Rocket complex rk 55 grenades. Time for new cruise missiles

Cruise missiles, just half a century after the first use, have become practically the main weapon of a non-contact war.
Their guidance systems and ability to “evade” air defenses have improved by an order of magnitude. And the speeds have increased to such an extent that in the near future they will not even need wings for a rocket flying one and a half thousand kilometers in 10 minutes, the corresponding profile of the hull itself is enough.

In the United States, the development of a new generation of cruise missiles (CR), which successfully fell into the mainstream of the concept of "limited nuclear war by US President Carter began in the first half of the 1970s. At first, the Navy wanted to get an anti-ship missile with a range of up to 500 km (TASM project), but soon found it possible to make a strategic missile in the same dimensions. Finally, in the mid-1970s, sea, air and land-based strategic cruise missiles were announced - SLCM, ALCM and GLCM, respectively. The missiles were supposed to have a launch range of up to 2,5002,600 km, a nuclear warhead with a capacity of up to 200 kt, and unified guidance systems.

In 1982, the Boeing AGM-86 airborne missile launcher entered service with the Air Force. Its carriers were B-52 strategic bombers of modifications G and H, and later B1B and B2A bombers.

A prototype of a Boeing hypersonic guided missile under the ARRDM project (waveplane scheme), USA. Launch range up to 1,100 km, flight speed 1,340 m/s

The BGM-109B Tomahawk (Tomahawk) anti-ship missile, created by General Dynamics, with a range of 550 km and a conventional warhead, appeared in 1983, and in 1984 the sea-based strategic nuclear missile Tomahawk BGM- 109A of the same company. They were installed mainly on nuclear submarines and missile cruisers. On some submarines, ballistic missiles were even replaced with cruise missiles. The new KR was expected to have "lasting superiority" over a potential adversary, as it once did from an atomic bomb.

However, the Soviet KR of the new generation entered service a little later than the American ones. In 1976, the Soviet government decided to develop air, sea (Granat complex) and ground-based (Relief complex) strategic cruise missiles. The first project was taken up by PKO "Rainbow" in Dubna under the leadership of Igor Sergeevich Seleznev, the second and third by NPO "Novator" in Sverdlovsk under the leadership of Lev Veniaminovich Lyulyev.

Created by the Dubninists and put into service in 1983, the missile and aviation complex with the X-55 missile launcher with a nuclear warhead with a capacity of up to 200 kt and a launch range of up to 2,500 km was the basis of Soviet strategic aviation. The missiles were carried by Tu-95MS bombers, later Tu-160 was added. Of course, the creation of a complex complex is not complete by one performer. More than 100 enterprises, research and design organizations worked on the same X-55. Thus, the on-board control system was created at the Mars Design Bureau, a bypass turbojet engine at MNPO Soyuz.

The Kh-55 missile received a number of modifications: Kh-55SM with a range increased to 3,000 km (due to additional tanks); tactical Kh-65 with a range of 500600 km and a conventional (high-explosive or cluster) warhead; anti-ship X-65SE with a range of 250280 km and radar homing in the final section.

In 1984, the Navy received the RK-55 Granat complex, developed by NPO Novator, which was equipped with submarines of projects 667AT, 671RTMK, 945A, 971. The missile is designed to be launched from a 533-mm torpedo tube. The launch range up to 3,000 km exceeded that of the Tomahawk. Feature missiles X-55 and "Granat" folding inside the fuselage not only the wing and plumage, but also the engine (on a retractable pylon), and for the X-55 to be placed in the inner fuselage compartment, even the tail spinner of the hull is folded like an accordion.

Strategic cruise missile RK-55 "Granat", USSR, 1984. Class "sea land"

The low visibility of the new American and Soviet radar radars was facilitated by the size (due to the requirements of placement on carriers), the use of composite, radar-absorbing materials in the design, the slickness of the contours with a minimum of protruding parts, that is, the use of individual elements of the technology of stealth vehicles, known as "stealth".

Ability to aim correctly

But still, the guidance system became the main "highlight" of the new missiles. The inertial system, for all its reliability and noise immunity, does not "catch" deviations from the course due to the departure of gyroscopes and lateral drift of the rocket. At long ranges, the deviation of the real trajectory from the given one is considerable. For the new American CD, it was 900 m for every hour of flight, and the flight to the maximum range takes 2.53 hours. To compensate for the accumulating error, a correlation system with terrain correction was added - since by that time, radar reconnaissance satellites made it possible to create a detailed database of three-dimensional images of the Earth's surface. This is how the TERCOM guidance system of the same Tomahawk works. On the trajectory laid down in the program, several areas of correction are selected, the digitized radar image of their relief is stored in the memory of the onboard computer in preparation for launch. After being launched using a launch booster (when land-based or sea-based) or dropped from an aircraft, the rocket launches the sustainer engine and follows the target along a given trajectory at an altitude of 60100 m (it can drop up to 30 m), bypassing obstacles and previously identified strong groups air defense and changing course every 100200 km. Upon reaching the correction area, the onboard microwave radio altimeter "feels" the underlying surface and receives a radar relief map. The map is digitized, the digital computer compares the obtained "imprint" with the reference one, and, based on the identified errors, issues commands to correct the trajectory. As a result, the missile is launched into the target area with an accuracy unattainable for previous generations. The circular probable deviation, that is, the radius of the circle into which the missile hits with a probability of 0.5, does not exceed 100 m. With a nuclear warhead, this is quite enough. For example, the guidance system of the Kh-55 rocket with a flight altitude of 40110 m operates on the same foundations; its inertial system is associated with a Doppler velocity and drift meter and a terrain correction system.

The family of strategic cruise missiles adopted in the USSR is generally similar to the American one. However, since the same 1976, NPO Mashinostroenie has been developing, on the basis of slightly different requirements, the Meteorite rocket supersonic, with a launch range of up to 5,000 km and universal (air, sea and land) based. Among other innovations, it was supposed to equip it with an ionization device for the oncoming air flow to form a plasma plume. The latter was supposed to reduce the resistance to movement and drastically reduce the radar visibility of the rocket - a technology that has not been implemented in the series to this day, but is still relevant. But work on Meteorite was curtailed by the end of the 1980s.

After the signing of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in 1987, the development of weapons was reoriented towards "conventional" wars. In the USSR and the USA, the modernization of strategic missile launchers began with the replacement of nuclear warheads with "conventional" ones. The latter required greater accuracy of the guidance system. And the reason for the American "peacefulness" was the confidence in technological superiority and ensuring greater accuracy of hits of their missiles, as well as greater efficiency of conventional warheads. Thus, the American passive optical-electronic homing head of the DSMAC system provided a circular probable deviation of no more than 2030 m. However, a modification of the Soviet Kh-55 Kh-55OK missile also received an optical correlator based on the reference image of the terrain. The American Tomahawk now has modifications of the BGM-109C with a unitary semi-armor-piercing high-explosive warhead for hitting protected targets and the BGM-109D with a cluster warhead for hitting troop concentrations, airfields, etc. True, the launch range was reduced conventional warheads weighed more and took up more space than nuclear ones. For example, the Tomahawk had a maximum launch range of 1,600 km, while the AGM-86C non-nuclear air-launched missile had a maximum launch range of 1,100 km. Nevertheless, the conversion of part of the nuclear missiles into "ordinary" Americans periodically resumed as the latter were used up. As for the ground-based Tomahawks BGM-109G, they were eliminated in accordance with the Treaty.

Kh-555 strategic cruise missile, Russia, 2000 Air/ground class

By command post

With the liquidation of the Warsaw Pact and the collapse of the USSR, the Americans and their NATO allies (mainly the most loyal in the person of Great Britain) began a practical test of the CD in conflicts of a different level and on other adversaries. At the same time, they were able to clearly demonstrate the capabilities of high-precision missile systems in defeating strategically and tactically important targets, but they did not forget about "air terror" either. The scope of the use of CR and the range of tasks solved with their help expanded, and the missiles themselves improved. The features of the CR make them an excellent means of the first massive strike, designed primarily to suppress and destroy enemy stationary air defense objects and its control system. Then it is possible to inflict group or single strikes on the most important objects according to the situation. This is how they have been used since Operation Desert Storm in 1991.

True, in the first four days of "Desert Storm" they accounted for only 16% of all air and missile strikes, but after two months already 55%. The bulk were BGM-109 "Tomahawk" modifications C and D, launched from American surface ships (276 missiles) and submarines (40 missiles) deployed in the Mediterranean and Red Seas and in the Persian Gulf. 33 missiles shot down Iraqi air defenses, 35 deviated from the target. B-52H bombers launched 35 AGM-86C missiles, 30 of them covered their targets.

Strategic cruise missile AGM-86С, USA, 1986 Air ground class

Strategic cruise missile AGM-129А, USA, 1993 Air/ground class

The most important targets were usually targeted by several missiles. A large number of missiles in a salvo made it difficult for the air defense to work - it did not have time not only to hit, but even to track all the targets. In addition, as reported, part of the KR carried jamming stations. But in the hunt for mobile Iraqi missile launchers, missiles were almost useless - the moving target left before its coordinates were entered into the flight program. In the specific conditions of the Middle East, the problem of the TERCOM system was also revealed the predominantly monotonous landscape left a small selection of areas for correction. I had to send several missiles along the same route, and this increased the losses from air defense fire.

Then the developers again "turned their eyes to heaven." But not on the stars, but on the satellites. Actually, without satellite reconnaissance, communications, satellite maps of the area, the use of CD in any case would be difficult. But first experience combat use accelerated the implementation of a program developed back in the 1980s. It was about correcting the trajectory based on the signals of the NAVSTAR space radio navigation system (GPS), which makes it possible to determine the coordinates and speed of an object with high accuracy. GPS receivers began to be installed on the Tomahawk, pairing them with the existing guidance system. The choice of trajectories was simplified, the electromagnetic radiation of the rocket was reduced on the main part of the trajectory, all-weather capability was maintained, and the application of a high-precision strike became possible anywhere in the world. At the same time, the combat units were improved. On the Tomahawk, for example, a unitary warhead lightened, made stronger and introduced detonation deceleration to destroy buried objects protected by a thickness of concrete. They also put warheads that aim at the radio emission of the target.

But when, in September 1996, 44 air and sea-based missiles were fired at various targets in Iraq, the accuracy of the strikes turned out to be low. Of the 16 AGM-86Cs released, only 5 hit the target, the result is not impressive. GPS receivers also began to be installed on the AGM-86C. The AGM-86D modification received a penetrating warhead and a launch range of up to 1,320 km. For greater penetration depth, the rocket was given the ability to dive on the target almost vertically.

The upgraded CDs were used in Operation Desert Fox in December 1998. Previously, a dense constellation of space assets for various purposes was created, according to information from reconnaissance satellites, the results of the strikes were evaluated in real time. Approximately 415 missiles were launched at about 100 military and civilian targets in Iraq, some of them (for the first time) from B-1B bombers. The share of cruise missiles in aviation missile strikes has increased to 72%. This was achieved both by improving the "navigation support" of the missiles themselves and by the availability of a unified system for planning flight programs. Allegedly, only 13 missiles did not hit the designated targets. The rest “flyed” not only into military and industrial facilities, but also into residential buildings, schools, etc.

In August 1998, 13 missiles were fired at "terrorist bases" in Sudan and 66 in Afghanistan, and new missile modifications were additionally tested. Large-scale combat tests of cruise missiles were also carried out in European conditions. Back in September 1995, the United States, in order to help Muslim groups in Bosnia, released 13 KR on the positions of the Bosnian Serbs.

During the hostilities against Yugoslavia in 1999 (Operation Resolute Force), NATO tested the conduct of a "contactless" war using reconnaissance and strike combat systems. The latter are based on a combination of space means of observation, control, communication, navigation, information and control systems and high-precision RR carriers. Launches of the CD were made from ranges of "only" 200800 km. At first, strikes were made on air defense. The Yugoslavs unpleasantly surprised NATO by not revealing their air defense system at the time of the very first strikes. The mobile anti-aircraft systems involved by them were included in a short time and quickly changed positions. Properly used camouflage measures and means electronic warfare.

Nevertheless, NATO managed to damage the systems of military and state administration. This made it possible at the next stage to focus on putting out of action communications, individual infrastructure facilities, then warehouses and oil refining industry facilities, striking in groups or single missile launchers in combination with manned aircraft actions. Cruise missile strikes (mostly at night) were carried out on more than 130 objects, of which 52 were civilians: this proved the possibility of hitting objects in urban areas. Missiles, unfortunately, are also effective against civilians. In the very first raids, a cruise missile killed 26 people in a residential building in the town of Aleksinac. Several hospitals were destroyed in Belgrade and elsewhere. On May 8, a commemorative rocket attack was carried out on the Chinese embassy in Belgrade. Later, the generals admitted that these strikes were not "accidents" (like missiles that flew into Bulgaria), but were planned in advance.

In total, during the raids, more than 700 CRs were used (according to other sources, more than 1,200, of which about 80 air-based AGM-86С, the rest BGM-109 modifications C, D and F). The Yugoslavs shot down 40 missiles and took 17 away from the targets. And this despite the fact that the air defense system of Yugoslavia had already been destroyed and devastated civil war. During Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan in 2001, more than 600 missiles were used. Following their massive use at the beginning of the operation (launches were made from American and British ships and submarines), they switched to single strikes against the most important targets - airfields, air defense facilities, military and government buildings. The effect of the destruction of infrastructure was small in Afghanistan, few people used electricity or central heating.

The most massively used CDs were during the US-British aggression against Iraq in 2003 ("Shock and Awe"). Although here strikes with the use of air and sea-based missiles accounted for only about half of all air and missile strikes. Compare, however: during Desert Storm, only 282 Tomahawk missile launchers were launched in 43 days, and during Operation Shock and Awe from March 20 to April 15, 950. The very first missiles launched hit the military and government buildings guides in Baghdad, air force and air defense facilities. In contrast to the same "Desert Storm", now the KR raids were the most intense in the first days of the operation, then they were used to destroy individual important objects. About 150 such launches of AGM-86C and D missiles were carried out by B-52H bombers at a distance of 400600 km from targets over the territory of Turkey, Jordan, Iraq itself, over the Persian Gulf. About 80% of all launches fell on the Tomahawk BGM-109 modifications C and D. About 800 KR were fired from surface ships and submarines of the United States and Great Britain from the Persian and Oman Gulfs (at a distance of 600650 km from targets), from the eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea (distance 1,2501,600 km) through the territory of Turkey, from the Red Sea (distance 1,0001,100 km) through the territory of Saudi Arabia. But the "contactless" war, as you know, did not work out.

During the first week of the war, 350 civilians were killed in Baghdad alone as a result of air and missile strikes. Losses among the civilian population accompanied the entire operation. And the “missing” missiles fell in Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia.

Still deny effectiveness precision weapons in the fight against air defense, the destruction of the control system, military and civilian infrastructure of the enemy especially with such intensive use is not necessary. The United States assigned cruise missiles the role of the main and even decisive strike weapon.

On the other hand, the experience of fifteen years has shown that although air defense systems (air defense systems, missile launchers, fighters, even balloons) play an important role, the most effective defense against missile launchers is the destruction of their carriers. And this requires space reconnaissance systems, early warning radar, leaves leading role for fighters, anti-ship and anti-submarine systems, even in a "conventional" war. It is no coincidence that the United States, with such diligence, first isolates and "covers" the victims of aggression and strives to gain absolute superiority in the aerospace sphere and at sea.

Change of milestones

The generals from the US Air Force were not too happy with the accuracy and reliability of the AGM-86 KR, and therefore, back in 1983, they ordered the development of the next generation air-launched missile under the ACM program. And in 1993, the AGM-129 (by General Dynamics and McDonnell Douglas) began to enter service with a launch range of up to 3,000 km. In addition to the inertial system with laser gyroscopes, it is distinguished by the integrated use of stealth technology this manifested itself in the contours, and in the widespread use of composite materials and radar-absorbing coating, and in reducing thermal visibility. However, the new KR did not become a replacement for AGM-86 missiles. In the new conditions, more attention was paid to the modernization of already proven models.

Some of these activities have been mentioned above in the article. One of the most serious problems is the preparation time for launch. In 1991, flight missions were introduced in the Kyrgyz Republic at central bases, for the Tomahawk they were refined using shipboard missile weapon control systems. The preparation time reached 80 hours, and in 2003, due to the new task entry system, they began to be managed in a day. In addition, it was proposed to supply the rocket with a satellite communication channel for automated real-time data exchange with reconnaissance and control devices. This will allow retargeting missiles already in flight in case of a change in the coordinates of the target, striking at moving targets, and “arranging” the most optimal system of missile launchers fired in one salvo. The appearance of a data exchange channel includes the rocket into a single control network along with other aerospace assets, but it also requires appropriate protection of the channel. Otherwise, it may turn out to be too sensitive to the means of information warfare remember the joke about Russian hackers who reprogrammed "Tomahawks" into "boomerangs"? However, the exchange channel may not be used.

The satellite correlation system also looks vulnerable. When big war NAVSTAR will be one of the first objects of physical and information strikes. In the "informatization era", the confrontation between the means of attack and defense shifts to new level. But the United States and its allies, apparently, expect to fight with an enemy that is already hopelessly behind technologically.

As part of the JASSM program in the United States, an AGM-158 (LockheedMartin) air-to-surface missile was created with a launch range of up to 350 km with a circular probable deviation of no more than 3 m. It will already be able to launch both strategic and tactical aircraft and carrier aviation. The combined missile guidance system includes an inertial system with trajectory correction according to the NAVSTAR system and a thermal imaging homing head, as well as which is significant software and hardware for autonomous target recognition in conditions of enemy use of camouflage. A transmitter of data about the own position of the rocket in flight is mounted on the CD. Warhead unitary concrete or cassette. The latter can carry submunitions to destroy armored vehicles, vehicles, anti-aircraft systems, aircraft parked. The JASSM-ER KR program of the same Lockheed Martin is close to completion with a launch range increased to 1,000 1,150 km and wide application stealth technology. Launch is possible from stealth attack aircraft. From the combination of "inconspicuous carrier inconspicuous long-range ammunition" they expect a qualitative increase in combat capabilities.

Operational-tactical cruise missile of the JASSM-ER project, USA, 2006. Airground class

Not wanting to depend on the United States, cruise missiles continue to be created by the Europeans. True, they do not encroach on "strategic" ranges, all the more so since, according to experience, even strategic missile launchers were often launched from a range of 200 to 600 km. For example, the Franco-British company Matra BA and Dynamics has developed a tactical CD "Storm Shadow" ("Shadow of the storm"). With a launch range of 250 km, it uses the flight mode at extremely low altitudes with terrain avoidance, correction based on GPS signals, optoelectronic homing in the final section. The program for comparing the three-dimensional thermal image of the target with the one stored in memory allows the missile to aim at the object even in smoke conditions, and also to retarget if the specified object has already been destroyed. The use of a rocket also requires preliminary satellite reconnaissance of targets and terrain, and here the Europeans will use their own spacecraft. During the aggression in Iraq in 2003, Storm Shadows were already launched from British Tornado fighters.

They do not want to lag behind in the "third world". Thus, in 2005, Pakistan announced the testing of the Hatf VII (Babur) missile launcher with a launch range of up to 500 km, capable of carrying a nuclear or conventional warhead. It is not surprising that this statement is linked to the entry into service with India of the Brahmos supersonic universal missile launcher with a launch range of about 300 km. It was developed by an Indian-Russian enterprise on the basis of the Yakhont rocket, created at NPO Mashinostroenie under the leadership of Herbert Alexandrovich Efremov. It implements the long-standing aspiration of the military and designers a single cruise missile with the possibility of an over-the-horizon launch, the implementation of the “fire and forget” principle, sea, ground (with a vertical launch) and air-based. And the information about the appearance of long-range missiles in Iran created a big stir and charges against Ukraine for selling ex-Soviet X-55s abroad.

The very same strategic missile Kh-55 was subjected to a deep modernization in Russia, having performed on its basis the non-nuclear Kh-555 with increased guidance accuracy and less radar visibility. The inertial-Doppler guidance system received a multi-channel receiver of the GLONASS satellite navigation system and an optical-electronic homing head. Of course, the rocket does not hit the “window”, but nevertheless the circular probable deviation has decreased to 20 m, so that the rocket can carry the warhead to a small target. The warhead itself can be penetrating or cassette. Although here, the usual warhead reduced the launch range to 2,000 km. X-555s can put an end to the American "monopoly" on the use of non-nuclear long-range missiles. No wonder the launch of four such missiles in August 2005 was personally observed by President V.V. Putin aboard a Tu-160 bomber. For the Kh-101 modification of the same missile, the declared launch range has increased to 5,000 km.

An interesting addition to the sea-based strategic cruise missiles is the Russian 3M-14 "tactical" range (300 km), developed by NPO Novator as part of a complex of guided missile naval weapons. KR is capable of hitting ground targets located at a distance from the coast from the sea, flying over the sea at an altitude of 20 m, over land 50 150 m, with terrain envelope and trajectory correction according to the signals of the GLONASS system.

There is also a search in the field of improving combat units. Autonomously guided submunitions make it possible to give the features of an attack cruise missile to an unmanned reconnaissance aircraft by recognizing and selecting targets, it can drop warheads and return. In terms of electronic warfare, warheads that generate powerful electromagnetic pulse they will not replace others damaging means, but will greatly help their application.

Exit to hypersonic

Since the 1930s, research has been underway on hypersonic flight, that is, flight at speeds that exceed the speed of sound by 5 or more times. For at least four decades, work has been going on on hypersonic guided missiles. A sharp reduction in flight time contributes to overcoming the modern and even existing so far only in the development of air defense / missile defense, defeating maneuverable targets in the depths of enemy defenses. Hypersonic missiles overcome "altitude fear" flight altitudes return to 1030 km.

In 1997, NPO Raduga introduced the Kh-90 hypersonic experimental aircraft with a folding delta wing with a flight range of up to 3,000 km, and a marching hypersonic ramjet engine. A solid propellant booster is used to enter the supersonic mode and start the main engine. But this is already an old development, almost buried by the “post-perestroika” period. It is not surprising that foreign experts admit that they use a number of Soviet developments in their work on hypersonic vehicles.

Hypersonic "experimental aircraft" X-90, Russia. Length 12 m. Launch range 3,000 km, flight speed 45M

Since 1998, the US has been implementing the ARRDM program to create hypersonic air-to-ground and ship-to-ground missiles. An 8M missile of the same size as the AGM-86 is calculated to fly 1,400 km in just 12 minutes, and on impact with a target, provide greater penetration depth and destructive action.

Such a missile may no longer have a “wing” in the strict sense of the word. At these speeds, there is enough lifting force acting on the body, which is given the appropriate profile. Thus, the body of the Boeing prototype rocket is made according to the “waveplane” scheme to create lift, the flow behind the shock wave generated during hypersonic flight is used. Combined propulsion systems are considered (in the USSR, the X-31 rocket with a combined ramjet engine was created already in the 1980s), variable-cycle plants ramjet-ramjet, turboramjet. high speeds contribute to the implementation of such ideas as the ionization of the air flow around the rocket, electromagnetic flow control and the creation of a plasma plume that reduces the visibility of the rocket.

Whether hypersonic vehicles will take their place among strategic cruise missiles or become maneuverable ballistic missile warheads is a matter of the near future. In any case, the search for a new look for long-range cruise missiles is very active.

Semyon Fedoseev | Illustrations by Mikhail Dmitriev

Ministry of Defense of Russia for disposal in the Northern Fleet of 60 strategic cruise missiles 3M10 missile system 3K10 "Garnet" (in the tender documentation for some reason - apparently for some "secret" reasons - they are called " anti-ship missiles").

Recall that the sea-based missile system 3K10 ( S-10) "Pomegranate" with a strategic cruise missile 3M10 (KS-122), designed to be used from 533-mm submarine torpedo tubes to destroy enemy administrative and industrial centers with known coordinates, was developed Sverdlovsk machine-building design bureau Novator and adopted by the Soviet Navy on December 31, 1983 (according to known data, the actual delivery of serial missiles to the fleet began only in 1987) . The 3M10 missile had a nuclear warhead and was actually an analogue of the American naval strategic cruise missile BGM-109A Tomahawk TLAM-N. According to the informal "politically binding" Soviet-American agreements in the fall of 1991, all strategic cruise missiles with nuclear warheads were removed from the ships of both sides and stockpiled by the mid-1990s. It is believed that all American CD TLAM-Ns have been converted to non-nuclear variants since the late 1990s.

Cruise missile RK-55 (3M10) of the Soviet strategic ground-based mobile missile system 3K12 "Relief" before being destroyed during the implementation of the Treaty on Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles. Jelgava (Latvia), October 1988. The 3M10 missiles of the 3K12 "Relief" ground-based missile system were almost identical to the missiles of the 3K10 "Granat" ship-based missile system (c) SERJ/offtop.ru/militaryrussia.ru

Original taken from a colleague twower in Disposal of anti-ship missiles

Ministry of Defense continues the recycling of old anti-ship missiles ZM-10, which were used in the 80s on Soviet submarines, began earlier.

The main goal is the full disposal of missile weapons, their constituent parts and elements of weapons and military equipment (hereinafter referred to as RAV) released earlier (removed from service, exhausted resource indicators, having expired service life, unusable in technical condition, obsolete, having no further purpose for the defense of the state).

Utilization of RAV is carried out within the framework of the federal target program " Industrial disposal weapons and military equipment for 2011-2016 and for the period up to 2020”.

For the disposal of products of the RAV range containing explosives, the main methods can be used:

Preliminary disassembly (with separation of explosive elements from components);

Destruction of means of explosion and ignition, pyrotechnic means by burning in armored furnaces;
-burning out large explosive charges.

For the disposal of equipment and blocks containing information constituting state secret(TM equipment 3P-11.0300-01, AB-51-1, A065MA) break interblock links and demilitarize by crushing into small fragments.

S-10 Garnet (3M-10; SS-N-21 Sampson) - sea-based KR

A subsonic small-sized strategic cruise missile, which flies around the terrain at low altitude, is designed to be used against important strategic enemy targets with coordinates previously explored. A modification of the missile is the RK-55 GRANAT missile (according to NATO classification SS-N-21 Sampson). The GRANAT cruise missile is designed to destroy enemy ground targets and has a firing range of up to 3,000 km. It can be equipped with a nuclear warhead with a capacity of 200 kt. The missile is initially controlled in flight by a passive guidance system. When approaching the target at a given range, an active homing system is activated.
To destroy enemy submarines, ships and vessels, the nuclear submarine is equipped with Novator-1 (SS-N-15 Snarfish) and Novator-2 (SS-N-16 Stallion) anti-ship missiles. The Novator-1 anti-ship missiles are launched from torpedo tubes of 533 mm caliber, the target engagement range is 45 km. The Novator-2 anti-ship missiles are launched from 650mm torpedo tubes, the range of hitting targets is up to 100km. These anti-ship missiles can be equipped with a nuclear warhead or an outboard universal torpedo. The presence of several types of torpedoes allows you to effectively destroy enemy submarines and surface ships and vessels.

Ship complex anti-ship missiles
Rocket RK-55
Type PU - TA 533mm
Carrier - PL
Range - 3000 km
Speed ​​- 0.7 M
Warhead type - nuclear
Length - 8.09 m
Diameter - 0.51 m
Wingspan - 3.3 m
Starting weight - 1.7 t
INS + terrain

In the 70s. in the United States, building on the progress made in creating
miniature highly economical air-jet engines, began the development of small-sized subsonic strategic air and sea-based cruise missiles. The latter were supposed to be launched from standard 533 mm torpedo tubes, fly at low altitude and hit ground targets with nuclear warheads at ranges up to 2000 - 2500 km with relatively high accuracy (CEP less than 200 m). The emergence of new highly effective weapons threatened to upset the balance already established between the superpowers in the field of strategic nuclear weapons.
weapons. This required the Soviet side to look for an "adequate" answer. The branch science and industry were tasked with assessing the technical feasibility and military expediency of creating strategic cruise missiles similar to the American Tomahawk-type cruise missile.
The analysis showed that the task can be solved within five to six years, however, the opinions of experts were divided regarding the advisability of carrying out such work: many considered it unnecessary to create strategic missile defense systems, since they would be significantly inferior to ballistic missiles in the ability to overcome enemy missile defense systems, while requiring significant state
appropriations for the creation and development of the infrastructure that ensures their use. In particular, for the KR, it was necessary to create digital terrain maps of the territory of potential enemies and powerful computing centers necessary for processing and entering information about the terrain along the flight routes into missile guidance systems. Their relative simplicity and cheapness spoke in favor of the CD,
the possibility of using various (including not specially designed) carriers, as well as a high probability of overcoming enemy air defenses due to the low-altitude flight profile and low radar visibility. It was necessary to take into account the fact that in order to successfully repulse a massive strike of Soviet cruise missiles, the United States would need to create a missile defense system, the costs of which were several times higher than the cost of deploying the KR group.
As a result, the leadership of the USSR in 1976 made a fundamental decision to develop strategic air, sea and land-based cruise missiles. At the same time, it was supposed to create sea cruise missiles of two types - small-sized, subsonic, capable of launching from TA submarines, and larger, supersonic, launching from special vertical launchers. The creation of the subsonic cruise missile RK-55 "Granat", which is an analogue of the American missile "Tomahawk", was entrusted to the Sverdlovsk NPO "Novator", headed by L. V. Lyulyev. The development of the KR was started in 1976. In 1984, four years later than the American counterpart ("Tomahawk"), the missile was put into service.
To ensure the combat use of missiles equipped with an extreme correlation guidance system in the Navy, a special computer center was created for the formation of digital maps of the area of ​​​​proposed theaters of military operations and the development of flight missions. The equipment for the control system of the missile, submarine and coastal computer center was developed by the Research Institute of Aviation Instrumentation (Director and chief designer A. S. Abramov).
The first ships to be equipped with the Granat missile defense system were Project 667AT submarine cruisers (Pear), created on the basis of Project 667A submarines. Boats of this type, in accordance with the Soviet-American strategic arms limitation treaty, should be withdrawn from the fleet with the missile compartment cut out, after which their further use was allowed.
As a result of the modernization carried out in Severodvinsk, a missile compartment was cut out from the submarines and a new one was welded in instead, in which 4 533-mm torpedo tubes were located on each side, installed (for the first time in domestic submarine shipbuilding) at an angle to the ship's DP. During the modernization, the ships received an improved navigation system
"Tobol-6b7AT", BIUS "Omnibus-AT" and a number of other new or upgraded systems. The power plant and the main general ship systems remained virtually unchanged.
The strategic cruise missile RK-55 "Granat" has a launch weight of 1700 kg, a length of 8.09 m and a hull diameter of 0.51 m. It is equipped with a turbojet propulsion engine and a solid-fuel launch booster. Cruising speed corresponds to M=0.7, maximum range -3000 km, guidance system - inertial, with extreme terrain correlation.
The missile creation program was implemented in the following terms: beginning - mid-1976, completion - mid-1982, adoption - December 31, 1983. As a result, an original aircraft with a folding wing and empennage, as well as a two-circuit turbojet engine, located inside the fuselage and pulled down, was created.
made according to the normal aerodynamic configuration with a straight wing of relatively large elongation, retractable into the fuselage in the non-operating position. The engine is located on a retractable ventral pylon (in the non-working position it is also located inside the rocket). The design of the rocket implemented measures to reduce radar and thermal visibility. The missile uses an inertial guidance system with position correction based on the principle of comparison with the terrain map entered into the onboard computer before launch. The missile guidance system is one of the significant differences between this cruise missile and previous aircraft weapon systems. This ensured the autonomous flight of the rocket, regardless of the length, weather conditions etc. For these purposes, appropriate cartographic software (digital maps of the area) was produced.

As is known, in 1972 the USSR and the USA signed the Interim Agreement on the Limitation of Offensive Strategic Arms (SALT-1 Treaty), covering land-based and sea-based ballistic missiles. On the principle of reciprocity, strategic bombers (which the United States had a multiple advantage in) and long-range cruise missiles (which then only the USSR had) were withdrawn from the treaty.

In the United States, it was also decided to start developing long-range cruise missiles. In connection with the need to withdraw, in accordance with the Treaty, early-built missile carriers from the fleet, it was decided to consider their re-equipment with cruise missiles launched from torpedo tubes. This decision was due to the need to comply with the provisions of the Mutual Control Treaty. The new cruise missile was named "Tomahawk".

Shortly after the appearance of information about the start of work on new-generation cruise missiles in the United States, similar studies were launched in the USSR. At the same time, the corresponding design developments and research work were conducted much earlier, but were not developed due to successes in the development of heavier supersonic cruise missiles. American work on Tomahawk and ALCM made it possible to give the green light to similar domestic products. By the decision of the military-industrial complex, and then by the Government Decree of December 9, 1976, the development of the Granat complex was entrusted to the Sverdlovsk ICD Novator (OKB-4). By the mid 1970s. its designers designed several samples of missiles for air defense and missile defense systems, including the Krug and Buk, as well as missile torpedoes of the Vyuga and Veter complexes.

Flight testing of the rocket began in July 1976 at the Peschanaya Balka training ground with throw tests of KS-122RS models equipped with a full-scale starting engine to test the drop of the capsule. Further tests were carried out on board an experimental S-49 diesel-electric submarine pr.633RV. To test the "Grenade", the S-49 submarine was re-equipped at the Sevastopol Marine Plant. In the period from July 28 to October 30, 1977, four launches were carried out at the Feodosia deep-water test site. In the first two, the initial flight segment was worked out up to the disclosure of aerodynamic surfaces, and in the course of the subsequent ones, the process of starting the sustainer engine was also worked out. By the end of 1977, testing of the functioning of the rocket began on the main cruising section of the flight. The sustainer stage of the missile equipped with an autopilot was dropped over the Black Sea from a Tu-16KSR-2 aircraft to perform a program flight along an arc 90 km long. However, the specified range was not initially reached. On March 28, launches from submarines again began, which revealed the low reliability of the TRDD-50 propulsion engine. Therefore, it was decided to switch to the use of the R-95-300 engine on the rocket. After a number of unsuccessful launches and ongoing improvements in the second half of 1980, the target flight range of 200-220 km was achieved.

Then, over the course of a year and a half, the rocket was brought to standard equipment, after which the stage of state tests in the North began. Tests in the North started as early as 1979 and began with the testing of shipboard equipment, including the fire control system. In the process of testing, the most complex tasks related to the development of the onboard control system and flights to ranges unheard of for ship-based cruise missiles were successfully solved. The first launch from a boat according to the program of the chief designer was carried out on November 30, 1981. State tests began on April 23, 1982 with a launch from a coastal stand, and from July 21 they continued from the K-254 submarine - the lead submarine pr.671RTMK. their final stage was carried out by launches from submarines from April 8 to August 23, 1983, and in April of the following year, the Granat complex was put into service. In 1988, tests of a missile with a PLA pr.971 were also completed.

The commonality of requirements also determined the similarity of a number of technical solutions embodied in Soviet and American cruise missiles. The choice of torpedo size also determined the main tactical and technical indicators of the designed missiles. In the accepted weight and size restrictions, it was impossible to create a high-speed high-altitude rocket. A breakthrough in air defense could only be ensured through stealth: by reducing the effective dispersion surface and flying at extremely low altitude. There were, however, also differences. So, in accordance with the capabilities of the torpedo tubes of domestic submarines, the Granat had a 15% higher flight weight and was 1.7 m longer than the Tomahawk. On the contrary, the TA 533 mm caliber, which is common for most fleets of the world, determined, in combination with the use of a capsule in the underwater section of the trajectory, the same diameter of the midsection of missiles 514 mm.

The cruise missile "Granat" has a cylindrical shape, due to its launch from a TA, a direct carrier wing of small elongation, which is optimal for long-term flight at transonic speeds, and a cruciform tail. The scheme of the cruise missile is made according to the normal aerodynamic configuration with wings deployed after launch and a tunnel air intake. The launch is carried out using a solid-propellant booster mounted behind the TRD nozzle. For the ultimate lightness of the design of the rocket as an aircraft and minimization of force effects on it in the underwater section of the movement, the rocket is enclosed in a stainless steel capsule, which is dropped after leaving the water. In the underwater section, after leaving the torpedo tube and moving away from the boat by 10-20 m, the rocket in the capsule moves due to the operation of the solid propellant engine. After crossing the water surface, the capsule is dropped. The spent solid-propellant engine is separated, the wing consoles and tail are opened, and the turbojet engine is started, providing further flight to the target.

The Granat missile has a range that is almost an order of magnitude greater than the performance of previously created ship-based cruise missiles. This required the development of a highly economical turbojet engine. No less important, this engine had to have extremely small dimensions and weight. According to the test results, the R-95-300, developed at the Favorsky Design Bureau, was used. In combination with the minimum flight altitude, this also led to the use of an inertial guidance system with radio correction. The tasks of creating small-sized on-board equipment, especially the correction system, were distinguished by novelty and complexity.

The missile system is in service with the PLA pr.671RTMK, pr.971, pr.945A, was in service with the APKRRK pr.667AT. With regard to the latest submarine in our country, the “American dream” came true - the plan, never realized in the United States, of re-equipping ballistic missile carriers with new-generation cruise missiles. And the main carriers of the complex are the most advanced multi-purpose domestic submarines pr.971.

In the system of strategic weapons of the Soviet Union, the Granat complex, of course, was not very important, due to its range of 3000 km. But, nevertheless, its use made it possible to supplement the strike of ballistic missiles with cruise missiles launched from multi-purpose submarines. And this could be decisive. In addition, the appearance of this complex allowed multi-purpose submarines to strike along the coast also when solving operational-level tasks, and when equipping cruise missiles with a conventional warhead, they could use the complex in a non-nuclear conflict. Thus, the Granat complex fits well into the weapons system of our Navy and is a good and high-quality weapon - a complex of the 21st century.

The main purpose of the "Relief" missile system is to solve operational and strategic tasks to defeat continental targets at known coordinates in advance. He ensured the fulfillment of the assigned tasks in any conditions, day and night, without restrictions on the location during the implementation of the volley.

The development of a new ground-based complex was carried out in pursuit of the American analogue of the Gryphon rocket launcher with the Tomahawk missile. According to the task, the work on the creation of the Relief RC was required to be completed in two years.

The development and design of RK with sea-based (S-10 "Granat") and air-based (X-55, adoption for service -1982) CRBD begins at the end of 1976. Unofficially, the development of a ground modification begins in 1983. Officially, the Republic of Kazakhstan "Relief" is being developed according to the decision of the Council of Ministers and the Central Committee of the party dated 04.10.1984 No. 108-32. The development of the marine RK "Granat" and the KRBD 3M10 developed for it were taken as a basis. The complex receives the name "Relief" and develops the KRBD KS-122 for it. The development was entrusted to the Sverdlovsk design bureau "Novator", the leadership was carried out by the deputy GK A. Usoltsev, and the design team of the GK L. Lyulyev was in charge. Deputy Minister M. Ilyin is appointed responsible for the creation of a new complex from the ministry.

The creation of a launcher, transportation / loading and control vehicles, a ground set of equipment was entrusted to the Sverdlovsk enterprise "Start". The equipment for pre-launch preparation, systems for processing and entering calculated data with on-board equipment of the rocket were created at the Moscow NII-25.

The first prototypes of machines used in the Relief RK were built at the Start enterprise in a very short time - in 1984 they began to undergo sea trials. All tests of the complex were carried out at the Akhtuba training ground of the USSR Ministry of Defense No. 929. In total, during the testing period in 1983 to 1986, 4 rocket mock-ups and 6 complete combat missiles were launched. State tests began in 1985, they took place at the same training ground.

The head of the state acceptance department of the Relief RK was the then commander in chief Soviet Air Force A. Efimov. In 1986, the complex successfully passed the stage of state tests and was put into service. Mass production was carried out at the Sverdlovsk Machine-Building Plant named after Kalinin, where all the necessary documentation for the Relief RK was transferred.

The fate of the complex
The plant managed to produce only one batch of the new RK-55 "Relief" with the KS-122 missile when the Soviet Union and the United States signed the INF Treaty in 1988. The complex was given under the implementation of this Agreement. Specialists were sent from the United States and the entire recently released batch was disposed of at an air base near the city of Jelgava. The beginning of recycling - September 1988, 4 units of KRBD KS-122 were immediately destroyed. Last works destruction were carried out in October 1988. The rocket was the last to be destroyed, on which measurements of the total weight were carried out (used to be pumped into the tanks of conventional diesel fuel) at the request of the Americans.

Device RK-55
The complex consisted of:
- autonomous SPU;
- vehicles for transportation and loading;

MBU control machines;
- ground equipment complex.

The launcher was created on the basis of the MAZ-79111 / 543M chassis as an autonomous self-propelled launcher with the index 9V2413 for 6 CRBD. The composition of the equipment installed on the launcher: equipment for navigation, orientation and topographic reference, automatic production of the rocket launch and equipment for entering flight data. The positional area of ​​work is five thousand kilometers. In the course of the work, it turns out that the usual placement of six missiles will carry a danger in the form of an overload of the chassis, which will lead to a decrease in mobility and missile launch characteristics. Therefore, a decision is made to make missiles with a swinging part of the launcher in a single block. A special launch control system is being developed. The electrical connection connector was made in the back of a single unit.

Key features of the launcher:
- length - 12.8 meters;
- width - 3 meters;
- height - 3.8 meters;
- calculation - the commander of the car and the driver-mechanic;
- power - diesel type D12AN-650;
- diesel power - 650 hp;
- wheel formula - 8X8;
- Weight not equipped / equipped launcher - 29.1 / 56 tons;
- speed up to 65 km / h;
- march range up to 850 kilometers;
- transfer time combat / marching position up to 15 minutes;
- rocket launch time - about a minute;
- missile launch - single / salvo with an interval of about a second.
- overcome obstacles: slope up to 40 degrees, moat up to 3.2 meters;

KRBD KS-122 was created according to the normal aerodynamic scheme with a folding wing and an in-fuselage engine installation. The elevators and rudders are also of a folding type, all-moving. The installed guidance and control system is fully autonomous inertial execution with correction according to the relief data of the correlation extreme correction system, which includes: an on-board computer, a digital data storage system for correction area matrix maps and flight data, a radio altimeter. The onboard guidance system and the rest of the onboard equipment were created by the Moscow Research Institute of Instrument Engineering. It has a block design, in separate cases.

propulsion system intrafuselage design was developed in Omsk design office engine building and at the Soyuz production association. First, Omsk designers developed a small-sized mid-fuselage turbofan engine. The latest development was called 36-01 / TRDD-50. He developed a thrust of 450 kilograms. The work has been carried out since 1976. Tests in 1980 for the Raduga complex were considered successful. Somewhat later, successful tests were also carried out for the Relief complex. However, for the KS-122 rocket, the R-95-300 engine developed by MNPO Soyuz was chosen. The engine developed a thrust of 400 kilograms and was produced at a plant in Zaporozhye.

The main characteristics of the rocket:
- total length - 8.09 meters;
- container length - 8.39 meters;
- wing - 3.3 meters;
- rocket diameter - 51 centimeters;
- container diameter - 65 centimeters;
- starting weight - 1.7 tons;
- weight in TPK - 2.4 tons;
- the weight of the warhead did not exceed 200 kilograms;
- warhead power - 20 kilotons;
- maximum range in the region of 2600-2900 kilometers;
- average flight speed - Mach 0.8;
- average flight height - 200 meters;
- used fuel - kerosene / decilin;
- starting engine - powder solid propellant rocket engine.

Data on RK-55 "Relief"
In 1988, 6 autonomous SPU units were produced with 80 KS-122 CRBD ammunition. All of them were in trial use near the city of Jelgava, Latvian SSR. At the end of 1988, the disposal of missiles was carried out at the same airbase. Most likely, a little more missiles were produced, however, according to available data, only missiles of the experimental complex were received for disposal. We are talking about 80-84 KRBD KS-122.

Brief information on the American analogue of the Gryphon complex
The missile of the Gryphon complex called BGM-109G was a ground-based modification of the Tomahawk and had the following data:
- length 6.4 meters;
- weight - one ton;
- average speed 0.7 Mach;
- engine with a thrust of 270 kilograms;

The first rocket launch recognized as successful was made in early 1982. And in 1983, the first serial samples began to enter service.

The composition of the complex:
- 4 TPU vehicles based on MAN AG with a wheel arrangement of 8 X 8;
— 16 cruise missiles BGM-109G;
- two control machines.

In total, about 560 cruise missiles were mass-produced to support the American missile system. A little less than 100 missiles remained in the United States, the rest were supposed to arrive for deployment on the territory of European countries.

The capabilities of the rocket compared to the Soviet counterpart were less effective:
- small RCS;
- range up to 2.5 thousand kilometers;
- average flight height 30-40 meters;
- warhead power up to 150 kilotons.

Combined guidance system. The Soviet missile KS-122 here almost did not differ from the American BGM-109. It had an inertial system and a correction along the contours of the terrain created by the TERCOM company. It also includes an onboard computer and a radio altimeter. The data stored in the on-board computer made it possible to determine the location during the flight with increased accuracy, the KVO was about 20-30 meters.

The main purpose was to disable enemy launchers with strategic missiles, military airfields, various bases for basing and accumulation of manpower and equipment, strategic air defense facilities, destruction of large strategic facilities such as power plants, bridges, dams.

In addition to the ground version, they developed a modification of the rocket for the Air Force. In 1980, when studying the results of a competition in which the AGM-86B from Boeing and the AGM-109 (modification of BGM-109) from General Dynamics participated, the military chose a missile from Boeing.

According to the signed agreement with Soviet Union, in the United States disposed of all launch and cruise missiles of the Gryphon complex. The last BGM-109G missile was disposed of on May 31, 1991. The estimated cost of one BGM-109G is just over one million dollars (for 1991). Eight rockets were "disarmed" and sent to museums and expositions.

Sources of information:
http://military.tomsk.ru/blog/index-762.html
http://militaryrussia.ru/blog/topic-601.html
http://www.militaryparitet.com/html/data/ic_news/42/
http://militaryrussia.ru/blog/topic-697.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BGM-109G_Ground_Launched_Cruise_Missile
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YQGiNC9abw