Russia's most powerful weapon is still the R-36M2 intercontinental ballistic missile, also known as the "Voevoda" and "Satan" (SS-18 mod.6 Satan according to NATO classification). This system, developed and upgraded several times before the collapse of the USSR, still remains an effective tool for nuclear deterrence. A volley of 10-15 "Voevod" is capable of almost completely destroying both the industry and the population of the United States. Nevertheless, the issue of replacing the R-36M2 with more modern ICBMs has been on the agenda for quite some time. The need for such an upgrade is becoming more and more evident as the capabilities of the American missile defense. The newest Russian combat complex RS-28 "Sarmat" is called upon to nullify all the efforts of the Pentagon to protect the territory of the United States from a nuclear strike. It is expected that it will be put into service in the first half of the 2020s.
The history of the development of the rocket "Sarmat"
After at the very end of 1991 Soviet Union ceased to exist, its nuclear arsenal was placed at the disposal of Russian Federation. At the same time, many enterprises that had previously participated in the creation of various types of weapons, including ICBMs, suddenly became foreign. This factor alone has already called into question the possibility of maintaining constant combat readiness of the Strategic Missile Forces. In particular, the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau, where the famous Satan was created, was taken over by Ukraine, a country that quickly fell under the ever-increasing influence of the United States and other Western states.
Under such conditions, it became more and more difficult to provide maintenance for the R-36M2. The only solution to this problem could only be the creation of a new rocket, however, it was impossible to do this in the conditions of the total collapse of the industry for a long time.
Apparently, the decisive "push" that forced Russian leadership turn to the problem of modernization of strategic weapons, there were plans to deploy American missile defense systems in Europe. The anti-Russian orientation of these events did not help to hide even the most active propaganda. As a result, on July 21, 2011 JSC State Rocket Center named after V.P. Makeev" received an order from the government to conduct an experimental design work with the aim of creating a complex RS-28 "Sarmat".
Sometimes this photo is shown on the Web as an image of "Sarmat". In fact, this is the R-36M missile, which was part of the museum exposition.
Information about this project got into the media quite rarely. As a rule, the messages came from representatives of the Russian Ministry of Defense. In particular, in 2016 it became known that the engines for the new rocket were being developed at NPO Energomash JSC. The first throw tests of the Sarmat took place on December 27, 2017 and ended in success. A few months later, Russian President Vladimir Putin mentioned the RS-28, saying that the new ICBM would be put into service in 2020.
At the end of June 2019, near Moscow, in Patriot Park, the Army-2019 international military-technical forum was held, during which part of the performance characteristics (performance characteristics) of the RS-28 was revealed. Nevertheless, some foreign experts believe that this information is only partially true. Whether this is so, time will tell. According to some reports, the production of new missiles has already begun.
The principle of operation of the rocket "Sarmat"
Interestingly, the RS-28 has already received in NATO symbol Satan 2, not Sarmat, although the second option does not contradict the classification adopted in the West. Apparently, Western military analysts consider "Sarmat" a further development of "Voevoda". There are certain reasons for this. So, the new rocket, like the R-36M2, uses liquid fuel. Moreover, it is already known that RD-264 engines are installed on it - the same as on the Satan. However, to consider the Sarmat a modernized version of a long-known weapon would be a gross mistake: in any case, we are talking about a new generation of strategic carriers.
The main feature of the RS-28 is the trajectory of its flight to the target. This missile can attack the territory of a potential enemy from almost any direction.
Projects of complexes with such an ability were created in the USSR back in the 60s of the last century. The idea was simple: combat units equipped with nuclear warheads were launched into low earth orbit. Constantly flying around the planet, they could at any moment receive a command, turn on the brake engines and literally collapse into enemy territory. Conventional intercontinental missiles fly the shortest path, while an orbital warhead is able to fly from the exact opposite direction. For the practical implementation of this concept, the R-36orb complex was created, which was withdrawn from service in 1983 in connection with the signing of the SALT-2 treaty, which provided for the demilitarization of outer space.
It should be noted that the Sarmat missile does not violate any international obligations. Its flight path is suborbital. This means that warhead does not become a satellite of the Earth, however, it is possible to deliver it to the target not only directly, but also along any other route: the range reaches at least 18 thousand kilometers. Thus, units of American THAAD interceptor missiles, deployed to cover the most dangerous directions, immediately become useless.
In accordance with the information leaked to the media, in order to reduce the likelihood of the RS-28 being hit by missile defense systems, other measures have been taken:
- The duration of the passage of the active part of the flight trajectory has been reduced. Previously, it was believed that it was almost impossible to achieve this for liquid rockets. Reportedly, the problem was solved through the use of new types of fuel;
- In addition to the usual decoys, the rocket can be equipped with special simulators that, when entering the dense layers of the atmosphere, behave almost indistinguishably from real warheads;
- The maneuverability of the breeding stage has been sharply increased. The interception of a "bus" directing nuclear charges to given targets becomes an unsolvable task for missile defense;
- "Sarmat" is capable of carrying not only the traditional set of warheads for individual targeting, but also hypersonic guided warheads (UBB) "Avangard". This weapon can safely be called absolute, since there are no means to neutralize it today and will not appear in the foreseeable future.
The RS 28 Sarmat ICBMs will be installed in the same mines where Voevody are located today. These starting positions are reliably protected from a "preemptive" nuclear strike. Only a direct hit directly into the “mouth” of the mine can damage them.
To exclude this possibility, the KAZ Mozyr active protection complex was developed. Its device is distinguished by its simplicity and reliability of action: a whole cloud of metal balls and arrows is fired towards the attacking warhead from hundreds of barrels, which leads to the complete destruction of the target.
Tests of the RS-28 missile
Unfortunately, the collapse of the USSR, which was accompanied by the rupture of former industrial and technological ties, had an extremely negative impact on the state of Russian industry, including the defense industry. That is why the implementation of many promising projects is being delayed. In particular, the originally planned dates for the first tests of the Sarmat were disrupted. A trial run was supposed to be carried out back in 2016, but this did not happen.
Only in last days next year, 2017, they managed to complete the so-called throw test. The essence of this test is the development of a “mortar launch”. The RS-28 Sarmat itself is not used; instead, a mass-size model is placed in the mine, which is then thrown to a height of about 30 meters using a powder pressure accumulator.
In total, three such tests were carried out:
- December 25, 2017. According to official reports, the “throw” was successful, all systems worked normally;
- March 28 or 29, 2018. This time, the Ministry of Defense published a video of the launch, which clearly shows that not only the rocket was withdrawn from the mine, but also the launch of the first or second stage engines;
- In the second half of May 2018. After this launch, information about further “throws” was no longer received, and then it was announced that this stage of testing had been completed.
Flight tests of the RS-28 were supposed to be carried out in 2019, but so far not a single launch has been carried out. Nevertheless, back in April, President Putin announced that the tests of the Sarmat were close to completion. After that, already in July, general manager Roskosmos Rogozin noted that it is planned to move to the final tests of the RS-28 only at the end of the future, 2020. In fact, this means that in 2021 it will not be possible to replace “Satan”.
It should be noted that the Avangard UBB, which were originally created as part of the Sarmat project, have been quite successfully tested since at least 2016. Witness one of the trial runs hypersonic vehicle, initially known under the designation Yu-71, became many residents of the northern cities of Russia - the glider left an unusual fiery trail in the sky. The launch of the Avangards was carried out using the intercontinental UR-100N UTTH, known in the West under the designation Stiletto.
The purpose of the rocket
The main goal pursued by the designers who created the RS-28 was to obtain a powerful strategic weapon capable of inflicting a retaliatory or retaliatory nuclear strike on the territory of any likely aggressor. From this point of view, the purpose of "Sarmat" and "Voevoda" is the same. However, the new intercontinental ballistic missile can be used in other ways.
The following “alternative” applications of RS-28 are allowed:
- "Instant Global Impact". The kinetic energy of hypersonic guided units is so great that they can be used to destroy any key targets on enemy territory without the use of nuclear "stuffing";
- Destruction of aircraft carrier groups. Increasing the accuracy of hitting and the possibility of reorienting the UBB during the flight, allows you to aim them at large surface ships. Onboard air defense systems will not be able to repel such an attack;
- Launching satellites into earth orbit. It is assumed that at the end of its service life, the Sarmatians will be used for this very purpose. Both military and civilian vehicles can be launched into space.
It should be noted that articles were published in the Chinese press, the authors of which regarded the RS-28 as a means of a first, and not a retaliatory strike. Theoretically, such an application is not excluded by the current military doctrine. One can only hope that no political exacerbations will force the Russian leadership to resort to such a desperate step.
Representatives of the military and political leadership of Russia are watching the tests of the Avangard guided warhead, designed to be installed on the RS-28
Technical characteristics of the rocket "Sarmat"
As you might guess, comprehensive information about the latest Russian ICBM has not yet been published.
The available information can be summarized in the following table:
Previously published reports that the starting weight of the Sarmat would be half that of the Voyevoda were not confirmed. True, there is a version according to which the rocket is built in two versions - “heavy” and “light”.
Until the first RS-28s are put on combat duty in the Strategic Missile Forces, all information about these weapons cannot be considered 100% reliable. Of course, the manufacture of liquid-propellant rockets was well mastered even during the existence of the USSR, however, the constant failure to meet deadlines and failure to fulfill promises involuntarily sets one in a skeptical mood. One way or another, today it is already clear that replacing the outdated Voevods with Sarmats, even if they do not have the full capabilities advertised today, will significantly strengthen Russia's defense capability, thereby supporting its state sovereignty.
If you have any questions - leave them in the comments below the article. We or our visitors will be happy to answer them.
In early January, at a meeting in the Ministry of Defense, the head of the military department, Sergei Shoigu, instructed to prepare a draft of a new State Armaments Program for 2018-2025 by July. Special attention According to the minister, this program should focus on the creation of a promising strategic missile system, which is being made at the Krasnoyarsk Machine-Building Plant, where Shoigu has already flown more than once, personally controlling the process. Moreover, the minister demanded that reports on this project be heard in the military department daily, until the work was included in the approved schedule. What kind of complex this is, the creation of which is given such increased attention, the minister did not specify at the meeting. However, it was already clear to everyone that it was a heavy intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) "Sarmat", which should replace the famous "Satan". Why do we need a new heavy ICBM This story was told to me by the ex-head of the military security department of the Security Council apparatus, head of the Main Staff of the Strategic Missile Forces (1994-1996) colonel general Victor Esin: - In 1997 - then I first visited the USA as part of a delegation from Russia - we were traveling with the Americans in a bus around San Francisco, chatting, joking ... Suddenly I saw a lighthouse through the window and I said: “Oh, this lighthouse is for me well known." “Where did you come from,” the Americans ask, “are you in California for the first time?” “You forgot that I was involved in nuclear planning, and this beacon was the aiming point for our missiles. Next to it, you have a break in the earth's crust here. If you hit him, then half of California will immediately slide into the ocean "...
The bus became quiet. Nobody joked anymore. All the Americans traveling with us lived in San Francisco, and in the event of such a strike, their city, along with their homes and families, would also be buried by the ocean ... Later, intercontinental ballistic missiles R-36ORB (orbital), which could fly around Earth and hit the California lighthouse, were destroyed under the SALT-1 Treaty - the world became safer for a while. But when the United States again confronted Russia with the fact of deploying its global missile defense system, including in Europe, directly at our borders, it became clear that this supposedly “protection system” against some mythical Iranian or North Korean threat really pursues the goal of leveling the Russian nuclear potential. Moreover, the deployment of a global missile defense system will allow the country that owns this system to be the first to strike at strategic, including nuclear, targets of its potential adversary under the pretext of preempting its attack. In fact, the creation of a global missile defense system enables the United States to implement an offensive military doctrine. Protection in this situation can be either the deployment of a similar missile defense system, which is very expensive, or the creation of a retaliatory strike weapon capable of providing guaranteed retribution to the aggressor in any case. It is much less costly in the economic sense and more efficient in the military sense. It was this step that was chosen by Russia as a response to the deployment of US missile defense. The creation of a new heavy complex, which would fundamentally solve the problem of strategic containment of the United States, was also important because any equipment, including nuclear carriers, tends to age. Until recently, the basis of the Strategic Missile Forces was the R-36M “Voevoda” (aka “Satan”) carriers, which no missile defense was able to intercept. "Satan" carried ten powerful warheads to the target, simultaneously releasing thousands of false ones, creating an absolutely hopeless situation for the enemy's missile defense system. These still Soviet ICBMs were made in the city of Dnepropetrovsk, in Ukraine. After the collapse of the USSR, their maintenance and extension of terms became too problematic, and in the light of recent political events, even impossible. That is why, with the gradual decommissioning of the Strategic Missile Forces "Satan", the creation of a similar heavy nuclear carrier has become especially relevant. What is already known about "Sarmat"
Sarmatians (translated from ancient Greek as “lizard-eyed”, lat. sarmatae) is the common name of the Iranian-speaking nomadic tribes that inhabited the vast territories between the rivers Tobol (Kustanai region of Kazakhstan, Kurgan and Tyumen regions of the Russian Federation) and the Danube. So far, there is not much information about the Sarmat missile - work is being carried out in secrecy. However, something is gradually becoming known to specialists and the media, although these data sometimes look rather contradictory. The following approximate characteristics of the future rocket are called: - in terms of weight, the Sarmat is planned to be two times lighter than the old Satan - about 100 tons, but at the same time, in terms of combat characteristics, the Sarmat will have monstrous strength, sharply surpassing the parameters of the Satan »; - the missile will be equipped with additional means of overcoming US missile defense - a hypersonic maneuvering warhead, which in the West is called the Yu-71; - "Sarmat" uses liquid fuel and in flight will be able to overcome more than 11 thousand km, while carrying combat equipment weighing 4350 kg; - most likely the new missile "Sarmat" will have two stages; - According to Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov, "Sarmat" will not have restrictions in the direction of combat use. That is, one of the central ideas of the Sarmat ICBM is the revival of the concept of "orbital bombardment" previously implemented in the Soviet R-36ORB missile, which is an excellent means of overcoming missile defense, allowing you to attack objects in the United States along a variety of trajectories, including through the South Pole bypassing deployed missile defense systems. This will require the United States to create a "circular missile defense system", which is significantly more expensive than the individual THAAD batteries currently deployed on the usual flight path of Russian silo-based ICBM warheads.
Creation and testing of a new rocket
Work on the heavy ICBM project began in 2009. For two years, the designers of the Makeev State Missile Center (Miass, Chelyabinsk Region) conjured over the rocket. They did not take the path of modernizing the well-known "Satan", choosing the more difficult path of creating a completely new product with unique combat characteristics. True, in order to reduce the cost of creating a rocket, as well as speed up the time it was put into service, the developers suggested using it as much as possible in the design " Sarmat” already tested components and elements from other serial missiles, which was quite justified and gave the desired effect. For example, according to some information, Sarmat uses an upgraded version of the Russian RD-264 engine, which has already been tested in practice for the R-36M, and therefore the tests of the propulsion system were quick and successful. Just two years after the start of work on the project, the developers were already able to start flight tests of the product. True, the first launches, which took place in the fall of 2011, were unsuccessful, which, however, is quite natural. But a year later, the rocket flew. And on October 25, 2016, residents of villages located near the Kura test site witnessed a successful test of a hypersonic warhead and even managed to film its plasma trail while it maneuvered in the atmosphere along an unpredictable trajectory. But officially, no detailed information about the tests was made public. Starts were carried out from the site of one of military units, from the mine (Orenburg region, area of the village of Dombrovsky), where the Voevoda rocket was previously stationed. The flight of both the missile and its warheads took place along a "closed track", which seriously complicated the tracking of tests by means of US telemetry control. Fuel efficiency
Sarmat is a rocket that will use liquid fuel. This criterion initially caused a lot of controversy. Opponents of this idea insisted that a liquid-propellant rocket is out of date, that more modern technologies are used for solid-propellant rockets, and besides, they are more convenient to maintain. The Americans abandoned liquid rockets a long time ago. But the designers from the Makeyev State Research Center, which is one of the recognized rocket centers that has specialized in the creation of liquid rockets since Soviet times, defended their positions. The fact is that the largest part the weight of any ICBM falls on the fuel in its stages. According to this criterion, all launch vehicles are conditionally divided into three types: - light, weighing up to 50 tons; - medium, weighing from 51 to 100 tons; - heavy, up to 200 tons in weight. The fuel parameters of an ICBM directly affect its range: the more fuel in the rocket, the farther it flies. Opponents of heavy liquid rockets have always argued that the low weight of the rocket is its advantage. Such ICBMs do not need large mines, because of their relatively small size they are easier to transport and maintain. Solid-propellant missiles have a shorter (two to four times) active part of the trajectory, which is very important for overcoming enemy missile defense. In addition, due to the use of solid fuel, the service life of such a rocket is significantly increased, which means that it is cheaper for the budget. In addition, from an environmental point of view, solid fuel is much preferable to liquid fuel, the components of which are extremely toxic (heptyl liquid rocket fuel is more poisonous, for example, than hydrocyanic acid). However, with all the advantages of a solid rocket, there is one significant drawback that can cover all its advantages: the energy efficiency of solid fuel is lower than that of liquid fuel. 
And this means that a liquid-propellant rocket is capable of carrying a significantly larger number of warheads, including a larger set of decoys, and therefore a liquid-propellant rocket has an advantage over a solid-fuel rocket in terms of protection against missile defense in the ballistic and, most importantly, final sections due to a larger set of quasi-heavy decoys , which are a big problem for the missile defense system, since it simply does not have time to recognize and distinguish them from real ones. In addition, the following fact was also important specifically for Russia: from 2000 to 2009, our Strategic Missile Forces were reduced from 756 ICBMs with 3540 warheads to 367 ICBMs with 1248 warheads, i.e. twice for missiles and three times for warheads. This happened due to the fact that all these years the Strategic Missile Forces received exclusively solid-propellant monobloc ICBMs, and mainly liquid multi-charge missiles were removed from service. This failure could only be compensated for by the creation of a new heavy multi-charged ICBM, which was supposed to become liquid. The warhead of the new ICBM The design of the new missile contains many unique technical solutions, one of which, judging by the information received from the military, was the warhead. According to Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov, the Sarmat ICBM will be equipped with maneuvering warheads. In this regard, a number of experts believe that if we are talking specifically about warheads maneuvering in the atmosphere, then warheads are in some way the completion of the innovative Albatross atmospheric flight control project, which began to be developed for the R-36 in 1987. The Albatross project included a proposal for a guided warhead, which should have been able to maneuver to evade anti-missiles. The block fixed the launch of the enemy's anti-missile, changed the flight path and evaded it. Such a missile system, which has enhanced capabilities to overcome a layered missile defense system, was conceived as an asymmetric response of the USSR to the deployment of the US SDI program (strategic defense initiative). The new missile was supposed to receive maneuvering, gliding (winged) warheads with hypersonic speed, which could perform maneuvers with a range of up to 1000 km in azimuth when entering the atmosphere at speeds of the order of 5.8-7.5 km / s or Mach 17-22. In 1991, it was planned to start testing the complex, and in 1993 to begin its mass production, but after the collapse of the USSR, these plans were never implemented. And now, apparently, the Sarmat designers, going in the same direction, were able to make significant progress in creating a warhead moving in hypersonic mode and at the same time maintaining a high maneuvering speed. According to some reports, the Sarmat, like the Satan, will have at least 10 individual targeting units. Only for the new missile, they will combine the qualities of two very different types of weapons: a cruise and a hypersonic missile, which until now was technically considered incompatible because cruise missiles they couldn’t fly very fast with a flat trajectory. In any case, American missiles cannot withstand such regimes, as a result switching to supersonic, which allows Russian funds PRO-air defense "catch" them. The Americans are generally very concerned about the incoming information regarding the work on the Sarmat project. According to their military experts, Yu-71 high-precision hypersonic warheads for the first time can fundamentally change the strategy and tactics of using ICBMs. According to American analysts, the Yu-71 can make it possible to use Russian and Soviet ICBMs in local wars according to the "global strike" strategy, with the defeat of strategic targets by the kinetic energy of the warhead without using nuclear explosion. Hypersonic maneuvering warheads, due to maneuvering, can hit moving targets and, when they are developed into anti-ship weapons, they pose the main threat to US large ships, as they are able to hit them, despite the most advanced missile defense systems.
Basing missiles "Sarmat"
It is clear that the enemy, who planned to launch a nuclear strike first, would like to destroy the missiles that pose such a serious threat immediately, already in the initial phase of the war, so as not to receive a retaliatory strike on their own strategic objects. That is why the mines where the Sarmat missiles will be located - and they will be placed in the same place where the old heavy liquid rockets RS-18 and RS-20 were previously based - will be seriously modernized. They are planned to be equipped with multi-level protection: active - missile defense systems, and passive - fortifications. According to experts, in order to guarantee the destruction of the Sarmat missile, the enemy would have to inflict at least seven accurate nuclear strikes on the area where the missile silo is based, which is almost impossible with the new multi-level protection.
In early January, at a meeting in the Ministry of Defense, the head of the military department, Sergei Shoigu, instructed to prepare a draft of a new State Armaments Program for 2018-2025 by July. Particular attention, according to the minister, in this program should be given to the creation of a promising strategic missile system, which is being made at the Krasnoyarsk Machine-Building Plant, where Shoigu has already flown more than once, personally controlling the process. Moreover, the minister demanded that reports on this project be heard in the military department daily, until the work was included in the approved schedule. What kind of complex this is, the creation of which is given such increased attention, the minister did not specify at the meeting. However, it was already clear to everyone that it was a heavy intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) "Sarmat", which should replace the famous "Satan".
Why do we need a new heavy ICBM
This story was told to me by the ex-head of the military security department of the Security Council apparatus, chief of the Main Staff of the Strategic Missile Forces (1994-1996), Colonel General Viktor Yesin: - In 1997 - then I first visited the United States as part of a delegation from Russia - we traveled with Americans on a bus in San Francisco, chatting, joking ... Suddenly, through the window, I saw a lighthouse and I say: “Oh, this lighthouse is familiar to me.” - "Where, - ask the Americans, - are you in California for the first time?" - “You forgot that I was involved in nuclear planning, and this beacon was the aiming point for our missiles. Next to it, you have a break in the earth's crust here. If you hit him, then half of California will immediately slide into the ocean "...
The bus became quiet. Nobody joked anymore. All the Americans traveling with us lived in San Francisco, and in the event of such a strike, their city, along with their homes and families, would also be buried by the ocean ... Later, intercontinental ballistic missiles R-36ORB (orbital), which could circle the globe and hit the California lighthouse , were destroyed under the SALT-1 Treaty - the world became safer for a while. But when the United States again confronted Russia with the fact of deploying its global missile defense system, including in Europe, directly at our borders, it became clear that this supposedly “protection system” against some mythical Iranian or North Korean threat really pursues the goal of leveling the Russian nuclear potential. Moreover, the deployment of a global missile defense system will allow the country that owns this system to be the first to strike at strategic, including nuclear, targets of its potential adversary under the pretext of preempting its attack. In fact, the creation of a global missile defense system enables the United States to implement an offensive military doctrine. Defense in this situation can be either the deployment of a similar missile defense system, which is very costly, or the creation of a retaliatory strike weapon capable of providing guaranteed retribution to the aggressor in any case. It is much less costly in the economic sense and more efficient in the military sense. It was this step that was chosen by Russia as a response to the deployment of US missile defense. The creation of a new heavy complex, which would fundamentally solve the problem of strategic containment of the United States, was also important because any equipment, including nuclear carriers, tends to age. Until recently, the basis of the Strategic Missile Forces was the R-36M “Voevoda” (aka “Satan”) carriers, which no missile defense was able to intercept. "Satan" carried ten powerful warheads to the target, simultaneously releasing thousands of false ones, creating an absolutely hopeless situation for the enemy's missile defense system. These still Soviet ICBMs were made in the city of Dnepropetrovsk, in Ukraine. After the collapse of the USSR, their maintenance and extension of terms became too problematic, and in the light of recent political events, even impossible. That is why, with the gradual decommissioning of the Strategic Missile Forces "Satan", the creation of a similar heavy nuclear carrier has become especially relevant.
What is already known about "Sarmat"
Sarmatians (translated from the ancient Greek "lizard-eyed", lat. sarmatae) - the common name of the Iranian-speaking nomadic tribes that inhabited the vast territories between the rivers Tobol (Kustanai region of Kazakhstan, Kurgan and Tyumen regions of the Russian Federation) and the Danube.
So far, there is not much information about the Sarmat missile - work is being carried out in secrecy. However, something is gradually becoming known to specialists and the media, although these data sometimes look rather contradictory. They name such approximate characteristics of the future rocket: - in terms of weight, the Sarmat is planned to be two times lighter than the old Satan - about 100 tons, but at the same time, in terms of combat characteristics, the Sarmat will have monstrous strength, sharply surpassing the parameters of the Satan »; - the missile will be equipped with additional means of overcoming US missile defense - a hypersonic maneuvering warhead, which in the West is called the Yu-71; - "Sarmat" uses liquid fuel and in flight will be able to overcome more than 11 thousand km, while carrying combat equipment weighing 4350 kg; - most likely the new missile "Sarmat" will have two stages; - according to Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov, "Sarmat" will not have restrictions in the direction of combat use. That is, one of the central ideas of the Sarmat ICBM is the revival of the concept of "orbital bombardment" previously implemented in the Soviet R-36ORB missile, which is an excellent means of overcoming missile defense, allowing you to attack objects in the United States along a variety of trajectories, including through the South Pole bypassing deployed missile defense systems. This will require the United States to create a "circular missile defense system", which is significantly more expensive than the individual THAAD batteries currently deployed on the usual flight path of Russian silo-based ICBM warheads.
Creation and testing of a new rocket
Work on the heavy ICBM project began in 2009. For two years, the designers of the Makeev State Rocket Center (Miass, Chelyabinsk Region) conjured over the rocket. They did not follow the path of modernization of the well-known "Satan", choosing the more difficult path of creating a completely new product with unique combat characteristics.
True, in order to reduce the cost of creating a rocket, as well as to speed up the timing of its adoption into service, the developers proposed to use as much as possible in the design of the Sarmat already tested components and elements from other serial missiles, which was quite justified and gave the desired effect. For example, according to some information, Sarmat uses an upgraded version of the Russian RD-264 engine, which has already been tested in practice for the R-36M, and therefore the tests of the propulsion system were quick and successful. Just two years after the start of work on the project, the developers were already able to start flight tests of the product.
True, the first launches, which took place in the fall of 2011, were unsuccessful, which, however, is quite natural. But a year later, the rocket flew. And on October 25, 2016, residents of villages located near the Kura test site witnessed a successful test of a hypersonic warhead and even managed to film its plasma trail while it maneuvered in the atmosphere along an unpredictable trajectory. But officially, no detailed information about the tests was made public. The launches were carried out from the site of one of the military units, from the mine (Orenburg region, area of the village of Dombrovsky), where the Voevoda rocket was previously stationed. The flight of both the missile and its warheads took place along a "closed track", which seriously complicated the tracking of tests by means of US telemetry control.
Fuel efficiency
"Sarmat" is a rocket that will use liquid fuel. This criterion initially caused a lot of controversy. Opponents of this idea insisted that a liquid-propellant rocket is out of date, that more modern technologies are used for solid-propellant rockets, and besides, they are more convenient to maintain. The Americans abandoned liquid rockets a long time ago. But the designers from the Makeyev GRC, which is one of the recognized rocket centers, which since Soviet times has specialized in the creation of liquid rockets, defended their positions. The fact is that the largest part of the weight of any ICBM falls on the fuel in its stages. According to this criterion, all launch vehicles are conditionally divided into three types: - light, weighing up to 50 tons; - medium, weighing from 51 to 100 tons; - heavy, up to 200 tons in weight.
The fuel parameters of an ICBM directly affect its range: the more fuel a rocket has, the farther it flies. Opponents of heavy liquid rockets have always argued that the low weight of the rocket is its advantage. Such ICBMs do not need large mines, because of their relatively small size they are easier to transport and maintain. Solid-propellant missiles have a shorter (two to four times) active part of the trajectory, which is very important for overcoming enemy missile defense. In addition, due to the use of solid fuel, the service life of such a rocket is significantly increased, which means that it is cheaper for the budget.
In addition, solid propellant from the point of view of ecology is much more preferable than liquid propellant, the components of which are extremely toxic (heptyl liquid propellant is more toxic, for example, than hydrocyanic acid). However, with all the advantages of a solid rocket, there is one significant drawback that can cover all its advantages: the energy efficiency of solid fuel is lower than that of liquid fuel.
And this means that a liquid-propellant rocket is capable of carrying a significantly larger number of warheads, including a larger set of decoys, and therefore a liquid-propellant rocket has an advantage over a solid-fuel rocket in terms of protection against missile defense in the ballistic and, most importantly, final sections due to a larger set of quasi-heavy decoys , which are a big problem for the missile defense system, since it simply does not have time to recognize and distinguish them from real ones.
In addition, the following fact was also important specifically for Russia: from 2000 to 2009, our Strategic Missile Forces were reduced from 756 ICBMs with 3,540 warheads to 367 ICBMs with 1,248 warheads, that is, by half in missiles and three times in warheads. This happened due to the fact that all these years the Strategic Missile Forces received exclusively solid-propellant monobloc ICBMs, and mainly liquid multi-charge missiles were removed from service. This failure could only be compensated for by the creation of a new heavy multi-charged ICBM, which was supposed to become liquid.
The warhead of the new ICBM
The design of the new missile contains many unique technical solutions, one of which, judging by the information received from the military, was the warhead. According to Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov, the Sarmat ICBM will be equipped with maneuvering warheads. In this regard, a number of experts believe that if we are talking specifically about warheads maneuvering in the atmosphere, then the warheads are in some way the completion of the innovative Albatross atmospheric flight control project, which began to be developed for the R-36 in 1987.
The Albatross project was based on a proposal for a guided warhead, which should have been able to maneuver to evade anti-missiles. The block fixed the launch of the enemy's anti-missile, changed the flight path and evaded it. Such a missile system, which has enhanced capabilities to overcome a layered missile defense system, was conceived as an asymmetric response of the USSR to the deployment of the US SDI program (strategic defense initiative). The new missile was supposed to receive maneuvering, gliding (winged) warheads with hypersonic speed, which could perform maneuvers with a range of up to 1000 km in azimuth when entering the atmosphere at speeds of the order of 5.8-7.5 km / s or Mach 17-22 . In 1991, it was planned to start testing the complex, and in 1993 to begin its mass production, but after the collapse of the USSR, these plans were never implemented. And now, apparently, the Sarmat designers, going in the same direction, were able to make significant progress in creating a warhead moving in hypersonic mode and at the same time maintaining a high maneuvering speed. According to some information, "Sarmat", as well as "Satan", will have at least 10 units of individual guidance.
Only in the new missile they will combine the qualities of two very different types of weapons: cruise and hypersonic missiles, which until now was considered technically incompatible, since cruise missiles with a flat trajectory could not fly very fast.
In any case, American missiles do not withstand such regimes, as a result switching to supersonic, which allows Russian missile defense systems to "catch" them. The Americans are generally very concerned about the incoming information regarding the work on the Sarmat project. According to their military experts, Yu-71 high-precision hypersonic warheads for the first time can fundamentally change the strategy and tactics of using ICBMs. According to American analysts, the Yu-71 can make it possible to use Russian and Soviet ICBMs in local wars according to the "global strike" strategy, with the defeat of strategic targets by the kinetic energy of the warhead without the use of a nuclear explosion. Hypersonic maneuvering warheads, due to maneuvering, can hit moving targets and, when they are developed into anti-ship weapons, they pose the main threat to US large ships, as they are able to hit them, despite the most advanced missile defense systems.
Basing missiles "Sarmat"
It is clear that the enemy, who planned to launch a nuclear strike first, would like to destroy the missiles that pose such a serious threat immediately, already in the initial phase of the war, so as not to receive a retaliatory strike on their own strategic objects. That is why the mines where the Sarmat missiles will be located - and they will be placed in the same place where the old heavy liquid rockets RS-18 and RS-20 were previously based - will be seriously modernized. They are planned to be equipped with multi-level protection: active - missile defense systems, and passive - fortifications. According to experts, in order to guarantee the destruction of the Sarmat missile, the enemy would have to inflict at least seven accurate nuclear strikes on the area where the missile silo is based, which is almost impossible with the new multi-level protection.
Last Thursday, March 1, Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered a message to the Federal Assembly. The most important place in the address of the head of state was occupied by a story about the latest successes in the field of strategic nuclear missile weapons. Circumstances are forcing our country to develop this direction, and so far such development has led to the most interesting results. The President revealed some information about already known projects, and for the first time announced the existence of some other developments. One of the topics of the presidential report was a complex with an intercontinental missile under the code "Sarmat".
Starting his story about new strategic weapons, V. Putin recalled the events of recent years. Thus, at the beginning of the last decade, the United States unilaterally withdrew from the ABM treaty, as a result of which Russia's nuclear potential was threatened. Despite the constant criticism of Moscow, Washington continued to develop anti-missile systems and deploy new systems. However, Russia not only protested and warned. Everything last years Russian military and scientists were working on advanced weapons. As a result, they managed to make a big step in the development of strategic systems.
The President recalled that in order to counter the North American missile defense system, Russia is creating and constantly improving not too expensive, but very effective means defense breakthrough. Such equipment is carried by all Russian intercontinental missiles. In addition, the development of completely new models of strategic weapons with high performance was started.
Transportation of a container with an experienced rocket
According to the President, the Ministry of Defense and enterprises of the rocket and space industry have already begun the active phase of testing the newest complex with heavy ICBMs. The promising system received the designation "Sarmat". The head of state pointed out that the new product is being created to replace existing missiles created back in Soviet time and known for their high combat power.
V. Putin claims that the combat capabilities of the Sarmat are much higher than those of its predecessor. The new ICBM has a launch weight of more than 200 tons. Characteristic missiles are a shortened active part of the flight, which to some extent makes it difficult to intercept and destroy them. In terms of flight range, the number of warheads and the power of warheads, the promising Sarmat surpasses the old Voevoda.
The flexibility of the missile is provided by the ability to carry warheads of different types. "Sarmat" will be able to use nuclear warheads of various capacities and modern means of breaking through anti-missile defense. In addition, it can be equipped with a hypersonic warhead, which has certain advantages over conventional units.
The R-36M missile has a firing range of up to 11,000 km. The new complex, as the president noted, has practically no range restrictions. As part of the Address to the Federal Assembly, a video was shown demonstrating the capabilities of the new complex. Among other things, it showed that The Sarmat missile is capable of reaching the Western Hemisphere through both the North and South Poles. Such capabilities obviously increase the potential of the complex in the context of a missile defense breakthrough of a potential enemy.
The President also noted some features of launchers for a promising missile. The product "Sarmat" is proposed to be used with protected launchers with high performance. The parameters of the launch vehicles and the energy performance of the missiles, according to V. Putin, will ensure the use of the missile system in any conditions and in different situations.
Model RS-28 leaves the launcher for the first time
The last Address of the President to the Federal Assembly differed in a curious way from the previous ones. The speech of the head of state was accompanied by a demonstration of videos on a particular topic. Naturally, video materials were also present in the part of the speech devoted to advanced weapons.
For the first time politicians and the general public were shown footage from tests of an intercontinental ballistic missile"Sarmat". First, the video showed the process of loading a transport and launch container with a rocket into a silo launcher. Then they showed the actual launch. The rocket in the characteristic black-and-white "chessboard" coloring, necessary for monitoring its work, flew out of the mine with the help of a powder pressure accumulator and turned on the engine. All further stages of the flight, however, were shown in the form of computer graphics. The painted missile passed along a given trajectory, dropped its warheads and successfully hit its intended targets in the Western Hemisphere.
Having completed his story about the course of the Sarmat project and the consequences of its adoption, Vladimir Putin moved on to other topics from the field of strategic nuclear missile systems. In a matter of minutes, the president revealed a number of novelties that will be discussed at all levels for a long time and will probably have the most serious impact on the strategic situation in the world. However, let's not rush and take a closer look at the Sarmat project, including taking into account the latest information announced personally by the head of state.
First moments after launch
First of all, it must be remembered that the project RS-28 "Sarmat" already well known to specialists and the general public. The fifth-generation missile system with a heavy silo-based intercontinental missile is intended to replace the outdated R-36M and UR-100UTTKh systems. The project was developed at the State Rocket Center. V.P. Makeev (Miass) with the participation of some other domestic defense enterprises.
According to reports from previous years, in the foreseeable future, the strategic missile forces were to receive a promising product with a launch weight of more than 100 tons and the ability to carry a large combat load. Over time, it became known that the Sarmat has a three-stage design and is equipped with a warhead breeding stage, which ensures their individual guidance. All stages of the rocket must be equipped with liquid-propellant engines, "drowned" in the bottom of the tank housings. From a certain time, in the context of the RS-28 project, the possibility of using advanced hypersonic combat equipment "4202" / Yu-71 was mentioned.
According to various estimates, depending on the task, the Sarmat missile could carry up to 10 warheads and deliver them to a distance of at least 16,000 km. This means that such missiles located in different parts of the Strategic Missile Forces will be able to attack targets almost anywhere in the world. At the same time, in some cases, it became possible to choose a flight route that was optimal from the point of view of bypassing the missile defense system.
Turning on the engines. A dropped pallet of powder charge is visible
It is known that in the middle of the current decade, the RS-28 project left the stage of design work, and the first tests began. So, in the middle of 2016, tests of new rocket engines were completed, after which preparations began for testing the rocket as a whole. It was reported that flight tests would be carried out at the Plesetsk test site. For their implementation, one of the mine launchers of the test site was repaired and restored. In the past, the press reported some delays, as a result of which the first Sarmat rocket launch was carried out only at the end of December last year, with a noticeable delay compared to the original plans.
Apparently, it was the video from the December start that became the "illustration" of V. Putin's speech. According to known data, it was planned to start testing the Sarmat with a throw launch, and, apparently, it was he who was shown to the public. Thus, a product with a characteristic color that flew out of the mine was a mock-up of a full-fledged rocket, having the same mass and similar geometric characteristics. The task of the mockup in throwing tests is to exit the launcher, during which a set of sensors captures all the main parameters.
For obvious reasons, the drop test dummy is not intended for full range flight. In this regard, in the demo video showing the capabilities of the rocket and its principle of operation, after the frames of the real launch, there was an animated flight with all the main operations. It is also necessary to recall that science and industry do not yet have at their disposal the means capable of conducting high-quality video filming of ICBMs on the trajectory from the most spectacular angles. Therefore, it is necessary to apply the achievements of modern cinema and animation.
Demonstration of possible missile flight routes
In the past, when the promising RS-28 project was far from being fully realized, officials have talked about the possible adoption of the missile into service in 2017-18. By now, the plans have noticeably changed. Flight design tests of the rocket are planned for the current and next year, and the adoption of the complex into service is expected no later than 2020 of the year.
Over the next few years, the Krasnoyarsk Machine-Building Plant will have to carry out preparations for the full-scale serial construction of promising missiles for delivery to parts of the Strategic Missile Forces. At the same time, the bases of this type of troops will be used to repair and modernize the existing Voevoda missile launchers, which, after the upgrade, will have to work with the new Sarmats. The process of replacing R-36M missiles with new RS-28s will take several years. Without serious problems it could be completed by the mid-twenties.
According to known data, the R-36M and R-36M2 heavy-class missiles remain in service with only two formations of the Strategic Missile Forces, and their total number does not exceed fifty. Also, several dozen heavy UR-100UTTKh continue to serve. This means that the program for rearmament of the missile forces should not be of particular size, and therefore will not be excessively expensive or lengthy. In any case, no later than 2025-30, the Russian armed forces will have to abandon all heavy ICBMs currently available due to their complete moral and physical obsolescence.
Warheads on approach to the target
Based on the already known and recently announced information, new conclusions can be drawn about the goals and objectives of the RS-28 Sarmat project. The first and one of the main goals of this complex is to maintain the required combat capability of the strategic missile forces through the timely replacement of obsolete weapons. Moreover, the replacement of old missiles will lead to a serious increase in combat potential. Having improved performance, the new missile, even when replaced in a one-to-one ratio, will be able to more effectively solve the tasks assigned to it.
According to reports, the Sarmat ICBM will be able to deliver warheads to a range of at least 15-16 thousand km. This means that any objects in almost any part of the planet can be “at the sight” of the missile system. In the case of less remote areas, it becomes possible to choose the most convenient trajectory corresponding to the tasks set. For example, due to improved energy, a missile will be able to literally bypass, at a minimum, stationary enemy missile defense systems. In combination with the means of breakthrough used by the type of decoys, etc. this possibility sharply reduces the effectiveness of missile defense.
V. Putin confirmed that promising heavy missile RS-28 "Sarmat" will be able to carry the latest hypersonic warhead. Earlier, various sources repeatedly mentioned that one of the options for combat equipment of the RS-28 could be the product "4202" or Yu-71. This type of guided warhead is a hypersonic aircraft with controls and the possibility of carrying a nuclear charge. It was argued that the Yu-71 device would be able to reach speeds of up to several kilometers per second, maneuver along the course and independently aim at the specified target.
The high speed of descent and approach to the target, as well as the ability to maneuver on the trajectory are the obvious advantages of the 4202 system. Existing foreign missile defense systems are designed to intercept high-speed ballistic targets. The possibility of hitting a maneuvering hypersonic object is at least doubtful. For a correct and timely response to such weapons, a potential enemy needs fundamentally new systems, the existence of which is still unknown.
To date, the promising heavy ICBM RS-28 "Sarmat" has entered the test, and within the next few years it is planned to be put into service. The appearance of such weapons will allow not only to maintain the required capabilities of the Strategic Missile Forces, but also to increase the potential of this type of troops without a serious change in the number of deployed missiles. Thanks to this, in particular, it becomes possible to implement existing plans without contradicting existing ones. international agreements. In addition, it will be possible to solve one of the main tasks of recent times - to ensure the required combat capability intercontinental missiles in the conditions of development and deployment of foreign anti-missile systems.
The news about the RS-28 Sarmat project, announced by the President of Russia, is undoubtedly a reason for optimism and pride in the Russian defense industry. However, having completed the story about the new ICBM, the president did not stop and announced the existence of even more daring and interesting projects. Now it was about increasing the defense capability through fundamentally new types of weapons with outstanding technical and combat characteristics.
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