Combat railway missile system (abbreviated BZHRK) - a type of strategic missile systems of mobile railway basing. It is a specially designed train, in which strategic missiles (usually of an intercontinental class) are placed, as well as command posts, technological and technical systems, security equipment, personnel ensuring the operation of the complex and its life support systems.
The order "On the creation of a mobile combat railway missile system (BZHRK) with the RT-23 missile" was signed on January 13, 1969. Yuzhnoye Design Bureau was appointed as the lead developer. The main designers of the BZHRK were academicians brothers Vladimir and Alexei Utkin. VF Utkin, a specialist in solid fuel, designed the launch vehicle. A.F. Utkin designed the launch complex, as well as the cars for the rocket-carrying train.
As conceived by the developers, the BZHRK was supposed to form the basis of a retaliatory strike grouping, since it had increased survivability and, with a high probability, could survive after the first strike was delivered by the enemy. The only place in the USSR for the production of missiles for the BZHRK is the Pavlograd Mechanical Plant (PO Yuzhmash).
Flight tests of the RT-23UTTKh (15Zh61) rocket were carried out in 1985-1987 at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome (NIIP-53), a total of 32 launches were made. There were 18 exits of the BZHRK along the country's railways (more than 400,000 kilometers traveled). Tests were carried out in various climatic zones countries (from tundra to deserts).
Each composition of the BZHRK received a missile regiment. More than 70 military personnel, including several dozen officers, were on the train, which was on combat duty. In the cabs of the locomotives, in the places of the drivers and their assistants, there were only military officers - officers and ensigns.
The first missile regiment with the RT-23UTTKh missile went on combat duty in October 1987, and by the middle of 1988 five regiments were deployed (15 launchers in total, 4 in the Kostroma region and 1 in the Perm region). The convoys were located at a distance of about four kilometers from each other in stationary structures, and when they took up combat duty, the convoys dispersed.
Tactical technical characteristics of the BZHRK:
| Firing range, km 10100 | Firing range, km 10100 |
| Head part -10 warheads: |
|
| charge power, Mt |
10 x (0.3-0.55) |
| head part weight, kg | 4050 |
| Rocket length, m |
full - 23.3 without head part - 19 in TPK - 22.6 |
| Maximum diameter of the rocket body, m |
2,4 |
| Starting weight, t |
104,50 |
| First stage (dimensions), m: | length - 9.7 diameter - 2.4 |
| weight, t |
53,7 |
| Second stage (dimensions), m: |
length - 4.8 diameter - 2.4 |
| Third stage (dimensions), m: | length - 3.6 diameter - 2.4 |
| PU dimensions, m | length - 23.6 width - 3.2 height - 5 |
By 1991, three missile divisions were deployed, armed with BZHRK with RT-23UTTKh ICBMs:
- 10th missile division in the Kostroma region;
- 52nd Missile Division, stationed in Zvezdny ZATO ( Perm region);
- 36th Missile Division, ZATO Kedrovy ( Krasnoyarsk region).
Each of the divisions had four missile regiments (a total of 12 BZHRK trains, three launchers each). Within a radius of 1500 km from the bases of the BZHRK, joint measures were taken with the Ministry of Railways of Russia to replace the worn-out railway track: heavier rails were laid, wooden sleepers were replaced with reinforced concrete, and the embankments were strengthened with denser gravel.
How it works
It looks like an ordinary train, which is dragged by three diesel locomotives. Ordinary mail-luggage and refrigerated wagons. But in seven of them there is a command section of a missile regiment (a command post, a communications center, a diesel power plant, dormitories for officers and soldiers, a canteen,workshop-hardware). And in nine - launch modules with "well done." Each module consists of three cars: a command post, launcher with rocket, technological equipment. Well, a tank car with fuel ...
Thousands of such trains with mail and frozen fish ran over one sixth of the land. And only a very observant eye could notice that the “ref” wagons with rockets had eight-wheeled bogies, not four-wheeled ones, as usual. The weight is rather big - almost 150 tons, although the inscription "for light loads" is on the sides. And three diesel locomotives - in order, if necessary, to pull the launch modules to different ends of the immense power ...
How did he act
Rocket trains ran along the hauls only at night and bypassed large stations. During the day, they defended in specially equipped positions - they can still be seen here and there: abandoned, incomprehensible branches to nowhere, and on poles - sensors for determining coordinates, similar to barrels. Without which a quick launch of a rocket is impossible ...
The train stopped, special devices took the contact wire aside, the roof of the car leaned back - and a “well done” weighing 104.5 tons flew out of the belly of the “refrigerator”. Not immediately, only at a height of 50 meters, the main engine of the first rocket stage was launched - so that the fiery stream would not hit the launch complex and burn the rails. This train is on fire...The whole thing took less than two minutes.
The three-stage solid-propellant rocket RT-23UTTKh threw 10 warheads with a capacity of 430 thousand tons each at a distance of 10,100 km. And with an average deviation from the target of 150 meters. She had increased resistance to the effects of a nuclear explosion and was able to independently restore information in her electronic "brain" after it ...
But that wasn't what irritated Americans the most. And the vastness of our land.
How did he win
There were twelve such trains. 36 missiles and, accordingly, 360 warheads near Kostroma, Perm and in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. "Well done" formed the basis of the retaliatory strike grouping, constantly moving within a radius of 1500 km from the base point. And since they did not differ from ordinary trains, then, leaving for the railway line, they simply disappeared for reconnaissance of the enemy.
But in a day such a train could wave up to 1000 kilometers!
This is what pissed off the Americans. Modeling showed that even the impact of two hundred Minuteman or MX missiles (a total of 2000 warheads) can disable only 10% of the “well done”. To keep the remaining 90% under control, it was necessary to attract an additional 18 reconnaissance satellites. And the content of such a grouping eventually exceeded the cost of "Molodtsev" ...How can you not get upset?
The Americans tried to create something similar. But they suffered a technical collapse. But they unconditionally beat the Soviet peace-loving policy: in July 1991, Gorbachev unexpectedly helped them, agreeing to sign the START-1 treaty. And our "Well done" stopped combat duty on the country's highways. And soon rolled into last way to the nearest martens ...
Since 1991, after a meeting between the leaders of the USSR and Great Britain, restrictions were introduced on the patrol routes of the BZHRK, they were on combat duty at the point of permanent deployment, without leaving the country's railway network. In February-March 1994, one of the BZHRK of the Kostroma division carried out a trip to the country's railway network (the BZHRK reached at least Syzran).
According to the START-2 treaty (1993), Russia was to decommission all RT-23UTTKh missiles by 2003. At the time of decommissioning, Russia had 3 divisions (Kostroma, Perm and Krasnoyarsk), a total of 12 trains with 36 launchers. For the disposal of "rocket trains" at the Bryansk repair plant of the Strategic Missile Forces, a special "cutting" line was installed. Despite Russia's withdrawal from the START-2 treaty in 2002, during 2003-2007, all trains and launchers were disposed of, except for two demilitarized and installed as exhibits in the museum of railway equipment at the Varshavsky railway station in St. Petersburg and in the AvtoVAZ Technical Museum .
In early May 2005, as the Commander of the Strategic Missile Forces, Colonel General Nikolai Solovtsov, officially announced, the BZHRK was removed from combat duty in the Strategic Missile Forces. The commander said that instead of the BZHRK, from 2006, the troops will begin to receive mobile missile system"Topol M".
On September 5, 2009, Deputy Commander of the Strategic Missile Forces, Lieutenant General Vladimir Gagarin, said that the Strategic Missile Forces did not rule out the possibility of resuming the use of combat railway missile systems.
In December 2011, the commander of the Strategic Missile Forces, Lieutenant General Sergei Karakaev, announced the possible revival of BZHRK complexes in the Russian army.
On April 23, 2013, Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov announced that the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering (the developer of the Bulava, Topol and Yars missiles) had resumed development work to create a new generation of railway missile systems.
The BZHRK includes: three diesel locomotives DM62, a command post consisting of 7 cars, a tank car with reserves of fuels and lubricants and three launchers (PU) with missiles. The rolling stock for the BZHRK was produced at the Kalinin Carriage Works.
The BZHRK looks like a regular train of refrigerated, mail-luggage and passenger cars. Fourteen wagons have eight wheelsets, and three have four. Three carriages are disguised as passenger fleet carriages, the rest, eight-axle, are "refrigerators". Thanks to the available reserves on board, the complex could operate autonomously for up to 28 days.
The car-launcher is equipped with an opening roof and a device for the removal of the contact network. The weight of the rocket was about 104 tons, with a launch container 126 tons. The firing range was 10100 km, the length of the rocket was 23.0 m, the length of the launch container was 21 m, the maximum diameter of the rocket body was 2.4 m. To solve the problem of overloading the launch car, special unloading devices were used , redistributing part of the weight to neighboring cars.
The rocket has an original folding nose fairing. This solution was used to reduce the length of the rocket and its placement in the car. The length of the rocket is 22.6 meters.
Missiles could be launched from any point along the route. The launch algorithm is as follows: the train stops, a special device takes aside and shorts the contact network to the ground, the launch container takes a vertical position.
After that, a mortar launch of a rocket can be carried out. Already in the air, the rocket is deflected with the help of a powder accelerator, and only after that the main engine is started. The deflection of the rocket made it possible to divert the main engine jet from the launch complex and the railway track, avoiding their damage. The time for all these operations from receiving a command from the General Staff to launching a rocket was up to three minutes.
Each of the three launchers included in the BZHRK can launch both as part of a train and autonomously.
The cost of one rocket RT-23 UTTH "Molodets" in 1985 prices was about 22 million rubles. In total, about 100 products were produced at the Pavlograd Mechanical Plant.
The official reasons for the removal of the BZHRK from service were called outdated design, the high cost of recreating the production of complexes in Russia and the preference for mobile units based on tractors.
BZHRK also had the following disadvantages:
- Lower security of the complex (unlike, for example, mines), which can be overturned or destroyed by a nuclear explosion in the vicinity. To assess the impact of an air shock wave of a nuclear explosion, a large-scale experiment "Shift" was planned for the second half of 1990 - an imitation of a close nuclear explosion by detonating 1,000 tons of TNT (several railway echelons of TM-57 anti-tank mines (100,000 pieces) taken out of warehouses Central Group of Forces in East Germany, laid out in the form of a truncated pyramid 20 meters high). The “Shift” experiment was carried out at 53 NIIP MO (Plesetsk) on February 27, 1991, when the explosion formed a funnel with a diameter of 80 and a depth of 10 m, the level of acoustic pressure in the inhabited compartments of the BZHRK reached a pain threshold of 150 dB, and the BZHRK launcher was removed from readiness, however, after carrying out the modes to bring it to the required degree of readiness, the launcher was able to conduct a “dry launch” (imitation of a launch using an electric rocket model). That is, the command post, launcher and rocket equipment remained operational.
The impossibility of complete camouflage of the train due to the unusual configuration (in particular, three diesel locomotives), which made it possible to determine the location of the complex using modern satellite intelligence tools. For a long time, the Americans could not detect the complex with satellites, and there were cases when experienced railway workers from 50 meters did not distinguish between a train covered with a simple camouflage net.
Depreciation of the railway tracks along which the heavy complex RT-23UTTKh moved.
Supporters of the use of the BZHRK, including the engineer of the launch team at the first tests of the BZHRK, the head of the group of military representatives of the USSR Ministry of Defense at the Yuzhmash Production Association, Sergey Ganusov, note the unique combat characteristics of the products that confidently overcame the anti-missile defense zones. The breeding platform, as confirmed by flight tests, delivered warheads with a whole or total mass of 4 tons to a distance of 11,000 km.
One product containing 10 warheads with a yield of about 500 kilotons was enough to hit an entire European state. The press also noted the high mobility of trains capable of moving along the country's railway network (which made it possible to quickly change the location of the starting position over 1000 kilometers per day), in contrast to tractors operating in a relatively small radius around the base (tens of kilometers).
Calculations carried out by American specialists in relation to the railway version of the MX ICBM base for the US railway network show that with the dispersal of 25 trains (twice as many as Russia had in service) on sections of the railway with a total length of 120,000 km (which much longer than the length of the main track of Russian railways) the probability of hitting the train is only 10% when using 150 ICBMs of the Voevoda type for an attack.
The Yuzhnoye design bureau (Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine) was appointed the lead developer of the BZHRK with the RT-23 missile. “The task that the Soviet government set before us was striking in its enormity. In domestic and world practice, no one has ever faced so many problems. We had to place an intercontinental ballistic missile in a railroad car, and after all, a missile with a launcher weighs more than 150 tons. How to do it? After all, a train with such a huge load should go along the nationwide tracks of the Ministry of Railways. How to transport a strategic missile with a nuclear warhead in general, how to ensure absolute safety on the way, because we were given a design speed of up to 120 km/h. Will the bridges withstand, will the track not collapse, and the start itself, how to transfer the load to the railway track during the launch of the rocket, will the train stand on the rails during the start, how to raise the rocket to a vertical position as quickly as possible after the train stops? - Later, the general designer of the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Vladimir Fedorovich Utkin, later recalled the issues that tormented him at that moment. Nevertheless, by the mid-80s of the last century, the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau made the necessary rocket, and the Special Engineering Design Bureau (KBSM, St. Petersburg, Russia), under the leadership of the General Designer, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexei Fedorovich Utkin, created a unique "spaceport on wheels".
They tested the engineering creation of the Utkin brothers in a Soviet-style hard way. Flight tests of the RT-23UTTKh (15Zh61) rocket were carried out 32 times. The experimental train made 18 accesses to resource and transport tests, during which it “dashed off” over 400 thousand km on the railways. Already after the first missile regiment with the RT-23UTTKh missile was on combat duty, the BZHRK successfully passed special tests for electromagnetic radiation, lightning protection and shock wave effects.
As a result, by 1992, three missile divisions armed with BZHRK with RT-23UTTKh ICBMs were deployed in our country: the 10th missile division in the Kostroma region, the 52nd missile division stationed in Zvezdny (Perm Territory), the 36th division, ZATO Kedrovy (Krasnoyarsk Territory). Each of the divisions had four missile regiments (a total of 12 BZHRK trains, three launchers each).
Alexey Fyodorovich Utkin
(January 15, 1928, Zabelino village, Ryazan province - January 24, 2014, St. Petersburg) - Soviet and Russian scientist, designer of missile systems, designed the launch complex and rolling stock for the Combat Railway Missile System.
Doctor of Technical Sciences (1989), professor (1993), academician Russian Academy cosmonautics them. K. E. Tsiolkovsky (1994), St. Petersburg Engineering Academy (1994). Honored Worker of Science and Technology (1995), laureate of the Lenin (1976), State (1980) Prizes of the USSR.
Destruction of trains
Twelve Soviet rocket trains became a toothache for the Americans. The extensive railway network of the USSR (let me remind you that each train carrying 30 nuclear charges on board could move 1 thousand km per day), the presence of numerous natural and artificial shelters did not allow determining their location with a sufficient degree of certainty, including with the help of satellites . After all, the United States also made attempts to create such trains in the 60s of the last century. But nothing came of it. According to foreign sources, a prototype BZHRK until 1992 was tested at the US railway range and the Western Missile Range (Vandenberg Air Force Base, California). It consisted of two typical locomotives, two launch cars with ICBM "MX", command post, wagons of the supply system and wagons for personnel. The launch car, where the rocket was located, was almost 30 m long, weighing about 180 tons and, like in the USSR, had eight wheelsets.
But at the same time, American engineers, unlike the Soviet ones, failed to create effective mechanisms for lowering the contact network and retracting the rocket during its launch away from the train and railway tracks (the MX rocket was originally designed for a silo-based version). Therefore, the launch of missiles by American BZHRK was supposed to be from specially equipped launch sites, which, of course, significantly reduced the factor of stealth and surprise. In addition, unlike the USSR, the US has a less developed rail network, and the railroads are owned by private companies. And this created many problems, ranging from the fact that civilian personnel would have to be involved to control the locomotives of rocket trains, ending with problems with the creation of a centralized control system for combat patrols of the BZHRK and the organization of their technical operation.
On the other hand, while working on the project of their BZHRK, the Americans, in fact, confirmed the conclusions of the Soviet military about the effectiveness of this "weapon of retaliation" as such. The US military intended to receive 25 BZHRK. According to their calculations, with the dispersal of such a number of missile trains on sections of the railway with a total length of 120 thousand km, the probability of hitting these BZHRK 150 Soviet Voevoda ICBMs is only 10 (!)%. That is, if we apply these calculations to Soviet missile trains, then 150 American MX missiles will be able to hit no more than 1-2 Soviet BZHRK. And the remaining 10, three minutes after the start of the attack, will bring down a salvo of 300 nuclear charges (30 missiles of 10 charges each) on the United States. And if we take into account that by 1992 combat railway missile systems in the Soviet Union were already being produced in SERIES, then the picture for the Americans turned out to be quite sad. However, what happened next happened to dozens, if not hundreds of unique Soviet military engineering developments. First, at the insistence of Great Britain, since 1992, Russia put its BZHRK "on a joke" - in places of permanent deployment, then - in 1993, undertook, according to the START-2 treaty, to destroy all RT-23UTTKh missiles within 10 years. And although this agreement, in fact, never entered into force, in 2003-2005, all Russian BZHRK were removed from combat duty and disposed of. The external appearance of two of them can now only be seen in the museum of railway equipment at the Varshavsky railway station in St. Petersburg and at the AvtoVAZ Technical Museum.
How it was destroyed
“You must destroy the missile trains” was the categorical condition of the Americans at the signing of the START-2 Treaty on the Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms. And in 1993, Yeltsin went for it, to the indescribable joy of the Pentagon: the Yankees hastily allocated money for the destruction of the hated missiles and even provided the latest cutting line for this. Along the way, consoling us: they say, the railway “Molodets” will be replaced by the automobile “Topol”.
But the first one carries ten warheads, and the second - one ...
The mistake was realized, but it was too late: the treaty forbade the development of new missile systems of this type. The restrictions were lifted only after the signing of START-3: Obama's advisers decided that it was no longer possible for Russia to rise from the ashes, because the Soviet BZHRK (combat railroad missile systems) were made in Ukraine.
"Scalpel" "Poplar" is not a hindrance
BZHRK were officially removed from combat duty in May 2005. It was assumed that their functions would be taken over by Topol-M mobile missile systems. However, this decision still looks ambiguous. The question is not even that the Topol-M carries one charge, but the RT-23UTTX had 10 of them. In the end, the Topol-M is being replaced by the Yars (R-24), which has more charges . And the question is not even that after the collapse of the USSR, the production of "Scalpels" remained in Ukraine and no one, even in feverish delirium, will now see the opportunity to resume production there ballistic missiles for military railway complexes. The question is the fundamental incorrectness of opposing the BZHRK and ICBM carriers on an automobile platform. “It is time to finally realize that soon the mobile ground-based ICBM will lose all meaning, our Topol-M missiles will turn into a defenseless target and will not be able to survive the first strike against them. Not to mention the fact that the rockets standing in the forest are not protected from the usual small arms terrorists. Therefore, all the talk about hypersonic speeds, maneuvering warheads and other novelties makes no sense, since these missiles simply will not survive before a retaliatory strike. The position of mobile rail-based ICBMs (BZHRK) is not so tragic, since these missiles can move across the vast territories of our country, and it is not so easy to detect them in ordinary train flows, especially since special tunnels can be created in the mountainous regions of the country, in which could, if necessary, hide the BZHRK. However, in the context of the growth of terrorism in Russia, one should think deeply before deciding to recreate the BZHRK. Undermining by terrorists such a train with missiles equipped with nuclear warheads, and even an ordinary accident, can lead to unpredictable tragic consequences, ”doctor of technical sciences, professor Yuri Grigoriev is convinced.
“The mobility of mobile Topol-Ms is limited to a certain radius around their main base. It would be naive to think that with modern means of space reconnaissance, a metal object with a length of more than 24 meters, a diameter of about 3.5 and a height of almost 5 meters, besides emitting a large amount of heat and electromagnetic radiation, can be hidden. The branching of the railway network provides the BZHRK with greater secrecy compared to unpaved complexes. From the declared plans for the production of Topol-M ICBMs, it is not difficult to assume that by 2015 only two missile divisions will be armed with new missiles - 54 mobile launchers and 76 silos. Is a retaliatory strike possible after a raid by hundreds of Minutemen, and is it not too wasteful to unilaterally reduce our nuclear missile potential? The preservation, even with modernization and testing, of 36 BZHRK launchers with missiles, each of which carried 10 warheads, 25-27 times more powerful than those dropped on Hiroshima, despite all possible collisions, would be far from the worst (according to the criterion "efficiency-cost") option" is also emphasized by Yuri Zaitsev, Academic Advisor of the Academy of Engineering Sciences of the Russian Federation.
Be that as it may, but after the refusal of the Americans and Europeans to give Russia guarantees that the anti-missile defense system they are creating in Europe will not be used against our country, the revival of the production of BZHRK seems to be one of the most effective responses to this threat. “Precisely by 2020, due to the emergence of new modifications of the SM-3 interceptor missiles, EuroPRO will be able to intercept Russian ICBMs. Given this circumstance, Moscow is forced to take adequate countermeasures,” emphasizes Igor Korotchenko, director of the Center for Analysis of the World Arms Trade.
Therefore, since the end of 2011, the voices of the Russian military began to sound again that it is necessary to revive the production of military railway missile systems in our country. And with the advent of Dmitry Rogozin to the government and the appointment of the new Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu, this topic began to take on a concrete shape. “The leadership of the Ministry of Defense presented a report to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief and the task was set to carry out a preliminary design of the BZHRK within the framework of the state armaments program and the state defense order. The main executor of this work is the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering, the deadline for completing the preliminary design is the first half of 2014. It was reported that there is a need to return to consideration of the issue of a new BZHRK, taking into account its increased survivability and branching of our railway network, ”Sergei Karakaev, commander of the Strategic Missile Forces, told reporters.
The function of the BZHRK at the same time, obviously, remains the same - to strike back at any target on Earth. But both the missile itself and the launch complex will obviously be different than the Soviet BZHRK Molodets with the Scalpel ICBM. As for the rocket, it is obvious that it will be one of the Yars modifications, suitable in size for a standard 24-meter refrigerated car with multiple warheads. At the same time, however, the range of its firing is not yet clear. From the words of Colonel General Karakaev, it could be concluded that the designers would try to reduce the weight of the rocket for the new BZHRK by almost half compared to the Scalpel - up to 50 tons. And this is understandable, since the new missile system, obviously, is tasked with becoming even more inconspicuous (remember the eight-axle Molodets launchers and its three locomotives) and more passable (that is, the new BZHRK should move along ANY railway tracks of a huge country without any prior preparation). But the most suitable missile for this, the RS-26 Rubezh, whose flight and design tests are due to be completed this year, so far only flies to a range of no more than 6,000 kilometers. "Scalpel" flew 10 thousand km, "Yars", as stated, flies 11 thousand km.
The designers also have new ideas for locomotives for the BZHRK. At the time of the development of Molodtsov, the total power of three DM62 diesel locomotives (a special modification of the M62 serial diesel locomotive) was 6 thousand hp. The power of the current mainline freight two-section diesel locomotive 2TE25A Vityaz, which is mass-produced by Transmashholding, is 6,800 hp. However, there are also completely exotic (so far) ideas. Back in the early 80s of the last century in our country, a constructive version of the nuclear carrier with a fast neutron reactor BOR-60 (thermal power 60 MW, electrical power 10 MW) was developed. However, this machine did not go into production, although it could provide the BZHRK with almost unlimited autonomy. But over the past few years, Russian Railways has run a locomotive on liquefied natural gas- gas turbine locomotive, which was created back in 2006 on the basis of one of the gas turbine engines of Nikolai Kuznetsov. In 2009, during the tests, a prototype of this car set a record listed in the Guinness Book of Records: it drove a train of 159 wagons along the experimental ring total weight 15 thousand tons (!). And on one gas station, he can go almost 1000 km. In general, an almost ideal vehicle for cruising a combat railway missile system, for example, in the Russian part of the Arctic.
At the same time, the new BZHRK itself, apparently, will appear already in new program State Armaments - for the period from 2016 to 2025, which is now being prepared by the government. Therefore, Russian locomotive designers still have a little time to “fit in” there with their new or old, but so far unrealized development. source-source-source-
New combat railway missile system " Barguzin» is preparing for the final stage of testing. After their successful completion, the BZHRK will enter Russian Army and take up combat duty. It will be practically impossible for a potential enemy to detect such a train with a missile in the wide Russian expanses. It is based on extensive experience in the development of similar complexes and the latest technological solutions.
The news about the successful test of the BZHRK "Barguzin" hastened to be made public. The original source was the transfer site Andrew Karaulova"The moment of truth", and there was no confirmation, although the news was distributed on many sites. Interfax then contacted Ministry defense through their channels, and it turned out that, although tests are scheduled for this year, there have been no launches so far. However, there are still two months left until the end of the year.
“It is necessary to confirm the feasibility of a “mortar” launch of the product and its subsequent withdrawal away from the rocket train, in which people and technological equipment are located, on the new product, after which the ICBM main engine will be launched.”
Although the journalists hurried a little, the development is in full swing, so you can discuss Barguzin now.
It is worth briefly recalling its predecessor - BZHRK 15P961 " Well done»:
A good video, but at the end - a juggling: the complexes, it turns out, " served for about 20 years and at the end of the warranty period they were disbanded". The adoption of the first missile regiment with RT-23UTTKh - October 1987, and why didn't they produce new trains, but waited for the end of the guarantee? Yes, and after the guarantee, it was possible to carry out preventive maintenance / modernization, as was done with missiles.
Alas, out of 12 rocket trains, two were converted into museum exhibits(located in the AvtoVAZ Technical Museum and in the museum of railway equipment at the Varshavsky railway station Petersburg), and the rest were destroyed, despite Russia's withdrawal from the treaty START-2 in 2002.
Didn't like it very much Washington"Well done" (according to NATO classification - "Scalpel"): strategic missiles with nuclear warheads ride on the railroad, and try to find it. And if you find it, then try to prevent the launch. In 1991, they set up an experiment: not far from Molodets, they piled up a bunch of anti-tank mines that had once been taken out of Germany, about 20 meters high and blew up. The power of the explosion was about a kiloton, resulting in a funnel with a diameter of 80 meters and a depth of 10 meters - and immediately after the explosion, the rocket was launched in a regular manner.
However, it is incorrect to reduce the reasons only to the desire to please Washington. Yes, the hard-to-track BZHRKs made them want to destroy them “by contractual means” - even then, specialists in the United States themselves understood the problems with modern ICBMs, and indeed with military developments in general. Let's say, an analogue of "Well done" Pentagon never managed to develop (projects "Peacekeeper Rail Garrison" and "Midgetman"), while the Chinese are slowly getting something.
But the point is also that the 15Zh61 missiles used by Molodets were produced at the Pavlograd Mechanical Plant (PO Yuzhmash), which, after being destroyed the USSR stayed in the area Ukraine, where it is still degrading. It is clear that relying on the reliability of Ukrainian suppliers would be extremely naive and Maidan.
Relying on the reliability of Ukrainian suppliers of high-tech products is extremely naive.
In addition, the Molodets had its drawbacks - for example, it was still noticeable, because due to the weight of the missiles, the train was pulled by three diesel locomotives at once, and the cars with launchers had additional axles, so it was difficult to confuse it with a conventional refrigerated train. Outdated, of course, and navigation equipment.
Therefore, it was decided not to try to restore the Molodets project, but to immediately develop a modern version - Barguzin.
It was reported that according to the plan in 2016, there was only the creation of documentation, but, as you already know, testing of the launch system will begin soon. Everything is logical: the specifics were worked out even on Molodets: a mechanism for diverting electrical wires, a mortar take-off, and redirecting the rocket exhaust to the side at launch.
At the same time, the new rocket train becomes unrecognizable: it uses rockets RS-24 "Yars". Although they have only 4 warheads, and there were a dozen of them on the 15Zh61, the Barguzin itself carries not three missiles, but twice as many. Of course, it still turns out 24 against 30.
However, we must not forget that Yarsy is a more modern development, and the likelihood of overcoming PRO much higher. At the same time, the weight of the rockets is almost half as much, and the weight of the car is comparable to the usual one. Therefore, the camouflage is perfect from the outside, and the train itself can pull a double locomotive. The navigation system has also been updated: it is no longer necessary to set the coordinates of targets in advance, everything can be quickly changed.
Such a mobile complex can cover up to 1000 km per day, running along any railway lines in the country, indistinguishable from a regular train with refrigerated cars up to “X hour”. Time of "autonomy" - a month.
Why did the United States insist so much on the destruction of the "Molodtsev" and now they are very unhappy with the "Barguzin"? It's all about the concept of war: if Russia always plays on defense (although, of course, we must not forget that in some cases a preventive nuclear strike can also be a defense), then the US military doctrine is always attacking. And if the Pentagon is getting worse and worse with nuclear weapons, and its use will not be approved by other significant countries, not to mention a retaliatory nuclear attack, then the concept of "Fast Global Impact"(Prompt Global Strike, PGS) provides for a massive global strike by non-nuclear forces.
US military doctrine is always attacking.
There is a "disarmament": known military and civilian targets are destroyed by non-nuclear, but powerful explosions, after which the result differs from the use of nuclear weapons only in the absence of radioactivity. Let us emphasize the global nature of such an attack - industrial centers will also be destroyed, and not just military facilities. A good example from the past: the bombings Dresden USA and UK. They had no military meaning, the function is purely awesome (as well as the use of atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki subsequently).
And against such an attacking strategy, “rocket trains” are a very good “antidote”, since they cannot be destroyed with an accurate strike, and in response to aggression, the “Yarsy” will take off - and, accordingly, will fly in. Until 2020, 5 regiments of the BZHRK "Barguzin" should be put into service - this is, respectively, 120 warheads.
However, it should be noted that, of course, the BZHRK here is not some kind of miracle weapon: if Washington suddenly collectively goes crazy and sanctions such a volley at Russia, then its mass character will be obvious - and, accordingly, in response, you can immediately launch missiles with nuclear warheads, and not just from trains. Those. we get the total nuclear war, in which it is somehow strange to start with non-nuclear charges, the probability of destroying the enemy for the United States is less when its own is guaranteed. Therefore, a “quick global strike” against Russia still does not work, but can be applied to a smaller country. What if in such countries they also learn how to make rocket trains? Russia sets a bad example, no life for the aggressor.
A huge resonance in the professional environment was caused by the news about the freezing of the project of the combat railway missile system (BZHRK) "Barguzin", better known as nuclear train. Information about this with reference to "an informed representative of the military-industrial complex" was distributed by " Russian newspaper”, the official publication of the government of the Russian Federation.
At the time of preparation of the material, the Ministry of Defense did not comment on the situation. Given the reputation of the WG, it is safe to say that the development of the Barguzin has indeed been suspended. However, it is not clear why they decided to talk about it so delicately at the top, refraining from publicly explaining the reasons, which, probably, there is no point in hiding.
"The topic of creating a new generation of rocket trains is closed, at least for the short term," Rossiyskaya Gazeta reported. At the same time, it is indicated that “if it is urgently needed, our rocket train will be quickly brought to working condition and put on rails.” The reasons for the suspension of the project "Barguzin" understood the "Russian Planet".
Forced disposal
For the first time, the Ministry of Defense announced the progress of work on the creation of a new strategic BZHRK in April 2013. On December 24, 2014, Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov emphasized that the adoption of a railway missile system in the Russian Federation does not contradict the provisions of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START-3).
The development of "Barguzin" began at the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering (MIT), presumably in 2011-2012. In 2014, a sketch was prepared, and in 2015, development work (R&D) started. In December 2015, the commander of the Strategic Missile Forces (RVSN), Colonel General Sergei Karakaev, spoke about the current "development of working design documentation for the units and systems of the complex."
In November 2016, at the Plesetsk cosmodrome, throw tests of an intercontinental ballistic missile for the new BZHRK were successfully completed. The tests consisted in the fact that the weight model of the future rocket was "thrown" out of the car with the help of a powder accumulator. The deployment of the nuclear train was planned for the period between 2018-2020.
"Barguzin" is a deep modernization of the Soviet analogue of the RT-23 UTTH "Molodets" (SS-24 Scalpel - according to NATO classification). The first missile regiment took up combat duty on October 20, 1987 in Kostroma. According to the Ministry of Defense, the main advantage of the Soviet BZHRK was the ability to disperse. Unnoticed by reconnaissance means, the complex could change its location.
“BZHRK structurally was a train of two or three diesel locomotives and special (according to appearance refrigerated and passenger) cars, which housed transport and launch containers (TLC) with intercontinental ballistic missiles, launch control points, technological and technical systems, security equipment, personnel and life support systems, ”explains the Ministry of Defense.
"Molodets" was adopted during the end of the Cold War. By 1994, Russia had 12 BZHRK with three missiles each. Three missile divisions were deployed in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, Kostroma and Perm regions.
In 1993, Moscow and Washington signed the START II Treaty, according to which our country undertook to decommission nuclear trains. In 2002, in response to the US withdrawal from the 1972 ABM Treaty, Russia denounced START II. However, she decided to dispose of "Molodtsov". Only two trains remained intact: one complex adorns the Varshavsky railway station in St. Petersburg, and the second - the AvtoVAZ Technical Museum in Togliatti.
Unsuccessful attempt
The reasons for the decommissioning of Molodtsov largely echo the situation around the Barguzin project. The operating experience of the BZHRK revealed a number of shortcomings that are critical in peacetime. We are talking about the high cost and unresolved technical problems.
The Ministry of Defense assumed that the nuclear-powered train would be able to move throughout the entire railway network of the USSR. No doubt this would be a gigantic advantage. It was for this purpose that a new means of delivering atomic weapons was created. However, the nuclear train turned out to be too heavy, and the usual railway track could not withstand it. Only one rocket weighed over 100 tons, and there were three of them on each BZHRK.
It is known that within a radius of 1.5 thousand kilometers from the places of deployment of Molodtsov, the railway track was strengthened. Wooden sleepers were replaced with reinforced concrete, ordinary rails were replaced with heavy ones, and the embankment was made of denser gravel. It is obvious that the relocation of all railway lines to the needs of the BZHRK is a senseless process from a military and economic point of view, which will require gigantic costs and an incredible amount of time.
Thus, MIT was faced with the task of developing a lighter and more maneuverable nuclear train. It follows from the comments of experts that the ICBM for the Barguzin was created on the basis of the RS-24 Yars and was supposed to weigh less than 50 tons. Only in this case, the operation of the BZHRK would be justified. It is possible that MIT could have had difficulties with the creation of a lightweight rocket or the train itself.
Similar problems could arise due to the fact that "Molodets" was fully developed and assembled in the Ukrainian SSR. The developer of the RT-23 UTTH is the famous Dnepropetrovsk design bureau Yuzhnoye, and production was established in Pavlograd, located nearby.
The version of an unsuccessful attempt to create an endowed ICBM was indirectly confirmed on July 3, 2017 by Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin. In particular, he stated that the industry is ready to produce a BZHRK and a 100-ton heavy ballistic missile if such a decision is made and nuclear trains are included in the State Arms Program (SAP) for 2018-2025.
In March 2017, the Zvezda TV channel claimed that the BZHRK was "preparing for the final stage of testing." And during 2017, the federal media repeatedly reported that the Barguzin should be included in the State Armaments Program for 2018-2027. However, the inclusion of a nuclear train with a 100-ton missile in the GPV, as mentioned above, simply does not make sense.
As reported by "Rossiyskaya Gazeta", at the end of this year, the prototype "Barguzin" went "into a long sludge on sidings." Nevertheless, it is not worth burying a unique project. The main reason for the failure is the lack of a lightweight version of the ICBM. Work in this direction probably required an increase in time and funding. The project is frozen, which means that Russia can always return to it if the situation so requires.
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BZHRK on the patrol route / Photo: Press Service of the Strategic Missile Forces
In 2020, the Russian armed forces will receive a new generation of trains with ballistic missile launchers. The Barguzin combat missile railway system will be armed with six RS-24 Yars missiles against three Scalpel ICBMs from its predecessor, the Molodets BZHRK.
It will be impossible to spot the train - in addition to modern means of camouflage, it will be equipped with electronic warfare systems and other devices that increase stealth. The BZHRK divisional set will consist of five trains, each of which will be equated to a regiment.
Former Chief of the Main Staff of the Strategic Missile Forces Viktor Yesin / Photo: Press Service of the Strategic Missile Forces
"The creation of the Barguzin is a Russian response to the deployment by the Americans global system ABM,” said Viktor Yesin, former head of the Strategic Missile Forces Main Staff.
Earlier, the commander of the Strategic Missile Forces, Colonel-General Sergei Karakaev, spoke about the adoption of the Barguzin into service in 2019, but the timing of the work on the creation of the train was shifted by a year due to the difficult financial situation. The draft design of the BZHRK has been created, design documentation is being developed. In 2017, Vladimir Putin will be presented with a detailed report on the topic and a plan for the deployment of missile trains.
The Barguzin BZHRK will be armed with six RS-24 Yars missiles against three Scalpel ICBMs from its predecessor, the Molodets BZHRK / Image: oko-planet.su
"The new BZHRK will significantly surpass its predecessor, Molodets, in terms of accuracy, missile range and other characteristics. This will allow this complex for many years, at least until 2040, to be in combat strength Strategic Missile Forces. Thus, the troops are returning to a three-species grouping containing mine, mobile and railway-based complexes," S. Karakaev said.
Sergei Karakaev / Photo: Press Service of the Strategic Missile Forces
Of the 12 Soviet missile trains, 10 were destroyed in accordance with the START-2 treaty, two were transferred to museums. They were replaced by Topol-M mobile ground missile systems, which are significantly inferior to trains in terms of mobility and invulnerability. At the same time, it is not difficult to restore the BZHRK system: unique technical solutions and design developments, ground infrastructure, including rocky tunnels, where no intelligence will find a train and a nuclear strike will not reach, have been preserved.
The elusive "well done"
According to legend, the idea to use trains to launch ballistic missiles was thrown to the Soviet Union by the Americans. After the creation of railway missile systems in the United States was considered an expensive, difficult and impractical project, the CIA proposed to misinform Soviet intelligence: they say that such trains are being created in America - and let the Russians pump billions into a utopia.
The operation was carried out, but its result was unexpected - the Soviet Union created the Molodets missile trains, which immediately became a headache for the Pentagon. To track them, a constellation of satellites was put into orbit, and in the late 80s - when the BZHRK had already entered the routes - a container with tracking equipment was sent from Vladivostok to Sweden by rail under the guise of commercial cargo. Soviet counterintelligence officers quickly "figured out" the container and removed it from the train. American General Colin Powell once admitted to the creator of the BZHRK, Academician Alexei Utkin: "Looking for your rocket trains is like a needle in a haystack."
Photo: vk.com
Indeed, the BZHRK, which went on combat duty, instantly disappeared among the thousands of trains traveling along the extensive railway network Soviet Union. Outwardly, "Molodets" was disguised as the usual mixed train: passenger cars, mail, silver refrigerators.
True, some cars had not four pairs of wheels, but eight - but you can’t count them from a satellite. The BZHRK was set in motion by three diesel locomotives. To keep this from being obvious, in the late 1980s, large freight trains began to be driven by three-section locomotives. By 1994, 12 BZHRKs were in service with three missiles each.
folding rocket
During the creation of "Molodets" a lot of complex problems had to be solved. The length of the wagon with the launcher should not exceed 24 meters - otherwise it will not fit into the railway infrastructure. Such short ballistic missiles were not made in the USSR. The most compact ICBM weighs over 100 tons. How to make sure that the composition with three launchers does not crush the railway tracks? How to save a train from the hellish flames of a launching rocket? Over the rails contact network - how to get around it? And this is not all the questions that arose before the designers.
The creation of the BZHRK was carried out by the famous academic brothers Alexei and Vladimir Utkin. The first one made a train, the second one made a rocket for it. For the first time in the USSR, an ICBM was made solid-propellant, with a multiple reentry vehicle. The RT-23 (according to NATO classification SS-24 Scalpel) consisted of three stages and threw 10 thermonuclear warheads with a capacity of 500 kilotons over 11 thousand kilometers. In order for the "Scalpel" to fit in a railway car, the nozzles and fairing were made retractable.
Retractable rocket nozzles / Photo: vk.com
While Vladimir Utkin was inventing a folding rocket, his brother Alexei was conjuring over a sliding train. The design bureau of special engineering designed a launcher with a carrying capacity of 135 tons on four biaxial bogies. Part of its gravity was transferred to neighboring cars. The car was disguised as a refrigerator with fake sliding doors on the sides. In fact, the roof opened, and powerful hydraulic jacks came out from under the bottom, resting against concrete slabs on the sides of the railway track. The BZHRK was equipped with unique retractable devices that diverted the contact wire to the side. In addition, the area where the launch took place was de-energized.
The launch of the rocket was mortar: the powder charge threw the Scalpel out of the launch container to a height of 20 meters, the corrective charge diverted the nozzles away from the train, the first stage engine turned on and with a smoke trail characteristic of solid fuel rockets SS-24 went into the sky. Invisible and invulnerable By 1991, three missile divisions with 12 BZHRK were deployed: in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, Kostroma and Perm Regions. Within a radius of 1,500 kilometers from the places of deployment of the connections, the railway track was modernized: wooden sleepers were replaced with reinforced concrete, heavy rails were laid, embankments were strengthened with denser gravel.
Out of combat duty, the BZHRK were in shelter. Then they advanced to a certain point of the railway network and were divided into three. The locomotives took the launchers to the launch sites - usually they were located around the point in a triangle. Each train included a fuel tank (also disguised as a refrigerator) and a piping system that allowed locomotives to be refueled on the go. There were also sleeping cars for calculation, supplies of water and food. The autonomy of the rocket train was 28 days.
Having worked out the launch of missiles at one point, the train went to the next - there were more than 200 of them in the Soviet Union. In a day, the BZHRK could travel over a thousand kilometers. For reasons of secrecy, routes were laid past large stations, and if it was impossible to bypass them, rocket trains passed them without stopping and at dawn, when there were fewer people. The railway workers called the BZHRK "train number zero."
Since the rocket train was planned as a retaliatory weapon, in 1991 the "Shine" experiments - on the effects of electromagnetic radiation - and "Shift" were carried out. The latter simulated a nuclear explosion of kiloton power. At the training ground in Plesetsk, 650 meters from the BZHRK, 100 thousand anti-tank mines were detonated, taken out of warehouses in eastern Germany and laid in a 20-meter pyramid. A funnel with a diameter of 80 meters formed at the site of the explosion, the sound pressure level in the habitable compartments of the BZHRK reached the pain threshold (150 decibels). One of the launchers showed deactivation, but after rebooting the onboard computer system, it launched a rocket.
Once trains with nuclear missiles were the most terrible weapon The countries of the Soviets, they were followed by a special group of 12 American satellites, but all efforts were in vain.After the collapse of the USSR, this unique weapon was gradually destroyed. And recently it became known that Russia is reviving rocket trains, but at a new technological level. The project was named "Barguzin", and the new BZHRK will be armed with missiles similar in design to the missiles of the Yars complexes. Earlier it was reported that the new rocket train will be created before 2020.
42.TUT.BY traced the short history of one of the most formidable weapons of the USSR.
ATOMIC GHOSTS
Nuclear trains were created as a weapon of retaliation, they were supposed to keep a potential enemy from the temptation to press the red button, and if this happened, then strike back. Outwardly, even an experienced railway worker from 50 meters could not distinguish these cars from ordinary ones, and none of the civilians could get closer. In a day, a BZHRK (Combat Railroad Missile System) train could cover a distance of over 1,000 km.
The rocket train passed through busy cities only at night, at the station it was met only by a few KGB officers, who also did not know where the train was going. Outwardly, the cars of the rocket train looked like ordinary refrigerator cars, it was very difficult for a non-specialist to distinguish them. Even accidentally being nearby, it was easy to take the rocket composition for the usual one. Therefore, such trains were called "ghosts" and became an adequate response to the US deployment of nuclear Pershing missiles in Germany.
"SCALPEL" WITH A CAPACITY OF 900 HIROSIM
Each train carried three special versions of the RT-23 missile, which received the index 15ZH61 or RT-23 UTTH "Molodets". The dimensions of the rocket were amazing: a diameter of 2.4 meters, a height of 22.6 meters, and a weight of more than 100 tons. The firing range was 10,100 km, in addition to 10 individually targetable nuclear warheads, each missile carried a complex to overcome the enemy's anti-missile defense.
The total power of a volley of one train was 900 times higher than that of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Not surprisingly, the missile train became the number one threat to NATO, where it was designated the SS-24 Scalpel. Although the scalpel is an accurate surgical instrument, and the Molodets deviation from the target was on the order of half a kilometer, with its power it was not so important.
Even falling 500 meters from the target, the "scalpel" warhead was capable of destroying such a protected target as a silo launcher, it's not worth talking about the rest.
DANCING ROCKET FOR NUCLEAR LOCOMOTIVE
When creating the BZHRK, the designers had to face many problems. The first of which is the weight of a wagon with a rocket, which could easily damage the railway track. Therefore, in order to distribute the weight evenly, a special three-car coupler was created. It also helped keep the rails from being destroyed during rocket launch, when the load increased sharply.
The second problem was the launch of the rocket itself - it was impossible to launch directly from the car, so a simple but effective solution was applied. The rocket was launched on a mortar at 20-30 m, then, while in the air, the rocket was deflected using a powder accelerator, and only then the main engine was turned on.
The need for such complex maneuvers, which the military called "dance", is dictated not only by concern for the carrier car, but also the railway track: without such a launch, the rocket will easily sweep away all the rubble for a good hundred meters around.
The third problem was the need to fit the rocket in size into a refrigerated car. It was also solved simply by making a variable geometry fairing. At the moment the rocket left the transport and launch container, pressurization took place: a metal corrugated fairing took a certain shape under the action of a powder charge (it is also called a "powder pressure accumulator").
THREE MINUTES TO THE APOCALYPSE
About three minutes pass from the moment the launch command is received to the launch of the rocket. Everything is done automatically, and the personnel do not even need to leave the cars.
It was possible to launch rockets from absolutely anywhere in the railway network or from three at once, and by one train! To do this, there were three diesel locomotives in the train, which, if necessary, could take three launch cars to three different points. After launch, the train could be quickly sheltered in one of the tunnels. It was almost impossible to detect such a mobile and secretive composition.
The control came from the command module, which had increased resistance to electromagnetic pulse. Special communications antennas were also created specifically for the control car, which ensured stable reception of signals through the radio-transparent roofs of the cars.
DESTROY BY ANY WAY
Since the advent of the BZHRD, the Americans and their allies have been trying to find a way to ensure their destruction. If everything is simple with a mine installation: a rocket launch is detected from a satellite, then a stationary target is easily destroyed, then everything is complicated with nuclear trains. Such a composition, if guided by electromagnetic radiation, moves along a certain radius, covering an area of the order of 1-1.5 thousand km2. To guarantee the destruction of the train, you need to cover the entire area with nuclear missiles, which is physically very difficult.
Moreover, the experiment code-named "Shift" showed the excellent resistance of the BZHRK to the effects of an air shock wave. To do this, several railway trains with TM-57 anti-tank mines (100,000 pieces) were blown up. After the explosion, a funnel with a diameter of 80 and a depth of 10 m was formed. A shock wave covered the nuclear train, which was at some distance, in the habitable compartments, the level of acoustic pressure reached a pain threshold of 150 dB. Nevertheless, the locomotive was not seriously damaged, and after certain measures to put it on alert, a rocket launch was successfully simulated.
It is clear that the Americans did not sit idly by: a secret operation was developed to identify Soviet missile trains. To do this, under the guise of commercial cargo from Vladivostok, containers were sent to one of the Scandinavian countries, one of which was stuffed with reconnaissance equipment. But nothing happened - the Soviet counterintelligence opened the container immediately after the train left Vladivostok.
However, after the collapse of the USSR, the situation changed radically and the Americans were able to put an end to the Soviet threat. Boris Yeltsin, who came to power, on instructions from Washington, banned the Scalpels from going on duty, and also undertook to cut all 12 missile trains into metal.
In addition, at the direction of Yeltsin, all work on the creation of such systems was banned. By the way, at the same time, most of the launch silos for the most powerful R-36M missiles at that time, which in NATO received the designation SS-18 Mod.1,2,3 Satan, were liquidated - filled with concrete.
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