Monstrous media trains about the Barguzin nuclear complex. Russia's "nuclear trains" are setting off. Performance characteristics of combat railway missile systems

Not so long ago, trains with nuclear missiles were a formidable weapon for the Land of the Soviets and an atomic nightmare for a potential enemy. A special group of 12 American satellites monitored the ghost trains without much success. But after the collapse of the USSR this unique weapon was hastily and thoroughly destroyed.

In recent years, the rearmament of the army has turned from a dream into a reality. The Ministry of Defense regularly adopts the latest designs military equipment and equipment.

Connoisseurs of Soviet heritage are clearly intrigued by reports from the Russian Ministry of Defense about the resumption of production of Combat Railway Missile Systems (BZHRK) at a new technological level.

The project was named “Barguzin”, and the new BZHRKs will be armed with missiles similar in design to the missiles of the Yars complexes. It was previously reported that the new rocket train would be created before 2018-2020.

Such a BZHRK was already in service with the Soviet Union in the 80s, but in accordance with the START-2 treaty rockets 15Zh61, which formed the basis of the Molodets complex, were dismantled and destroyed, and the trains themselves were scrapped.

Reporting that BZHRKs have suddenly become relevant again is, at the very least, incorrect. The relevance was there, has not gone away and will continue to be relevant in the future. But now the state leadership has enough political will to return to the railways a unique weapon that they tried, but could not create in the United States.

History of the creation of the BZHRK

The very creation of the BZHRK was a forced measure. Atomic trains were created as weapons of retaliation; they were supposed to hold probable enemy from the temptation to press the red button, and if this happens, then strike back.

In the early 70s, our intelligence obtained American plans creation of the BZHRK and its photographs. For the military and political leadership of the country, it was a shock: it was almost impossible to track a train moving around the country, and therefore to point a missile at it.

It turned out that the United States was creating a strategic system against which the USSR had no antidote. But if we cannot intercept, then at least we will create a similar threat, the CPSU Central Committee reasoned and set such a task for designer Vladimir Utkin, who headed the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau in Dnepropetrovsk.

It took Utkin only 3 years to show the military his rocket train project.

But then it turned out that the Americans themselves do not create anything like this. They only planted technical misinformation by photographing a model of a “rocket train” against the backdrop of nature.

The United States initially intended to make a BZHRK, but quickly changed its mind. The country's railway network is not extensive enough, which hampered the movement of the missile train, and a significant part of it is privately owned, which made the passage of such a train commercially unprofitable.

The Americans had an idea to make this train underground. To lay a ring highway underground and drive trains along it: no one needs to pay, and it would be impossible to find this road from a satellite.

The only thing that held me back from the practical implementation of this project was the fact that in order to launch ballistic missiles from the subway it was necessary to make hatches in certain places. And they, as it is easy to assume, had clear coordinates, which makes the existence of an underground missile carrier meaningless. If Russian missiles do not hit the train itself, then it will definitely not be difficult for them to tightly plug the missile vents.

The United States abandoned the construction of the BZHRK due to the high cost and technical complexity of the project, taking nuclear submarines as the basis for its strategic nuclear forces. The USSR could no longer respond symmetrically.

The West managed to cover the entire world's oceans with a network of acoustic stations and tracked the movements of our missile-carrying submarines. Of course, Soviet submariners resorted to various tricks, and sometimes our nuclear submarines with nuclear missiles unexpectedly appeared where they were not expected. But this did not solve the problem of global secrecy.

Therefore, silo launchers remained the basis of our Strategic Missile Forces. Then mobile ground systems appeared - “Pioneers” and “Topols”. But due to their size and characteristic outlines, they could still be called secretive.

An idea that would be nice to install intercontinental missile on a railway platform, arose immediately after the advent of long-range solid propellant missiles.

The first liquid-fueled ICBMs were very difficult to operate, required lengthy maintenance before launch and were fueled with highly toxic fuel. Everything changed when solid-fuel rockets came into service.

The long shelf life of such missiles made it possible to equip submarines and mobile ground systems with them and load them into mines. Naturally, the temptation arose to create trains armed with missiles.

The Americans weren't particularly worried about this. They considered that missile systems tied to a railway track would be very easy to track from space. And they miscalculated.

Externally, especially from above, BZHRKs were practically no different from refrigerator cars.

True, the strategic trains were pulled by two or three diesel locomotives. So many trains are pulled by two locomotives. And the enormous length and ramifications of the USSR railway network allowed trains to get lost in such a way that even the most advanced satellite reconnaissance could not detect them. The railway workers called the BZHRK “train number zero”.

It was possible to launch rockets from absolutely any point of the railway network or from three at once, and by one train!

For this purpose, the train consisted of three diesel locomotives, which, if necessary, could transport three launch cars to three different points. After launch, the train could be quickly hidden in one of the tunnels.

From the moment the launch command is received until the rocket takes off, about three minutes pass. Everything is done automatically, and the personnel do not even need to leave the cars.

Control came from the command module, which had increased resistance to electromagnetic pulse. Also, special communication antennas were created specifically for the control car, which ensured stable reception of signals through the radio-transparent roofs of the cars.

The advantages of the Combat Railway Missile Complex (BZHRK) are obvious.

A train can travel significant distances, avoiding impacts on previously known coordinates. In a day, a BZHRK train could cover a distance of over 1000 km.

Outwardly, even an experienced railway worker could not distinguish these cars from ordinary ones from 50 meters, and none of the civilians managed to get closer.

The rocket train passed through busy cities only at night; at the station it was met only by a few KGB officers, who also did not know where the train was heading.

Detecting such a train from a satellite is an almost impossible task.

Therefore, such trains were called “ghosts” and the BZHRK became an adequate response to the US deployment of Pershing nuclear missiles in Germany.

Each train carried three special versions of the RT-23 missile, designated 15Zh61 or RT-23 UTTH “Molodets”. The dimensions of the rocket were amazing: diameter 2.4 meters, height 22.6 meters, and weight more than 100 tons. The firing range was 10,100 km, except 10 nuclear warheads individually targeted, each missile carried a complex for overcoming missile defense enemy.

The total power of one salvo was 900 times higher than that of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Not surprisingly, the missile train became the number one threat to NATO, where it received the designation SS-24 Scalpel.

Although the scalpel is a precise surgical instrument, and the deviation of the “Molodets” from the target was about half a kilometer, with its power this was not so important.

Even falling 500 meters from the target, the “scalpel” warhead was capable of destroying such a protected target as a silo launcher; the rest are not worth talking about.

But the BZHRK, whatever one may say, also has weaknesses.

The intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) has a very significant mass. The weight of the rocket-equipped carriage of the Soviet BZHRK “Molodets” reached 150 tons. This imposed additional requirements on the quality of railway tracks and led to their premature wear.

Therefore, in order to distribute the weight evenly, a special three-car coupler was created. This also helped to protect the rails from destruction during rocket launch, when the load increased sharply.

The second problem was the rocket launch itself - it was impossible to launch directly from the carriage, so a simple but effective solution was used.

The rocket was launched at 20-30 m along the mortar, then, while in the air, the rocket was deflected using a powder accelerator, and only then the main engine was turned on.

The need for such complex maneuvers, which the military called a “dance,” was dictated not only by concern for the carrier car, but also the railway track: without such a launch, the rocket would easily sweep away all the rubble for a good hundred meters around.

The third problem was the need to fit the rocket into the refrigerator car. It was also solved simply by making the fairing of variable geometry. At the moment the rocket exited the transport and launch container, pressurization occurred: the metal corrugated fairing took a certain shape under the action of a powder charge (it is also called a “powder pressure accumulator”).

In addition, old inertial navigation systems required predetermined launch coordinates, so along the route of the train it was necessary to organize special points for launching missiles, the coordinates of which, naturally, could fall into the hands of a potential enemy.

Theory, tactics and practice of using BZHRK

In theory, during the threatened period, Soviet missile trains should have dispersed throughout the country, merging with ordinary freight and passenger trains. It is impossible to distinguish one from another from space.

This means that the BZHRK could painlessly escape from the “disarming strike” of American ballistic missiles and deliver its missile salvo from any point along the route.

But this is in theory. Since entering combat duty in 1985, BZHRKs have left the territory of their bases only 18 times. We covered only 400 thousand kilometers.

Veterans of the Strategic Missile Forces recall that the main “enemies” of the BZHRK were not the Americans, who insisted on their disposal under the START-2 treaty, but their own railway authorities.

The BZHRK with the inscription on the sides “For the transportation of light cargo,” after the first passage along the railway tracks, forced the railway management, which could not withstand the vandalism of the military, to immediately file a petition: “They say, war is war, but who will pay for the repair of the road”?

There were no people willing to pay, and they did not send trains with missiles around the country, but training for officer-drivers of missile carriers began to be carried out on civilian trains traveling along the intended routes of the BZHRK.

This turned out to be not only more humane in relation to railway workers, but also much cheaper and safer. The military personnel received the necessary skills to control the train and visualize the route. Which is exactly what was required, because missiles from BZHRK can be launched from any point along the route.

The inability to use the entire territory of the country for combat patrols was also not the only problem in the operation of the BZHRK.

With the declared possibility of launching missiles from any point on the route, the missile train still needed an accurate topographic reference. To do this, along the entire combat patrol route, the military built special “settlers”, where at X-hour a train arrived, tied to a point and could fire a volley of missiles.

It must be understood that these were far from “stormy stops”, but well-guarded “strategic objects” with an infrastructure that treacherously betrayed their purpose.

In addition, by the time START-2 was signed, the USSR had ceased to exist. The Yuzhnoye design bureau, where missiles were created, ended up in Ukraine, as did the Pavlograd plant, where “rental cars” were made.

“It is impossible to extend the service life of any type of weapon indefinitely,” Viktor Yesin, former chief of staff of the Strategic Missile Forces, expressed his opinion to the ZVEZDA TV channel. “This also applies to the BZHRK, especially considering that this unique complex was created in Ukraine.”

However, the main reasons for abandoning the complex turned out to be the unresolved problem of deployment and the possibility of firing missiles from any point on the route, which in total made the BZHRK not as invulnerable as desired. Which means it’s not such an effective weapon.

Destroy by any means!

Since the advent of the BZHRD, the Americans and their allies have been trying to find a way to ensure their destruction.

If with a silo installation everything is simple: the missile launch is detected from a satellite, then a stationary target is easily destroyed, then with nuclear trains everything is complicated.

Such a composition, if guided by electromagnetic radiation, moves along a certain radius, covering an area of ​​the order of 1-1.5 thousand km. To guarantee the destruction of the train, you need to cover this entire area with nuclear missiles, which is physically very difficult.

Conducted Soviet designers an experiment codenamed “Shift” showed excellent resistance of the BZHRK to the effects of an air shock wave.

For this purpose, several railway trains with TM-57 anti-tank mines (100,000 pieces) were blown up. After the explosion, a crater with a diameter of 80 and a depth of 10 m was formed.

A nuclear train located at some distance was covered by a shock wave; in the habitable compartments, the level of acoustic pressure reached the pain threshold of 150 dB. However, the locomotive was not seriously damaged, and after certain measures were taken to put it on alert, a missile launch was successfully simulated.

The Molodets missile trains with three RT-23 UTTH intercontinental ballistic missiles were put into service in 1987. Each carried 10 warheads. By 1991, 3 missile divisions were deployed, each with 4 trains. They were stationed in the Kostroma region, Krasnoyarsk and Perm territories.

Of course, the Americans did not sit idly by. Here is a documented fact of one of the secret operations to identify Soviet missile trains. To do this, under the guise of commercial cargo, containers were sent from Vladivostok to one of the Scandinavian countries, one of which was stuffed with reconnaissance equipment. But nothing came of it - Soviet counterintelligence opened the container immediately after the train left Vladivostok.

However, after the collapse of the USSR, the situation changed radically and the Americans were able to put an end to the Soviet threat.

Boris Yeltsin, who came to power, on instructions from Washington, banned Scalpels from going on duty, and also pledged to saw all 12 missile trains into metal.

This is how the “Scalpels” were destroyed under the supervision of the Americans.

In addition, on Yeltsin’s instructions, all work on the creation of such systems was prohibited.

To cut up “rocket trains”, a special “cutting” line was installed at the Bryansk repair plant of the Strategic Missile Forces. Under vigilant American supervision, all trains and launchers were disposed of, except for two that were demilitarized and installed as exhibits in the Museum of Railway Equipment at the Warsaw Station in St. Petersburg and in the AvtoVAZ Technical Museum.

By the way, at the same time, most of the launch silos for the most powerful R-36M missiles at that time, which NATO received the designation SS-18 Mod.1,2,3 Satan, were eliminated (filled with concrete).

Naturally, the destruction of complexes that had no analogues in the world did not cause delight either among the military or among experts.

But every cloud has a silver lining! Overseas, initially they didn’t even imagine that they were in a big hurry...

After all, the “Molodets” missiles were designed and produced in Ukraine, in Dnepropetrovsk, mostly at the Yuzhmash plant, which is now slowly but surely being destroyed by the Ukrainian authorities.

And if, under US pressure, Russia had not eliminated its BZHRKs, they would have been a heavy burden on us, because Maintenance and service life extension would become impossible under current conditions.

What is the current situation?

Over the past years, the situation with the BZHRK has changed noticeably. Today, against the backdrop of worsening Russian-American relations, Moscow is ready to once again pull out its “trump card”, which can seriously complicate the life of Washington - to revive the program for creating combat railways. missile systems(BZHRK).

In response to the United States' withdrawal from the ABM Treaty, Russia withdrew from New START in 2002. Now restrictions on multiple warheads no longer apply and there are no formal bans on the use of BZHRK.

The element base has been seriously improved. Modern navigation systems have come a long way and pre-introduction launch coordinates are no longer required.

In fact, all that will remain from the old “Molodets” is the Emergency Catenary Wire Removal System and the mortar launch of the rocket, which allows minimizing damage to the train and tracks when starting the main engine.

Each Barguzin missile train will be armed with 6 RS-24 Yars intercontinental ballistic missiles. This is a land version of the naval "Bulava". Although these missiles carry only 4 warheads, versus a dozen on the 15Zh61, they are distinguished by significantly greater accuracy and, most importantly, half the weight.

When its creation began, no one could have imagined that a single missile system was being developed for the Navy and Strategic Missile Forces. "Bulava" is for the fleet, and "Yars" can be based on wheeled chassis and railway platforms.

We must thank the former chief of armaments of the Armed Forces, Colonel General Anatoly Sitnov. It was he who insisted that not only new rocket for submarines, namely a multi-purpose unified complex capable of operating both at sea and on land.

When the Americans finally found out about this, it was already too late - they failed to close the project. But still, probably, the designers were constantly hampered by certain external forces, since work on the Bulava was going very hard. Today it is no secret.

Nevertheless, the team of the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering under the leadership of the then general designer and general director Yuri Solomonov managed the almost impossible. Apparently, it was no coincidence that in the spring Yuri Semenovich was awarded the title of Hero of Labor.

What will the new Russian BZHRK be like?

In some ways it is very similar to a nuclear submarine strategic purpose. Only more comfortable. All train cars are sealed and very durable - even the explosion of a nuclear warhead a few hundred meters from the train should not disable the complex.

Autonomy – a month. During this time, the crew may not leave the train - there will be enough water and food. The Barguzin will be able to travel up to 1000 km per day. Or he might stop on an “abandoned” branch in a deep forest or hide in an unused tunnel.

By the way, the tactics of combat use of the new BZHRKs will most likely be different from the one that “Molodtsy” adhered to.

The missiles are brought into firing position within a few minutes. The firing range is 10 thousand km, the hit accuracy is within a radius of 100 meters from the target. The warheads are maneuverable and capable of overcoming any of the existing missile defense systems.

It is almost impossible for technical reconnaissance equipment to determine the location of a missile train during its combat duty. The most modern means of camouflage, powerful electronic warfare systems and the latest methods of protection against terrorists have been developed for the BZHRK.

The new BZHRK promises to be even more invisible than the previous one. Instead of three old diesel locomotives, the train will be pulled by one modern one. Thus, it will become even more difficult to distinguish combat personnel from ordinary commodity ones.

Also, due to the lighter weight of the rockets, the requirements for the tracks are changing.

The Yars rocket weighs only about 50 tons, which is almost the same as the weight of an ordinary freight car. This reduces track wear and allows a significant part of the railway network to be used for travel.

In addition, there is no need for various tricks characteristic of the Soviet complex, such as unloading devices that redistribute part of the weight to neighboring cars.

But the number of missiles in one train will increase from three to six. Given the smaller number of warheads on each missile, the total charge is smaller. But thanks to the increased accuracy modern complex promises to be more effective.

Conclusion

Roll tests of the missile for the new Russian combat railway missile system (BZHRK) “Barguzin” will take place this year.

And perhaps, at the beginning of the fourth quarter, based on the results of the launch at the beginning of 2017, a decision will be made to launch full-scale work on the BZHRK project, General Designer of the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering Yuri Solomonov told reporters.

“As for the BZHRK, as reported, so-called throw tests are planned this year. They are carried out with the aim of verifying the correctness of the adopted design decisions from the point of view of the impact of the rocket on the units of ground-based launch equipment. This launch is guaranteed to be carried out - it will probably be the beginning of the fourth quarter of this year. And the state of affairs today is such that it inspires absolute optimism that this will be done,” Solomonov said.

The new Russian BZHRK "Barguzin" will be exclusively of domestic production. This complex will be a cheaper and faster response to the deployment by the Americans of a missile defense system in Europe, unlike hypersonic missiles and fighters, work on which will only enter the experimental stage by 2019.

The question arises, why not create an extra regiment of Yars ground systems instead of the rather expensive BZHRKs? After all, the Russian economy is not in the best condition, so why overload it?

It would seem yes, but the most difficult and expensive device in BZHRK these are missiles, and they will have to be produced regardless of the chosen type of deployment.

In addition, although the unpaved complex is mobile, its range of movement is tens of kilometers from the place of permanent deployment, and the BZHRK can cover up to 1000 km per day, which, with an autonomy of 28 days, allows it to reliably get lost in the vastness of our country.

Well, the most important thing is the course towards import substitution.

If missile production has long moved from Ukraine to Russia, then even by the name of the wheeled tractors for the Yars: MZKT-79221, it is clear that they are produced at the Minsk Wheeled Tractor Plant.

There are no quality complaints about Belarus, but domestic politics Russia is aimed at complete import substitution in the military sphere. And from this point of view, the BZHRK looks preferable.

Of course, when reviving the BZHRK, all the latest developments in the field of combat missiles will be taken into account. The Barguzin complex will significantly exceed its predecessor in accuracy, missile flight range and other characteristics, which will allow long years, at least until 2040, this complex will be in combat strength Strategic Missile Forces,” says Strategic Missile Forces commander S.N. Karakaev.

Thus, a grouping will be recreated in the Strategic Missile Forces based on missile systems of three types - silo, mobile ground and railway, the commander of the Strategic Missile Forces summarized.

Well, God forbid!

Boris Skupov

In connection with the destruction of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces, the structure of strategic weapons is being adjusted both here and in the United States. With a high degree of probability it can be assumed that the Americans will begin to deploy missiles in Europe and Asia in the foreseeable future medium range. Their creation has already begun, work is in full swing. This is evidenced, for example, by the testing of prototypes of two such missiles this year, which should become ground-based modifications of the “good old” Tomahawk sea-based cruise missiles.

The editor-in-chief of the National Defense magazine, Igor Korotchenko, believes that one of the answers to these processes could be the revival of the Barguzin combat railway missile system (BZHRK) project. Its implementation was stopped in 2017. But, in fact, the project was close to completion. In the spring of 2016, the production of a prototype BZHRK began, or more precisely, its individual elements. And in the fall of the same year, throw tests of the rocket took place. Flight tests were expected to begin in 2019.

The reason for stopping the project was a correction in the defense budget due to insufficient funds. All efforts and, naturally, finances in terms of creating new weapons for the Strategic Missile Forces were aimed at heavy rocket mine-based "Sarmat".

The main advantage of the Barguzin is its secrecy, the impossibility of determining the location of the complex even with the help of the most advanced space- and air-based reconnaissance equipment. Because the BZHRK is no different in appearance from ordinary freight trains, many thousands of which move around the Russian railway network around the clock.

That is, “Barguzin” is ideal in that part of the requirements for strategic missile weapons that relate to its protection from destruction by the enemy. This is necessary in order to save nuclear missile potential for a retaliatory strike.

The idea of ​​Barguzin is not new. It was already implemented in the Soviet Union in 1987, when the RT-23 UTTH “Molodets” BZHRK (SS-24 “Scalpel” according to NATO classification) was put into service. The lead developer of the complex was the Dnepropetrovsk Yuzhnoye Design Bureau.

“Molodets” was equipped with three-stage solid-fuel 15Zh61 ICBMs with ten individually targeted warheads with a capacity of 550 kt each. The difficulty in creating the complex was that the rocket weighed 105 tons, while standard railway cars are designed for a maximum load of 60 tons. And this, in turn, led to the fact that, firstly, it was necessary to create cars that were outwardly indistinguishable from standard ones, but with increased strength characteristics. Secondly, it was necessary to distribute the load on the rails in such a way that the specific pressure on them did not exceed permissible standards.

Of course, there were many other problems that Soviet developers encountered for the first time. Therefore, the creation of “Well done” lasted a decade and a half.

The first Soviet and only BZHRK in the world with three 15Zh61 ICBMs was a train that outwardly did not differ from an ordinary technical train that served railway networks. Three cars were disguised as passenger cars, 14 as refrigerators. There was also a tank with fuel for diesel engines. Due to the excess weight of the train, three diesel locomotives of increased power were used. That is, “Molodets” could also move along non-electrified tracks. The combat crew of the complex consisted of 70 military personnel. Autonomy reached a month.

The BZHRK was supposed to remain combat ready even in the event of exposure to a shock wave arising from a nuclear explosion. This requirement was tested at the test site in Plesetsk, when in 1991, not far from Molodets, a 20-meter-high pyramid made of anti-tank mines taken from East Germany was blown up. The power of the explosion was 1000 tons of TNT. A funnel with a diameter of 80 meters and a depth of 10 meters was formed. Immediately after the explosion, the launcher of the complex worked normally.

The train stopped to launch the rocket. Special device the contact wire was pulled aside. The roofs of three cars were successively moved, and the launchers took a vertical position. The missiles were launched from the launch containers with the help of powder accelerators, raising the ICBMs to a height of 20 meters and moving them some distance from the train so that the torch of the ignited rocket engine did not damage the train.

The control system was inertial, providing a probable circular deviation from the target of about 400 meters. In this case, the launch could be made from any point on the route. The maximum flight range is 10,100 km. The length of the rocket in the launch container is 23.3 m, diameter is 2.4 m.

The time parameters were extremely strict. From receiving a command from the General Staff to launching the first missile should have taken no more than three minutes.

In 1989, 12 “rocket trains” armed with weapons were already running along the railway networks of the Soviet Union. total 36th ICBM. Nothing was known about the position of each of them in the Pentagon, which greatly worried the American command. Therefore, even during perestroika, Washington began to insist that “in the name of reducing nuclear threat» deprive the BZHRK of their main advantage - secrecy. And in 1991, half of the complexes were prohibited from leaving the depot, the coordinates of which were well known. The second half was allowed to move no further than 20 kilometers from their permanent bases.

And in 1993, when the START-2 treaty was signed, the complexes were banned. 10 “rocket trains” were disposed of at the Bryansk Mechanical Repair Plant. 2 - disarmed and sent to museums - to the Museum of Railway Equipment at the Baltic Station in St. Petersburg and to the AvtoVAZ Technical Museum.

The Barguzin uses the same principle of missile placement and necessary equipment in railway cars. However, the designers did not have to solve the problem of compensating for the excess mass of the rocket. This complex uses a ready-made Yars rocket. The weight of the rocket does not exceed 50 tons.

Lightening the composition also provides another advantage - reducing the required traction. And, therefore, Barguzin will no longer require 3 diesel locomotives, but fewer. Still, three diesel locomotives carrying a train of 17 cars is excessive for an ordinary train. Therefore, the BZHRK “Molodets” cannot be considered completely camouflaged.

The lead developer of the project is the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering, which created the Topol and Yars ICBMs, as well as the Bulava missile for strategic submarines. But, of course, a special modification of the Yars will be used. The total power of individually targeted warheads and their number will be less than that of the Molodets BZHRK missile - 4x500 kt or 6x150 kt. However, the launch range will increase to 12 thousand km. At the same time, Yars has an increased ability to overcome enemy missile defenses due to a short active section when the rocket engine is running, an electronic warfare system and a decoy ejection system. Firing accuracy will also increase.

It is also stated that the Barguzin train will be equipped with not three, but six missiles. At the same time, the number of diesel locomotives will be reduced to two or even one.

Another advantage of the BZHRK is its ability to quickly relocate - the train can travel up to 1000 km per day.

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MOSCOW. August 28 - RIA Novosti, Andrey Kots. Thirty years ago, the Soviet Union completed a testing program for a unique strategic weapon - the RT-23 UTTH "Molodets" combat railway missile system (CRMS), known in the West under the name "Scalpel". This train, capable of unleashing three intercontinental ballistic missiles on a potential enemy, “rewarded” the heads of Western intelligence services with an ongoing headache. Considering the enormous length of the USSR railways and the number of trains plying on them, it was impossible to detect a launcher disguised as an ordinary carriage among them.

By the time the USSR collapsed, our country had three missile divisions - 12 trains with 36 launchers. However, in 1993, Russia agreed to sign the START II Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which provided for the disposal of all RT-23 missiles. Between 2003 and 2007, all "Molodtsy" were disposed of, except for two, which were left as museum exhibits. Then it seemed that there was no need for them. The BZHRK was remembered again in the current decade, when relations between Russia and the West began to deteriorate sharply. In December 2013, information appeared in the press about the revival of these complexes in Russia on a new technological basis. And in July 2017, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin announced that Russia is ready to create new BZHRKs under the Barguzin project.

Composition with a "surprise"

The BZHRK is a mobile railway-based strategic missile system, externally indistinguishable from an ordinary freight train. Its carriages are equipped with fully equipped ICBMs, command posts, technological and technical systems, communications equipment and personnel stationed - missile officers. In the event of a threat of nuclear war, BZHRKs go out on patrol routes and merge with the flow of other trains. If an order comes from “from above” combat use, the train stops and prepares to attack. The doors on the roofs of three cars move apart, and mechanisms hidden inside bring the missile launch containers into a vertical position. Another couple of minutes - and three missiles are launched from a mortar towards the aggressor, carrying a total of 30 individually targeted warheads with a capacity of 550 kilotons each.

In the USSR, the development of the BZHRK was carried out by the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau. The chief designers were academicians Vladimir and Alexey Utkin. The brothers faced a non-trivial task: to “shove” a rocket with a launcher with a total weight of more than 150 tons into an ordinary railway car. At the same time, the BZHRK was supposed to accelerate on rails to 120 kilometers per hour. This issue was resolved by creating reinforced carriage bogies and special unloading devices for the complex, which redistributed part of the weight to neighboring carriages. The BZHRK was able to move along the tracks without the risk of “breaking” them. Ultimately, "Molodets" looked like an ordinary train of refrigerated, mail, luggage and passenger cars. Fourteen cars had eight wheel pairs, and three had four. Thanks to all the necessary reserves, the BZHRK could operate autonomously for up to 28 days.

Flight tests of the missiles of the complex were carried out in 1985-1987 at the Plesetsk cosmodrome, in total there were 32 launches and 18 exits of the BZHRK to the country's railways. As part of trial operation, they covered more than 400 thousand kilometers across all climatic zones countries - from tundra to deserts. All this time, the existence of the complexes remained a secret to Western intelligence services. The BZHRKs were properly camouflaged. The only unmasking factor was the unusual configuration of the train - it was pulled by three diesel locomotives at once. Nevertheless, there were cases when even experienced railway workers could not understand point-blank what was “wrong” with this train.
The Molodets was officially adopted into service in 1989. By that time, five missile regiments had already been deployed - four in the Kostroma region and one in the Perm region.

In the 2000s, BZHRK, in accordance with international agreements, began to be disposed of. The command of the Strategic Missile Forces decided to rely on the Topol-M mobile ground-based missile systems (PGRS) as the basis of the mobile component of the nuclear deterrent forces. However, over time, it became clear that PGRK, although difficult to track, is still easier than BZHRK, which can “get lost in the crowd.” And in 2012, the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering (MIT) began work on a new strategic train.

Guaranteed answer

There is little information about the promising BZHRK in open sources, but it is known that one train will already carry six intercontinental ballistic missiles - most likely, three-stage solid fuel RS-24 Yars, also developed by MIT specialists. One such ICBM is capable of throwing from three to six warheads with a capacity of about 300 kilotons each over a distance of 12 thousand kilometers. Smaller than the RT-23 UTTH, however, the Yars weighs half as much, which simplifies its installation and transportation in a standard carriage. In addition, only one locomotive will be used for traction, which makes the operation of the complex easier and better camouflages it. It is assumed that the new BZHRK will be able to move throughout the country, covering a thousand kilometers per day.

© Ministry of Defense of the Russian FederationLoading RS-24 Yars ballistic missiles into a launcher. Personnel of the Ministry of Defense

© Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

In November 2016, successful throw tests of a rocket modification specifically for the BZHRK took place at the Plesetsk cosmodrome. It is known that one Barguzin will be equivalent to a missile regiment, and the missile division of the Strategic Missile Forces should include five missile regiments - 30 launchers. Most likely, work on the BZHRK will receive funding within the framework of the State Armament Program for 2018-2025 and may go on combat duty as early as 2020-2021.

“In the context of the US deployment of new high-precision weapons, including on American territory, our presence of BZHRK will become a trump card,” Igor Korotchenko, editor-in-chief of the National Defense magazine, told RIA Novosti. “These complexes create a factor of uncertainty. BZHRK, along with mobile PGRK is a response to the American concept of a global disarming strike by non-nuclear means, mainly cruise missiles. This doctrine implies the destruction of the country's military-political leadership, military command centers, and silo launchers with one powerful blow. But if the enemy does not have the exact coordinates of all the launchers, this concept no longer works."

Moreover, even having completely destroyed our “nuclear triad” with a massive missile strike, a potential enemy will not be able to deprive the Strategic Missile Forces of the ability to launch a retaliatory strike. Many kilometers of railway tracks in Russia pass through rock tunnels, which can be used as shelter for BZHRK. And there is no guarantee that when the explosions die down, one single ghost train will not fire all its ammunition at the aggressor from somewhere Ural mountains.

© Photo: provided by the press service of the Strategic Missile Forces

© Photo: provided by the press service of the Strategic Missile Forces

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, speaking on Thursday at the Romanian military base in Deveselu (Olt county in the south of the country, 180 kilometers from Bucharest), officially announced the operational readiness of the deployed American complex missile defense Aegis.

In turn, the press secretary of the American embassy in Russia, William Stevens, said that “the purpose of the missile defense system NATO is to fully protect Europe from the growing threat posed by ballistic missiles. The commissioning of a new anti-missile system base in Romania will significantly increase our defense capability and protect the territory of NATO countries,” he said, TASS reports.

At the same time, the diplomat noted that “more and more countries are producing or acquiring ballistic missiles... The agreement reached on nuclear program Iran does not change this fact,” he pointed out. “The agreement does not eliminate the danger posed by Iranian ballistic missiles...”

Iranian missiles, Karl!

Well... "European Gypsies" were the first to go. Even the Psheks and spratniks were ahead of them. They had long been glad to be the first (especially the Poles), and in Smolensk all their political Russophobes unexpectedly kissed the Russian birch tree.

Will there finally be a response from the Russian bear, whom NATO is still trying to anger? I think that our military and diplomats are definitely fine with their imagination.

“Of course, this is a completely extreme measure, and I hope it won’t come to that, but it is no coincidence that the Russian parliament, when ratifying the New START, made a reservation that the deployment of missile defense elements could become one of the reasons for Russia’s withdrawal from the treaty,” – he said, RIA Novosti reports.

Russia revives ghost trains for retaliatory strike nuclear war. “Barguzin” will replace the Soviet “Molodets”.

In the next five years, Russia will have a new “weapon of retaliation” - the Barguzin railway combat missile systems. Appearing out of “nowhere”, these missile trains will be capable of delivering a crushing retaliatory strike on the territory of any enemy.

Last week, the first International Military-Technical Forum “Army-2015” took place in Kubinka (Moscow region). The event turned out to be colorful, useful and rich in food for thought. Russian President Vladimir Putin, opening the forum, in particular, mentioned that our country will continue to actively develop and improve its strategic nuclear weapons. “This year, the nuclear forces will be replenished with more than 40 new intercontinental ballistic missiles, which will be capable of penetrating any, even the most technically advanced, missile defense systems,” the Russian head of state emphasized.

This statement, of course, caused a storm of emotions among Western politicians. “This bellicose rhetoric from Russia is unjustified, dangerous and has a destabilizing role,” said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. “No one should hear such statements from the leader of a strong country and worry about possible consequences“- US Secretary of State John Kerry also spoke on this matter.

And our most likely enemy really has something to “worry” about. In recent years, Russia has not only been intensively restoring its nuclear missile shield, but is also regaining those types of strategic defensive weapons that the United States, with all its technological and financial power, was unable to create, no matter how hard it tried.

We are talking, first of all, about combat railway missile systems (BZHRK), which were created in the Soviet Union by the Utkin brothers - general designer of the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Vladimir Fedorovich Utkin(Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine) and general designer of the Special Engineering Design Bureau (St. Petersburg, Russia) Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexey Fedorovich Utkin in the mid-80s of the last century. Under the leadership of his older brother, the RT-23 intercontinental ballistic missile and its railway version, the RT-23UTTH (15ZH61, “Scalpel” according to NATO classification), were created, under the leadership younger brother- myself "cosmodrome on wheels", capable of carrying three “Scalpels” and launching them from any point in the Soviet Union with which there is a railway connection.

This weapon turned out to be absolutely lethal. BZHRK "Molodets" in appearance were practically no different from ordinary freight trains. Therefore, calculating their location visually or by means of space surveillance among the thousands of trains scurrying daily across the vast expanses of the country was an impossible task for the American military. And take measures to intercept it too.

Because from the moment of receiving the order to carry out the combat mission until the launch of the first rocket, “Molodets” took less than three minutes. Having received the order, the train stopped at any point on its route, a special device was used to move the contact suspension to the side, the roof of one of the refrigerator cars was opened, and from there a ballistic missile carrying 10 nuclear warheads at a distance of 10 thousand km went into the sky with a mortar launch...

Appearing practically out of nowhere, 12 Soviet BZHRKs carrying 36 intercontinental ballistic missiles, in response to a nuclear strike, could literally wipe off the face of the earth any European country that is a member of NATO, or several large US states.

American engineers and the military were unable to create anything like this, although they tried. Therefore, Western politicians got involved, and, at the insistence of the United States and Great Britain, from 1992 to 2003, all Soviet BZHRKs were removed from combat duty and destroyed. Appearance two of them can now be viewed only in the Museum of Railway Equipment at the Warsaw Station in St. Petersburg and in the AvtoVAZ Technical Museum.

However, over the past 20 years the problem of effective "retaliatory strike" Russia, in the event of aggression, not only did not decrease, but only intensified.

The new strategy of “global non-nuclear strike”, which guides the current American authorities, assumes that not a nuclear strike, but a massive strike with high-precision missiles will be launched on the territory of a potential enemy. Thousands of such missiles launched from American submarines, surface ships and ground-based installations should, like a carpet, cover the enemy’s most important industrial and energy centers, the locations of his nuclear potential and, ultimately, leave him without “teeth” and the will to resist ….

And one of the guarantees that this scenario will not be implemented on Russian territory is the revival in our country of the development and production of military railway missile systems. Which, by the mere fact of their existence, can “cool the ardor” of potential opponents of our country.

Work on their creation has already begun. Shortly before the international military-technical forum "Army-2015", Deputy Minister of Defense of Russia Yuri Borisov told reporters that the preliminary design of a new Russian BZHRK called "Barguzin" I'm ready now. Until 2020, the Russian Armed Forces Up to 5 Barguzin BZHRK should arrive. Their development and construction is carried out at the expense of funds provided for in the state weapons program until 2020.

Information about the beginning practical work the reconstruction of the BZHRK was also confirmed by the Radio-Electronic Technologies (KRET) concern, which is developing electronic warfare systems for new missile trains. “These developments are underway. Now our institutes are engaged in these developments, and these proposals will be transferred to the lead contractor who will be appointed to restore the BZHRK,” an adviser to the deputy head of the concern told TASS at the Army-2015 forum Vladimir Mikheev.

“The train must be protected from reconnaissance and destruction, and the missiles themselves that will be used by it are also objects against which enemy missile defense will operate,” he emphasized.

There is still very little information about what the Barguzins will be like. However, it is already quite clear that these will not be “modernized “Molodets”, but completely new cars. Firstly, because technology has gone far ahead in 30 years (the first “Molodets” was put into service in 1987). Secondly, because all work on Barguzin is carried out in Russia, without the involvement of the Ukrainian Yuzhnoye design bureau and the Yuzhmash plant.

The main weapon of the Barguzinov will not be the 100-ton Scalpels, but the 50-ton RS-24 Yars missiles. This is a completely Russian rocket - developed by the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering, produced by the Votkinsk plant. As you have already noticed, the Yars is twice as light as the RT-23UTTH, but it also contains fewer multiple warheads - 4 (according to open sources) instead of 10 (although it flies almost 1 thousand km further than the Scalpel). .

It is known that each “Barguzin” will carry 6 "Yars" each. But it is not yet very clear which path the developers of the new rocket train will take - either they will try to place two Yars in each refrigerated car, which serves as a transport container for the rocket, or they will limit themselves to one for each rocket, but twice as much as “Well done,” they will increase the number of container launchers on each train.

At the same time, obviously, in “Barguzin” the main know-how of the creators of “Molodets”, the Utkin brothers, will be preserved - the rocket launch system: withdrawal of the contact network above the train, mortar launch of the rocket, removal of it to the side using a powder accelerator and subsequent launch of the propulsion engine. This technology made it possible to divert the jet of the rocket propulsion engine from the launch complex and thereby ensure the stability of the rocket train, the safety of people and engineering structures, including railway ones.

And it was precisely this that the Americans were unable to implement when developing their BZHRK, which in the early 90s of the last century was tested at the US railway test site and the Western Missile Test Site (Vandenberg Air Force Base, California).

At the same time, "Barguzin" in general - neither wagons, nor diesel locomotives, nor electromagnetic radiation, will not stand out from total mass freight trains, thousands of which now scurry around Russian roads every day railways. Because railway technology has also gone far ahead during this time.

For example, “Molodets” was hauled by three DM62 diesel locomotives (a special modification of the serial M62 diesel locomotive) with a total power of 6 thousand hp. And the power of only one current mainline freight two-section diesel locomotive 2TE25A “Vityaz”, which is mass-produced by Transmashholding, is 6800 hp. The full autonomy of the train is assumed to be the same as that of the “Molodets” – 30 days. Range – up to 1000 thousand km per day. This, according to the developers, is enough to ensure the complete secrecy of the Barguzin and its ability to deliver an unexpected retaliatory strike to the enemy at any time.

P.S. The Soviet BZHRK “Molodets” at one time excited the Pentagon so much that the United States did everything possible to ensure that our country destroyed them with its own hands. However, the Americans did themselves a real disservice. Russian Barguzins will become elusive and very powerful strategic missile systems.

And we’ve probably already prepared a surprise for them in Cuba.

I really liked the comment:

Dmitry Denisenko

one train should patrol around Latvia!!! so that not a single sleeping pill will work on Grybauskaite...

No matter how you talk to psychopaths, the Pentagon and NATO understand only the language of force.

But what are the gay Europeans thinking about? They are three countries on one square kilometer. Masochists. Damn it, masochists.

Our local pacifists and other gay toleranceists have already perked up: “Crazy quilted jackets! Playing with fire!!! Stop provoking NATO."

This is called provoking:

This is the cry of those who will be the first to run out with a white flag towards the invaders and begin to kiss their boots. Let them howl, since there is no way to shoot them in the modern tolerant world.

The Russian bear yawns and silently does his job... He dries the cartridges. And he worries whether, if something happens, there will be enough for everyone...

BZHRK "Barguzin" is preparing to go on rails

Combat Railway Missile Complex (BZHRK) "Barguzin"

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