of such missiles will rush to the United States. And each missile has ten individually targetable warheads. The power of the warheads is equal to 1,200 bombs dropped by the Americans on Hiroshima. With one blow, the Satan missile can destroy US and Western European facilities on an area of ​​​​up to 500 square meters. kilometers. And dozens of such missiles will fly in the direction of the United States. This is a complete kaput for Americans. "Satan" easily breaks through the American missile defense system.

She was invulnerable in the 80s and continues to be creepy for Americans today. The Americans will not be able to create reliable protection against the Russian "Satan" until 2015-2020. But even more frightening to the Americans is the fact that the Russians have begun developing even more satanic missiles.

“The SS-18 missile carries 16 platforms, one of which is loaded with decoys. Entering a high orbit, all the heads of the "Satan" go "in a cloud" of decoys and are practically not identified by radars.

But, even if the Americans see them "Satan" on the final segment of the trajectory, the heads of the "Satan" are practically not vulnerable to anti-missile weapons, because to destroy the "Satan" you only need a direct hit on the head of a very powerful anti-missile (and the Americans do not have anti-missiles with such characteristics ). “So such a defeat is very difficult and almost impossible with the level of American technology in the coming decades. As for the famous laser weapons for hitting the heads, in the SS-18 they are covered with massive armor with the addition of uranium-238, an exceptionally heavy and dense metal. Such armor cannot be "burned through" by a laser. In any case, those lasers that can be built in the next 30 years. Impulses of electromagnetic radiation cannot bring down the SS-18 flight control system and its heads, because all the control systems of the "Satan" are duplicated in addition to electronic, pneumatic machines "

By the middle of 1988, 308 intercontinental missiles"Satan". “Of the 308 launch silos that existed in the USSR at that time, Russia accounted for 157. The rest were in Ukraine and Belarus.” Each rocket has 10 warheads. The power of the warheads is equal to 1,200 bombs dropped by the Americans on Hiroshima. With one blow, the Satan missile can destroy US and Western European facilities on an area of ​​​​up to 500 square meters. kilometers. And such missiles will fly in the direction of the United States, if necessary, three hundred. This is a complete kaput for Americans and Western Europeans.

The development of the strategic missile system R-36M with a heavy intercontinental ballistic missile of the third generation 15A14 and a silo launcher with increased security 15P714 was carried out by Yuzhnoye Design Bureau. All the best developments obtained during the creation of the previous complex, R-36, were used in the new rocket.

The technical solutions used in the creation of the rocket made it possible to create the most powerful combat missile system in the world. He significantly surpassed his predecessor - R-36:

• in terms of shooting accuracy - 3 times.
• in terms of combat readiness - 4 times.
• in terms of the energy capabilities of the rocket - 1.4 times.
• according to the originally established warranty period of operation - 1.4 times.
• in terms of launcher security - 15-30 times.
• in terms of the degree of use of the volume of the launcher - 2.4 times.

The two-stage rocket R-36M was made according to the "tandem" scheme with a sequential arrangement of stages. To optimize the use of volume, dry compartments were excluded from the composition of the rocket, with the exception of the interstage adapter of the second stage. The applied design solutions made it possible to increase the fuel supply by 11% while maintaining the diameter and reducing the total length of the first two stages of the rocket by 400 mm compared to the 8K67 rocket.

At the first stage, the RD-264 propulsion system was used, consisting of four 15D117 single-chamber engines operating in a closed circuit, developed by KBEM (chief designer - V.P. Glushko). The engines are pivotally fixed and their deviation on the commands of the control system provides control of the rocket's flight.

At the second stage, a propulsion system was used, consisting of a main single-chamber engine 15D7E (RD-0229) operating in a closed circuit and a four-chamber steering engine 15D83 (RD-0230) operating in an open circuit.

LRE rockets worked on high-boiling two-component self-igniting fuel. Unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH) was used as a fuel, and dinitrogen tetroxide (AT) was used as an oxidizing agent.

The separation of the first and second stages is gas-dynamic. It was provided by the operation of explosive bolts and the expiration of pressurization gases from fuel tanks through special windows.

Thanks to the improved pneumohydraulic system of the rocket with full ampulization of fuel systems after refueling and the exclusion of leakage of compressed gases from the rocket, it was possible to increase the time spent in full combat readiness up to 10-15 years with the potential for operation up to 25 years.

Schematic diagrams of the rocket and the control system were developed based on the condition of the possibility of using three variants of the warhead:

• Light monoblock with a charge of 8 Mt and a flight range of 16,000 km;
• Heavy monoblock with a charge of 25 Mt and a flight range of 11,200 km;
• Multiple warhead (MIRV) of 8 warheads with a capacity of 1 Mt each;

All missile warheads were equipped with an improved set of means to overcome missile defense. For the first time, quasi-heavy decoys were created for the 15A14 missile defense penetration system. Thanks to the use of a special solid-fuel booster engine, the progressively increasing thrust of which compensates for the decoy aerodynamic braking force, it was possible to achieve imitation of the characteristics of warheads in almost all selective features in the extra-atmospheric trajectory section and a significant part of the atmospheric one.

One of the technical innovations that largely determined the high level of performance of the new missile system was the use of a mortar launch rocket from a transport and launch container (TLC). For the first time in world practice, a mortar scheme for a heavy liquid ICBM was developed and implemented. At launch, the pressure created by the powder pressure accumulators pushed the rocket out of the TPK, and only after leaving the mine did the rocket engine start.

The missile, placed at the factory in a transport and launch container, was transported and installed in a mine launcher (silo) in an unfilled state. Refueling of the rocket with fuel components and docking of the warhead were carried out after the installation of the TPK with the rocket in the silo. Checks of on-board systems, preparation for launch and launch of the rocket were carried out automatically after the control system received the appropriate commands from a remote command post. To exclude unauthorized start, the control system accepted only commands with a certain code key for execution. The use of such an algorithm became possible due to the introduction of all command posts Strategic Missile Forces new system centralized control.

The missile control system is autonomous, inertial, three-channel with multi-tiered majority control. Each channel is self-tested. If the commands of all three channels did not match, the successfully tested channel took control. The on-board cable network (BCS) was considered absolutely reliable and was not rejected in the tests.

The acceleration of the gyroplatform (15L555) was carried out by forced acceleration automata (AFR) of digital ground equipment (TsNA), and at the first stages of work - by software devices for accelerating the gyroplatform (PURG). Onboard digital computer (BTsVM) (15L579) 16-bit, ROM - memory cube. Programming was done in machine codes.

The developer of the control system (including the on-board computer) was the Design Bureau of Electrical Instrumentation (KBE, now OJSC Khartron, the city of Kharkov), the on-board computer was produced by the Kyiv Radio Plant, the control system was mass-produced at the Shevchenko and Kommunar plants (Kharkov).

The development of the third-generation strategic missile system R-36M UTTH (GRAU index - 15P018, START code - RS-20B, according to the classification of the US Defense Ministry and NATO - SS-18 Mod.4) with a 15A18 missile equipped with a 10-block multiple reentry vehicle has begun August 16, 1976

The missile system was created as a result of the implementation of a program to improve and increase the combat effectiveness of the previously developed 15P014 (R-36M) complex. The complex ensures the defeat of up to 10 targets with one missile, including high-strength small-sized or extra-large area targets located on terrain up to 300,000 km², in conditions of effective counteraction by enemy missile defense systems. Improving the efficiency of the new complex was achieved due to:

• increase the accuracy of shooting by 2-3 times;
• increasing the number of warheads (BB) and the power of their charges;
• increase in the area of ​​​​breeding BB;
• the use of a highly protected silo launcher and command post;
• increase the probability of bringing the launch commands to the silo.

The layout of the 15A18 rocket is similar to that of the 15A14. This is a two-stage rocket with a tandem arrangement of steps. As part of the new rocket, the first and second stages of the 15A14 rocket were used without modifications. The engine of the first stage is a four-chamber LRE RD-264 of a closed circuit. At the second stage, a single-chamber sustainer liquid-propellant rocket engine RD-0229 of a closed circuit and a four-chamber steering rocket engine RD-0257 of an open circuit are used. The separation of stages and the separation of the combat stage are gas-dynamic.

The main difference of the new rocket was the newly developed breeding stage and MIRV with ten new high-speed blocks, with increased power charges. The breeding stage engine is a four-chamber, dual-mode (thrust 2000 kgf and 800 kgf) with multiple (up to 25 times) switching between modes. This allows you to create the most optimal conditions for breeding all warheads. Another design feature of this engine is two fixed positions of the combustion chambers. In flight, they are located inside the breeding stage, but after the stage is separated from the rocket, special mechanisms bring the combustion chambers outside the outer contour of the compartment and deploy them to implement a “pulling” scheme for breeding warheads. The MIRV itself is made according to a two-tier scheme with a single aerodynamic fairing. Also, the memory capacity of the onboard computer was increased and the control system was upgraded to use improved algorithms. At the same time, the firing accuracy was improved by 2.5 times, and the launch readiness time was reduced to 62 seconds.

The R-36M UTTKh missile in a transport and launch container (TLC) is installed in a silo launcher and is on combat duty in a fueled state in full combat readiness. To load the TPK into the mine structure, SKB MAZ developed special transport and installation equipment in the form of a semi-trailer with a tractor based on the MAZ-537. The mortar method of launching a rocket is used.

Flight design tests of the R-36M UTTH rocket began on October 31, 1977 at the Baikonur test site. According to the flight test program, 19 launches were carried out, 2 of them were unsuccessful. The reasons for these failures were clarified and eliminated, the effectiveness of the measures taken was confirmed by subsequent launches. A total of 62 launches were carried out, of which 56 were successful.

On September 18, 1979, three missile regiments began combat duty at the new missile system. As of 1987, 308 R-36M UTTKh ICBMs were deployed as part of five missile divisions. As of May 2006, the Strategic Missile Forces included 74 silo launchers with R-36M UTTKh and R-36M2 ICBMs, each equipped with 10 warheads.

The high reliability of the complex was confirmed by 159 launches as of September 2000, of which only four were unsuccessful. These failures during the launch of serial products are due to manufacturing defects.

After the collapse of the USSR and the economic crisis of the early 1990s, the question arose of extending the service life of the R-36M UTTKh until they were replaced by new Russian-designed complexes. For this, on April 17, 1997, the R-36M UTTKh missile, manufactured 19.5 years ago, was successfully launched. NPO Yuzhnoye and the 4th Central Research Institute of the Ministry of Defense carried out work to increase the warranty period for missiles from 10 years consecutively to 15, 18 and 20 years. On April 15, 1998, a training launch of the R-36M UTTKh rocket was carried out from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, during which ten training warheads hit all training targets at the Kura training ground in Kamchatka.

A joint Russian-Ukrainian venture was also created to develop and further commercial use of the Dnepr light-class launch vehicle based on the R-36M UTTKh and R-36M2 missiles.

On August 9, 1983, by a decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, Yuzhnoye Design Bureau was tasked with finalizing the R-36M UTTKh missile so that it could overcome the promising American missile defense (ABM) system. In addition, it was necessary to increase the security of the rocket and the entire complex from the effects of the damaging factors of a nuclear explosion.

View of the instrument compartment (breeding stage) of the 15A18M rocket from the head end. The elements of the breeding engine are visible (aluminum colors - fuel and oxidizer tanks, green - ball cylinders of the displacement supply system), control system instruments (brown and aqua).

The upper bottom of the first stage 15A18M. On the right is the undocked second stage, one of the steering engine nozzles is visible.

The fourth-generation missile system R-36M2 "Voevoda" (GRAU index - 15P018M, START code - RS-20V, according to the classification of the US Defense Ministry and NATO - SS-18 Mod.5 / Mod.6) with a multi-purpose heavy-class intercontinental missile 15A18M is designed for destruction of all types of targets protected by modern missile defense systems in any conditions combat use, including with multiple nuclear impact on the positional area. Its use makes it possible to implement the strategy of a guaranteed retaliatory strike.

As a result of applying the latest technical solutions, the energy capabilities of the 15A18M rocket have been increased by 12% compared to the 15A18 rocket. At the same time, all the conditions for restrictions on dimensions and starting weight imposed by the SALT-2 agreement are met. Missiles of this type are the most powerful of all intercontinental missiles. The technological level of the complex has no analogues in the world. The missile system used active protection of the silo launcher from nuclear warheads and high-precision non-nuclear weapons, and for the first time in the country, a low-altitude non-nuclear interception of high-speed ballistic targets was carried out.

Compared with the prototype, the new complex managed to improve many characteristics:

• increase in accuracy by 1.3 times;
• increase in 3 times the duration of autonomy;
• reduction in 2 times the time of combat readiness.
• increasing the area of ​​the warhead disengagement zone by 2.3 times;
• the use of high-power charges (10 individually targetable multiple warheads with a capacity of 550 to 750 kt each; total throw weight - 8800 kg);
• the possibility of launching from the mode of constant combat readiness according to one of the planned target designations, as well as operational retargeting and launching according to any unscheduled target designation transferred from the top management;

To ensure high combat effectiveness in particularly difficult conditions of combat use in the development of the R-36M2 "Voevoda" complex Special attention focused on the following areas:

• increasing the security and survivability of silos and CPs;
• ensuring the stability of combat control in all conditions of use of the complex;
• increasing the autonomy of the complex;
• increase in the warranty period of operation;
• ensuring the resistance of the rocket in flight to the damaging factors of ground and high-altitude nuclear explosions;
• expansion of operational capabilities for retargeting missiles.

One of the main advantages of the new complex is the ability to provide missile launches in the conditions of a retaliatory strike under the influence of ground and high-altitude nuclear explosions. This was achieved by increasing the survivability of the rocket in the silo launcher and a significant increase in the resistance of the rocket in flight to the damaging factors of a nuclear explosion. The rocket body has a multifunctional coating, protection of the control system equipment from gamma radiation has been introduced, the speed of the executive bodies of the control system stabilization machine has been increased by 2 times, the separation of the head fairing is carried out after passing through the zone of high-altitude blocking nuclear explosions, the engines of the first and second stages of the rocket are boosted by thrust.

As a result, the radius of the missile's impact zone with a blocking nuclear explosion, in comparison with the 15A18 missile, is reduced by 20 times, resistance to X-ray radiation is increased by 10 times, gamma-neutron radiation - by 100 times. The resistance of the rocket to the impact of dust formations and large particles of soil, which are present in the cloud during a ground-based nuclear explosion, is ensured.

For the rocket, silos with ultra-high protection against damaging factors of nuclear weapons were built by re-equipping the silos of the 15A14 and 15A18 missile systems. The implemented levels of missile resistance to damaging factors of a nuclear explosion ensure its successful launch after a non-damaging nuclear explosion directly at the launcher and without reducing combat readiness when exposed to a neighboring launcher.

The rocket is made according to a two-stage scheme with a sequential arrangement of stages. The rocket uses similar launch schemes, stage separation, separation of warheads, breeding of combat equipment elements, which have shown a high level of technical excellence and reliability as part of the 15A18 rocket.

The propulsion system of the first stage of the rocket includes four hinged single-chamber rocket engines with a turbopump fuel supply system and made in a closed circuit.

The propulsion system of the second stage includes two engines: a sustainer single-chamber RD-0255 with a turbopump supply of fuel components, made according to a closed circuit and a steering RD-0257, a four-chamber, open circuit, previously used on the 15A18 rocket. The engines of all stages operate on liquid high-boiling fuel components UDMH + AT, the stages are fully ampulized.

The control system was developed on the basis of two high-performance central control centers (onboard and ground) of a new generation and a high-precision complex of command devices continuously operating during combat duty.

A new head fairing has been developed for the rocket, which provides reliable protection of the warhead from the damaging factors of a nuclear explosion. The tactical and technical requirements provided for equipping the rocket with four types of warheads:

• two monoblock warheads - with "heavy" and "light" BBs;
• MIRV with ten unguided BBs with a power of 0.8 Mt;
• Mixed MIRV consisting of six unmanaged and four controlled warheads with a homing system based on terrain maps.

As part of the combat equipment, highly effective systems for overcoming missile defense (“heavy” and “light” decoys, dipole reflectors) were created, which are placed in special cassettes, thermally insulating covers of the BB are used.

Flight design tests of the R-36M2 complex began at Baikonur in 1986. The first launch on March 21 ended in an accident: due to an error in the control system, the first stage propulsion system did not start. The rocket, leaving the TPK, immediately fell into the shaft of the mine, its explosion completely destroyed the launcher. There were no human casualties.

The first missile regiment with R-36M2 ICBMs went on combat duty on July 30, 1988. On August 11, 1988, the missile system was put into service. Flight design tests of the new fourth-generation intercontinental missile R-36M2 (15A18M - "Voevoda") with all types of combat equipment were completed in September 1989. As of May 2006, the Strategic Missile Forces included 74 silo launchers with R-36M UTTKh and R-36M2 ICBMs equipped with 10 warheads each.

December 21, 2006 at 11:20 Moscow time, a combat training launch of the RS-20V was carried out. According to the head of the information and public relations service of the Strategic Missile Forces, Colonel Alexander Vovk, the training and combat units of the missile launched from the Orenburg region (Urals) hit mock targets with a given accuracy at the Kura training ground on the Kamchatka Peninsula in pacific ocean. The first stage fell in the zone of Vagaisky, Vikulovsky and Sorokinsky districts of the Tyumen region. She separated at an altitude of 90 kilometers, the remnants of the fuel burned out during the fall to the ground. The launch took place as part of the Zaryadye development work. The launches gave an affirmative answer to the question of the possibility of operating the R-36M2 complex for 20 years.

On December 24, 2009, at 9:30 am Moscow time, the RS-20V (Voevoda) intercontinental ballistic missile was launched, Colonel Vadim Koval, spokesman for the Defense Ministry’s press service and information department for the Strategic Missile Forces, said: “December 24, 2009 at 9.30 Moscow time, the Strategic Missile Forces launched a missile from the positional area of ​​​​the formation stationed in the Orenburg region, ”Koval said. According to him, the launch was carried out as part of development work in order to confirm the flight performance of the RS-20V missile and extend the life of the Voevoda missile system to 23 years.

I personally sleep peacefully when I know that such a weapon guards our peace ...............

The intercontinental ballistic missile is a very impressive human creation. Huge size, thermonuclear power, a column of flame, the roar of engines and a formidable roar of launch. However, all this exists only on the ground and in the first minutes of launch. After their expiration, the rocket ceases to exist. Further into the flight and the performance of the combat mission, only what remains of the rocket after acceleration - its payload - goes.

With long launch ranges, the payload of an intercontinental ballistic missile goes into space for many hundreds of kilometers. It rises into the layer of low-orbit satellites, 1000-1200 km above the Earth, and briefly settles among them, only slightly behind their general run. And then, along an elliptical trajectory, it begins to slide down ...

A ballistic missile consists of two main parts - an accelerating part and another, for the sake of which acceleration is started. The accelerating part is a pair or three large multi-ton stages, stuffed to capacity with fuel and with engines from below. They give the necessary speed and direction to the movement of the other main part of the rocket - the head. The accelerating stages, replacing each other in the launch relay, accelerate this warhead in the direction of the area of ​​​​its future fall.

The head of a rocket is a complex cargo of many elements. It contains a warhead (one or more), a platform on which these warheads are placed along with the rest of the economy (such as means of deceiving enemy radars and anti-missiles), and a fairing. Even in the head part there is fuel and compressed gases. The entire warhead will not fly to the target. It, like the ballistic missile itself before, will be divided into many elements and simply cease to exist as a whole. The fairing will separate from it not far from the launch area, during the operation of the second stage, and somewhere along the road it will fall. The platform will fall apart upon entering the air of the impact area. Elements of only one type will reach the target through the atmosphere. Warheads.

Close up, the warhead looks like an elongated cone a meter or a half long, at the base as thick as a human torso. The nose of the cone is pointed or slightly blunt. This cone is a special aircraft whose task is to deliver weapons to the target. We will return to warheads later and get to know them better.

The head of the "Peacekeeper", The pictures show the breeding stages of the American heavy ICBM LGM0118A Peacekeeper, also known as MX. The missile was equipped with ten 300 kt multiple warheads. The missile was decommissioned in 2005.

Pull or push?

In a missile, all of the warheads are located in what is known as the disengagement stage, or "bus". Why a bus? Because, having freed itself first from the fairing, and then from the last booster stage, the breeding stage carries the warheads, like passengers, to the given stops, along their trajectories, along which the deadly cones will disperse to their targets.

Another "bus" is called the combat stage, because its work determines the accuracy of pointing the warhead at the target point, and hence the combat effectiveness. The breeding stage and its operation is one of the biggest secrets in a rocket. But we will still take a little, schematically, look at this mysterious step and its difficult dance in space.

The breeding stage has different forms. Most often, it looks like a round stump or a wide loaf of bread, on which warheads are mounted on top with their points forward, each on its own spring pusher. The warheads are pre-positioned at precise separation angles (on a missile base, by hand, with theodolites) and look in different directions, like a bunch of carrots, like a hedgehog's needles. The platform, bristling with warheads, occupies a predetermined, gyro-stabilized position in space in flight. And at the right moments, warheads are pushed out of it one by one. They are ejected immediately after the completion of the acceleration and separation from the last accelerating stage. Until (you never know?) they shot down this entire unbred hive with anti-missile weapons or something failed on board the breeding stage.

But that was before, at the dawn of multiple warheads. Now breeding is a completely different picture. If earlier the warheads “sticked out” forward, now the stage itself is ahead along the way, and the warheads hang from below, with their tops back, turned upside down like bats. The “bus” itself in some rockets also lies upside down, in a special recess in the upper stage of the rocket. Now, after separation, the disengagement stage does not push, but drags the warheads along with it. Moreover, it drags, resting on four cross-shaped "paws" deployed in front. At the ends of these metal paws are rear-facing traction nozzles of the dilution stage. After separation from the booster stage, the "bus" very accurately, precisely sets its movement in the beginning space with the help of its own powerful guidance system. He himself occupies the exact path of the next warhead - its individual path.

Then, special inertia-free locks are opened, holding the next detachable warhead. And not even separated, but simply now not connected with the stage, the warhead remains motionless hanging here, in complete weightlessness. The moments of her own flight began and flowed. Like one single berry next to a bunch of grapes with other warhead grapes that have not yet been plucked from the stage by the breeding process.

Fiery Ten, K-551 "Vladimir Monomakh" - Russian strategic nuclear submarine (project 955 "Borey"), armed with 16 Bulava solid-propellant ICBMs with ten multiple warheads.

Delicate movements

Now the task of the stage is to crawl away from the warhead as delicately as possible, without violating its precisely set (targeted) movement of its nozzles by gas jets. If a supersonic nozzle jet hits a detached warhead, it will inevitably add its own additive to the parameters of its movement. During the subsequent flight time (and this is half an hour - fifty minutes, depending on the launch range), the warhead will drift from this exhaust “slap” of the jet half a kilometer-kilometer sideways from the target, or even further. It will drift without barriers: there is space there, they slapped it - it swam, not holding on to anything. But is a kilometer to the side an accuracy today?

To avoid such effects, four upper “paws” with engines spaced apart are needed. The stage, as it were, is pulled forward on them so that the exhaust jets go to the sides and cannot catch the warhead detached by the belly of the stage. All thrust is divided between four nozzles, which reduces the power of each individual jet. There are other features as well. For example, if on a donut-shaped breeding stage (with a void in the middle - with this hole it is put on the booster stage of the rocket, like a wedding ring on a finger) of the Trident-II D5 rocket, the control system determines that the separated warhead still falls under the exhaust of one of the nozzles, then the control system disables this nozzle. Makes "silence" over the warhead.

The step gently, like a mother from the cradle of a sleeping child, fearing to disturb his peace, tiptoes away in space on the three remaining nozzles in low thrust mode, and the warhead remains on the aiming trajectory. Then the “donut” of the stage with the cross of the traction nozzles rotates around the axis so that the warhead comes out from under the zone of the torch of the switched off nozzle. Now the stage moves away from the abandoned warhead already at all four nozzles, but so far also at low gas. When a sufficient distance is reached, the main thrust is turned on, and the stage moves vigorously into the area of ​​​​the aiming trajectory of the next warhead. There it is calculated to slow down and again very accurately sets the parameters of its movement, after which it separates the next warhead from itself. And so on - until each warhead is landed on its trajectory. This process is fast, much faster than you read about it. In one and a half to two minutes, the combat stage breeds a dozen warheads.

Abyss of mathematics

The foregoing is quite enough to understand how the warhead's own path begins. But if you open the door a little wider and look a little deeper, you will notice that today the turn in space of the disengagement stage carrying the warheads is the area of ​​​​application of the quaternion calculus, where the onboard attitude control system processes the measured parameters of its movement with continuous construction of the orientation quaternion on board. A quaternion is such a complex number (above the field of complex numbers lies the flat body of quaternions, as mathematicians would say in their exact language of definitions). But not with the usual two parts, real and imaginary, but with one real and three imaginary. In total, the quaternion has four parts, which, in fact, is what the Latin root quatro says.

The breeding stage performs its work quite low, immediately after turning off the booster stages. That is, at an altitude of 100-150 km. And there the influence of gravitational anomalies of the Earth's surface, heterogeneities in the even gravitational field surrounding the Earth still affects. Where are they from? From uneven terrain, mountain systems, occurrence of rocks of different densities, oceanic depressions. Gravitational anomalies either attract the step to themselves with an additional attraction, or, on the contrary, slightly release it from the Earth.

In such heterogeneities, the complex ripples of the local gravity field, the disengagement stage must place the warheads with precision. To do this, it was necessary to create a more detailed map of the Earth's gravitational field. It is better to “explain” the features of a real field in systems of differential equations that describe the exact ballistic motion. These are large, capacious (to include details) systems of several thousand differential equations, with several tens of thousands of constant numbers. And the gravitational field itself at low altitudes, in the immediate near-Earth region, is considered as a joint attraction of several hundred point masses of different "weights" located near the center of the Earth in a certain order. In this way, a more accurate simulation of the real gravitational field of the Earth on the flight path of the rocket is achieved. And more accurate operation of the flight control system with it. And yet ... but full! - let's not look further and close the door; we have had enough of what has been said.

Intercontinental ballistic missile R-36M Voyevoda Voyevoda,

Flight without warheads

The disengagement stage, dispersed by the missile in the direction of the same geographical area where the warheads should fall, continues its flight with them. After all, she can not lag behind, and why? After breeding the warheads, the stage is urgently engaged in other matters. She moves away from the warheads, knowing in advance that she will fly a little differently from the warheads, and not wanting to disturb them. The breeding stage also devotes all its further actions to warheads. This maternal desire to protect the flight of her “children” in every possible way continues for the rest of her short life.

Short, but intense.

The payload of an intercontinental ballistic missile spends most of the flight in the mode of a space object, rising to a height three times the height of the ISS. A trajectory of enormous length must be calculated with extreme precision.

After the separated warheads, it is the turn of other wards. To the sides of the step, the most amusing gizmos begin to scatter. Like a magician, she releases into space a lot of inflating balloons, some metal things resembling open scissors, and objects of all sorts of other shapes. Durable balloons sparkle brightly in the cosmic sun with a mercury sheen of a metallized surface. They are quite large, some shaped like warheads flying nearby. Their surface, covered with aluminum sputtering, reflects the radar signal from a distance in much the same way as the warhead body. Enemy ground radars will perceive these inflatable warheads on a par with real ones. Of course, in the very first moments of entry into the atmosphere, these balls will fall behind and immediately burst. But before that, they will distract and load the computing power of ground-based radars - both early warning and guidance of anti-missile systems. In the language of ballistic missile interceptors, this is called "complicating the current ballistic situation." And the entire celestial host, inexorably moving towards the area of ​​impact, including real and false warheads, inflatable balls, chaff and corner reflectors, this whole motley flock is called "multiple ballistic targets in a complicated ballistic environment."

The metal scissors open and become electric chaff - there are many of them, and they reflect well the radio signal of the early warning radar beam that probes them. Instead of ten required fat ducks, the radar sees a huge fuzzy flock of small sparrows, in which it is difficult to make out anything. Devices of all shapes and sizes reflect different wavelengths.

In addition to all this tinsel, the stage itself can theoretically emit radio signals that interfere with enemy anti-missiles. Or distract them. In the end, you never know what she can be busy with - after all, a whole step is flying, large and complex, why not load her with a good solo program?

In the photo - the launch of the Trident II intercontinental missile (USA) from a submarine. At the moment, Trident ("Trident") is the only family of ICBMs whose missiles are installed on American submarines. The maximum casting weight is 2800 kg.

Last cut

However, in terms of aerodynamics, the stage is not a warhead. If that one is a small and heavy narrow carrot, then the stage is an empty spacious bucket, with echoing empty fuel tanks, a large non-streamlined body and a lack of orientation in the flow that begins to flow. With its wide body with a decent windage, the step responds much earlier to the first breaths of the oncoming flow. The warheads are also deployed along the stream, penetrating the atmosphere with the least aerodynamic resistance. The step, on the other hand, leans into the air with its vast sides and bottoms as it should. It cannot fight the braking force of the flow. Its ballistic coefficient - an "alloy" of massiveness and compactness - is much worse than a warhead. Immediately and strongly it begins to slow down and lag behind the warheads. But the forces of the flow are growing inexorably, at the same time the temperature warms up the thin unprotected metal, depriving it of strength. The rest of the fuel boils merrily in the hot tanks. Finally, there is a loss of stability of the hull structure under the aerodynamic load that has compressed it. Overload helps to break bulkheads inside. Krak! Fuck! The crumpled body is immediately enveloped by hypersonic shock waves, tearing the stage apart and scattering them. After flying a little in the condensing air, the pieces again break into smaller fragments. The remaining fuel reacts instantly. Scattered fragments of structural elements made of magnesium alloys are ignited by hot air and instantly burn out with a blinding flash, similar to a camera flash - it was not without reason that magnesium was set on fire in the first flashlights!

America's submarine sword, the US Ohio-class submarine is the only type of missile carrier in service with the US. Carries 24 Trident-II (D5) MIRVed ballistic missiles. The number of warheads (depending on power) is 8 or 16.

Time does not stand still.

Raytheon, Lockheed Martin and Boeing have completed the first and key milestone associated with the development of a defense exoatmospheric kinetic interceptor (Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle, EKV), which is integral part mega-project - a Pentagon-developed global missile defense based on anti-missiles, each of which is capable of carrying SEVERAL warheads of kinetic interception (Multiple Kill Vehicle, MKV) to destroy ICBMs with multiple, as well as "dummy" warheads

"The milestone reached is an important part of the concept development phase," Raytheon said in a statement, adding that it "is in line with the MDA's plans and is the basis for further concept alignment scheduled for December."

It is noted that Raytheon in this project uses the experience of creating EKV, which has been involved in the American global missile defense system, which has been operating since 2005 - Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GBMD), which is designed to intercept intercontinental ballistic missiles and their warheads in outer space outside Earth's atmosphere. Currently, 30 anti-missiles are deployed in Alaska and California to protect the US continental territory, and another 15 missiles are planned to be deployed by 2017.

The transatmospheric kinetic interceptor, which will become the basis for the currently created MKV, is the main striking element of the GBMD complex. A 64-kilogram projectile is launched by an anti-missile into outer space, where it intercepts and engages an enemy warhead thanks to an electro-optical guidance system protected from extraneous light by a special casing and automatic filters. The interceptor receives target designation from ground-based radars, establishes sensory contact with the warhead and aims at it, maneuvering in outer space with the help of rocket engines. The warhead is hit by a head-on ram on a head-on course with a total speed of 17 km/s: an interceptor flies at a speed of 10 km/s, an ICBM warhead at a speed of 5-7 km/s. The kinetic energy of the impact, which is about 1 ton of TNT, is enough to completely destroy the warhead of any conceivable design, and in such a way that the warhead is completely destroyed.

In 2009, the United States suspended the development of a program to combat multiple warheads due to the extreme complexity of the production of the disengagement mechanism. However, this year the program was revived. According to Newsader analytics, this is due to increased Russian aggression and related threats to use nuclear weapon, which have been repeatedly expressed by top officials of the Russian Federation, including President Vladimir Putin himself, who frankly admitted in his comments on the situation with the annexation of Crimea that he was allegedly ready to use nuclear weapons in a possible conflict with NATO (the latest events related to the destruction of the Turkish Air Force Russian bomber, cast doubt on Putin's sincerity and suggest a "nuclear bluff" on his part). Meanwhile, as is known, it is Russia that is the only state in the world that allegedly owns ballistic missiles with multiple nuclear warheads, including "dummy" (distracting) ones.

Raytheon said that their brainchild will be able to destroy several objects at once using an improved sensor and other latest technologies. According to the company, during the time that has passed between the implementation of the Standard Missile-3 and EKV projects, the developers managed to achieve a record performance in intercepting training targets in space - more than 30, which exceeds the performance of competitors.

Russia also does not stand still.

According to open sources, this year will see the first launch of the new intercontinental ballistic missile RS-28 "Sarmat", which should replace the previous generation of RS-20A missiles, known by NATO classification as "Satan", but in our country as "Voevoda" .

The RS-20A ballistic missile (ICBM) development program was implemented as part of the "assured retaliatory strike" strategy. President Ronald Reagan's policy of aggravating the confrontation between the USSR and the United States forced him to take adequate retaliatory measures in order to cool the ardor of the "hawks" from the presidential administration and the Pentagon. American strategists believed that they were quite capable of providing such a level of protection of their country's territory from an attack by Soviet ICBMs that they could simply give a damn about the international agreements reached and continue to improve their own nuclear potential and missile defense (ABM) systems. "Voevoda" was just another "asymmetric response" to Washington's actions.

The most unpleasant surprise for the Americans was the missile's multiple warhead, which contained 10 elements, each of which carried an atomic charge with a capacity of up to 750 kilotons of TNT. On Hiroshima and Nagasaki, for example, bombs were dropped, the yield of which was "only" 18-20 kilotons. Such warheads were able to overcome the then American missile defense systems, in addition, the infrastructure for launching missiles was also improved.

The development of a new ICBM is designed to solve several problems at once: first, to replace the Voevoda, whose ability to overcome modern American missile defense (ABM) has decreased; secondly, to solve the problem of the dependence of the domestic industry on Ukrainian enterprises, since the complex was developed in Dnepropetrovsk; finally, to give an adequate response to the continuation of the program for the deployment of missile defense in Europe and the Aegis system.

According to the expectations of The National Interest, the Sarmat missile will weigh at least 100 tons, and the mass of its warhead could reach 10 tons. This means, the publication continues, that the rocket will be able to carry up to 15 separable thermonuclear warheads.
"The range of the Sarmat will be at least 9,500 kilometers. When it is put into service, it will be the largest missile in world history," the article notes.

According to press reports, NPO Energomash will become the head enterprise for the production of the rocket, while Perm-based Proton-PM will supply the engines.

The main difference between "Sarmat" and "Voevoda" is the ability to launch warheads into a circular orbit, which drastically reduces range restrictions; with this launch method, it is possible to attack enemy territory not along the shortest trajectory, but along any and from any direction - not only through the North Pole , but also through the South.

In addition, the designers promise that the idea of ​​maneuvering warheads will be implemented, which will make it possible to counter all types of existing interceptor missiles and promising systems using laser weapons. anti-aircraft missiles"Patriot", which form the basis of the American missile defense system, cannot yet effectively deal with actively maneuvering targets flying at speeds close to hypersonic.
Maneuvering warheads promise to become such an effective weapon, against which there are no countermeasures equal in reliability, that the option of creating an international agreement prohibiting or significantly limiting this type of weapon is not ruled out.

Thus, together with sea-based missiles and mobile railway complexes"Sarmat" will become an additional and quite effective deterrent.

If that happens, then efforts to deploy missile defense systems in Europe could be in vain, since the missile's launch trajectory is such that it is not clear exactly where the warheads will be aimed.

It is also reported that the missile silos will be equipped with additional protection against close explosions of nuclear weapons, which will significantly increase the reliability of the entire system.

The first prototypes of the new rocket have already been built. Start of launch tests is scheduled for the current year. If the tests are successful, serial production of Sarmat missiles will begin, and in 2018 they will go into service.

sources

The information agency "Arms of Russia" continues to publish ratings of weapons and military equipment. This time, the experts evaluated the ground-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) of Russia and foreign countries.

4:57 / 10.02.12

Land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles of Russia and foreign countries (rating)

The information agency "Arms of Russia" continues to publish ratings of weapons and military equipment. This time, the experts evaluated the ground-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) of Russia and foreign countries.

Comparative evaluation was carried out according to the following parameters:

• firepower (number of warheads (AP), total AP power, maximum firing range, accuracy - KVO)
• constructive perfection (launching mass of the rocket, overall characteristics, conditional density of the rocket - the ratio of the launch mass of the rocket to the volume of the transport and launch container (TLC))
• operation (based method - mobile ground missile system (PGRK) or placement in a silo launcher (silo), the time of the inter-regulation period, the possibility of extending the warranty period)

The sum of scores for all parameters gave an overall assessment of the compared MBR. At the same time, it was taken into account that each MBR taken from the statistical sample, compared with other MBRs, was evaluated based on the technical requirements of its time.

The variety of land-based ICBMs is so great that the sample includes only ICBMs that are currently in service with a range of more than 5,500 km - and only China, Russia and the United States have such (Great Britain and France abandoned land-based ICBMs , placing them only on submarines).

Intercontinental ballistic missiles

RS-20A SS-18 Satan	Russia
RS-20B S S-18 Satan	Russia
	China
	China

According to the number of points scored, the first four places were taken by:

1. Russian ICBM R-36M2 "Voevoda" (15A18M, START code - RS-20V, according to NATO classification - SS-18 Satan (Russian "Satan"))

• Adopted, g. - 1988
• Fuel - liquid
• Number of accelerating stages - 2
• Length, m - 34.3
• Maximum diameter, m - 3.0
• Starting weight, t - 211.4
• Start - mortar (for silos)
• Thrown mass, kg - 8 800
• Flight range, km -11 000 - 16 000
• Number of BB, power, kt -10X550-800
• KVO, m - 400 - 500

The sum of points for all parameters - 28.5

The most powerful ground-based ICBM is the 15A18M missile of the R-36M2 "Voevoda" complex (the designation of the Strategic Missile Forces is RS-20V, the NATO designation is SS-18mod4 "Satan". The R-36M2 complex has no equal in terms of technological level and combat capabilities.

15A18M is capable of carrying platforms with several dozen (20 to 36) individually targetable nuclear MIRVs, as well as maneuvering warheads. It is equipped with a missile defense missile defense system that allows it to break through a layered missile defense system using weapons based on new physical principles. R-36M2 are on duty in ultra-protected mine launchers, which are resistant to shock waves at a level of about 50 MPa (500 kg / sq. cm).

The R-36M2 design is based on the ability to launch directly during the period of massive enemy nuclear impact on the positional area and blocking the positional area with high-altitude nuclear explosions. The missile has the highest resistance to the damaging factors of nuclear warheads among the ICBMs.

The missile is covered with a dark heat-shielding coating that makes it easier for the cloud of a nuclear explosion to pass through. It is equipped with a system of sensors measuring neutron and gamma radiation, registering a dangerous level and turning off the control system for the time the rocket passes through the cloud of a nuclear explosion, which remains stabilized until the rocket leaves the danger zone, after which the control system turns on and corrects the trajectory.

A strike of 8-10 15A18M missiles (fully equipped) ensured the destruction of 80% of the industrial potential of the United States and most of the population.

2. US ICBM LGM-118A "Peacekeeper" - MX

Main tactical and technical characteristics (TTX):

• Adopted, g. - 1986
• Fuel - solid
• Number of accelerating stages - 3
• Length, m - 21.61
• Maximum diameter, m - 2.34
• Starting weight, t - 88.443
• Start - mortar (for silos)
• Thrown weight, kg - 3 800
• Flight range, km - 9 600
• Number of BB, power, kt - 10X300
• KVO, m - 90 - 120

The sum of points for all parameters - 19.5

The most powerful and advanced American ICBM - a three-stage solid-fuel rocket MX - was equipped with ten with a capacity of 300 kt. She had increased resistance to the effects of PFYAV and had the ability to overcome the existing missile defense system, limited by an international treaty.

The MX had the greatest capability of any ICBM in terms of accuracy and ability to hit a heavily protected target. At the same time, the MXs themselves were based only in the improved silos of the Minuteman ICBMs, which were inferior in terms of security to the Russian silos. According to American experts, the MX was 6-8 times superior in combat capabilities to the Minuteman-3.

In total, 50 MX missiles were deployed, which were on alert in a state of 30-second readiness for launch. Removed from service in 2005, missiles and all equipment of the positional area are mothballed. Options are being considered for using the MX for delivering high-precision non-nuclear strikes.

3. ICBM of Russia PC-24 "Yars" - Russian solid-propellant mobile-based intercontinental ballistic missile with multiple reentry vehicle

Main tactical and technical characteristics (TTX):

• Adopted, g. - 2009
• Fuel - solid
• Number of accelerating stages - 3
• Length, m - 22.0
• Maximum diameter, m - 1.58
• Starting weight, t - 47.1
• Start - mortar
• Thrown mass, kg - 1 200
• Flight range, km - 11 000
• Number of BBs, power, kt - 4x300
• KVO, m - 150

The total score for all parameters-17.7

Structurally, the PC-24 is similar to the Topol-M, and has three stages. Differs from RS-12M2 "Topol-M":

• a new platform for breeding blocks with warheads
• re-equipment of some part of the missile control system
• increased payload

The rocket enters service in the factory transport and launch container (TLC), in which it spends its entire service. The body of the rocket product is coated with special compositions to reduce the effects of a nuclear explosion. Probably, the composition was additionally applied using the stealth technology.

The guidance and control system (SNU) is an autonomous inertial control system with an on-board digital computer (OCVM), astro correction is probably used. The alleged developer of the control system is the Moscow Research and Production Center for Instrumentation and Automation.

The use of the active section of the trajectory has been reduced. To improve the speed characteristics at the end of the third stage, it is possible to use a turn with the direction of a zero increment of the distance until the last stage is completely used up.

The instrument compartment is completely sealed. The missile is able to overcome the cloud of a nuclear explosion at the start and perform a program maneuver. For testing, the missile will most likely be equipped with a telemetry system - the T-737 Triada receiver-indicator.

To counter missile defense systems, the missile is equipped with a countermeasures complex. From November 2005 to December 2010, missile defense systems were tested using Topol and K65M-R missiles.

4. Russian ICBM UR-100N UTTH (GRAU index - 15A35, START code - RS-18B, according to NATO classification - SS-19 Stiletto (English "Stiletto"))

Main tactical and technical characteristics (TTX):

• Adopted, g. - 1979
• Fuel - liquid
• Number of accelerating stages - 2
• Length, m - 24.3
• Maximum diameter, m - 2.5
• Starting weight, t - 105.6
• Start - gas dynamic
• Thrown mass, kg - 4 350
• Flight range, km - 10,000
• Number of BB, power, kt - 6X550
• KVO, m - 380

The total score for all parameters is 16.6

ICBM 15A35 - a two-stage intercontinental ballistic missile, made according to the "tandem" scheme with sequential separation of stages. The rocket has a very dense layout and virtually no "dry" compartments. According to official data, as of July 2009, the Russian Strategic Missile Forces had 70 deployed 15A35 ICBMs.

The last division was previously in the process of liquidation, however, by the decision of the President of the Russian Federation D.A. Medvedev in November 2008, the liquidation process was terminated. The division will continue to be on duty with 15A35 ICBMs until re-equipped with "new missile systems" (apparently either Topol-M or RS-24).

Apparently, in the near future, the number of 15A35 missiles on combat duty will continue to decrease until stabilization at a level of about 20-30 units, taking into account the purchased missiles. The UR-100N UTTKh missile system is extremely reliable - 165 test and combat training launches were carried out, of which only three were unsuccessful.

The American magazine of the Air Force Missile Association called the UR-100N UTTKh missile "one of the most outstanding technical developments of the Cold War." The first complex, still with UR-100N missiles, was put on combat duty in 1975 with a warranty period of operation of 10 years. When it was created, all the best design solutions worked out on previous generations of "hundreds" were implemented.

The high reliability indicators of the missile and the complex as a whole, which were then achieved during the operation of the improved complex with the UR-100N UTTKh ICBM, allowed the military-political leadership of the country to set before the RF Ministry of Defense, the General Staff, the Strategic Missile Forces command and the lead developer in the person of NPO Mashinostroeniya the task of gradually extending the service life of the complex with 10 to 15, then to 20, 25 and finally to 30 and beyond.