The Northern Fleet reported on the completed combat firing of sea-based ballistic missiles. The strategic missile submarine "" from a submerged position successfully launched a group of four R-30 Bulava missiles from the White Sea at the Kura training ground in Kamchatka. The sailors said that live firing of such a number of missiles on Project 955 submarines was carried out for the first time.

% Launching four missiles is not so much. For example, on the eve of the collapse Soviet Union in August 1991, the strategic missile submarine K-407 Novomoskovsk launched 16 R-29M missiles in succession

- two combat and 14 missiles equivalent in ballistics. The interval between ballistic missile launches was only 14 seconds.

At the same time, the ex-Chief of the Main Staff of the Russian Navy, Admiral, believes that there is no longer a great need for such an operation today. “The launch scheme on the Yuri Dolgoruky, as shown by these exercises, has been worked out. Volley shooting is possible. And sixteen missiles do not need to be launched, ”the military leader believes.

According to him, this is a very expensive pleasure. At present, the system of checks makes it possible, by launching only four products, to clarify the possibility of launching the remaining twelve. “So there is no such need in the previous scheme, when 16 missiles were launched at once, today,” Viktor Kravchenko believes. “And the Americans in salvo firing from their submarines have never launched more than four missiles at the same time.”

As for the Bulava sea-based ballistic missile, it was very difficult for the Navy to use it.

“The product developer took up this subject for the first time,” Admiral Kravchenko told Gazeta.Ru. “They have never dealt with the maritime component before.”

The first launch of the Bulava prototype took place on September 23, 2004 from a heavy nuclear submarine of project 941 "". The first three launches went well, but the fourth, fifth and sixth were unsuccessful. The seventh launch of the Bulava was only partially successful: one warhead did not reach the Kura training ground in Kamchatka. The eighth and ninth rocket launches in 2008 were successful. The tenth again ended in failure. The eleventh and twelfth launches of this type of rocket also ended unsuccessfully.

“Nevertheless, this rocket was brought to mind. At that time, there was simply no way to do anything else - that's all, - says Admiral Viktor Kravchenko. “A solid propellant rocket is still much better in operation on submarines than products with liquid and very aggressive propellant components.”

Against the backdrop of a successful live firing by the Yuri Dolgoruky strategic missile submarine, domestic experts continue to analyze information disseminated by the American television channel CNBC, which claimed that four tests of a Russian nuclear-powered missile were unsuccessful.

“I believe that the news from CNBC is a PR campaign built on absolutely unreliable data,” the ex-chief of the General Staff, Colonel General, explained to Gazeta.ru. According to the commander, CNBC could not obtain such data on the testing of promising Russian weapons anywhere.

A high-ranking source of Gazeta.Ru in the military-industrial complex, not directly connected with the tests of the strategic cruise missile, said that

there is “a lot of obscurity, there is no texture. I do not think that these were tests immediately with a nuclear engine. Rather, it was some kind of imitator or something else.

Where the data came from that the developers did not want to test the product and at the same time claimed that they were not ready yet is also completely unclear.

Failures very often occur during tests, Academician Alexei noted in a conversation with Gazeta.Ru. “It is enough to recall the epic with the adoption of the Bulava sea-based ballistic missile. There were a lot of rejections back then. But yesterday, a successful group launch of four missiles at once was carried out, ”the expert said.

According to the scientist, there is nothing surprising, tragic, impossible in the unsuccessful launches of the Russian strategic cruise missile with a nuclear engine.

“And the fact that we deny this, and it seems logical. In March, a lot of good things were said about this rocket. It was presented as one of the main breakthrough projects of six new weapons systems that were presented not by anyone, but by the president. Russian Federation, and not just anywhere, but in the message of the head of state to the Federal Assembly in the Manege. It is clear that after that the Russian Ministry of Defense will not report any failures, ”Academician Arbatov believes.

But here's the question, recalls the source of the publication, this system - a strategic cruise missile with a nuclear engine, has been developed both in our country and in the United States since the 1950s. During the tests, there were a lot of failures. The Americans eventually abandoned such a project or shelved the idea for a very long time until new technologies made it possible to do something significant in this area.

“It is very difficult to judge what we have now,” Alexei Arbatov believes. As always, there are no details. What kind of power plant is on this rocket, what is used as a working fluid - there is no reliable information.

According to the expert, the Americans always report in great detail about their systems when they receive the necessary funding for their development, but our system is completely different, so any information about this project is closed.

“The only thing I can say that I personally have very big doubts about is the need for such a weapon system in principle,” Academician Arbatov told Gazeta.Ru.

In particular, he asks questions about how to test a product in the presence of a nuclear engine or what will happen to the reactor if the missile falls, because "a strategic cruise missile is not an unmanned aerial vehicle, and you cannot return it to the departure airfield."

“In terms of cost and effectiveness, these promising developments do not arouse much enthusiasm among those who are used to looking at cost and soberly assessing efficiency compared to existing and promising alternative systems that can perform the same tasks as a nuclear-powered strategic cruise missile,” — Academician Arbatov concludes.

On August 21, 1957, exactly 60 years ago, the world's first intercontinental spacecraft was successfully launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. ballistic missile(ICBM) R-7. This soviet rocket became the first intercontinental ballistic missile to be successfully tested and deliver a warhead to an intercontinental range. The R-7, which was also called the "seven" (GRAU index - 8K71), was a two-stage ICBM with a detachable warhead weighing 3 tons and a flight range of 8 thousand kilometers.

Later, from January 20, 1960 to the end of 1968, a modification of this missile under the designation R-7A (GRAU index - 8K74) with an increased flight range of up to 9.5 thousand kilometers was in service with the USSR Strategic Missile Forces. In NATO countries, this missile became known as the SS-6 Sapwood. This Soviet rocket became not only a formidable, but also a serious milestone in Russian cosmonautics, becoming the basis for the creation of launch vehicles designed to launch spacecraft and ships into space, including manned ones. The contribution of this rocket to space exploration is enormous: on rockets of the R-7 family, many artificial satellites of the Earth were launched into space, starting from the very first ones, and the first man flew into space.

creation of the R-7 rocket

The history of the creation of the R-7 ICBM began long before its first launch took place - in the late 1940s and early 1950s. During this period, according to the results of the development of single-stage ballistic missiles R-1, R-2, R-3 and R-5, which were led by the outstanding Soviet designer Sergei Pavlovich Korolev, it became clear that in the future a significantly more powerful component would be required to reach the territory of a potential enemy. a multi-stage rocket, the idea of ​​which was previously voiced by the famous Russian cosmonautics theorist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky.

Back in 1947, Mikhail Tikhonravov organized a separate group at the Research Institute of Artillery Sciences, which began to carry out systematic studies of the possibility of developing composite (multi-stage) ballistic missiles. After studying the results that were obtained by this group, Korolev decided to carry out a preliminary design of a powerful multi-stage rocket. Preliminary research on the development of ICBMs began in 1950: on December 4, 1950, by the Decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, a comprehensive search research was set up on the topic “Study of the prospects for the creation of RDD different types with a flight range of 5-10 thousand kilometers and a warhead mass of 1 to 10 tons. And on May 20, 1954, another government decree was issued, which officially set the task for OKB-1 to develop a ballistic missile that could carry a thermonuclear charge to an intercontinental range.

New powerful engines for the R-7 rocket were created in parallel at OKB-456, the work was supervised by Valentin Glushko. The control system for the rocket was designed by Nikolai Pilyugin and Boris Petrov, the launch complex was designed by Vladimir Barmin. A number of other organizations were also involved in the work. At the same time, the country raised the question of building a new test site for testing intercontinental ballistic missiles. In February 1955, another decree of the USSR Government was issued on the start of the construction of the test site, which was named the 5th Research and Test Site of the Ministry of Defense (NIIP-5). It was decided to build the landfill in the area of ​​the village of Baikonur and the Tyura-Tam junction (Kazakhstan), later it went down in history and is known to this day precisely as Baikonur. The cosmodrome was built as a highly secret facility; the launch complex for the new R-7 rockets was ready in April 1957.

The design of the R-7 rocket was completed in July 1954, and already on November 20 of the same year, the construction of the rocket was officially approved by the Council of Ministers of the USSR. By the beginning of 1957, the first Soviet intercontinental ballistic missile was ready for testing. Starting from mid-May 1957, the first series of tests of the new missile was carried out, it demonstrated the presence of serious flaws in its design. May 15, 1957 was the first launch of the ICBM R-7. According to visual observations, the flight of the rocket proceeded normally, but then changes in the flame of exhaust gases from the engines became noticeable in the tail compartment. Later, after processing the telemetry, it was found that a fire broke out in one of the side blocks. After 98 seconds of controlled flight, due to the loss of thrust, this unit separated, after which the command to turn off the rocket engines followed. The cause of the accident was called a leak in the fuel line of the fuel.

The next launch, which was scheduled for June 11, 1957, did not take place due to a malfunction of the central block engines. Several attempts to start the rocket engines did not lead to anything, after which the automation issued a command for an emergency shutdown. The test management decided to drain the fuel and remove the R-7 ICBM from the starting position. On July 12, 1957, the R-7 rocket was able to take off, but stability was lost at 33 seconds of flight, the rocket began to deviate from the given flight path. This time, the cause of the accident was called a short circuit on the body of the control signal circuits of the integrating device along the rotation and pitch channels.

Only the fourth launch of the new rocket, which took place on August 21, 1957, was recognized as successful, the rocket was able to reach the target area for the first time. The rocket was launched from Baikonur, worked out the active part of the trajectory, after which the head of the rocket hit the given square of the Kamchatka Peninsula (the Kura missile range). But even in this fourth launch, not everything was smooth. The main disadvantage of the launch was the destruction of the head of the rocket in the dense layers of the atmosphere on the descending part of its trajectory. Telemetry connection with the missile was lost 15-20 seconds before the estimated time of reaching earth's surface. The analysis of the fallen structural elements of the head of the R-7 rocket made it possible to establish that the destruction began from the tip of the head, and at the same time to clarify the amount of entrainment of its heat-shielding coating. The information obtained made it possible to finalize the documentation for the rocket head, clarify the strength and design calculations, layout, and also manufacture new rocket as soon as possible for the next launch. At the same time, already on August 27, 1957, the Soviet press reported on the successful testing of an ultra-long-range multi-stage rocket in the Soviet Union.

Positive results The flight of the first Soviet R-7 ICBM on the active part of the trajectory made it possible to use this rocket to launch the first artificial Earth satellites in the history of mankind on October 4 and November 3 of the same year. Initially created as combat missile The R-7 possessed the necessary energy capabilities, which made it possible to launch a significant mass of payload into space (into near-Earth orbit), which was clearly demonstrated by the launch of the first Soviet satellites.

According to the results of 6 test launches of the R-7 ICBM, its warhead was significantly improved (in fact, replaced by a new one), the warhead separation system was improved, and slot antennas of the telemetry system were also used. On March 29, 1958, the launch took place for the first time, which was successful in full (the head of the rocket reached the target without destruction). At the same time, during 1958 and 1959, flight tests of the rocket continued, according to the results of which more and more new improvements were made to its design. As a result, by resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR and the Central Committee of the CPSU No. 192-20 dated January 20, 1960, the R-7 rocket was officially put into service.

R-7 rocket design

The intercontinental ballistic missile R-7, created in OKB-1 under the leadership of the chief designer Sergei Pavlovich Korolev (chief designer Sergei Sergeevich Kryukov), was built according to the so-called "package" scheme. The first stage of the rocket consisted of 4 side blocks, each of which had a length of 19 meters and a maximum diameter of 3 meters. The side blocks were located symmetrically around the central block (the second stage of the rocket) and connected to it by the lower and upper belts of force connections. The design of the rocket blocks was the same. Each of them consisted of a support cone, a power ring, fuel tanks, a tail section, and a propulsion system. All units were equipped with RD-107 liquid-propellant rocket engines with a system for pumping fuel components. This engine was built according to an open scheme and included 6 combustion chambers. In this case, two cameras were used as steering. The RD-107 rocket engine developed a thrust of 82 tons near the earth's surface.

The second stage of the rocket (central block) included an instrument compartment, a fuel and oxidizer tank, a power ring, a tail compartment, a sustainer engine and 4 steering units. The LRE-108 was placed on the second stage, which was similar in design to the RD-107, but featured a large number of steering chambers. This engine developed a thrust of 75 tons near the ground. It was switched on simultaneously with the first stage engines (even at the moment of launch) and worked correspondingly longer than the first stage rocket engine. The launch of all available engines of the first and second stages right at the start was carried out for the reason that at that time the creators of the rocket did not have confidence in the possibility of reliable ignition of the second stage engines at high altitude. FROM similar problem then the American designers who worked on their Atlas ICBM also collided.

LRE RD-107 at the Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics in Moscow

All engines of the first Soviet R-7 ICBM used two-component fuel: fuel - T-1 kerosene, oxidizer - liquid oxygen. To drive the turbopump units of rocket engines, hot gas was used, which is formed in the gas generator during the catalytic decomposition of hydrogen peroxide, and compressed nitrogen was used to pressurize the tanks. To ensure the specified flight range of the rocket, it was equipped with an automatic system for regulating engine operation modes, as well as a system for synchronous tank emptying (SOB), which made it possible to reduce the guaranteed fuel supply. The design and layout of the R-7 rocket ensured the launch of all its engines at the time of launch using special pyro-ignition devices, they were placed in each of the 32 combustion chambers. The marching rocket engines of this rocket for their time were distinguished by very high energy and mass characteristics, and also favorably differed in their a high degree reliability.

The control system of the intercontinental ballistic missile R-7 was combined. The autonomous subsystem was responsible for providing angular stabilization and stabilization of the center of mass while the rocket was on the active part of the trajectory. And the radio engineering subsystem was responsible for correcting the lateral movement of the center of mass at the final stage of the active section of the trajectory and issuing a command to turn off the engines. executive bodies missile control systems were air rudders and rotary chambers of steering engines.

The value of the R-7 rocket in the conquest of space

R-7, which many called simply "seven", became the progenitor of a whole family of launch vehicles of the Soviet and Russian production. They were created on the basis of the R-7 ICBM during a deep and multi-stage modernization process. From 1958 to the present, all rockets of the R-7 family are produced by TsSKB-Progress (Samara).

Launch vehicles based on R-7

The success and, as a result, the high reliability of the rocket design, combined with a sufficiently large power for ICBMs, made it possible to use it as a launch vehicle. Already during the operation of the R-7, some shortcomings were identified in this capacity, there was a process of its gradual modernization to increase the mass of the payload put into orbit, reliability, and also expand the range of tasks solved by the rocket. Launch vehicles of this family have truly opened up to all mankind space age, with their help, among other things, were carried out:

The launch of the first ever artificial satellite into earth orbit;
- the launch of the first satellite with a living creature on board (the astronaut dog Laika) into the earth's orbit;
- Launch of the first spacecraft with a man on board (Yuri Gagarin's flight).

The reliability of the design of the R-7 rocket created by Korolev made it possible to develop on its basis a whole family of launch vehicles: Vostok, Voskhod, Molniya, Soyuz, Soyuz-2 and their various modifications. At the same time, the latest of them are actively used today. Rockets of the R-7 family have become the most massive in history, the number of their launches is already about 2000, they are also recognized as one of the most reliable in the world. To date, all manned launches of the Soviet Union and Russia have been carried out using launch vehicles of this family. At present, Roscosmos and Space Forces Soyuz-FG and Soyuz-2 rockets of this family are actively used.

Duplicate copy of Gagarin's "Vostok-1". Exhibited at the Museum of Cosmonautics in Kaluga

Sources of information:
https://ria.ru/spravka/20120821/727374310.html
http://www.soyuz.by/news/expert/34128.html
http://rbase.new-factoria.ru/missile/wobb/r-7/r-7.shtml
Materials from open sources

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

With long launch ranges, the payload of an intercontinental ballistic missile goes into space for many hundreds of kilometers. It rises into the layer of low-orbit satellites, 1000-1200 km above the Earth, and briefly settles among them, only slightly behind their general run. And then, along an elliptical trajectory, it begins to slide down ...

What exactly is this load?

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

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

Close up, the warhead looks like an elongated cone a meter or a half long, at the base as thick as a human torso. The nose of the cone is pointed or slightly blunt. This cone is a special aircraft whose task is to deliver weapons to the target. We will return to warheads later and get to know them better.

Head of the "Peacemaker"
The pictures show breeding stages of the American heavy ICBM LGM0118A Peacekeeper, also known as MX. The missile was equipped with ten 300 kt multiple warheads. The missile was decommissioned in 2005.

Pull or push?

In a missile, all of the warheads are located in what is known as the disengagement stage, or "bus". Why a bus? Because, having freed itself first from the fairing, and then from the last booster stage, the disengagement stage carries the warheads, like passengers, to the given stops, along their trajectories, along which the deadly cones will disperse to their targets.

Another "bus" is called the combat stage, because its work determines the accuracy of pointing the warhead at the target point, and hence combat effectiveness. The breeding stage and how it works is one of the biggest secrets in a rocket. But we will still take a little, schematically, look at this mysterious step and its difficult dance in space.

The dilution step has different forms. Most often, it looks like a round stump or a wide loaf of bread, on which warheads are mounted on top with their points forward, each on its own spring pusher. The warheads are pre-positioned at precise separation angles (at the missile base, by hand, using theodolites) and look into different sides like a bunch of carrots, like a hedgehog's needles. The platform, bristling with warheads, occupies a predetermined, gyro-stabilized position in space in flight. And at the right moments, warheads are pushed out of it one by one. They are ejected immediately after the completion of the acceleration and separation from the last accelerating stage. Until (you never know?) they shot down this entire unbred hive with anti-missile weapons or something failed on board the breeding stage.

But that was before, at the dawn of multiple warheads. Now breeding is a completely different picture. If earlier the warheads “sticked out” forward, now the stage itself is ahead along the way, and the warheads hang from below, with their tops back, turned upside down, like the bats. The “bus” itself in some rockets also lies upside down, in a special recess in the upper stage of the rocket. Now, after separation, the disengagement stage does not push, but drags the warheads along with it. Moreover, it drags, resting on four cross-shaped "paws" deployed in front. At the ends of these metal paws are rear-facing traction nozzles of the dilution stage. After separation from the booster stage, the "bus" very accurately, precisely sets its movement in the beginning space with the help of its own powerful guidance system. He himself occupies the exact path of the next warhead - its individual path.

Then, special inertia-free locks are opened, holding the next detachable warhead. And not even separated, but simply now not connected with the stage, the warhead remains motionless hanging here, in complete weightlessness. The moments of her own flight began and flowed. Like one single berry next to a bunch of grapes with other warhead grapes that have not yet been plucked from the stage by the breeding process.

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

Delicate movements

Now the task of the stage is to crawl away from the warhead as delicately as possible, without violating its precisely set (targeted) movement of its nozzles by gas jets. If a supersonic nozzle jet hits a detached warhead, it will inevitably add its own additive to the parameters of its movement. During the subsequent flight time (and this is half an hour - fifty minutes, depending on the launch range), the warhead will drift from this exhaust “slap” of the jet half a kilometer-kilometer sideways from the target, or even further. It will drift without barriers: there is space in the same place, they slapped it - it swam, not holding on to anything. But is a kilometer to the side the accuracy today?

To avoid such effects, four upper “paws” with engines spaced apart are needed. The stage, as it were, is pulled forward on them so that the exhaust jets go to the sides and cannot catch the warhead detached by the belly of the stage. All thrust is divided between four nozzles, which reduces the power of each individual jet. There are other features as well. For example, if on a donut-shaped breeding stage (with a void in the middle - with this hole it is put on the booster stage of the rocket, as wedding ring on the finger) of the Trident-II D5 missile, the control system determines that the separated warhead still falls under the exhaust of one of the nozzles, then the control system turns off this nozzle. Makes "silence" over the warhead.

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

Abyss of mathematics

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

The breeding stage performs its work quite low, immediately after turning off the booster stages. That is, at an altitude of 100-150 km. And there the influence of gravitational anomalies of the Earth's surface, heterogeneities in the even gravitational field surrounding the Earth still affects. Where are they from? From uneven terrain, mountain systems, occurrence of rocks of different densities, oceanic depressions. Gravitational anomalies either attract the step to themselves with an additional attraction, or, on the contrary, slightly release it from the Earth.

In such heterogeneities, the complex ripples of the local gravity field, the disengagement stage must place the warheads with precision. To do this, it was necessary to create a more detailed map of the Earth's gravitational field. It is better to “state” the features of a real field in systems of differential equations that describe the exact ballistic movement. These are large, capacious (to include details) systems of several thousand differential equations, with several tens of thousands of constant numbers. And the gravitational field itself at low altitudes, in the immediate near-Earth region, is considered as a joint attraction of several hundred point masses of different "weights" located near the center of the Earth in a certain order. In this way, a more accurate simulation of the real gravitational field of the Earth on the flight path of the rocket is achieved. And more accurate operation of the flight control system with it. And yet ... but full! - let's not look further and close the door; we have had enough of what has been said.

Flight without warheads

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

Short, but intense.

Space for a little while
The payload of an intercontinental ballistic missile spends most of the flight in the mode of a space object, rising to a height three times the height of the ISS. A trajectory of enormous length must be calculated with extreme precision.

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

Metal scissors open and become electric chaff - there are many of them, and they reflect well the radio signal of the early warning radar beam that probes them. Instead of ten required fat ducks, the radar sees a huge fuzzy flock of small sparrows, in which it is difficult to make out anything. Devices of all shapes and sizes reflect different lengths waves.

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

House for "Mace"
Submarines of project 955 "Borey" - a series of Russian nuclear submarines of the fourth generation "strategic missile submarine cruiser" class. Initially, the project was created for the Bark missile, which was replaced by the Bulava.

Last cut

However, in terms of aerodynamics, the stage is not a warhead. If that one is a small and heavy narrow carrot, then the stage is an empty vast bucket, with echoing empty fuel tanks, a large non-streamlined body and a lack of orientation in the flow that begins to flow. With its wide body with a decent windage, the step responds much earlier to the first breaths of the oncoming flow. The warheads are also deployed along the stream, penetrating the atmosphere with the least aerodynamic resistance. The step, on the other hand, leans into the air with its vast sides and bottoms as it should. It cannot fight the braking force of the flow. Its ballistic coefficient - an "alloy" of massiveness and compactness - is much worse than a warhead. Immediately and strongly it begins to slow down and lag behind the warheads. But the forces of the flow are growing inexorably, at the same time the temperature warms up the thin unprotected metal, depriving it of strength. The rest of the fuel boils merrily in the hot tanks. Finally, there is a loss of stability of the hull structure under the aerodynamic load that has compressed it. Overload helps to break bulkheads inside. Krak! Fuck! The crumpled body is immediately enveloped by hypersonic shock waves, tearing the stage apart and scattering them. After flying a little in the condensing air, the pieces again break into smaller fragments. The remaining fuel reacts instantly. Scattered fragments of structural elements made of magnesium alloys are ignited by hot air and instantly burn out with a blinding flash, similar to a camera flash - it was not for nothing that magnesium was set on fire in the first flashlights!

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

Everything is now on fire, everything is covered with hot plasma and shines well around orange coals from a fire. The denser parts go forward to slow down, the lighter and sail parts are blown into the tail, stretching across the sky. All burning components give dense smoke plumes, although at such speeds these densest plumes cannot be due to the monstrous dilution by the flow. But from a distance, they can be seen perfectly. Ejected smoke particles stretch across the flight trail of this caravan of bits and pieces, filling the atmosphere with a wide trail of white. Impact ionization generates a nighttime greenish glow of this plume. because of irregular shape fragments, their deceleration is rapid: everything that has not burned down quickly loses speed, and with it the intoxicating effect of air. Supersonic is the strongest brake! Standing in the sky, like a train falling apart on the tracks, and immediately cooled by high-altitude frosty subsound, the band of fragments becomes visually indistinguishable, loses its shape and order and turns into a long, twenty minutes, quiet chaotic dispersion in the air. If you are in the right place, you can hear how a small, burnt piece of duralumin clanks softly against a birch trunk. Here you have arrived. Farewell, breeding stage!

sea ​​trident
In the photo - launch intercontinental missile Trident II (USA) from a submarine. At the moment, Trident ("Trident") is the only family of ICBMs whose missiles are installed on American submarines. The maximum casting weight is 2800 kg.

The authorities of Ecuador have deprived Julian Assange of asylum in the London embassy. The founder of WikiLeaks is detained by the British police, and this has already been called the biggest betrayal in the history of Ecuador. Why is Assange being avenged and what awaits him?

Julian Assange, a programmer and journalist from Australia, became widely known after the website WikiLeaks, founded by him, published secret documents of the US State Department, as well as materials related to military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2010.

But it was quite difficult to find out who the policemen, supporting by the arms, were taking out of the building. Assange grew a beard and did not look at all like the energetic man that he had so far presented in photographs.

According to Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno, Assange's asylum was denied because of his repeated violations of international conventions.

He is expected to remain at a police station in central London until he appears before Westminster Magistrates' Court.

Why the President of Ecuador is accused of betrayal

Former President of Ecuador Rafael Correa called the decision of the current government the biggest betrayal in the history of the country. "What he (Moreno. - Approx. ed.) did is a crime that humanity will never forget," Correa said.

London, on the contrary, thanked Moreno. The British Foreign Office believes that justice has prevailed. The representative of the Russian diplomatic department, Maria Zakharova, has a different opinion. "The hand of 'democracy' is squeezing the throat of freedom," she said. The Kremlin expressed the hope that the rights of the arrested person would be respected.

Ecuador harbored Assange because ex-president adhered to the center-left views, criticized US policy and welcomed the publication by WikiLeaks of classified documents on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Even before the Internet activist needed asylum, he managed to get to know Correa personally: he interviewed him for the Russia Today channel.

However, in 2017, the government in Ecuador changed, the country headed for rapprochement with the United States. The new president called Assange "a stone in the shoe" and immediately made it clear that his stay on the territory of the embassy would not be delayed.

According to Correa, the moment of truth came at the end of June last year, when US Vice President Michael Pence arrived in Ecuador on a visit. Then everything was decided. "You can be sure: Lenin is just a hypocrite. He has already agreed with the Americans about the fate of Assange. And now he is trying to make us swallow the pill, saying that Ecuador allegedly continues the dialogue," Correa said in an interview. channel Russia today.

How Assange made new enemies

The day before the arrest Chief Editor WikiLeaks Kristin Hrafnsson said that Assange was under total surveillance. "WikiLeaks uncovered a massive spy operation against Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian embassy," he said. According to him, cameras and voice recorders were placed around Assange, and the information received was transmitted to the administration of Donald Trump.

Hrafnsson specified that Assange was going to be expelled from the embassy a week earlier. This did not happen only because WikiLeaks made this information public. A high-ranking source told the portal about the plans of the Ecuadorian authorities, but the head of the Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry, Jose Valencia, denied the rumors.

Assange's expulsion was preceded by a corruption scandal involving Moreno. In February, WikiLeaks published the INA Papers package, which traced the operations of the offshore company INA Investment, founded by the brother of the Ecuadorian leader. In Quito, they said that this was a plot by Assange with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and former head of Ecuador Rafael Correa to overthrow Moreno.

In early April, Moreno complained about Assange's behavior in Ecuador's London mission. “We have to protect the life of Mr. Assange, but he has already crossed all the lines in terms of violating the agreement that we reached with him,” the president said. “This does not mean that he cannot speak freely, but he cannot lie and hack ". At the same time, back in February last year, it became known that Assange at the embassy was deprived of the opportunity to interact with outside world, in particular, he was turned off access to the Internet.

Why Sweden stopped persecuting Assange

At the end of last year, Western media, citing sources, reported that Assange would be charged in the United States. This was never officially confirmed, but it was precisely because of Washington's position that Assange had to take refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy six years ago.

Sweden, in May 2017, stopped investigating two cases of rape in which the founder of the portal was accused. Assange demanded compensation from the country's government for legal costs in the amount of 900,000 euros.

Earlier, in 2015, Swedish prosecutors also dropped three charges against him due to the statute of limitations.

Where did the rape investigation lead?

Assange arrived in Sweden in the summer of 2010, hoping to get protection from US authorities. But he was under investigation for rape. In November 2010, a warrant for his arrest was issued in Stockholm, and Assange was put on the international wanted list. He was detained in London, but was soon released on bail of 240 thousand pounds.

In February 2011, a British court ruled to extradite Assange to Sweden, followed by a series of successful appeals for the founder of WikiLeaks.

The British authorities placed him under house arrest before deciding to extradite him to Sweden. Breaking his promise to the authorities, Assange asked for asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy, ​​which was granted to him. Since then, the UK has had its own grievances against the founder of WikiLeaks.

What's next for Assange?

The man was re-arrested following a U.S. extradition request for publishing classified documents, police said. At the same time, Deputy Foreign Minister Alan Duncan said that Assange would not be sent to the United States if he faced the death penalty there.

In the UK, Assange is likely to appear in court on the afternoon of 11 April. This is stated on the WikiLeaks Twitter page. It is likely that the British authorities will seek a maximum sentence of 12 months, the man's mother said, citing his lawyer.

At the same time, the Swedish prosecutor's office is considering reopening the investigation into the rape allegation. Lawyer Elizabeth Massey Fritz, who represented the interests of the victim, will seek this.

The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation held a training session on the management of the Strategic Nuclear Forces (SNF) of Russia. Participated in the exercise Rocket troops strategic purpose (RVSN), Navy and long-range aviation of the Aerospace Forces.

Practical actions were worked out by the crews of the Strategic Missile Forces control points, the crews of nuclear submarine cruisers of the Northern and Pacific fleets, as well as pilots of Tu-160, Tu-95MS and Tu-22M3 long-range bombers. Thus, all components of the nuclear triad were involved: land, sea and aviation.

• Aircraft Tu-160 Russian Aerospace Forces
• Ministry of Defense of Russia

From the Plesetsk cosmodrome, the combat crew of the Strategic Missile Forces launched the Topol intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) at a target at the Kura training ground (Kamchatka).

From the waters of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk nuclear-powered ship Pacific Fleet hit two ICBMs at the Chizh range (Arkhangelsk region), and a Northern Fleet submarine fired a missile at the Kura range from the Barents Sea. Tu-160, Tu-95MS and Tu-22M3 launched cruise missiles for facilities at the Pemboi (Komi Republic), Kura and Terekta (Kazakhstan) test sites.

“According to the results of the training, the tasks were completed in full. All learning goals successfully hit, ”the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.

According to the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov, the head of state Vladimir Putin took part in the training on the management of the strategic nuclear forces. The Supreme Commander launched four ballistic missiles.

nuclear shield

Russia has had a full-fledged nuclear triad since the 1960s. The land component consists of silo- and mobile-based missile systems, the sea component includes strategic nuclear submarines, and the air component includes long-range bombers.

Moscow is giving top priority to improving the strategic nuclear forces as a deterrent for the US and NATO. The most powerful component of the triad is the land component. The Strategic Missile Forces are armed with more than 60% of the warheads and carriers available in nuclear arsenal RF.

• Strategic missile system"Yars"
• RIA News
• Alexander Kryazhev

Modernization of the Strategic Missile Forces includes putting on combat duty mobile complexes RS-24 "Yars" (to replace "Topol-M"), mine launchers"Sarmat" (to replace the "Voevoda") and the development of a combat railway complex (BZHRK) "Barguzin".

Russian submarine cruisers are being re-equipped with Sineva and Bulava ICBMs. And in 2020-2021, Russian long-range aviation should receive hypersonic missiles.

strengthening nuclear shield The Russian Federation is taking place against the backdrop of the expansion of the US global missile defense system and the modernization of US strategic nuclear forces, which will cost $1 trillion.

Not a symbolic role

Professor of the Academy of Military Sciences Vadim Kozyulin believes that the training of the nuclear triad, which was carried out by the Russian Ministry of Defense, has great importance to develop the coherence of the various components. According to him, Russia has practiced delivering a "strategic nuclear strike."

“This is definitely not an ordinary exercise. We have a huge country. Of course, it is necessary to check the interaction between the fleets, the Strategic Missile Forces and aviation. As a rule, in such trainings, the efficiency of performing tasks, the quality of communication systems, the accuracy of defeat are checked, the advantages and disadvantages of equipment are revealed, ”Kozyulin said in an interview with RT.

The expert called the launches "a serious result", which gives impetus to the improvement of the strategic nuclear forces control system. According to Kozyulin, the exercises of the nuclear triad with the participation of the President inspire confidence that Russia is capable of repelling any aggression.

• Vladimir Putin during joint strategic exercises
• RIA News
• Mikhail Klimentiev

“The role of the president was not symbolic. In his hands is nuclear suitcase. It is he who will make the decision if Russia is in mortal danger. Having launched missiles, the head of state felt the burden of responsibility,” Kozyulin said.

Military expert Dmitry Litovkin believes that the training of the Russian strategic nuclear forces most likely became the "logical conclusion" of the West-2017 strategic exercises. The analyst drew attention to the fact that previous maneuvers with Belarus also ended in launches of ballistic and cruise missiles.

“The strategic nature of the exercises suggests that not only conventional weapons, but also nuclear weapons should be involved in the maneuvers. In September, we observed the practical phase of the application ground forces, aviation, fleet. Now the strategic forces have worked out the tasks, ”Litovkin said in a comment to RT.

As the analyst explained, different types and kind armed forces The Russian Federation operates in a “single strategic plan”. Therefore, he urged not to look for political motives in Vladimir Putin's participation in the training of strategic nuclear forces.

“The President is the Supreme Commander. Only he can decide combat use strategic forces. As part of the last exercise, he fulfilled his function, ”summed up Litovkin.