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Intercontinental ground-based ballistic missiles of Russia and foreign countries (rating). Maximum flight altitude of a ballistic missile

, France and China.

An important stage in the development of rocket technology was the creation of systems with multiple warheads. The first options for implementation did not have individual guidance of warheads, the benefit from using several small charges instead of one powerful one is greater efficiency when exposed to areal targets, so in 1970 The Soviet Union R-36 missiles with three warheads of 2.3 Mt each were deployed. In the same year, the United States put on alert the first Minuteman III complexes, which had a completely new quality - the ability to deploy warheads along individual trajectories to hit multiple targets.

In the USSR, the first mobile ICBMs were adopted: Temp-2S on a wheeled chassis (1976) and RT-23 UTTH railway-based (1989). In the United States, work was also carried out on similar complexes, but none of them was put into service.

A special direction in the development of intercontinental ballistic missiles was work on "heavy" missiles. In the USSR, the R-36 became such missiles, and its further development was the R-36M, which were put into service in 1967 and 1975, and in the United States in 1963 the Titan-2 ICBM was put into service. In 1976, the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau began to develop a new RT-23 ICBM, while in the United States, since 1972, work was underway on the missile; they were put into service in (in the RT-23UTTKh version) and 1986, respectively. The R-36M2, which entered service in 1988, is the most powerful and heaviest in history. missile weapons: The 211-ton missile, when fired at 16,000 km, carries 10 warheads with a capacity of 750 kt each.

Design

Operating principle

Ballistic missiles typically launch vertically. Having received a certain translational speed in the vertical direction, the rocket, with the help of a special software mechanism, equipment and controls, gradually begins to move from a vertical position to an inclined position towards the target.

By the end of the engine operation, the longitudinal axis of the rocket acquires an angle of inclination (pitch) corresponding to the greatest range of its flight, and the speed becomes equal to the strictly set value providing this range.

After the engine stops working, the rocket performs its entire further flight by inertia, describing in general case almost strictly elliptical trajectory. At the top of the trajectory, the rocket flight speed takes its lowest value. The apogee of the trajectory of ballistic missiles is usually at an altitude of several hundred kilometers from the earth's surface, where, due to the low density of the atmosphere, there is practically no air resistance.

On the descending part of the trajectory, the flight speed of the rocket gradually increases due to the loss of altitude. With a further decrease in the dense layers of the atmosphere, the rocket passes at tremendous speeds. In this case, a strong heating of the ballistic missile skin occurs, and if the necessary protective measures are not taken, then its destruction may occur.

Classification

Basing method

According to the basing method, ICBMs are divided into:

launched from ground-based stationary launchers: R-7, "Atlas";
launched from mine launchers (silos): RS-18, PC-20, "Minuteman";
launched from mobile units based on wheeled chassis: "Topol-M", "Midgetmen";
launched from railway launchers: RT-23UTTH;
submarine ballistic missiles: Bulava, Trident.

The first method of basing fell out of use in the early 1960s, as it did not meet the requirements of security and secrecy. Modern silos provide high degree protection against damaging factors nuclear explosion and allow you to reliably hide the degree of combat readiness of the launch complex. The other three options are mobile, which means they are more difficult to detect, but they impose significant restrictions on the size and weight of missiles.

ICBM layout KB them. V.P. Makeeva

Other ways of basing ICBMs have been repeatedly proposed, designed to ensure the secrecy of deployment and the security of launch complexes, for example:

on specialized aircraft and even airships with the launch of ICBMs in flight;
in super-deep (hundreds of meters) mines in rock formations, from which transport and launch containers (TPK) with missiles must rise to the surface before launch;
at the bottom of the continental shelf in pop-up capsules;
in a network of underground galleries along which mobile launchers move continuously.

Until now, none of such projects has been brought to practical implementation.

Engines

Early versions of ICBMs used liquid-propellant rocket engines and required lengthy refueling with propellant components just prior to launch. Preparations for launch could last several hours, and the time for maintaining combat readiness was very short. In the case of using cryogenic components (R-7), the equipment of the launch complex was very cumbersome. All this significantly limited the strategic value of such missiles. Modern ICBMs use solid-propellant rocket engines or liquid-propellant rocket engines fueled with high-boiling components and ampouled charges. Such missiles come from the factory in transport and launch containers. This allows them to be kept ready for launch throughout their entire service life. Liquid rockets are delivered to the launch site in an unfilled state. Refueling is carried out after the installation of the TPK with the missile in the launcher, after which the missile can be in a combat-ready state for many months and years. Preparation for launch usually takes no more than a few minutes and is carried out remotely, from a remote command post, via cable or radio channels. Also, periodic checks of the missile and launcher systems are carried out.

Modern ICBMs usually have a variety of means of overcoming enemy missile defense. They can include maneuvering warheads, radar jamming devices, decoys, etc.

Indicators

Dnepr rocket launch

Peaceful use

For example, with the help of American ICBMs Atlas and Titan, launches were carried out spaceships Mercury and Gemini. And the Soviet ICBMs PC-20, PC-18 and naval R-29RM served as the basis for the creation of carrier rockets Dnepr, Strela, Rokot and Shtil.

Notes (edit)

Links

Andreev D. Rockets do not go into stock // "Krasnaya Zvezda". June 25, 2008

With the onset of the Cold War, the US government, headed by H. Truman, adopted a strategy of "massive impact" based on a monopoly on the atomic bomb and superiority over the USSR in its means of delivery - strategic bombers. Their park began to be hastily renewed.

However, in 1949, the USSR also acquired an atomic bomb. Only it did not yet have modern carriers - the long-range Tu-4 bomber was a copy of the outdated American B-29 from the Second World War.

On July 13, 1944, in a personal and highly secret message, Prime Minister W. Churchill informed Marshal I. Stalin that, apparently, Germany possesses new missile weapons that pose a serious threat to London, and asked to allow British specialists to the test site in Poland, which was in the offensive area Soviet troops... A group of Soviet missile specialists urgently left for Poland.

The development of long-range missiles began in Germany in the 1930s. By 1938, a research center with an experimental station and a factory was built on the Peenemünde Island, near the Baltic Sea coast. The factories, including the large underground ones located in Nordhausen, produced 25-30 A-4 (V-2) missiles a day in 1944-1945! By the end of World War II, more than a thousand of these shells had been manufactured.

The accuracy of hitting German missiles left much to be desired, but in practice, complex control, guidance and flight control systems were worked out and tested. This was used by Soviet scientists in the design of strategic intercontinental ballistic missiles.

First Soviet ground complex with a ballistic missile R-1 was created by OKB-1 under the leadership of S.P. Korolev and entered service on November 28, 1950. The R ‑ 1 rocket was equipped with a liquid propellant jet engine (LPRE) of the RD ‑ 100 type. Alcohol was 75 percent of the fuel, and the rest was liquid oxygen. Its thrust was 267 kN, weight - 13 tons, range - 270 kilometers.

In the early 1950s in Dnepropetrovsk, the state union plant No. 586 was created, later "Yuzhmash", it began to produce R-1 and R-2 missiles.

Who came to power in 1953, N.S. Khrushchev relied on rocketry. By 1956, work was completed on the ballistic R-5M medium range equipped with a nuclear warhead, the intercontinental R-7A was put on alert four years later. Made according to the batch scheme, it was intended to destroy targets located 9500 kilometers from the firing position. It was this rocket that in August 1957 launched the first ever artificial satellite into near-earth space, and in April 1961 - a ship with the world's first cosmonaut on board - Yu.A. Gagarin. A year earlier, the medium-range ballistic R-12 entered service. All of them were launched from ground installations, and the preparation time for launch was calculated in hours.

Following the Americans in the USSR, the construction of a submarine missile carrier began, on which three missiles (the sea version of the R-11) were placed on a diesel-electric boat.

By the late 1950s, the Soviet Union possessed intercontinental ballistic missiles, and air defense forces were equipped with supersonic high-altitude interceptors and anti-aircraft missile systems.

In the mid-1950s, US President D. Eisenhower adopted a strategy to achieve superiority over the USSR in nuclear weapons and their means of delivery. “Having studied the missiles exported from Germany (including the V-2),” writes Sergei Kolesnikov in the Tekhnika - Youth magazine. "equipped with nuclear warheads(Jupiter-C launched the first American artificial satellite, Explorer, in February 1958). After that, the Air Force command decided to replenish the arsenal with more effective Atlas and Titan intercontinental ballistic missiles. Both - mine-based, but launched from the surface of the earth. Less than three years later, the Pentagon received improved "Atlases" of the "E" and "F" series. The last one, with a starting weight of 118 tons, was performed according to a batch scheme, like the King's "seven", but equipped with only two lateral boosters. In addition to them, the power plant included two steering engines, a sustainer liquid propellant rocket with a turbo-pumping fuel supply (kerosene and liquid oxygen).

By this time, military experts considered the stationary positions vulnerable, and in 1959 the Americans commissioned the first serial submarine missile carrier with a nuclear power plant "George Washington". Behind its wheelhouse there was a compartment with 16 Polaris A1 ballistic missiles, each of which had a monobloc nuclear warhead and could cover up to 1200 kilometers.

In 1959, the team of Sergei Pavlovich Korolev - OKB-1 began to develop the R-9A (SS-8) ICBM, which was a two-stage ballistic missile with a detachable warhead with a nuclear charge. Here, for the first time, supercooled liquid oxygen was used as an oxidizer, and kerosene was used as a fuel. The R-9A missile system, launched from a ground launch pad, was put into service in 1963, and from a silo launcher in 1965.

The R-16 and R-9A ICBMs did not yet have sufficient accuracy. Placing the R-16 and R-9A missiles in the silos, of course, increased the survivability of the missiles, but grouped in three ICBMs on one launcher, they represented a single target for destruction.

The nuclear-missile confrontation between the USSR and the United States continued during the Cold War. By early 1962, the US Air Force had received the Titan-1 ICBM. With a range of 16,000 kilometers, it had an accuracy of hitting up to 1.7 kilometers from the target. Later, a three-stage, solid-propellant "Minuteman" appeared, whose hitting accuracy reached 1.6 kilometers. In June 1963, the United States acquired a powerful 150-ton intercontinental Titan-2.

The five George Washington-class missile carriers in 1961-1963 were followed by the same number of similar Iten Allen-class nuclear-powered ships armed with 16 modernized Polaris A2s.

Second-generation ICBMs were more accurate and equipped with an electronic protection system. Placing missiles in fortified silos launchers(Silos), located at a considerable distance from each other, greatly increased their survival rate. The first of the second generation ICBMs in the USSR was the liquid-propellant R-36 (SS-9) with a monoblock nuclear warhead, developed at the Yangel Design Bureau. R-36 is designed to destroy the most important strategic targets of the enemy, protected by anti-missile defense means. The rocket could be equipped with various types of warheads with nuclear charges of various powers. In 1967, the R-36 missile system in silos was put into service. It was a complex with unique combat capabilities. A total of 288 R-36 ICBMs of all types were deployed between 1966 and 1977.

In the mid-1960s, the development of third-generation ICBMs began in the United States and the USSR. On June 18, 1970, the first detachment of ten Minuteman-3 ICBMs equipped with MIRVs with self-guided warheads was put on alert in the silos.

In 1975-1981, the RS-16 (SS-17), RS-18 (SS-19) and RS-20 (SS-18) missile systems, also equipped with MIRVs, were adopted and delivered on combat duty in the USSR. On the new missile systems, a number of technical innovations were applied: an autonomous control system with an on-board computing machine, the possibility of remote retargeting before launch, the presence of more advanced means of overcoming missile defense on missiles, etc. They could withstand higher pressure, as well as withstand the effects of electromagnetic interference, including an electromagnetic pulse.

The adoption and deployment of third-generation missile systems, equipped with individual targeting heads and means of overcoming missile defense, made it possible to achieve an approximate equality in the number of warheads on ICBMs of the USSR and the USA, which contributed to the maintenance of military-strategic parity.

In 1978-1979, the development of the MX system came to the fore among the strategic American programs. With its help, the US leadership hoped to jeopardize the launch silos of the Soviet Union's ICBMs and thus deprive the USSR of its advantage over land-based ICBMs. When choosing the method of basing the MX missile, experts considered up to 30 different variants of launchers. However, the Pentagon failed to find an invulnerable basing method for the MX, which is technically, strategically, economically and politically acceptable.

As a result, in 1986, the first batch of 50 MX missiles was placed in the modified minuteman missile silos to replace the discharged missiles of this type. The program of US President R. Reagan "Strategic Defense Initiative" - "SDI", put forward by him in March 1983, has become a strong destabilizing factor. It provided for the launch into space orbits of nuclear weapons and weapons on new physical principles, which created an exceptionally high danger and vulnerability of the space and territory of the Soviet Union.

Under these conditions, in the 1980s, in order to maintain strategic parity, the USSR created new silo and rail-based missile systems with RS-22 (SS-24) missiles, modernized the RS-20 BRK, and also created the RS-12M (SS-25) complexes ground based. These complexes belong to the fourth generation of strategic missiles.

“By investing resources in such an expensive quality as mobility,” writes S. Krylov, “the Soviet Union was primarily concerned with increasing the survivability of its missile forces — the main quality for a retaliatory rather than preemptive nuclear strike. Moreover, this is important in conditions when the USSR refused to be the first to use nuclear weapons, and the USA and NATO continued to openly focus on the first nuclear strike.

In 1984, the Strategic Missile Forces entered service with a solid-propellant ICBM RS-22 (RT-23) (SS-24), created at NPO Yuzhnoye (chief designer V. Utkin). Two versions of PU were created: mine and mobile railway. The three-stage RT-23, an analogue of the "MX", weighing 100 tons with 10 individually guided warheads (warhead weight - 4 tons) was produced in Pavlograd. The system for disengaging warheads near the rocket uses liquid-propellant rocket engines on high-boiling propellants. Rocket launch from TPK "cold". The missile hitting accuracy is less than 200 meters.

The combat railway missile system (BZHRK) is outwardly indistinguishable from a train with refrigerated and passenger cars. Each BZHRK is designed for long-term autonomous combat duty on patrol routes. Missiles can be launched from any point on the route. The railway carriage 26 meters long and 3 meters wide contains a launch container 21.25 meters long with an RS-22 rocket. In 1990, 18 of these missiles were placed on six trains. In 1991, it was decided to discontinue the production of rail-based ICBMs. "

One of the most successful is the RS-12M Topol (SS-25) mobile ground-based missile system. The three-stage solid-fuel ICBM RT-2PM weighing 45 tons with a monoblock one-ton nuclear warhead was created at the Moscow Institute of Heat Engineering. The chief designer was Lagutin. The first flight test of the rocket was carried out on February 8, 1983, and already in 1985 the rocket entered service. They produced RT-2PM missiles in Votkinsk. The vehicle on which the rocket is based, a semi-axle type MAZ-7310, is manufactured at the Barrikady plant in Volgograd.

The RT-2PM rocket spends its entire "life" in a special launch container 22 meters long and 2 meters in diameter. A hundred-ton launcher with a very solid size has amazing mobility.

The Poplar can be launched from any point on the combat patrol route. In addition, this complex has great survivability and combat effectiveness, hitting accuracy - two hundred meters.

On July 31, 1991, when the START treaty was signed, the USSR and the USA exchanged official data (in the USSR, there were 1398 ICBMs in service, of which 321 were mobile).

The collapse of the USSR and the most acute economic crisis made it unrealistic to produce more than one type of ground-based ICBMs with a monoblock head in Russia.

On January 3, 1993, Russia and the United States signed a START-2 treaty, according to which, by 2003, land-based ICBMs with MIRVs are being destroyed or refitted. Only ICBMs with monobloc warheads remain. Shafts for launching heavy missiles are being liquidated or converted into monoblock ones.

Therefore, heavy ICBMs are being replaced by the Topol-M universal complex for mine and mobile basing. The Topol-M2 silo version will replace the RS-2 (SS-18) missiles and some of the RS-18 (SS-19) missiles.

Topol-M (RS-12M2, according to NATO classification SS-27) is a three-stage solid-propellant silo-based missile with a monoblock warhead. This is the first ICBM created exclusively by Russian design bureaus and factories. Her design features are such that they allow to overcome the most modern missile defense system. It is planned to equip one regiment with new missiles every year, that is, to purchase ten Topol-Ms every year.

May 10th, 2016

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

At large launch ranges, the payload of an intercontinental ballistic missile goes into space for many hundreds of kilometers. It rises into the layer of low-orbit satellites, 1000-1200 km above the Earth, and for a short time is located among them, only slightly lagging behind their general run. And then it starts to slide down along an elliptical trajectory ...

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

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

Close up, the warhead looks like an elongated cone, a meter or one and a half long, at the base as thick as a human body. The nose of the cone is pointed or slightly blunt. This cone is a special aircraft whose task is to deliver weapons to the target. We'll come back to warheads later and take a closer look at them.

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

Pull or push?

In the rocket, all the warheads are located in the so-called disengagement stage, or in the "bus". Why a bus? Because, having freed itself first from the fairing, and then from the last accelerating stage, the breeding stage carries the warheads, like passengers at the given stops, along their trajectories along which the deadly cones will disperse to their targets.

Another "bus" is called a combat stage, because its work determines the accuracy of aiming the warhead at the target point, and hence the combat effectiveness. The breeding stage and its work is one of the most big secrets in a rocket. But we will nevertheless take a slight, schematic look at this mysterious step and at its difficult dance in space.

The dilution stage has different shapes... Most often, it looks like a round stump or a wide loaf of bread, on which the warheads are mounted on top, pointed forward, each on its own spring pusher. The warheads are positioned in advance at precise separation angles (at the missile base, manually, with theodolites) and look in different directions, like a bunch of carrots, like a hedgehog's needles. The platform bristling with warheads takes a given, gyro-stabilized position in flight. And at the right time, warheads are pushed out from it one by one. They are pushed out immediately after the end of acceleration and separation from the last acceleration stage. Until (you never know what?) Did not shoot down all this undiluted hive with an anti-missile weapon or refused something on board the breeding stage.

But this was the case before, at the dawn of multiple warheads. Breeding is now a very different picture. If earlier the warheads "stuck out" forward, now the step itself is in front, and the warheads hang from below, with their tops back, inverted, like the bats... The "bus" itself in some rockets also lies upside down, in a special recess in the upper stage of the rocket. Now, after separation, the breeding stage does not push, but drags the warheads behind it. Moreover, it drags, resting on the crosswise spaced four "paws" deployed in front. At the ends of these metal legs there are rearward-directed traction nozzles of the stage of dilution. After separating from the acceleration stage, the "bus" very precisely, precisely sets its movement in the incipient space with the help of its own powerful guidance system. Itself takes the exact path of the next warhead - its individual path.

Then special inertialess locks are opened, holding the next detachable warhead. And not even separated, but simply now, no longer connected with the stage, the warhead remains motionless here, in complete weightlessness. The moments of her own flight began and flowed. Like one single berry next to a bunch of grapes with other warhead grapes not yet ripped off the stage by the breeding process.

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

Delicate movements

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

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

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

Abyss of mathematics

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

The dilution stage does its job quite low, immediately after the booster stages are turned off. That is, at an altitude of 100-150 km. And there, the influence of gravitational anomalies of the Earth's surface, heterogeneities in an even gravitational field surrounding the Earth is also affected. Where are they from? From the uneven terrain mountain systems, occurrence of rocks of different density, oceanic troughs. Gravitational anomalies either attract the step to themselves by additional attraction, or, conversely, slightly release it from the Earth.

In such irregularities, complex ripples of the local gravitational field, the stage of disengagement should place the warheads with precision. For this, it was necessary to create a more detailed map of the Earth's gravitational field. It is better to "explain" the features of a real field in systems differential equations describing precise ballistic motion. These are large, capacious (to include details) systems of several thousand differential equations, with several tens of thousands of constant numbers. And the gravitational field itself at low altitudes, in the immediate near-earth region, is considered as the joint attraction of several hundred point masses of different "weights" located near the center of the Earth in a certain order. This is how a more accurate simulation of the real gravitational field of the Earth on the rocket flight path is achieved. And more precise work with it flight control systems. And also ... but complete! - let's not look further and close the door; what has been said is enough for us.

R-36M intercontinental ballistic missile Voivode Voivode,

Flight without warheads

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

Short, but intense.

The payload of an ICBM spends most of its flight in space object mode, rising to a height three times the ISS height. The trajectory of enormous length must be calculated with particular accuracy.

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

The metal scissors open up and become electric dipole reflectors - there are many of them, and they reflect well the radio signal of the probing beam of the anti-missile radar. Instead of ten required fat ducks, the radar sees a huge blurry flock of small sparrows, in which it is difficult to make out something. Devices of all shapes and sizes reflect different wavelengths.

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

Photo - start intercontinental missile Trident II (USA) from a submarine. Trident is currently the only ICBM family to be deployed on American submarines. The maximum throwable weight is 2800 kg.

The last segment

Aerodynamically, however, the stage is not a warhead. If that is a small and heavy narrow carrot, then the step is an empty vast bucket, with echoing empty fuel tanks, a large, non-streamlined body and a lack of orientation in the stream that starts to run. With its wide body with decent windage, the step responds much earlier to the first blows of the oncoming stream. In addition, the warheads deploy along the stream, piercing the atmosphere with the least aerodynamic drag. The step, on the other hand, piles on the air with its vast sides and bottoms as necessary. She cannot fight the braking force of the flow. Its ballistic coefficient - a "fusion" of massiveness and compactness - is much worse than a warhead. It immediately and strongly begins to slow down and lag behind the warheads. But the forces of the flow grow inexorably, at the same time the temperature heats up the thin unprotected metal, depriving it of its strength. Fuel leftovers boil merrily in hot-water tanks. Finally, there is a loss of stability of the hull structure under the aerodynamic load that has compressed it. Overloading helps to smash the bulkheads inside. Krak! Bastard! The crumpled body is immediately engulfed by hypersonic shock waves, tearing the stage into pieces and scattering them. Flying a little in the thickening air, the pieces break down again into smaller fragments. Residual fuel reacts instantly. Flying fragments of structural elements made of magnesium alloys are ignited by hot air and instantly burn out with a dazzling flash, similar to a camera flash - it was not for nothing that magnesium was set on fire in the first flashbulbs!

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

Time does not stand still.

Raytheon, Lockheed Martin and Boeing completed the first and key stage associated with the development of the Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle (EKV), which is part of mega-project - a global missile defense developed by the Pentagon based on interceptor missiles, each of which is capable of carrying MULTIPLE KILL VEHICLES (MKV) to destroy ICBMs with multiple, as well as "dummy" warheads

"The milestone achieved is an important part of the concept development phase," spokeswoman Raytheon said, adding that it "is in line with MDA's plans and is the basis for further concept agreement planned for December."

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

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

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

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

Russia is also moving forward.

According to open sources, this year the first launch of the new RS-28 Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile will take place, which should replace the previous generation of RS-20A missiles, known under NATO's classification as Satan, while we have it as Voevoda. ...

The RS-20A ballistic missile (ICBM) development program was implemented as part of the "guaranteed retaliatory strike" strategy. The policy of President Ronald Reagan to exacerbate the confrontation between the USSR and the United States forced an adequate response to cool the ardor of the "hawks" from the presidential administration and the Pentagon. American strategists believed that they were quite capable of providing such a level of protection of their country's territory from an attack by Soviet ICBMs that one could simply not give a damn about the international agreements reached and continue to improve their own nuclear potential and anti-missile defense (ABM) systems. "Voivoda" was just another "asymmetric response" to Washington's actions.

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

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

As expected by The National Interest, the Sarmat missile will weigh at least 100 tons, and the mass of its warhead can reach 10 tons. This means, the publication continues, that the rocket will be able to carry up to 15 multiple thermonuclear warheads.
"The range of the Sarmat will be at least 9500 kilometers. When it is put into service, it will be the largest missile in world history," the article says.

According to reports that appeared in the press, NPO Energomash will become the head enterprise for the production of the rocket, and the engines will be supplied by the Permian Proton-PM.

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

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

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

If this happens, efforts to deploy missile defense systems in Europe could be wasted, since the missile's launch trajectory is such that it is unclear exactly where the warheads will be aimed.

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

First prototypes new rocket already built. Start-up tests are scheduled for the current year. If the tests are successful, the serial production of Sarmat missiles will begin, and in 2018 they will enter service.

sources

The comparative assessment was carried out according to the following parameters:

firepower(the number of warheads (BB), the total power of the BB, the maximum firing range, accuracy - KVO)
design perfection (launch mass of the rocket, overall characteristics, relative density of the rocket - the ratio of the launch mass of the rocket to the volume of the transport and launch container (TPK))
operation (basing method - a mobile-soil missile system (PGRK) or placement in a silo launcher (silo), the time of the interregulation period, the possibility of extending the warranty period)

The sum of points in all parameters gave overall assessment compared ICBM. At the same time, it was taken into account that each ICBM taken from a statistical sample, when compared with other ICBMs, was estimated based on technical requirements of its time.

The variety of land-based ICBMs is so great that the sample includes only ICBMs that are currently in service and have a range of more than 5,500 km. by placing them only on submarines).

Intercontinental ballistic missiles

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

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

Introduced into service, year - 1988
Fuel - liquid
Number of accelerating stages - 2

Length, m - 34.3
Maximum diameter, m - 3.0
Launch weight, t - 211.4
Start - mortar (for silos)
Throwing weight, kg - 8 800
Flight range, km -11 000 - 16 000
The number of BB, power, kt -10X550-800
KVO, m - 400 - 500

28.5

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

15A18M is capable of carrying platforms with several dozen (from 20 to 36) nuclear MIRVs of individual guidance, as well as maneuvering warheads. It is equipped with a PCB missile defense system, which makes it possible to break through an echeloned missile defense system using weapons based on new physical principles. R-36M2 are on duty in ultra-protected silo launchers that are resistant to shock waves at a level of about 50 MPa (500 kg / sq. Cm).

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

The missile is covered with a dark heat-shielding coating that facilitates the passage of the cloud of a nuclear explosion. It is equipped with a system of sensors, sensors measuring neutron and gamma radiation, registering a dangerous level and turning off the control system during the passage of a nuclear explosion cloud, which remains stabilized until the missile leaves the danger zone, after which the control system turns on and corrects the trajectory.

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

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

Basic tactical and technical characteristics (TTX):

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

The sum of points for all parameters - 19.5

The most powerful and advanced American ICBM, the MX three-stage solid-propellant missile, was equipped with ten with a yield of 300 kt. It possessed increased resistance to the impact of the PFNV and had the ability to overcome the existing missile defense, limited by an international treaty.

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

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

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

Basic tactical and technical characteristics (TTX):

Put into service, year - 2009
Fuel - solid
Number of accelerating stages - 3
Length, m - 22.0
Maximum diameter, m - 1.58
Launch weight, t - 47.1
Start - mortar
Throwing weight, kg - 1 200
Flight range, km - 11 000
The number of BB, power, kt - 4X300
KVO, m - 150

The sum of points for all parameters - 17.7

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

The rocket enters service in the factory transport and launch container (TPK), in which it conducts its entire service. The body of the missile product is coated with special compounds to reduce the effects of a nuclear explosion. Probably, the composition was additionally applied according to the "stealth" technology.

The guidance and control system (SNU) is an autonomous inertial control system with an on-board digital computer (BCVM), astrocorrection is probably used. Presumptive developer of the control system Moscow Scientific Research Center for Instrumentation and Automation.

The use of the active section of the trajectory was reduced. To improve the speed characteristics at the end of the third stage, it is possible that a turn with the direction of zero increment of the distance is used to complete the last stage fuel reserve.

The instrumentation compartment is completely sealed. The rocket is capable of overcoming the cloud of a nuclear explosion at the start and performing a programmed maneuver. For testing, the missile is likely to be equipped with a telemetry system - the T-737 Triada receiver.

To counteract the means of missile defense, the missile is equipped with a countermeasures complex. From November 2005 to December 2010, tests of anti-missile defense systems using the Topol and K65M-R missiles were carried out.

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

Basic tactical and technical characteristics (TTX):

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

The sum of points for all parameters - 16.6

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

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

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

The American magazine "Air Force Missile Association" called the UR-100N UTTH missile "one of the most outstanding technical developments." Cold War". The first complex, even with UR-100N missiles, was put on alert in 1975 with a guaranteed service life of 10 years. During its creation, all the best design solutions worked out on previous generations of" hundredths "were implemented.

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

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

4:57 / 10.02.12

Intercontinental ground-based ballistic missiles of Russia and foreign countries (rating)

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

The comparative assessment was carried out according to the following parameters:

firepower (number of warheads (AP), total AP power, maximum firing range, accuracy - CEP)
design perfection (launch mass of the rocket, overall characteristics, relative density of the rocket - the ratio of the launch mass of the rocket to the volume of the transport and launch container (TPK))
operation (basing method - a mobile-soil missile system (PGRK) or placement in a silo launcher (silo), the time of the interregulation period, the possibility of extending the warranty period)

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

The variety of land-based ICBMs is so great that the sample includes only ICBMs that are currently in service and have a range of more than 5,500 km. by placing them only on submarines).

Intercontinental ballistic missiles

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

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

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

Introduced into service, year - 1988
Fuel - liquid
Number of accelerating stages - 2
Length, m - 34.3
Maximum diameter, m - 3.0
Launch weight, t - 211.4
Start - mortar (for silos)
Throwing weight, kg - 8 800
Flight range, km -11 000 - 16 000
The number of BB, power, kt -10X550-800
KVO, m - 400 - 500

The total of points in all parameters - 28.5

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

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

Basic tactical and technical characteristics (TTX):

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

The total of points in all parameters - 19.5

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

Basic tactical and technical characteristics (TTX):

Put into service, year - 2009
Fuel - solid
Number of accelerating stages - 3
Length, m - 22.0
Maximum diameter, m - 1.58
Launch weight, t - 47.1
Start - mortar
Throwing weight, kg - 1 200
Flight range, km - 11 000
The number of BB, power, kt - 4X300
KVO, m - 150

The total score for all parameters is 17.7

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

new platform for breeding blocks with warheads
retrofitting of some part of the missile control system
increased payload

The guidance and control system (SNU) is an autonomous inertial control system with an on-board digital computer (BCVM), astrocorrection is probably used. Presumable developer of the control system Moscow Scientific and Production Center of Instrument Making and Automation.

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

Basic tactical and technical characteristics (TTX):

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

The total score for all parameters is 16.6

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

The American magazine "Air Force Missile Association" called the UR-100N UTTH missile one of the most outstanding technical developments of the Cold War. The first complex, even with UR-100N missiles, was put on alert in 1975 with a guaranteed service life of 10 years. During its creation, all the best design solutions worked out on previous generations of "hundred parts" were implemented.

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

Views

Intercontinental ground-based ballistic missiles of Russia and foreign countries (rating). Maximum flight altitude of a ballistic missile

Design

Operating principle

Classification

Basing method

Engines

Indicators

Peaceful use

see also

Notes (edit)

Links

Intercontinental ground-based ballistic missiles of Russia and foreign countries (rating)

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

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

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

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