Cruise missiles of Russia and the USA. Military Review and Politics Maximum flight range of cruise missiles

The second half of the twentieth century became the era of rocket technology. The first satellite was launched into space, then its famous “Let’s go!” said Yuri Gagarin, but the beginning of the rocket era should not be counted from these fateful moments in the history of mankind.

On June 13, 1944, Nazi Germany attacked London with V-1 missiles, which can be called the first combat cruise missile. A few months later, Londoners were bombarded with new development the Nazis - the V-2 ballistic missile, which claimed thousands of lives of civilians. After the end of the war, German rocket technology fell into the hands of the victors and began to work primarily for the war, and space exploration was just an expensive way of state PR. This was the case in both the USSR and the USA. Creation nuclear weapons almost immediately turned missiles into strategic weapons.

It should be noted that rockets were invented by man in ancient times. There are ancient Greek descriptions of devices that closely resemble rockets. They were especially fond of rockets in Ancient China (II-III centuries BC): after the invention of gunpowder, these aircraft began to be used for fireworks and other entertainment. There is evidence of attempts to use them in military affairs, but at the existing level of technology they could hardly cause significant damage to the enemy.

In the Middle Ages, rockets came to Europe along with gunpowder. Many thinkers and natural scientists of that era were interested in these aircraft. However, the missiles were more of a curiosity; they were of little practical use.

At the beginning of the 19th century, Congreve rockets were adopted by the British Army, but due to their low accuracy they were soon replaced by artillery systems.

Practical work on the creation of missile weapons resumed in the first third of the 20th century. Enthusiasts worked in this direction in the USA, Germany, Russia (then in the USSR). In the Soviet Union, the result of this research was the birth of the BM-13 MLRS - the legendary Katyusha. In Germany, the brilliant designer Wernher von Braun was creating ballistic missiles, it was he who developed the V-2, and later was able to send a man to the moon.

In the 50s, work began on the creation of ballistic and cruise missiles capable of delivering nuclear warheads over intercontinental distances.

In this material we will talk about the most famous types of ballistic and cruise missiles; the review will include not only intercontinental giants, but also well-known operational and operational-tactical missile systems. Almost all the missiles on our list were developed in the design bureaus of the USSR (Russia) or the USA - two states that have the most advanced missile technologies in the world.

Scud B (P-17)

This is a Soviet ballistic missile, which is integral part operational-tactical complex "Elbrus". The R-17 missile was put into service in 1962, its flight range was 300 km, it could throw almost a ton of payload with an accuracy (CEP - circular probable deviation) of 450 meters.

This ballistic missile is one of the most famous examples of Soviet missile technology in the West. The fact is that for many decades the R-17 was actively exported to various countries of the world that were considered allies of the USSR. Especially many units of these weapons were delivered to the Middle East: Egypt, Iraq, Syria.

Egypt used the P-17 against Israel during the war doomsday, during the first Gulf War, Saddam Hussein fired Scud B into Saudi Arabia and Israel. He threatened to use warheads with live gases, which caused a wave of panic in Israel. One of the missiles hit an American barracks, killing 28 US troops.

Russia used the R-17 during the Second Chechen Campaign.

Currently, the P-17 is used by Yemeni rebels in the war against the Saudis.

The technologies used in Scud B became the basis for missile programs Pakistan, North Korea, Iran.

Trident II

It is a solid-fuel three-stage ballistic missile currently in service with the US and British Navy. The Trident-2 (Trident) missile was put into service in 1990, its flight range is more than 11 thousand km, it has a warhead with individual guidance units, the power of each can be 475 kilotons. Trident II weighs 58 tons.

This ballistic missile is considered one of the most accurate in the world; it is designed to destroy missile silos with ICBMs and command posts.

Pershing II "Pershing-2"

This is an American ballistic missile medium range, capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. It was one of the biggest fears of Soviet citizens at the final stage of the Cold War and a headache for Soviet strategists. Maximum range The missile's flight range was 1,770 km, the CEP was 30 meters, and the power of the monoblock warhead could reach 80 Kt.

The United States stationed these in West Germany, reducing the flight time to Soviet territory to a minimum. In 1987, the USA and the USSR signed an agreement on the destruction of medium-range nuclear missiles, after which the Pershings were removed from combat duty.

"Tochka-U"

This is a Soviet tactical system adopted for service in 1975. This missile can be equipped with a nuclear warhead with a power of 200 Kt and deliver it to a range of 120 km. Currently, "Tochki-U" are in service with the Armed Forces of Russia, Ukraine, the former republics of the USSR, as well as other countries of the world. Russia plans to replace these missile systems with more advanced Iskanders.

R-30 "Bulava"

It is a sea-launched solid-fuel ballistic missile whose development began in Russia in 1997. The R-30 should become the main weapon of submarines of projects 995 "Borey" and 941 "Akula". The maximum range of the Bulava is more than 8 thousand km (according to other sources - more than 9 thousand km), the missile can carry up to 10 individual guidance units with a power of up to 150 Kt each.

The first launch of Bulava took place in 2005, and the last one in September 2019. This rocket was developed by the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering, which was previously involved in the creation of the Topol-M, and the Bulava is manufactured at the Federal State Unitary Enterprise Votkinsky Plant, where the Topol is produced. According to the developers, many components of these two missiles are identical, which can significantly reduce the cost of their production.

Saving public funds is, of course, a worthy desire, but it should not harm the reliability of products. Strategic nuclear weapons and their means of delivery are a core component of the concept of deterrence. Nuclear missiles must be as trouble-free and reliable as a Kalashnikov assault rifle, which cannot be said about the new Bulava missile. It flies only once in a while: out of 26 launches, 8 were considered unsuccessful, and 2 were considered partially unsuccessful. This is an unacceptable amount for strategic missile. In addition, many experts criticize the Bulava’s throw weight for being too light.

"Topol M"

This is a missile system with a solid fuel rocket capable of delivering a nuclear warhead with a yield of 550 Kt over a distance of 11 thousand km. Topol-M is the first intercontinental ballistic missile put into service in Russia.

The Topol-M ICBM is silo-based and mobile-based. Back in 2008, the Russian Defense Ministry announced the start of work to equip the Topol-M with multiple warheads. True, already in 2011, the military announced its refusal to further purchase this missile and a gradual transition to the R-24 Yars missile.

Minuteman III (LGM-30G)

This is an American solid-fuel ballistic missile that entered service in 1970 and remains in service today. It is believed that Minuteman III is the fastest rocket in the world; at the terminal stage of flight it can reach a speed of 24 thousand km/h.

The missile's flight range is 13 thousand km, it carries three warheads of 475 kt of power each.

Over the years of operation, Minuteman III has undergone several dozen upgrades; Americans are constantly changing their electronics, control systems, and power plant components to more advanced ones.

As of 2008, the United States had 450 Minuteman III ICBMs, which carried 550 warheads. The fastest missile in the world will still be in service with the US Army until at least 2020.

V-2 (V-2)

This German rocket had a far from ideal design; its characteristics cannot be compared with modern analogues. However, the V-2 was the first combat ballistic missile; the Germans used it to bombard English cities. It was the V-2 that made the first suborbital flight, rising to an altitude of 188 km.

The V-2 was a single-stage liquid-fuel rocket powered by a mixture of ethanol and liquid oxygen. It could deliver a warhead weighing one ton over a distance of 320 km.

The first combat launch of the V-2 took place in September 1944; in total, more than 4,300 missiles were fired at Britain, almost half of which exploded at launch or were destroyed in flight.

The V-2 can hardly be called the best ballistic missile, but it was the first, for which it deserved a high place in our ranking.

"Iskander"

This is one of the most famous Russian missile systems. Today this name has become almost a cult in Russia. "Iskander" entered service in 2006, there are several modifications of it. There is the Iskander-M, armed with two ballistic missiles, with a range of 500 km, and the Iskander-K, a variant with two cruise missiles that can also hit the enemy at a distance of 500 km. The missiles can carry nuclear warheads with a yield of up to 50 kt.

Most of the trajectory of the Iskander ballistic missile passes at altitudes of more than 50 km, which greatly complicates its interception. In addition, the missile has hypersonic speed and actively maneuvers, which makes it a very difficult target for enemy missile defense. The angle of approach of the missile to the target is approaching 90 degrees, this greatly interferes with the operation of the enemy's radar.

Iskanders are considered one of the most perfect species weapons available to the Russian army.

"Tomahawk"

It is an American long-range cruise missile with subsonic speed that can perform both tactical and strategic missions. "Tomahawk" was adopted by the US Army in 1983 and was repeatedly used in various armed conflicts. Currently, this cruise missile is in service with the navies of the United States, Great Britain and Spain.

The range of some Tomahawk modifications reaches 2.5 thousand km. Missiles can be launched from submarines and surface ships. Previously, there were modifications of the Tomahawk for the Air Force and Ground Forces. The CEP of the latest modifications of the rocket is 5-10 meters.

The US used these cruise missiles during both wars in the Persian Gulf, the Balkans, and Libya.

R-36M "Satan"

This is the most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile ever created by man. It was developed in the USSR, at the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau (Dnepropetrovsk) and put into service in 1975. The mass of this liquid-fuel rocket was more than 211 tons; it could deliver 7.3 thousand kg to a range of 16 thousand km.

Various modifications of the R-36M "Satan" could carry one warhead (power up to 20 Mt) or be equipped with a multiple warhead (10x0.75 Mt). Even modern missile defense systems are powerless against such power. In the USA, it was not for nothing that the R-36M was dubbed “Satan”, for it is truly a real weapon of Armageddon.

Today, the R-36M remains in service with Russia's strategic forces; 54 RS-36M missiles are on combat duty.

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International politics Western countries(primarily England) of the late 19th - early 20th centuries, historians often call “gunboat diplomacy” for the desire to solve foreign policy problems using the threat of using military force. If we follow this analogy, then the foreign policy of the United States and its allies in the last quarter of the 20th and the beginning of this century can be safely called “tomahawk diplomacy.” In this phrase, “tomahawk” does not mean the favorite weapon of the indigenous population North America, but the legendary cruise missile, which the Americans regularly use during various local conflicts for several decades now.

This missile system began to be developed back in the first half of the 70s of the last century; it was put into service in 1983 and since then it has been used in all conflicts in which the United States took part. Since the adoption of the Tomahawk into service, dozens of modifications of this cruise missile have been created, which can be used to destroy a wide variety of targets. Today the US Navy is armed with BGM-109 missiles fourth generation, their further improvement continues.

Tomahawks turned out to be so effective that today they themselves are practically synonymous with a cruise missile. More than 2 thousand missiles have been used in various conflicts, and despite some misses and failures, these weapons have proven to be very effective.

A little history of the Tomahawk missile

Any cruise missile (CM) is, in fact, a flying bomb (by the way, the first samples of this weapon were called that), a disposable unmanned aerial vehicle.

The history of the creation of this type of weapon began at the beginning of the 20th century, before the outbreak of the First World War. However, the technical level of that time did not allow the production of operating systems.

Humanity owes the appearance of the first serial cruise missile to the gloomy Teutonic genius: it was launched into production during the Second World War. "V-1" took an active part in hostilities - the Nazis used these missiles to attack British territory.

The V-1 was equipped with an air-breathing engine, its warhead weighed from 750 to 1000 kilograms, and its flight range reached from 250 to 400 kilometers.

The Germans called the V-1 a “weapon of retaliation,” and it was indeed quite effective. This rocket was simple and relatively cheap (compared to the V-2). The price of one product was only 3.5 thousand Reichsmarks - approximately 1% of the cost of a bomber with a similar bomb load.

However, no “miracle weapon” could save the Nazis from defeat. In 1945, all the Nazis' developments in the field of rocket weapons fell into the hands of the Allies.

In the USSR, the development of cruise missiles immediately after the end of the war was carried out by Sergei Pavlovich Korolev, then another talented Soviet designer, Vladimir Chelomei, worked in this direction for many years. After the beginning of the nuclear era, all work in the field of creating missile weapons immediately acquired the status of strategic, because missiles were considered as the main carrier of weapons of mass destruction.

In the 50s, the USSR was developing an intercontinental cruise missile, the Burya, which had two stages and was designed to deliver nuclear warheads. However, work was stopped for economic reasons. In addition, it was during this period that real successes were achieved in the field of creating ballistic missiles.

The United States also developed the SM-62 Snark cruise missile with an intercontinental range; it was even on combat duty for some time, but was later withdrawn from service. It became clear that in those days ballistic missiles turned out to be a much more effective means of delivering a nuclear charge.

The development of cruise missiles in the Soviet Union continued, but now the designers were given slightly different tasks. Soviet generals believed that such weapons were excellent remedy fight against the ships of a potential enemy, they were especially worried about American aircraft carrier strike groups (AUG).

Huge resources were invested in the development of anti-ship missile weapons, thanks to which the Granit, Malachite, Mosquito and Onyx anti-ship missiles appeared. Today, the Russian Armed Forces have the most advanced types of anti-ship cruise missiles; no other army in the world has anything like it.

Creation of the Tomahawk

In 1971, American admirals initiated the development of sea-launched strategic cruise missiles (SLCMs) capable of being launched from submarines.

Initially, it was planned to create two types of CDs: heavy rocket with a flight range of up to 5,500 km and launched from SSBN missile launchers (55 inches in diameter) and a lighter version that could be launched directly from torpedo tubes (21 inches). The light missile launcher was supposed to have a flight range of 2,500 kilometers. Both missiles had a subsonic flight speed.

In 1972, a lighter rocket option was chosen and the developers were given the task of creating a new SLCM (Submarine-Launched Cruise Missile) rocket.

In 1974, the two most promising missile launchers were selected for demonstration launches; they turned out to be projects from General Dynamics and Ling-Temco-Vought (LTV). The projects were given the abbreviations ZBGM-109A and ZBGM-110A, respectively.

Two launches of the product created at LTV ended in failure, so the General Dynamics rocket was declared the winner of the competition, and work on the ZBGM-110A was stopped. The revision of the CD has begun. During the same period, the leadership of the US Navy decided that the new missile should be able to launch from surface ships, so the meaning of the acronym (SLCM) was changed. Now the missile system under development has become known as the Sea-Launched Cruise Missile, that is, a “sea-based cruise missile.”

However, this was not the last introduction that the developers of the missile system encountered.

In 1977, the American leadership initiated a new program in the field of missile weapons - JCMP (Joint Cruise Missile Project), the goal of which was to create a single (for the Air Force and Navy) cruise missile. During this period, the development of air-launched missile launchers was actively underway, and the combination of two programs into one led to the use of a single Williams F107 turbofan engine and an identical navigation system in all missiles.

Initially, the naval missile was developed in three different versions, the main differences of which were their warhead. A variant was created with a nuclear warhead, an anti-ship missile with a conventional warhead and a missile launcher with a conventional warhead, designed to strike ground targets.

In 1980, the first tests of a naval modification of the missile were carried out: at the beginning of the year the missile was launched from a destroyer, and a little later the Tomahawk was launched from a submarine. Both launches were successful.

Over the next three years, more than a hundred Tomahawk launches of various modifications took place; based on the results of these tests, a recommendation was issued to accept the missile system into service.

BGM-109 Tomahawk navigation system

The main problem with using cruise missiles against objects located on land was the imperfection of guidance systems. That is why cruise missiles have long been practically synonymous with anti-ship weapons. Radar guidance systems perfectly distinguished surface ships against the background of a flat sea surface, but they were not suitable for hitting ground targets.

The creation of the TERCOM (Terrain Contour Matching) guidance and course correction system was a real breakthrough that made it possible to create Tomahawk missiles. What is this system and on what principles does it work?

The work of TERCOM is based on the verification of altimeter data with a digital map of the earth's surface embedded in the on-board computer of the rocket.

This gives the Tomahawk several advantages that made this weapon so effective:

1. Flight at extremely low altitude, skirting the terrain. This ensures the missile's high stealth and makes it difficult to destroy by air defense systems. Tomahawk can only be discovered at the last moment, when it is too late to do anything. It is no less difficult to see a missile from above against the background of the earth: its detection range by aircraft does not exceed several tens of kilometers.
2. Full autonomy of flight and target guidance: Tomahawk uses information about the unevenness of the terrain to correct the course. You can deceive the rocket only by changing it, which is impossible.

However, the TERCOM system also has disadvantages:

1. The navigation system cannot be used over the water surface; before the flight begins over land, the CD is controlled using gyroscopes.
2. The effectiveness of the system decreases over flat, low-contrast terrain, where the elevation difference is insignificant (steppe, desert, tundra).
3. Quite a high value of circular probable deviation (CPD). It was about 90 meters. For missiles with nuclear warheads this was not a problem, but the use of conventional warheads made such an error problematic.

In 1986, the Tomahawks were equipped with an additional navigation and flight correction system, DSMAC (Digital Scene Matching Area Correlation). It was from this moment that the Tomahawk turned from a weapon of thermonuclear Armageddon into a threat to everyone who does not love democracy and does not share Western values. The new modification of the missile was named RGM/UGM-109C Tomahawk Land-Attack Missile.

How does DSMAC work? The cruise missile enters the attack zone using the TERCOM system, and then begins to compare images of the terrain with digital photographs stored in the on-board computer. Using this method of guidance, a missile can hit a separate small building - the CEP of the new modification has decreased to 10 meters.

Cruise missiles with a similar guidance system also had two modifications: Block-II attacked the selected target at low level, while Block-IIA, before hitting the target, made a “slide” and dived onto the object, and could also be remotely detonated directly above it.

However, after installing additional sensors and increasing the mass of the warhead, the flight range of the RGM/UGM-109C Tomahawk was reduced from 2500 km to 1200. Therefore, in 1993, a new modification appeared - Block-III, which had a reduced mass of the warhead (while maintaining its power) and a more advanced engine, which increased the Tomahawk's flight range to 1,600 km. In addition, Block-III became the first missile to receive a guidance system using GPS.

Modifications of "Tomahawks"

Taking into account the active use of Tomahawks, the US military leadership set the manufacturer the task of significantly reducing the cost of their product and improving some of its characteristics. This is how the RGM/UGM-109E Tactical Tomahawk appeared, which entered service in 2004.

This rocket used a cheaper plastic body and a simpler engine, which almost halved its cost. At the same time, the “Axe” has become even deadlier and more dangerous.

The rocket used more advanced electronics; it is equipped with an inertial guidance system, the TERCOM system, as well as DSMAC (with the ability to use infrared images of the area) and GPS. In addition, the tactical Tomahawk uses a two-way UHF satellite communications system, which allows the weapon to be retargeted in flight. A television camera installed on the missile defense system makes it possible to assess the state of the target in real time and make decisions about continuing the attack or striking another object.

Today, the Tactical Tomahawk is the main modification of the missile in service with the US Navy.

Currently time is running development of the next generation Tomahawk. The developers promise to eliminate in the new missile the most serious drawback inherent in current modifications: the inability to hit moving sea and ground targets. In addition, the new Topor will be equipped with a modern millimeter-wave radar.

Application of BGM-109 Tomahawk

The Tomahawk has been used in every conflict in recent decades in which the United States has been involved. First serious test for this weapon was the Gulf War in 1991. During the Iraqi campaign, almost 300 missile launchers were launched, the vast majority of which successfully completed the mission.

Later, the Tomahawk missile launcher was used in several smaller operations against Iraq, then there was the war in Yugoslavia, the second Iraqi campaign (2003), as well as the operation of NATO forces against Libya. Tomahawks were also used during the conflict in Afghanistan.

Currently, BGM-109 missiles are in service with the US and British Armed Forces. To that missile complex Holland and Spain showed interest, but the deal never materialized.

BGM-109 Tomahawk device

The Tomahawk cruise missile is a monoplane equipped with two small folding wings in the central part and a cross-shaped stabilizer in the tail. The fuselage is cylindrical in shape. The missile has a subsonic flight speed.

The body consists of aluminum alloys and (or) special plastic with low radar signature.

The control and guidance system is a combined one; it consists of three components:

• inertial;
• by terrain (TERCOM);
• electro-optical (DSMAC);
• using GPS.

Anti-ship modifications have a radar guidance system.

To launch missiles from submarines, torpedo tubes (for older modifications) or special launchers are used. For launching from surface ships, special launchers Mk143 or UVP Mk41 are used.

At the head of the missile launcher there is a guidance and flight control system, followed by a warhead and a fuel tank. At the rear of the rocket is a bypass turbojet engine with a retractable air intake.

An accelerator is attached to the tail section, providing initial acceleration. It carries the rocket to a height of 300-400 meters, after which it separates. Then the tail fairing is dropped, the stabilizer and wings are deployed, and the main engine is turned on. The rocket reaches a given altitude (15-50 m) and speed (880 km/h). This speed is quite low for a rocket, but it allows for the most economical use of fuel.

The warhead of a missile can be very different: nuclear, semi-armor-piercing, high-explosive fragmentation, cluster, penetrating or concrete-piercing. The mass of warheads of different missile modifications also varies.

Advantages and disadvantages of the BGM-109 Tomahawk

The Tomahawk is undoubtedly a highly effective weapon. Universal, cheap, capable of solving many problems. Of course, it has disadvantages, but there are many more advantages.

Advantages:

• due to the low flight altitude and the use of special materials, Tomahawks are a serious problem for air defense systems;
• missiles have very high accuracy;
• these weapons are not covered by cruise missile agreements;
• Tomahawk missile launchers have a low maintenance cost (when compared with ballistic missiles);
• this weapon is relatively cheap to produce: the cost of one missile in 2014 was $1.45 million, for some modifications it can reach $2 million;
• versatility: various types of combat units, as well as different ways target destruction allows the Tomahawk to be used against a wide variety of targets.

If you compare the cost of using these missiles with conducting a full-scale air operation using hundreds of aircraft, suppressing enemy air defenses and installing jamming, then it will seem simply ridiculous. Current modifications of these missiles can quickly and effectively destroy stationary enemy targets: airfields, headquarters, warehouses and communications centers. Tomahawks were also used very successfully against enemy civilian infrastructure.

Using these missiles, you can quickly drive the country “into the stone age” and turn its army into an unorganized crowd. The task of the Tomahawks is to deliver the first blow to the enemy, to prepare the conditions for further work aviation or military invasion.

The current modifications of the “Axe” also have disadvantages:

• low flight speed;
• the flight range of a conventional missile is lower than that of a missile launcher with a nuclear warhead (2500 versus 1600 km);
• inability to attack moving targets.

We can also add that the missile defense system cannot maneuver with large overloads to counter air defense systems, nor use decoys.

Currently, work on modernizing the cruise missile continues. They are aimed at extending its flight range, increasing the warhead, and also making the missile even “smarter.” The latest modifications of the Tomahawks are, in fact, real UAVs: they can loiter in a given area for 3.5 hours, choosing the most worthy “victim”. In this case, all data collected by the radar sensors is transmitted to the control center.

Technical characteristics of BGM-109 Tomahawk

If you have any questions, leave them in the comments below the article. We or our visitors will be happy to answer them

Emerged (or rather, revived) in the late 1970s. In the USSR and the USA, as an independent class of strategic offensive weapons, long-range aviation and naval cruise missiles (CR) have been considered since the second half of the 1980s and as high-precision weapons (HPT), designed to destroy particularly important small-sized targets with conventional (non-nuclear) warheads. Equipped with high-power (weight about 450 kg) non-nuclear warheads, the AGM-86C (CALCM) and AGM-109C Tomahawk cruise missiles have demonstrated high effectiveness in combat operations against Iraq (continuously conducted since 1991), as well as in the Balkans (1999) and other parts of the world. At the same time, tactical (non-nuclear) missiles of the first generation had relatively low flexibility in combat use - entering a flight mission into the missile guidance system was carried out on the ground, before the bomber took off or the ship left the base, and took more than a day (later it was reduced to several hours ).

In addition, the missile launchers had a relatively high cost (more than $1 million), low hit accuracy (circular probable deviation - CEP - from tens to hundreds of meters) and a range of combat use several times smaller than that of their strategic prototypes (respectively , 900-1100 and 2400-3000 km), which was due to the use of a heavier non-nuclear warhead, which “displaced” part of the fuel from the rocket body. The carriers of the AGM-86C missile launcher (launch weight 1460 kg, warhead weight 450 kg, range 900-1100 km) are currently only the B-52N strategic missile-carrying bombers, and the AGM-109C is equipped with surface ships of the "destroyer" and "cruiser" class ", equipped with universal vertical container launchers, as well as multi-purpose nuclear submarines (NPS) that use missiles from an underwater position.

Based on the experience of combat operations in Iraq (1991), American missile systems of both types were modernized in the direction of increasing the flexibility of their combat use (now the input of a flight mission can be carried out remotely, directly on board the aircraft or carrier ship, in the process of solving a combat mission) . Due to the introduction of an optical correlation system for final homing, as well as equipping with a satellite navigation unit (GPS), the accuracy characteristics of the weapon were significantly increased (COE -8-10 m), which made it possible to hit not just a specific target, but a specific area of ​​it.

In the 1970-1990s, up to 3,400 AGM-109 missiles and more than 1,700 AGM-86 missiles were produced. Currently, the AGM-109 missile launchers of early modifications (both “strategic” and anti-ship) are being massively modified into the tactical version of the AGM-109C Block 111C, equipped with an improved guidance system and having an increased combat range from 1100 to 1800 km, as well as reduced CEP (8-10 m). At the same time, the mass (1450 kg) of the rocket and its speed characteristics (M = 0.7) remained practically unchanged.

Since the late 1990s, work has been underway in parallel to create a simplified, cheaper version of the Tactical Tomahawk missile launcher, intended exclusively for use on board surface ships. This made it possible to reduce the requirements for the strength of the airframe, to abandon a number of other elements that ensure the launch of a missile in an underwater position from the torpedo tubes of a nuclear submarine, and thereby improve the weight efficiency of the aircraft and increase its performance characteristics (primarily, the range, which should increase to 2000 km ).

In the longer term, due to the reduction in the mass of avionics and the use of more economical engines, the maximum range of the modernized AGM-86C and AGM-109C missile launchers will increase to 2000-3000 km (while maintaining the same efficiency of non-nuclear warheads).

However, the process of transforming the AGM-86 aircraft missile launcher into a non-nuclear version in the early 2000s slowed down significantly due to the lack of “extra” missiles of this type in the US Air Force (unlike the Tomahawk missile launcher in the nuclear version, which, in accordance with the Russian-American agreements, removed from the ships' ammunition loads and transferred to coastal storage, the AGM-86 continues to be included in the nuclear classification, being the basis of the strategic armament of the US Air Force B-52 bombers). For the same reason, the transformation into a non-nuclear version of the strategic low-profile AGM-129A missile system, which is also exclusively equipped with B-52H aircraft, has not begun. In this regard, the issue of resuming serial production of an improved version of the AGM-86 missile system has been repeatedly raised, but a decision on this has not been made.

For the foreseeable future, the US Air Force is considering the subsonic (M = 0.7) Lockheed Martin AGM-158 JASSM missile, flight tests of which began in 1999, as the main tactical missile launcher for the foreseeable future. The missile has dimensions and weight (1100 kg) approximately corresponding to the AGM-158 JASSM. 86, is capable of hitting targets with high accuracy (CEP - several meters) at a range of up to 350 km. Unlike the AGM-86, it is equipped with a more powerful warhead and has less radar signature.

Another important advantage of the AGM-158 is its carrier versatility: it can be equipped with almost all types of combat aircraft of the US Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps (B-52H, B-1B, B-2A, F-15E, F-16C, F/ A-18, F-35).

The JASSM missile launcher is equipped with a combined autonomous guidance system - inertial-satellite during the cruising phase of the flight and thermal imaging (with target self-recognition mode) at the final stage. It can be assumed that a number of improvements being introduced (or planned for implementation) on the AGM-86C and AGM-109C missile systems will also be used on the missile, in particular, the transmission of a “receipt” of target destruction to the ground control command and the in-flight retargeting mode.

The first small-scale batch of the JASSM missile launcher includes 95 missiles (its production began in mid-2000), the next two batches will amount to 100 products each (deliveries begin in 2002). The maximum production rate will reach 360 missiles per year. Serial production of the cruise missile is expected to continue at least until 2010. Within seven years, it is planned to produce at least 2,400 cruise missiles with a unit cost of each product of at least 0.3 million dollars.

Lockheed Martin, together with the Air Force, is considering the possibility of creating a version of the JASSM missile with an extended body and a more fuel-efficient engine, which will increase the range to 2,800 km.

At the same time, the US Navy, in parallel with its rather “formal” participation in the JASSM program, in the 1990s continued work on further improving the AGM-84E SLAM tactical aviation missile, which, in turn, is a modification of the Boeing Harpoon AGM anti-ship missile -84, created in the 1970s. In 1999, the US Navy's carrier-based aircraft received the Boeing AGM-84H SLAM-ER tactical cruise missile with a range of about 280 km - the first American weapon system with the ability to automatically recognize targets (ATR - Automatic Target Recognition mode). Giving the SLAM-ER guidance system the ability to autonomously identify targets is a major step in the field of improving high-precision technology. Compared to the Automatic Target Acquisition (ATA) mode, already implemented in a number of aircraft weapons, in the ATR mode, the “picture” of a potential target received by on-board sensors is compared with its digital image stored in the on-board computer’s memory, which allows autonomous search for an attack target, its identification and missile targeting in the presence of only approximate data on the location of the target.

The SLAM-ER missile is equipped with carrier-based multirole fighters F/A-18B/C, F/A-18E/F, and in the future - F-35A. SLAM-ER is a “domestic” competitor of the JASSM cruise missile (purchases of the latter by the US fleet to date seem problematic).

Thus, until the beginning of the 2010s, in the arsenal of the US Air Force and Navy, in the class of non-nuclear cruise missiles with a range of 300-3000 km, there will be only low-altitude subsonic (M = 0.7-0.8) missile launchers with sustainer turbofan engines, having low and ultra-low radar signature (RCS = 0.1-0.01 sq.m) and high accuracy (CEP - less than 10 m).

In the longer term (2010-2030s), the United States plans to create a new generation of long-range missile systems, designed to fly at high supersonic and hypersonic (M = 4 or more) speeds, which should significantly reduce the reaction time of weapons, as well as , combined with low radar signature, the degree of its vulnerability from existing and future enemy missile defense systems.

The US Navy is considering the possibility of developing a high-speed universal cruise missile JSCM (Joint Supersonic Cruise Missile), designed to combat advanced air defense systems. The missile launcher should have a range of about 900 km and a maximum speed corresponding to M = 4.5-5.0. It is assumed that it will carry a unitary armor-piercing unit or a cluster warhead equipped with several submunitions. The deployment of the KPJSMC, according to the most optimistic forecasts, can begin in 2012. The cost of the missile development program is estimated at $1 billion.

It is assumed that the JSMC missile will be able to be launched from surface ships equipped with universal vertical launchers Mk 41. In addition, its carriers can be multi-role carrier-based fighters such as F/A-18E/F and F-35A/B (in the aviation version, the missile is considered as replacement of the subsonic missile launcher SLAM-ER). It is planned that the first decisions on the JSCM program will be made in 2003, and in 2006-2007 financial year Full-scale financing of the work may begin.

According to the director of naval programs at Lockheed, Martin E. Carney (AI Carney), although government funding for the JSCM program has not yet been provided, in 2002 it is planned to finance work on the ACTD (Advanced Concept Technology Demonstrator) research program. If the groundwork for the ACTD program is used as the basis for the JSMC missile concept, Lockheed Martin will likely become the main contractor for the creation of a new missile launcher.

The development of the experimental ACTD rocket is carried out jointly by Orbital Science and the center naval weapons US Navy (Chine Lake Air Force Base, California). The rocket is supposed to be powered by a liquid-propellant ramjet engine, research on which has been underway at China Lake for the past 10 years.

The main “sponsor” of the JSMC program is the US Pacific Fleet, which is interested, first of all, in effective means of combating the rapidly improving Chinese air defense systems.

In the 1990s, the US Navy began implementing a program to create advanced ALAM missile weapons, intended for use by surface ships against coastal targets. A further development of this program in 2002 was the project of the FLAM (Future Land Attack Missile) complex, which should fill the “niche” range" between the adjustable active-reactive artillery 155-mm ERGM guided projectile (capable of hitting targets with high accuracy at a range of more than 100 km) and the Tomahawk missile launcher. The missile should have increased accuracy. Funding for its creation will begin in 2004. It is planned that the FLAM missile will be equipped with new generation destroyers of the DD(X) type, which will begin to be commissioned in 2010.

The final design of the FLAM rocket has not yet been determined. According to one of the options, it is possible to create a hypersonic aircraft with a liquid ramjet based on the JSCM rocket.

Lockheed Martin, together with the French center ONR, is working on the creation of a solid-fuelled air-breathing engine SERJ (Solid-Fuelled RamJet), which can also be used on the ALAM/FLAM rocket (although it seems more likely that such an engine will be installed on later-developed rockets, which may appear after 2012, or on the ALAM/FLAM missile system in the process of its modernization), Since the ramjet engine is less economical than the turbofan engine, a supersonic (hypersonic) missile with a SERJ engine is estimated to have a shorter range (about 500 km), than subsonic missile launchers of similar mass and dimensions.

Boeing, together with the US Air Force, is considering the concept of a hypersonic missile launcher with a lattice wing, designed to deliver two to four subminiature autonomous subsonic missile launchers of the LOCAADS type to the target area. The main task of the system should be to defeat modern mobile ballistic missiles that have pre-launch preparation time (the beginning of which can be recorded by reconnaissance means after the missile has risen to vertical position) about 10 minutes. Based on this, a hypersonic cruise missile should reach the target area within 6-7 minutes. after receiving target designation. No more than 3 minutes can be allocated to search for and engage a target with submunitions (LOCAADS mini-KR or BAT-type gliding ammunition).

As part of this program, the possibility of creating a hypersonic demonstration missile ARRMD (Advanced Rapid Response Missile Demonstrator) is being explored. The missile launcher must perform cruising flight at a speed corresponding to M=6. At M=4, submunitions should be released. The ARRMD hypersonic missile with a launch mass of 1045 kg and a maximum range of 1200 km will carry a payload weighing 114 kg.

In the 1990s. work on creating operational-tactical class missiles (with a range of about 250-350 km) began in Western Europe. France and Great Britain, on the basis of the French Apache tactical missile with a range of 140 km, designed to destroy railway rolling stock (the introduction of this missile into service with the French Air Force began in 2001), created a family of cruise missiles with a range of about 250-300 km SCALP-EG /""CTopM Shadow", designed to equip the strike aircraft "Mirage" 20000, "Mirage" 2000-5, "Harrier GR.7 and "Tornado" GR.4 (and in the future - "Rafal" and EF2000 "Lancer") . The features of missiles equipped with turbofan engines and retractable aerodynamic surfaces include subsonic (M = 0.8) speed, low-altitude flight profile and low radar signature (achieved, in particular, by finning the airframe surfaces).

The rocket flies along a pre-selected “corridor” in terrain following mode. It has high maneuverability, which allows it to implement a number of programmed maneuvers to evade air defense fire. There is a GPS system receiver (American NAVSTAR system). At the final section, a combined (thermal imaging/microwave) homing system with a target self-recognition mode should be used. Before approaching the target, the missile performs a slide followed by a dive towards the target. In this case, the dive angle can be set depending on the characteristics of the target. The BROACH tandem warhead on approach “shoots” the head submunition at the target, which punches a hole in the protective structure into which the main ammunition flies, exploding inside the object with some deceleration (the degree of deceleration is set depending on the specific characteristics of the target assigned to hit).

It is assumed that the Storm Shadow and SCALP-EG missiles will enter service with the aviation of Great Britain, France, Italy and the UAE. According to estimates, the cost of one serial missile launcher (with a total order volume of 2000 missiles) will be approximately $1.4 million. (however, the order volume of 2000 KR seems very optimistic, so we can expect that the real cost of one missile will be much higher).

In the future, on the basis of the Storm Shadow missile, it is planned to create a smaller export version of the Black Shaheen, which can be equipped with Mirage 2000-5/9 type aircraft.

The international French-English concern MBD (Matra/BAe Dynamics) is studying new modifications of the Storm Shadow/SCALP-EG rocket. One of the promising options is an all-weather and all-day ship-based missile system designed to destroy coastal targets. According to the developers, the new European missile with a range of more than 400 km can be considered as an alternative to the American Tomahawk naval missile, equipped with a non-nuclear warhead, compared to which it will have higher accuracy.

The missile launcher must be equipped with an inertial-satellite guidance system with an extreme correlation correction system for the earth's surface (TERPROM). At the final stage of the flight, it is planned to use a thermal imaging system for autonomous homing to a contrasting target. To guide the missile system, the European GNSS space navigation system will be used, which is under development and is similar in its characteristics to American system NAVSTAR and Russian GLONASS.

The EADS concern is working on the creation of another subsonic aviation missile KEPD 350 "Taurus" with a launch weight of 1400 kg, very close to the SCALP-EG / "Storm Shadow" missile. The missile with a maximum combat range of about 300-350 km is designed for low-altitude flight at a speed corresponding to M=0.8. It should enter service with German Tornado fighter-bombers after 2002. In the future, it is also planned to equip EF2000 Typhoon aircraft with it. In addition, it is planned to supply the new missile for export, where it will seriously compete with the French-British tactical cruise missile Matra/BAe Dynamics Storm Shadow and, probably, the American AGM-158.

Based on the KEPD 350 missile, a project is being developed for the KEPD 150SL anti-ship missile with a range of 270 km, intended to replace the Harpoon missile. Anti-ship missiles of this type are expected to equip future German frigates and destroyers. The missile should be placed in deck containers of rectangular cross-section, grouped into four-container blocks.

The air-launched KEPD 150 variant (having a launch weight of 1060 kg and a range of 150 km) has been selected by the Swedish Air Force to equip the JAS39 Gripen multi-role fighter. In addition, this missile is offered to the Air Forces of Australia, Spain and Italy.

Thus, European cruise missiles in terms of speed characteristics (M = 0.8) approximately correspond to their American counterparts, they also fly along a low-altitude profile and have a range that is significantly shorter than the range of the tactical variants of the AGM-86 and AGM-109 cruise missiles and approximately equal to the AGM range -158 (JASSM). Just like American missile launchers, they have low (RCS of the order of 0.1 sq.m) radar signature and high accuracy.

The scale of production of European CDs is significantly smaller than that of American ones (the volume of their purchases is estimated at several hundred units). At the same time, the cost characteristics of American and European subsonic missiles are approximately comparable.

It can be expected that until the beginning of the 2010s, the Western European aviation and missile industry in the class of tactical (non-nuclear) missile launchers will produce only products such as SCALP/Storm Shadow and KEPD 350, as well as their modifications. With a view to a more distant future (2010s and later), Western Europe (primarily France), as well as the United States, is conducting research in the field of long-range hypersonic strike missiles. During 2002-2003, flight tests of a new hypersonic experimental cruise missile with a ramjet "Vestra", created by EADS and the French arms agency DGA, should begin.

The Vestra program was launched by the DGA in September 1996. The goal was “to help define the design of a multi-purpose long-range high-altitude (combat) missile.” The program made it possible to test the aerodynamics, power plant and elements of the control system of a promising missile launcher. Research conducted by DGA specialists led to the conclusion that a promising high-speed rocket should perform the final stage of its flight at low altitude (it was originally assumed that the entire flight would take place only at high altitude).

On the basis of the Vestra missile launcher, a combat missile system should be created hypersonic missile Air-launched FASMP-A, designed to replace KPASMP. Its entry into service is expected at the end of 2006. The carriers of the FASMP-A missile, equipped with a thermonuclear warhead, should be Dassault Mirage N fighter-bombers and Rafale multirole fighters. In addition to the strategic version of the CD, it is also possible to create an anti-ship version with a conventional warhead and a final homing system.

France is currently the only foreign country, armed with a long-range cruise missile with a nuclear warhead. Back in the 1970s, work began on the creation of a new generation of aviation nuclear weapons - the Aerospatiale ASMP supersonic cruise missile. On July 17, 1974, the TN-80 nuclear warhead with a power of 300 Kt, intended to equip this missile, was tested. Testing was completed in 1980 and the first ASMP missiles with the TN-80 entered service with the French Air Force in September 1985.

The ASMP missile (part of the armament of the Mirage 2000M fighter-bombers and the Super Etandar carrier-based attack aircraft) is equipped with a ramjet engine (kerosene is used as fuel) and a starting solid propellant accelerator. Maximum speed at high altitude it corresponds to M=3, at the ground - M=2. The launch range is 90-350 km. The launch weight of the launch vehicle is 840 kg. A total of 90 ASMP missiles and 80 nuclear warheads for them were manufactured.

Since 1977, China has been implementing national programs to create its own long-range cruise missiles. The first Chinese missile, known as the X-600 or Hong Nyao-1 (XN-1), was put into service ground forces in 1992. It has a maximum range of 600 km and carries a nuclear warhead with a yield of 90 kT. A small-sized turbofan engine was developed for the cruise missile, flight tests of which began in 1985. The X-600 is equipped with an inertial-correlation guidance system, probably supplemented by a satellite correction unit. The final homing system is believed to use a television camera. According to one source, the QUO of the X-600 missile is 5 m. However, this information is apparently too optimistic. The radio altimeter installed on board the Kyrgyz Republic ensures flight at an altitude of about 20 m (obviously above the sea surface).

In 1992, a new, more economical engine was tested for the Chinese Republic. This made it possible to increase the maximum launch range to 1500-2000 km. A modernized version of the cruise missile under the designation KhN-2 was put into service in 1996. The KhN-Z modification being developed should have a range of about 2500 m.

The KhN-1, KhN-2 and KhN-Z missiles are ground-based weapons. They are placed on "ground mobile" wheeled launchers. However, variants of the missile launcher are also being developed for placement on board surface ships, submarines or on aircraft.

In particular, the new Chinese multi-purpose nuclear submarines of Project 093 are being considered as potential missile carriers. The missiles should be launched from a submerged position through 533-mm torpedo tubes. The carriers of the aviation version of the Kyrgyz Republic can be the new tactical bombers JH-7A, as well as multi-role fighters J-8-IIM and J-11 (Su-27SK).

In 1995, it was reported that the PRC had begun flight tests of a supersonic unmanned aircraft, which could be considered as a prototype of a promising cruise missile.

Initially, work on the creation of cruise missiles was carried out in China by the Hain Electromechanical Academy and led to the creation of tactical anti-ship missiles "Hain-1" (a version of the Soviet anti-ship missile P-15) and "Hain-2". Later, the supersonic anti-ship missile "Hain-Z" with a ramjet engine and "Hain-4" with a turbojet engine were developed.

In the mid-1980s, Research Institute 8359, as well as the “Chinese Institute of Cruise Missiles” (however, the latter may be the renamed Hain Electromechanical Academy) were established to work in the field of creating cruise missiles in the PRC.

We should also focus on work to improve the warheads of cruise missiles. In addition to traditional combat units, American missile launchers began to be equipped with fundamentally new types of warheads. During Operation Desert Storm in 1991, CDs carrying thin copper wire fibers scattered over the target were used for the first time. Such weapons, which later received the unofficial name “I-bomb,” served to disable power lines and power plants , substations and other energy facilities: hanging on wires, the wire caused a short circuit, depriving the enemy’s military, industrial and communications centers of electricity.

During the fighting against Yugoslavia, a new generation of these weapons was used, where thinner carbon fibers were used instead of copper wire. At the same time, not only missile launchers, but also free-falling aerial bombs are used to deliver new “anti-energy” warheads to targets.

Another promising type of combat units of American missile systems is an explosive magnetic warhead, which, when triggered, generates a powerful electromagnetic pulse (EMP) that “burns out” the enemy’s radio-electronic equipment. At the same time, the radius of the damaging effect of the EMR generated by an explosive magnetic warhead is several times greater than the radius of destruction of a conventional high-explosive fragmentation warhead of the same mass. According to a number of media reports, explosive magnetic warheads have already been used by the United States in real combat conditions.

Of course, the role and importance of long-range cruise missiles in non-nuclear warheads will increase in the foreseeable future. However effective application these weapons are possible only if there is a global space navigation system (currently the United States and Russia have similar systems, and United Europe will soon join them), a high-precision geographic information system of combat areas, as well as a multi-level aviation and space reconnaissance system that issues data on the position of targets with their precise (on the order of several meters) geographic location. Therefore, the creation of modern long-range high-precision weapons is the destiny of only relatively technically developed countries capable of developing and maintaining in working order the entire information and intelligence infrastructure that ensures the use of such weapons.

1) Family of guided missiles "Caliber" Cruise missiles became widely known after they were used to strike terrorist positions in Syria. Work on this project was carried out in the 1980s on the basis of two products: the 3M10 strategic nuclear cruise missile with a combat radius of 2500 km and the Alpha anti-ship missile complex (R&D Turquoise). The Caliber missiles were first presented at the MAKS-1993 air show. NATO received the codification Sizzler (“Incinerator”). The range of action against sea targets is up to 350 km, against coastal targets - up to 2600 km. 2) Strategic air-to-ground cruise missile X-101 The X-101 strategic air-to-ground cruise missile (X-102 with a nuclear warhead), using radar signature reduction technologies, also received its first combat use in Syria, where they were used to strike terrorist positions. The main carriers are Tu-22 and Tu-160 bombers. The development of the product was carried out by the Raduga design bureau (1995-2013). The exact characteristics are not disclosed. According to some reports, the launch range reaches 9000 km, and the probable circular deviation is 5 m at a range of 5500 km. 3) Anti-ship missile P-270 “Mosquito” P-270 Mosquito (according to NATO codification SS-N-22 Sunburn, literally “Sunburn”) is an anti-ship missile developed in the 1970s in the USSR. Capable of destroying ships with a displacement of up to 20 thousand tons, in particular, those from naval strike groups, landing forces, convoys and single ships. Firing range - from 10 to 120 km along a low-altitude trajectory, 250 km - with a high-altitude flight profile. When approaching a target, the Mosquito moves at a height of 7 m, moving “above the crest of the waves,” and in order to break through air defenses, the missile is capable of performing an anti-aircraft “snake” maneuver with rotation angles of up to 60 degrees and an overload of more than 10 g. 4) Strategic aviation cruise missile X-55 The Kh-55 missile is a cruise missile for strategic bombers. After launch, it travels at subsonic speed, skirting the terrain, which makes its interception extremely difficult. The Kh-55 carriers are the Tu-95 and Tu-160 strategic bombers, while the latter can carry up to 12 such missiles. The mass of the warhead of each of them is 200 kt, which is more than 20 times greater than the explosion power of the Little Boy bomb dropped by the United States on Hiromima in 1945. 5) P-700 “Granit” - long-range anti-ship cruise missile The P-700 “Granit” was created primarily to combat powerful naval groups, including aviation ones. When creating the complex, an approach was used for the first time, the basis of which is the mutual linkage of three elements: target designation means (in the form of spacecraft), a carrier and anti-ship missiles. Range of action - 550 km along a combined trajectory. These missiles are also in service with the heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser Admiral Kuznetsov.

CRUISED MISSILE (CR), an atmospheric unmanned aerial vehicle equipped with wings, an engine (jet or rocket), and a target guidance system; designed for high-precision destruction of ground and sea targets. CDs can be placed on both stationary and mobile launchers (land-based, air-based and sea-based). Basic distinctive features KR: high aerodynamic characteristics; maneuverability; the ability to set an arbitrary course and move at low altitude along the bends of the terrain, which makes them difficult to detect by enemy air defense systems; high-precision target destruction [circular probable deviation (CPD) of modern missile defense systems does not exceed 10 m]; the ability, if necessary, to adjust the programmed flight path using the on-board computer and automatic control system (ASCS). Depending on the relative position of the load-bearing and control surfaces, the missile launcher can have an aircraft or rocket aerodynamic design. Therefore, in a broad sense, missiles include almost all types of guided missiles (aircraft, anti-aircraft, anti-ship and anti-tank). In a narrow sense, missile launchers mean missiles made according to an aircraft design (Fig. 1). CDs are divided: according to firing range and the nature of the tasks being solved - into tactical (up to 150 km), operational-tactical (150-1500 km) and strategic (over 1500 km); according to flight speed - sonic and supersonic; by type of basing - ground, air, sea (surface and underwater); by type of warhead (warhead) - nuclear and conventional (high-explosive, cluster, etc.); for combat purposes - “air-to-surface” (Fig. 2) and “surface-to-surface” classes.

The missile launcher consists of a body (fuselage) with load-bearing and control surfaces (wing, rudders, stabilizers, etc.), an engine, an installation, on-board control equipment and a warhead. The CD has a welded metal or composite body, most of the internal volume of which is a fuel tank. Before the rocket is launched, the wings are folded and open after the ejection launcher is activated. The propulsion system of land- and sea-based missile launchers consists of a launch accelerator and a propulsion engine. The latter can be used as a rocket (liquid or solid propellant) or air-breathing engine. The starting accelerator is, as a rule, a solid propellant jet engine (air-launched missiles do not have one). The engine has an automatic electronic-hydraulic control system, which ensures changing its modes and adjusting thrust during the flight of the rocket. The basic equipment of a modern missile launcher includes: an inertial navigation system; altimeters; route correction systems (including using a global satellite navigation system); homing head; automatic self-destruction system; a system for exchanging information between salvo missiles; on-board computer; In addition to the autopilot function, the BSAU also includes the ability to perform maneuvers by the missile to counter interception. Typical scheme The CD is presented in Figure 3.

The prospects of this weapon were drawn to the attention of S.P. Korolev, who developed a series of experimental missile launchers in 1932-38 (217/I, 217/II, etc.); Ground and flight tests were carried out, confirming the design characteristics, but the autopilot turned out to be unable to provide proper flight stabilization. The first CD (they were called unmanned projectile aircraft) V-1 were developed and used by Germany at the end of World War II (the prototype was tested in December 1942, the first combat use was in June 1944). In the USSR, since 1943, the KR 10X was tested on Pe-8 and then Tu-2 bombers, but it did not receive combat use in the war. In the 1950-60s, a number of CDs were created in the USSR (the term “KR” in the USSR was introduced in 1959) and the USA. Among them: in the USSR - KS-1 “Comet” (the first missile-guided aircraft in the USSR; launched in 1952), P-15, X-20, KSR-11, X-66, etc.; in the USA - “Matador”, “Regulus-1”, “Hound Dog” and others. The missile launchers of this generation were not widely used, as they were heavy and bulky (launch weight 5.5-27 tons, length 10-20 m , hull diameter 1.3-1.5 m), in addition, there was no effective guidance system. The first missile launcher with an underwater launch was the Soviet homing missile launcher "Amethyst" (1968). The revival of interest in missile launchers in the 1970s and the creation of a new generation missile launcher were due to technical advances that made it possible to significantly improve guidance accuracy, reduce overall dimensions and place them on mobile launch platforms. One of the most popular foreign missile launchers is the Tomahawk (USA). This missile began to enter service in 1981 in several versions: strategic ground-based (BGM-109 G) and sea-based (BGM-109 A) with a nuclear warhead (there is a similar aviation missile AGM-86 B); operational-tactical sea-based BGM-109 C and BGM-109 D, respectively, with semi-armor-piercing and cluster warheads; sea-based tactical BGM-109 B with high-explosive warhead. Modern domestic strategic missile systems include the X-55 (air-based) and Granit (sea-based).

The main flight performance characteristics of some aircraft of the Russian Federation and the USA are presented in the table.

When developing a new generation missile launcher, much attention is paid to the creation of long-range missile launcher control systems that provide a CEP of 3-10 m with an equipment weight of up to 100 kg. Reducing the visibility of the radar is ensured by the choice of low-reflective geometric shapes, the use of radio-absorbing materials and coatings, special devices for reducing the effective scattering surface, antenna devices and air intakes. Among conventional warheads, which are used on high-precision missiles to destroy various targets, multifactorial warheads (high-explosive-cumulative with a penetrating effect) weighing 250-350 kg are widely used. The latest achievements in the field of microelectronics, propulsion systems, highly efficient fuels and structural materials ensure the development of supersonic, high-precision, stealth missiles with a range of up to 3,500 km, weighing no more than 1,500 kg.

Lit.: Creative heritage of academician S.P. Korolev. Selected works and documents / Edited by M. V. Keldysh. M., 1980; Prospects and ways to improve weapons systems with sea-based cruise missiles. St. Petersburg, 1999; Salunin V., Burenok V. Precision weapons long-range fire destruction: military and technical aspects of creation // Military Parade. 2003. No. 1.