Drown half of California with one blow: what is the Sarmat ICBM capable of? Deadly “filling”: what is the main secret of the newest Sarmat missile system New Russian Sarmat ballistic missile

In early January, at a meeting at the Ministry of Defense, the head of the military department, Sergei Shoigu, instructed to prepare a draft of a new State armament program for 2018–2025 by July. Particular attention, according to the minister, in this program should be paid to the creation of a promising missile complex strategic purpose, which is being made at the Krasnoyarsk Machine-Building Plant, where Shoigu has flown more than once, personally supervising the process. Moreover, the minister demanded that reports on this project be heard at the military department every day until the work entered into the approved schedule. What kind of complex this is, the creation of which is receiving such increased attention, the minister did not specify at the meeting. However, it was already clear to everyone that we're talking about about the heavy intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) “Sarmat”, which should replace the famous “Satan”.

Why do we need a new heavy ICBM?

This story was told to me by the former head of the military security department of the Security Council apparatus, chief of the Main Staff of the Strategic Missile Forces (1994–1996), Colonel General Viktor Esin: - In 1997 - then I visited the USA for the first time as part of a delegation from Russia - we went with Americans on a bus in San Francisco, chatting, joking... Suddenly I saw a lighthouse through the window and said: “Oh, this lighthouse is familiar to me.” - “Where,” the Americans ask, “are you in California for the first time?” “You forgot that I was involved in nuclear planning, and this beacon was the aiming point for our missiles. There's a fault running right next to it. earth's crust. If you hit it, half of California will immediately slide into the ocean."

The bus became quiet. Nobody joked anymore. All the Americans traveling with us lived in San Francisco, and in the event of such a strike, their city, along with their homes and families, would also be buried by the ocean... Later, intercontinental ballistic missiles R-36ORB (orbital), which could fly around the globe and hit the California lighthouse , were destroyed under the SALT I Treaty - the world briefly became safer. But when the United States again confronted Russia with the fact of deploying its global missile defense system, including in Europe, directly on our borders, it became clear that this supposed “defense system” against some mythical threat, either Iranian or North Korean, actually pursues the goal of leveling out the Russian nuclear potential. Moreover, the deployment of a global missile defense system will allow the country that owns this system to be the first to strike strategic, including nuclear, targets of its potential enemy under the pretext of preempting his attack. In fact, the creation of a global missile defense system makes it possible for the United States to implement an offensive military doctrine. Defense in this situation can be either the deployment of a similar missile defense system - which is very expensive, or the creation of a retaliatory strike weapon, capable in any case of providing guaranteed retaliation to the aggressor. This is much less costly in an economic sense and more effective in a military sense. This is precisely the step that Russia chose as a response to the deployment of US missile defense. Creating a new one heavy complex, which would fundamentally solve the problem of strategic containment of the United States, was also important because any technology, including nuclear carriers, tends to age. Until recently, the basis of the Strategic Missile Forces were carriers of the R-36M “Voevoda” (aka “Satan”), which no missile defense system was able to intercept. “Satan” carried ten powerful warheads to the target, while simultaneously releasing thousands of false ones, creating an absolutely hopeless situation for the enemy’s missile defense system. These still Soviet ICBMs were made in the city of Dnepropetrovsk, in Ukraine. After the collapse of the USSR, their maintenance and extension of terms became too problematic, and in the light of recent political events, even impossible. That is why, with the gradual decommissioning of the “Satan” Strategic Missile Forces, the creation of a similar heavy nuclear carrier has become especially relevant.

What is already known about Sarmat

Sarmatians (translated from ancient Greek as “lizard-eyed”, lat. sarmatae) is the common name of Iranian-speaking nomadic tribes that inhabited vast territories between the Tobol rivers (Kustanay region of Kazakhstan, Kurgan and Tyumen regions of the Russian Federation) and the Danube.

So far there is not much information about the Sarmat missile - work is being carried out in secrecy. However, something is gradually becoming known to specialists and the media, although these data sometimes look quite contradictory. These are the approximate characteristics of the future missile: - the weight of the Sarmat is planned to be two times lighter than the old Satan - about 100 tons, but at the same time, from the point of view of combat characteristics, the Sarmat will have monstrous strength, sharply exceeding the parameters of the Satan "; - the rocket will be equipped additional funds overcoming the US missile defense system with a hypersonic maneuvering warhead, which in the West is called Yu-71; - “Sarmat” uses liquid fuel and will be able to cover more than 11 thousand km in flight, while carrying combat equipment weighing 4350 kg; - most likely the new Sarmat missile will have two stages; - according to Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov, “Sarmat” will not have restrictions in the direction combat use. That is, one of the central ideas of the Sarmat ICBM is the revival of the concept of “orbital bombardment”, previously implemented in the Soviet R-36ORB missile, which is an excellent means of overcoming missile defense, allowing you to attack targets on US territory along multiple trajectories, including through South Pole bypassing deployed missile defense systems. This will require the United States to create a “circular missile defense system,” which is significantly more expensive than the individual THAAD batteries currently deployed on the normal flight path of Russian warheads from silo-based ICBMs.

Creation and testing of a new rocket

Work on the heavy ICBM project began in 2009. For two years, the designers of the Makeev State Missile Center (Miass, Chelyabinsk Region) worked on the rocket. They did not follow the path of modernizing the well-known “Satan”, choosing the more difficult path of creating a completely new product with unique combat characteristics.

True, in order to reduce the cost of creating a missile, as well as speed up the time for its adoption into service, the developers proposed to use as much as possible in the design of the Sarmat already proven components and elements from other serial missiles, which was quite justified and gave the desired effect. For example, according to some information, Sarmat uses a modernized version of the Russian RD-264 engine, already proven in practice for the R-36M, and therefore tests of the propulsion system were completed quickly and successfully. Just two years after the start of work on the project, the developers were already able to begin flight testing of the product.

True, the first launches, which took place in the fall of 2011, were unsuccessful, which, however, is quite natural. But a year later the rocket took off. And on October 25, 2016, residents of villages located near the Kura test site witnessed the successful test of a hypersonic warhead and even managed to film its plasma trail as it maneuvered in the atmosphere along an unpredictable trajectory. But no detailed information about the tests was officially released. Starts were carried out from the site of one of military units, from a mine (Orenburg region, area of ​​​​the village of Dombrovsky), where the Voevoda missile was previously stationed. The flight of both the missile and its warheads took place along a “closed route,” which seriously complicated tracking of the tests by US telemetry control.

Fuel efficiency

Sarmat is a rocket that will use liquid fuel. This criterion initially caused a lot of controversy. Opponents of this idea insisted that a liquid-fuel rocket is outdated, and that solid-fuel rockets use more modern technologies, besides, they are more convenient to maintain. The Americans abandoned liquid rockets a long time ago. But designers from the Makeev State Research Center, which is one of the recognized rocket centers, which has specialized in the creation of liquid-propellant rockets since Soviet times, defended their positions. The fact is that the largest part The weight of any ICBM comes from the fuel contained in its stages. According to this criterion, all launch vehicles are conventionally divided into three types: - light, weighing up to 50 tons; - medium, weighing from 51 to 100 tons; - heavy, weighing up to 200 tons.

The fuel parameters of an ICBM directly affect its range: the more fuel a rocket has, the farther it flies. Opponents of heavy liquid-propellant rockets have always argued that the low weight of a rocket is its advantage. Such ICBMs do not require large silos and, due to their relatively small size, are easier to transport and maintain. Solid-fuel missiles have a shorter (two to four times) active trajectory section, which is very important for overcoming enemy missile defenses. In addition, thanks to the use of solid fuel, the service life of such a rocket is significantly increased, which means it is cheaper for the budget.

In addition, from an environmental point of view, solid fuel is much preferable to liquid fuel, the components of which are extremely toxic (liquid rocket fuel heptyl is more toxic, for example, than hydrocyanic acid). However, despite all the advantages, a solid-fuel rocket has one significant drawback that can cover all its advantages: the energy efficiency of solid fuel is lower than liquid.

This means that a liquid-fueled missile is capable of carrying a significantly larger number of warheads, including a larger set of decoys, and therefore a liquid-fueled missile has an advantage over a solid-fuel missile in terms of protection from missile defense in the ballistic and, most importantly, final sections due to a larger set of quasi-heavy decoys , which are a big problem for the missile defense system, since it simply does not have time to recognize and distinguish them from real ones.

In addition, specifically for Russia, the following fact was important: from 2000 to 2009, our Strategic Missile Forces were reduced from 756 ICBMs with 3,540 warheads to 367 ICBMs with 1,248 warheads, that is, by half in missiles and three times in warheads. This happened due to the fact that all these years the Strategic Missile Forces received only solid-fuel monoblock ICBMs, and mostly liquid-propellant multi-charge missiles were removed from service. This failure could only be compensated for by the creation of a new heavy multi-charge ICBM, which was supposed to be liquid-fuelled.

Warhead of the new ICBM

The design of the new rocket contains many unique technical solutions, one of which, judging by the information coming from the military, was the combat unit. According to Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov, the Sarmat ICBM will be equipped with maneuvering warheads. In this regard, a number of experts believe that if we are talking specifically about warheads maneuvering in the atmosphere, then the warheads are in some way the completion of the innovative Albatross atmospheric flight control project, which began to be developed for the R-36 in 1987.

The Albatross project was based on a proposal for a controlled warhead, which was supposed to be able to perform an evasion maneuver against anti-missile missiles. The block detected the launch of an enemy anti-missile missile, changed the flight path and evaded it. Such a missile system, with increased capabilities to overcome layered missile defense, was conceived as an asymmetric response of the USSR to the US deployment of the SDI program (Strategic Defense Initiative). The new missile was supposed to have maneuvering, gliding (winged) warheads with hypersonic speed, which could perform maneuvers with a range of up to 1000 km in azimuth when entering the atmosphere at speeds of the order of 5.8–7.5 km/s or Mach 17–22 . In 1991, it was planned to begin testing the complex, and in 1993 to begin its mass production, however, after the collapse of the USSR, these plans were never realized. And now, apparently, the Sarmat designers, going in the same direction, were able to make significant progress in creating a warhead that moves in hypersonic mode and at the same time maintains a high maneuvering speed. According to some reports, "Sarmat", like "Satan", will have at least 10 individually targeted units.

Only in the new rocket will they combine the qualities of the two most different types weapons: cruise and hypersonic missiles, which until now was technically considered incompatible, since cruise missiles with a flat trajectory could not fly very quickly.

Anyway, American missiles cannot withstand such conditions, resulting in a transition to supersonic, which allows Russian funds Anti-aircraft defense to “catch” them. The Americans are generally very concerned about the incoming information regarding the work on the Sarmat project. According to their military experts, high-precision hypersonic warheads Yu-71 for the first time can fundamentally change the strategy and tactics of using ICBMs. According to American analysts, the Yu-71 could make it possible to use Russian and Soviet ICBMs in local wars according to the “ global impact", with the destruction of strategic objects by the kinetic energy of the warhead without the use nuclear explosion. Hypersonic maneuvering warheads, due to maneuvering, can hit moving targets and, when developed into anti-ship weapons, pose a major threat large ships The United States, because it is capable of hitting them, despite the most advanced missile defense systems.

Basing of Sarmat missiles

It is clear that the missiles that pose such a serious threat would be destroyed by the enemy, who was planning to be the first to launch a nuclear strike, immediately, already in the initial phase of the war, so as not to receive a retaliatory strike on his own strategic targets. That is why the silos where the Sarmat missiles will be located - and they will be placed in the same place where the old heavy liquid-propellant missiles RS-18 and RS-20 were previously based - will be seriously modernized. They are planned to be equipped with multi-level protection: active - with missile defense and air defense systems, and passive - with fortifications. As experts say, in order to be guaranteed to destroy the Sarmat missile, the enemy would have to strike at least seven precise nuclear strikes in the area where the missile silo installation is based, which is practically impossible with the new multi-level protection.

The world's first combat thermonuclear charge/bomb with a thermonuclear charge. Developed by KB-11 (now - VNIIEF, Sarov), heads of theoretical development sectors - Ya.B.Zeldovich (RDS-6t) and A.D.Sakharov (RDS-6s), chief designer and scientific director of KB-11 - Yu.B. Khariton.

In 1945, I.V. Kurchatov, through intelligence channels, received information about research on the thermonuclear problem being conducted in the United States, which began in 1942 on the initiative of Edward Teller. His ideas were discussed with leading participants in the Manhattan Project and formed into a coherent concept by the end of 1945. According to this concept, the hydrogen bomb was called the “Classic Super” (or simply Super). On the instructions of I.V. Kurchatov, in December 1945, a group of Soviet physicists under the leadership of Yu.B. Khariton carried out a preliminary analysis of the possibilities of creating thermonuclear weapons. On December 17, 1945, Ya.B. Zeldovich reported on the results of this work to the technical council of the Special Committee. Next, a group from the Institute of Chemical Physics of the USSR Academy of Sciences (Ya.B. Zeldovich, A.S. Kompaneets and S.P. Dyakov) began researching one of possible options development of a thermonuclear reaction. This option (RDS-6t, “pipe”) was chosen based on reconnaissance data. Incoming information about the “superbomb” could not but cause serious concern among the leadership of the USSR ( ist. - Veselovsky).

Since 1946, the group of Ya.B. Zeldovich (A.S. Kompaneets and S.P. Dyakov) from the Institute of Chemical Physics carried out calculations of the thermonuclear detonation of deuterium. On April 23, 1948, L.P. Beria instructed B.L. Vannikov, I.V. Kurchatov and Yu.B. Khariton to analyze intelligence materials using the Fuchs-von Neumann system, transmitted by Klaus Fuchs. The conclusion on the materials was presented on May 5, 1948. The Resolution of the USSR Council of Ministers dated June 10, 1948 set the creation atomic bombs, RDS-4, RDS-5 and hydrogen bomb RDS-6 ( ist. - Andryushin). On February 8, 1948, the Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR “On the work of KB-11” was adopted, which provided for the dispatch of Ya.B. Zeldovich to the “facility”. The appearance of information from K. Fuchs forced these works to be accelerated ( ist. - Veselovsky).

Based on the examination of B.L. Vannikov, I.V. Kurchatov and Yu.B. Khariton, I.V. Stalin approved on June 10, 1948, measures designed to give a conclusion within a year about the reality of creating a hydrogen bomb. IN Physical Institute them. P.N. Lebedev of the USSR Academy of Sciences created a group of theorists under the leadership of I.E. Tamm, which included A.D. Sakharov, V.L. Ginzburg, Yu.A. Romanov, S.Z. Belenkiy and E.S. Fradkin ( ist. - Veselovsky). In the fall of 1948 A.D. Sakharov, independently of Edward Teller, came up with the idea of ​​a heterogeneous scheme with alternating layers of deuterium and U-238 (“puff”). The underlying principle of ionization compression of thermonuclear fuel is called “saccharization” (“first idea”). At the end of 1948, V.L. Ginzburg proposed using lithium deuteride 6 as a thermonuclear fuel (“second idea”). At the direction of B.L. Vannikova on May 8, 1949, Yu.B. Khariton prepared a conclusion, noting that the main idea of ​​A.D. Sakharov’s proposal was “extremely witty and physically obvious” and supported the work on “puff pastry” ( ).

On February 26, 1950, Resolution of the USSR Council of Ministers No. 827-303ss/op “On work on the creation of RDS-6” was issued ( ist. - Goncharov G.A...). Which obliged the First Main Directorate (PGU), Laboratory No. 2 of the USSR Academy of Sciences and KB-11 to carry out computational, theoretical, experimental and design work on the creation of the RDS-6s (“Puff Puff”) and RDS-6t (“Pipe”) product. First of all, the RDS-6s product was to be created with a TNT equivalent of 1 million tons and a mass of up to 5 tons. The resolution provided for the use of tritium not only in the design of the RDS-6t, but also in the design of the RDS-6s. The production date for the first copy of the RDS-6s product was set at 1954. Yu.B. was appointed scientific supervisor of the work on the creation of the RDS-6s and RDS-6t products. Khariton, his deputies I.E. Tamm (RDS-6s) and Ya.B. Zeldovich (RDS-6t). In terms of the RDS-6s, the decree obligated the production of a model of the RDS-6s product with a small amount of tritium by May 1, 1952, and a field test of this model in June 1952 to test and clarify the theoretical and experimental foundations of the RDS-6s. By October 1952, proposals for the design of a full-scale RDS-6s product were to be submitted. The resolution prescribed the creation in KB-11 of a theoretical calculation group for work on RDS-6s under the leadership of I.E. Tamm ( ist. - Andryushin I.A., Ilkaev R.I....).

On the same day, Resolution of the USSR Council of Ministers No. 828-304 “On the organization of tritium production” was issued. Soon, Resolutions of the USSR Council of Ministers were adopted on the organization of production of lithium-6 deuteride and the construction of a specialized reactor for the production of tritium ( ist. - Andryushin I.A., Ilkaev R.I....).

One of the latest achievements domestic “missile men” is the RS-28 intercontinental ballistic missile, also known as “Sarmat”. The ICBM has not yet been put into service (although this is already planned for 2019), but has already managed to take part in a war - of course, not in a nuclear war, but in an information war.

Despite the fact that at best approximate estimates were officially announced specifications weapons, reports appeared in the press about how good and perfect “Sarmat” was. In any case, the missile, which is designed to replace the legendary R-36M, simply has no right to be unsuccessful.

History of creation

The R-36M silo-based intercontinental missiles, which received the respectful nickname “Satan” in NATO, remained the basis of Russian missiles for a long time. strategic forces. However, these weapons, the first samples of which went into service in the mid-70s, have become outdated. "Satan" still has truly "Satanic" power, but is vulnerable to modern means missile defense. And the possibilities for further modernization are hampered by the fact that some of the R-36 developers remained on the territory of Ukraine.

As a result, the government decided to build a new missile equipped with anti-missile defense systems and capable of carrying non-nuclear warheads (kinetic action). Difficulties arose when choosing an engine. In rocket science, supporters were found for both solid-fuel engines and liquid-fuel engines. The first stated that solid fuel engines, due to the reduced throw mass, make it possible to build a light rocket suitable for launching from mobile installations.

The second objected - a solid-fuel ICBM, due to accelerated acceleration, is less vulnerable in the acceleration section, and a “liquid” one can carry more weapons active protection and therefore better protected precisely in the final section. This difficulty was resolved by issuing technical specifications for the design of two types of ICBMs at once. The R-36M was to be replaced by the RS-28 Sarmat missile.

The project is being implemented by the State Rocket Center named after Academician Makeev.

In the summer of 2016, the GRC successfully completed tests of the RS-99 engines, and at the end of 2017, it conducted throw tests of a rocket prototype.

There is even less information about the progress of design work and testing of the Yu-71 Avangard warheads. Only in 2016 local residents The trace left in the atmosphere by the maneuvering block was filmed. One way or another, the RS-28 should be put into service as early as 2019, and by 2025, as promised, it will completely replace the R-36M complex.

Design

The RS-28 Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile is designed for deployment in silo installations. In this case, it is proposed not to build new mines, but to use already built ones. Little is known for certain about the structure of the rocket. For example, data on the number of stages was not disclosed, and conclusions were drawn based on the analysis of official images of the rocket. So far, it is believed that the Sarmat has 3 stages, which is not very typical for an ICBM.

The RS-99 engines are modernized RD-624 engines used on the Satan.

The use of motors that have long been mastered in production and operation made it possible to reduce the development time of the rocket. RS-99 accelerate the Sarmat to a speed slightly lower than that required to launch the thrown mass into orbit.

Thanks to this, the RS-28 approaches the selected target along any trajectory, which will require probable enemy deploy missile defense systems based on the “all-round defense” principle. On the other hand, such an ICBM, without significant modifications, is capable of launching not only warheads into orbit, and after being removed from service, civilian satellites will be sent into space using the RS-28.

The Sarmat's warhead should consist of several (according to some sources, more than 10) hypersonic guided units Yu-71 Avnagard.

The characteristics of these units have not been officially reported; it is only known that they have their own engines and control systems, and the Yu-71 warhead contains multiple warheads.

Protection against missile defense is provided as high speed and the maneuverability of the Avangard, as well as the constant maneuvering of the head of the Sarmat, which throws out warheads along with decoys. The Yu-71 warheads may not be nuclear - hypersonic speed allows them to hit targets using kinetic energy.

But active protection systems are not limited to those built directly into the missile. Since launch silos cannot be moved, and their location is usually known, the launch site is covered by the Mozyr complex. Along the path of the approaching warhead, the Mozyr literally creates a continuous cloud of destructive elements.

Performance characteristics

In principle, the similarity in the mass-dimensional parameters of the missiles is explained by the fact that the Sarmat must be installed in the same silos. As for combat qualities, the “feature” of ICBMs is that exact specifications It’s difficult to test such weapons, and no one wants to do the testing “on themselves.” At the same time, to reports about the creation of new weapons mass destruction must be taken seriously.

RS-28 missiles are already positioned as a means of “de-escalating the conflict.” In the event of a threat of war, a launch is carried out. The targets become command posts and enemy air bases, making the continuation of the conflict impossible. The inability of current missile defense systems to fight hypersonic Avangards (and the lack of all-round protection) ensures the inevitability accurate hits.

At the same time, doubts have already been voiced that such a method can “reduce tension.”

For example, let's take the territory of the United States. ICBMs fly towards it for quite a long time, strategic objects have time to be evacuated during this time, and multiple warheads will only hit civilians.

Even before it was put into service, the RS-28 “Sarmat” became a sufficient “information feed” that made us think about the prospects for the development of missile defense and strategic weapons. How his combat duty will turn out is still unknown. But the possibility of re-equipment does not exclude the prospect that the new rocket, like the famous R-7, will contribute to the development of astronautics.

Video

The adoption of a new missile system with the RS-28 Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile is planned for 2021. On this moment the new one is undergoing a test cycle, and the bulk of the data on it remains secret for now. However, official sources have already managed to reveal some of the information about the project, thanks to which the main features and capabilities of the promising rocket have become known. The available data makes it possible to understand why the Sarmat ICBM poses a particular danger to a potential enemy.

Over the past few years, the command missile forces strategic purpose, as well as the military and political leadership of the country, repeatedly raised the topic of the Sarmat project and announced various information about it. As a result, it became known that in 2021 the Strategic Missile Forces will enter service with new complex with a heavy-class missile characterized by the highest characteristics. Such weapons are intended to replace the old R-36M Voevoda ICBMs and should use the same launchers.

Global weapons

It is known that the new RS-28 missile has an improved propulsion system, giving it highest performance. It has been noted many times in the past positive traits"Sarmat", powered by new efficient engines. It is the engines that make it possible to increase combat stability and combat effectiveness.

Due to the greater thrust of the engines, the RS-28 product differs from previous liquid-fueled ICBMs domestic production reduced duration of the active flight phase. This fact in a certain way complicates the operation of enemy missile defense systems that attack a target during acceleration, when it is most noticeable and vulnerable. In addition, this leads to the fact that during acceleration and entry into the trajectory, the Sarmat remains in a safe zone, inaccessible to enemy missile defense.

New engines (possibly in combination with certain combat equipment options) give the missile increased range characteristics. For example, back in 2014, Deputy Minister of Defense Yuri Borisov said that the new missile system has virtually no range restrictions. Sarmat warheads will be able to fly to their targets through the North or South Pole. This information was later confirmed by President Vladimir Putin. According to him, in terms of firing range, the new RS-28 ICBM is superior to the existing R-36M. However, both in the past and now, accurate data on the flight range are missing.

For some time now, the definition of “global weapon” has been used in relation to Sarmat. Indeed, the new propulsion system, in combination with certain variants of combat equipment, significantly increases the range of the missile system. To the area of ​​responsibility Russian missiles not only the territory of expected potential opponents, but also other areas globe. The practical value of such weapons is obvious.

Accurate strike

During last year’s sensational appeal to Federal Assembly V. Putin said that Sarmat will be able to carry a wide range of high-power nuclear weapons. It will surpass the Voyevoda in the number and power of warheads. It also provides the possibility of using advanced hypersonic gliding warheads - fundamentally new combat equipment with unique characteristics and opportunities.

From the president’s statements it follows that in the version of the carrier of a traditional multiple warhead with individual targeting units, the RS-28 will be able to carry at least 10 warheads. The power of each warhead is at least 800 kt. However, it is not yet entirely clear how exactly the Sarmat will surpass the Voevoda in the number and power of warheads and the composition of MIRVs. Along with the warheads, the warhead must contain decoys and other means of overcoming missile defense. Declared application modern systems, providing a breakthrough through existing and promising complexes defense

Of particular interest is the version of the RS-28 complex with the Avangard hypersonic maneuvering warhead. For now, such products are used with UR-100N UTTH missiles, but in the future they will be transferred to modern Sarmatians. According to known data, the Avangard product is a hypersonic glider with its own warhead, launched using an ICBM. Previously, domestic missile systems were not equipped with such products.

According to recent statements, in flight the Avangard glider can reach speeds of up to M=27. It carries a special warhead and is capable of delivering it to intercontinental ranges. A gliding flight with the ability to perform maneuvers makes effective interception impossible using existing air defense and missile defense systems. At the same time, increased accuracy of hitting targets is ensured.

Apparently, in the future, Sarmat ICBMs with different options combat equipment. However, the exact composition of the warheads and the proportions of different products in the overall group remain unknown, and are unlikely to be revealed in the foreseeable future.

Safe duty

From open data it follows that the RS-28 Sarmat ICBM is a milestone development of its kind. Obviously, missiles with enhanced combat characteristics become a priority target for a first strike by a potential enemy. Such risks were taken into account when developing a new Russian weapons. As far as we know, in parallel with Sarmat, new means for operating and protecting missiles are being created.

In the future, new types of missiles will be placed in existing silo launchers, freed from obsolete weapons. Such structures themselves have a high class of protection against direct impact, and in addition, they must be equipped with additional means. In 2013, work was resumed on the topic of active protection systems for silo launchers of missile systems. In the past, such a system has confirmed its capabilities in practice, and in the future, serial models of this kind will have to provide protection for Sarmatovs on duty.

If all current plans are implemented, the silo launcher of the Sarmat complex will become an extremely difficult target for the enemy’s first strike, capable of maintaining functionality with a high probability and providing a retaliatory attack. If an incoming ICBM warhead or other enemy weapon is detected, the KAZ silo will have to shoot it down at a safe distance. If the ammunition can pass through the defense systems, the missile will remain intact thanks to the robust launcher. It should be noted that methods passive protection Silo launchers and ICBMs have been developed for a long time, while active protection systems are new.

Threat from the future

The RS-28 Sarmat product is a serious threat to a potential enemy, but all the risks associated with it still remain problems of the future. The first missiles of the new type will go on duty in 2021, and a full replacement of the outdated R-36M will take place only a few years later. Thus, in the coming years, a potential enemy will be deterred mainly by existing ICBMs.

However, the moment of putting Sarmat into service is approaching, and the industry is doing everything necessary for this. In a new message to the Federal Assembly dated February 20, V. Putin mentioned the continuation of testing of the RS-28 product, but did not go into details. On the same day, the Zvezda TV channel published some data on the current successes of the project.

Last year, the stage of throwing tests of the new rocket was successfully completed. During these works, fifty design and testing tasks were completed. It was possible to confirm the correctness of the design solutions used in the project. Bench tests of rocket engines were also carried out. Underway practical work according to the breeding stage.

At the same time, industry is preparing for mass production of missiles and Ministry of Defense facilities for new tests. Thus, at the Plesetsk test site, the infrastructure for flight and state tests of Sarmat is being completed. The enterprises involved in the project are updating their production capacities, which will subsequently allow them to participate in the assembly of an experimental batch of missiles, and then master the series.

This year, the first test launch of a new missile should take place at the Plesetsk test site, followed by a full flight and destruction of a conditional target at the Kamchatka Kura test site. Flight tests should be completed in 2020-21, after which the missile system will be put into service. Next, full-fledged serial production will begin with the placement of missiles on duty.

It is in 2021 that the RS-28 ICBMs will begin to realize their potential and become a new military-political tool. At first they will solve common problems together with the outdated R-36M, but then they will completely displace them and completely occupy the corresponding niche. Most likely, updating the arsenals of heavy ICBMs will not lead to a noticeable change in quantitative indicators, and in the future there will be approximately the same number of Sarmatovs on duty as Voyevod currently costs. However, a noticeable increase should be expected qualitative nature, ensured by increased performance and new capabilities.

Thus, by the middle of the next decade, Russia will have a new promising instrument of strategic deterrence with special capabilities. The threat of retaliatory use of RS-28 Sarmat missiles, capable of breaking through any existing missile defense and deliver precise strikes using one or another combat equipment should have a sobering effect on overly ardent representatives of the potential enemy’s command.

Based on materials from sites:
http://mil.ru/
http://kremlin.ru/
https://tvzvezda.ru/
https://tass.ru/
https://ria.ru/
https://bmpd.livejournal.com/

By the middle of the twentieth century, humanity fell into a “nuclear trap.” Unlike all other types of weapons, simple quantitative and even qualitative superiority of WMD units of either side did not guarantee victory. The very fact of the massive use of nuclear warheads by one of the countries could lead to the death of almost all of humanity. Since the seventies, strategic parity has served as a guarantee of peace, but remains a tool for exerting political pressure.

First strike or guaranteed response?

The very presence and number of charges in modern period plays a secondary role. The urgent task now is either to be able to attack with impunity, or to provide guaranteed retribution to the aggressor. If the deployment of the American global missile defense system is intended to implement an offensive doctrine, then the creation of retaliatory weapons is a priority direction in the development of Russian strategic forces. Currently, the basis of the Strategic Missile Forces are the “Voevoda” carriers (aka “Satan”), which no anti-missile systems are able to intercept. These ICBMs were produced in the then Soviet city of Dnepropetrovsk, which became Ukrainian after the collapse of the USSR.

The complexes, for all their advantages, age, like any technology. Until recently, it was assumed that their service life would last until 2022, but political realities associated with very specific maintenance issues dictate a decrease in the time remaining before they are written off. The more urgent the task of adopting the new strategic carrier “Sarmat” becomes. In 2018, the missile should replace the Voyevoda missiles currently on combat duty in the silos.

Balance of power

At the moment, the nuclear weapons of all countries are distributed as follows: approximately 45% of all special ammunition belongs to the United States and the Russian Federation. The number of charges is known and, according to the START-3 treaty, is approximately 1,550 sea- and land-based, plus 700 for aircraft.

In terms of the number of speakers, the picture is somewhat different. The Americans have more of them (794 versus 528 Russians). This does not indicate any advantages of the potential enemy, but indicates that the United States has more monoblock systems.

So, 90% of all atomic (hydrogen, neutron) charges are in service with the Russian and American armies. The remaining 10% belongs to Britain, China, France and other countries of the “nuclear club”. It is difficult to assess which state will take which side in the event of a global conflict. It is possible that many of them (non-NATO members) will prefer neutrality.

New "Satan"?

By the end of the second decade of the 21st century, the Sarmat ballistic missile will replace the “Voevoda” - “Satan”, which performs the task of the guarantor of retaliation. IN Soviet times the number of RS-20Vs exceeded three hundred, now there are 52 of them. Each of them has ten warheads, a total of 520 warheads (750 kilotons of TNT equivalent) - this is practically a third of the entire land and sea strategic defense potential. The weight of the “Voevoda” is more than two hundred tons. updated, in 2015 the Strategic Missile Forces will receive fifty new complexes of other types, but they will have to perform other tasks. This is basically mobile installations, on duty in operational areas.

“Satan” is scary with two important capabilities: the ability to pass missile defense lines and its enormous destructive power. Each such carrier is capable of turning an entire industrial area or metropolis with its surroundings into a radioactive desert. The Sarmat heavy missile should replace the world's most powerful launch vehicle around the time it reaches thirty years of age, venerable for an ICBM.

The main difference between the new rocket

Design, development work and construction of new weapons were entrusted to the State Missile Center named after Makeev, located in the city of Miass ( Chelyabinsk region). The designers did not limit themselves to modernizing the already well-proven “Satan” and immediately chose for themselves the thorny path of pioneers. The goal was to create a more compact and lightweight design. This is exactly how the Sarmat was conceived - a missile whose characteristics were supposed to exceed those of all those previously in service with our Strategic Missile Forces. The main parameter of any ballistic projectile is its energy-to-weight ratio, that is, the ratio of mass to the force driving it. It was in this area that a breakthrough was planned. The 210-ton "Satan" is a heavy rocket. "Sarmat" weighs half as much.

Liquid fuel

Most of the rocket's mass comes from the fuel in the stages. All strategic carriers are conventionally divided into three main categories:

• light, weighing up to 50 tons;
• medium, weighing from 51 to 100 tons;
• heavy, weighing up to 200 tons, there are no large ones yet.

This gradation also determined the flight range: the more fuel, the longer the range. For example, the American Minutemen have a mass of 35 tons and belong to the light class. Light weight is a big advantage; such missiles require smaller silos and are easier to transport and hide. But almost all of them are solid fuel. And this provides a lot of advantages: shelf life is significantly increased, highly toxic components are not used, and maintenance is cheaper. But the trouble is that the energy saturation of solid fuel is lower than that of liquid fuel. So, “Sarmat” is a rocket with liquid fuel. Nothing more is known about the power plant, except that its power capacity is unparalleled in the world.

Tests

The construction of a new technical model is always associated with risk, but it is justified by the high effect in case of success.

Work on the project began in 2009. After two years of research, the design bureau began testing.

In the early autumn of 2011, the surroundings of the Kapustin Yar cosmodrome shook from powerful explosion. "Sarmat", a rocket on which great hopes were pinned, crashed to the ground a few minutes after launch. Subsequent launches were also unsuccessful.

Only a year later the launch was crowned with success. Basic ballistics parameters have been clarified. Tests have shown that the Sarmat liquid rocket can cover more than 11 thousand km, while carrying fighting compartment weighing 4350 kg. In May 2014, Deputy Minister of Defense Yu. Borisov announced that all work on the creation of a new strategic complex was proceeding as planned, without falling behind schedule. According to him, the new Sarmat missile has no restrictions in the direction of combat use and will be able to hit targets along trajectories passing through both poles of the planet. And this is very important, since NATO defense systems are not designed for such versatility.

Warhead

Unique energy and mass indicators do not exhaust the advantages that Sarmat has. The launch vehicle is, of course, a very important design element, but no less important is the warhead, which contains ten individually targeted parts. And he, apparently, is also unique. The fact is that each of the warheads combines the qualities of two different types of weapons: it behaves both like a winged one and like a hypersonic missile. Each of these types has until now had a clearly defined range of tasks. Until now, cruise missiles with a flat trajectory have not flown very quickly.

Winged hypersonic units

The properties of the warheads look contradictory. The fact is that a conventional cruise missile creeps up on its target at a relatively low speed. Using the terrain, hiding behind its unevenness, it is forced to be slow so that the electronic “brain” has time to evaluate obstacles and develop solutions to fly around them. For example, the American Tomahawk cruise missile moves at the speed of an ordinary passenger airliner (less than 900 km/h).

In addition, at cruise missile like the other one aircraft, there is mass, which means there is inertia, and the control actions of the air rudders must be proactive. This is how the Sarmat ICBM blocks operate. The missile, whose characteristics are close to hypersonic, maintains a flat trajectory after separation, which makes it impossible to intercept it.

Unpredictability

All the advantages of the unique system of individual control of the warheads of the separable warhead will be useless if the enemy is able to destroy the ICBM before it reaches the combat course. The Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile flies quickly, but its trajectory can at any moment leave the usual predictable arc - a parabola. Additional maneuvering engines change altitude, direction, speed, and then the onboard computer determines new flight parameters to reach the target. Such unpredictability is also characteristic of other types of modern Russian nuclear warheads; it has become their “calling card”, an asymmetric response to attempts by Western “friends” to ensure their own invulnerability and, as a consequence, the right of first strike.

Invulnerability on earth

The most desirable situation for an aggressor planning to launch a massive nuclear strike with impunity seems to be one in which the enemy is deprived of the opportunity to respond already in the initial phase of the war. This means that launchers submarines, aviation and ground carriers must be neutralized (destroyed) with the first salvo. However, such a desire has had a very low probability of coming true for many years. The mines in which the Sarmatians are supposed to be located have a multi-level degree of protection, both active (in the form of anti-missile systems and air defense) and passive ( high level security fortifications). To guarantee destruction of underground launcher it is required to deliver at least seven nuclear strikes with high precision on the operational deployment area covered effective means PRO. In addition, the locations of deployment are kept secret. The Sarmat missile itself is also a state secret, photos of which are practically not published, with the exception of not very clear photographs taken during test launches. Only information intended for the media and military analysts is published.

Mysterious "Sarmat"

A veil of mystery covers everything related to the creation of this complex. This is exactly the case when not every taxpayer will be able to find out in the near future where the funds allocated to them are going. Only scanty reports from news channels about successful launches and clear sky above your head serve as proof that public money is not being spent in vain.

In fact, very little is currently known about Sarmat. It is this class of carriers that, apparently, will play the role of the country’s main shield when interacting with mobile, sea- and air-based systems. Only some scattered information has been published about what the Sarmat missile is. Approximate performance characteristics are also given: the range of action exceeds 11 thousand km, but it is possible to hit targets through the South Pole.