Object "4202": to the shores of America on hypersound. Washington was scared of the Russian object "4202" & nbsp Where is the hypersound coming from?

About launches of secret weapons.

Only two countries in the world - the USA and the USSR - were able to create reusable manned spaceships: Space Shuttle and Buran. American scientists have implemented the developments and the obtained data in the secret Falcon project. A similar product has most likely already been created in Russia.

On February 18, 2004, a large-scale exercise of strategic forces took place in Russia, which was called a rehearsal of "Star Wars" in the media. But the first such major event since the collapse of the USSR was overshadowed by the failure of the RSM-54 Sineva rocket. It exploded on the 98th second of the flight after being launched from the Karelia submarine.

Unsurprisingly, at the press conference following the exercise, almost all of the questions were devoted to the unsuccessful shooting. Meanwhile, the Deputy Chief of the General Staff made an important statement. “During the training, a spacecraft was tested, which is capable of flying at hypersonic speed, while making maneuvers both in course and in altitude. This means that it has the ability to bypass regional anti-missile defense groupings, which negates the effectiveness of the already widely advertised missile defense system that is being created in the West now, ”Yuri Baluyevsky said during the conference.

Secrets and Results

The secrecy label covers almost all the activities of Russian enterprises of the military-industrial complex, not only related to nuclear missiles, but even sewing field uniforms. But now, with an economic downturn in Russia, it is the nondisclosure regime that generates constant attacks on the defense industry. Not only the media, but also the public accuse the defense industry of wasting budget funds without visible results.

The situation is largely on the conscience of high-ranking officials, who are inclined to make loud statements in the media without providing concrete evidence. Therefore, even the expression “unparalleled in the world” currently does not cause bouts of patriotism, but rather leads to thoughts about another corruption scheme associated with cuts and kickbacks.

And nevertheless, over the past few years, the enterprises of the Russian defense industry have not only started, but, probably, have been able to bring really unique products to testing, most of the information about which is hidden under the heading "Secret". Let's take, for example, project 4202 of NPO Mashinostroyenia, which has been arousing active interest among specialists for several years. Without divulging state secrets, we will try to understand what is at stake.

The beginning of the story

The first mention of the 4202 project can be found in 2007 in the publication of the Special Design and Technological Bureau No. 16, which since 1956 has been engaged, as the website says, in the development and implementation of installation and commissioning technologies in construction and installation production when creating unique facilities of the Ministries defense and medium-sized machine building of the USSR, that is, the design and construction of special structures, including missile silos. As follows from the publication, "SKTB-16 carried out the re-equipment of the P718 structure into the P771 structure in the interests of the 4202 theme." According to open sources P718, it is also 15p718 - a launcher (silo) for the R36M2 "Voyevoda" intercontinental ballistic missile (according to NATO classification - "Satan").

In 2010, the order of the Federal Service for Ecological, Technological and Nuclear Supervision No. 617 dated July 16, 2010 appeared in the open access of the database of legal documents "Garant", approving the expert opinion of the state commission on object 370, on which the missile complex should be located. A35-71 launch vehicle with a space warhead.

If we again turn to open sources, then according to the protocol No. 45 of the meeting of the procurement commission of the Central Design Bureau of Transport Engineering dated May 26, 2014, back in March 2009, the contract No. works as agreed with the prime contractor, which is confirmed by the technical decision on ... preparation of the MCT and refueling of the A35-71 product during testing on the 4202 theme at object 370.

To summarize, in 2007 in Russia on the topic 4202 a certain object 370 was created to accommodate the A35-71 complex with a space warhead. In this case, the converted mines of the Voevoda ICBM are used.

On December 27, 2012, the corporate newspaper of NPO Mashinostroyenia "Tribune VPK" (No. 47) notes: "The President of the country has defined tasks for the coming years on one of the most important topics in the work of the Corporation - 4202. And in September of the same year, an application appears on the open public procurement site "Reconstruction and technical re-equipment of the existing production buildings of the enterprise for the preparation of serial production of products of order 4202, stage II", submitted by the "Strela" association, which is part of NPO Mashinostroeniya, located in Orenburg. According to the terms of the tender with an initial (maximum) amount of about 354 million rubles, the work should be completed by 2015.

In July 2014, order 4202 appears in another contract placed by the Voronezh OJSC Design Bureau of Chemical Automatics, according to which the Research Institute of Elastomeric Materials and Products must issue a conclusion on the extension of the service life by 42 years for engines 15D95, 15D96, 15D113, 15D114 as part of object of the OKR "PSE 15S300-4202".

15D95 - cruise liquid-propellant rocket engines included in the first stage propulsion system (15D96), product 15a35 - UR-100NUTTKh missiles (SS-19 Stilleto), the development of the legendary "weave" developed by NPO Mashinostroyenia under the leadership of Vladimir Chelomey. 15D113 is the second stage propulsion system, and 15D114 is a four-chamber steering engine of the same UR-100NUTTH. It is noteworthy that according to the index, the A53-71 launch vehicle differs from the "hundred" only by the absence of the number 15.

So, the A35-71 is an upgraded UR-100NUTTH rocket with a space warhead. Moreover, the resource attracted on the topic 4202 "hundred parts" is extended for 42 years. True, it is not entirely clear where Object 370 is located, but taking into account the location of the mines with Satan missiles, this is Uzhur or Dombarovsky. Note that it is from Dombarovskiy that the Dnepr carrier rockets, created on the basis of the R36, are launched.

Where does the hypersound come from?

UR-100NUTTH is a silo-based missile, which is gradually being replaced by the Topol-M complexes, and now it is Yars-M. Why was it necessary to re-equip the R36M mine for the A35-71, if the "hundredths" have ready-made launchers? It can be assumed that the reason is in the size of the missiles, since the Satan is seven meters taller than the Stiletto.

Let us recall that on the basis of the UR-100NUTTH, two launch vehicles have been created and are being successfully operated: "Rokot" and "Strela". Moreover, "Strela" is launched not from the launch pad, but from a standard silo - a launcher located at the Baikonur cosmodrome. Judging by the photographs of this launch vehicle, due to the converted warhead, where the payload to be launched into orbit, its length has increased by several meters and it is no longer possible to close the shaft hatch.

But what kind of "space warhead" is the A35-71? The answer can be found in the analysis of the February 2004 exercises, when, in addition to SLBMs and ground-based ICBMs, the UR-100NUTTH rocket with an experimental warhead was launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome from the Baikonur cosmodrome with an experimental warhead at the Kura test site.

When comparing the Russian project 4202 with Western developments, the conclusion suggests itself that this is an analogue of American products created according to the Falcon project and the concept of a non-nuclear rapid global strike (Prompt Global Strike), Hypersonic Test Vehicle (HTV), also launched with the help of converted from ICBM MX launch vehicles "Minotaur".

According to the Falcon program, a reduced analogue of HTV - AHW (Advanced Hypersonic Weapon - promising hypersonic weapon) was created, launched using the converted Polaris SLBM. And yet, given the size and tactical and technical characteristics of the Russian UR-100NUTTH, the 4202 product should be compared with the HTV of the Air Force.

Unlike its American counterpart, the Russian product is likely to carry nuclear weapons. This is indicated by the contract between the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Automation named after V.I. N. L. Dukhova and the Center for the Operation of Ground-Based Space Infrastructure Objects for the Development of the "Carrier of the Mobile Unified Regulatory Unit 4202-NRA", published on the public procurement portal in July 2013.

On the official website of VNIIA it is indicated that among the main tasks of the institute is the creation of "software and hardware for automated control systems for technological processes (APCS) of nuclear and thermal power plants, other complex objects", as well as "equipment for registering fast one-time processes and electrical explosion equipment" ... We are talking about the development and manufacture of devices that initiate the detonation of special ammunition.

It should be noted that TsENKI includes Design Bureau Motor, which is engaged in "the development of heavy-duty transport and technological units for various functional purposes, the creation of service facilities and access to rocket loads in assembly and test buildings and at launch sites." It can be concluded that for the 4202 project, mobile control units (possibly on an automobile basis) have already been ordered to service some complex equipment for “fast one-time processes”.

Plans and facts

The question arises, at what stage is the Russian product, the work on which has been going on for actually 11 years? The likely answer is also in the public domain. This is the "Annual plan for the procurement of goods, works, services for 2014 for the federal state unitary enterprise" Center for the Operation of Ground Space Infrastructure Objects ", according to which a complex of works (services) is planned in 2015 to ensure safety in the areas where ICBMs fall and are disposed of. on topic 4202 from the Dombarovskiy position area, as well as a set of works for the implementation of the mid-range design and development work to ensure safety in the fall areas with environmental monitoring before and after launch on the topic 4202 from the Dombarovskiy position area. Despite the different wording, the plan actually mentions one activity. Simply put, two launches are planned for 2015.

NPO Mashinostroyenia in the corporate newspaper "Tribune VPK" (No. 6) for 2015 reports: "The technologists of the enterprise are faced with the task of assembling two more Bas-tion complexes and two products on the subject of the Strategic Missile Forces."

According to the annual plan of TsENKI, it follows that product launches will begin from object 370 located in Dombarovsky in 2015, which is also confirmed by the local media.

So, on the Internet resource "The main site of the Dombarovsky region" it is indicated: "The government of Ugra is negotiating with the Russian Ministry of Defense on the creation in the region of a site for the fall of detachable parts of ballistic missiles launched in the Orenburg region. The draft document is posted on the official website of the Ugra government. The launches will be carried out from the Dombarovskiy positioning area (Orenburg region). All the separated parts of the missiles, or rather, the second stages of the missiles, will fall directly on the Nizhnevartovsk region. The agreement specifies the exact coordinates of the area of ​​the fall: an ellipse with the dimensions of the axes 60x30 km, the coordinates of the center 60o11'00 s. sh., 76о04'00 v. and the azimuth of the major axis 35o. For about 10 years, a special site in the Nizhnevartovsk region will be a dump for rocket trash. "

If we compare the area of ​​Dombarovskiy, Nizhnevartovsk and the coordinates indicated in the message on the map, we can conclude that the launches of a new product go in the direction of the Kura polygon. By the way, in February 2004, it was there that the experimental warhead was launched, with which, most likely, theme 4202 began.

True, judging by some data, the first launch of this year, carried out on February 26, was unsuccessful. On Internet forums, they talked about an unplanned rocket launch. In particular, one of the users wrote on February 26: “I am in the city of Yasny, Orenburg region ... I arrived for lunch and then at 13.00 everything vibrated, the windows began to shake ... I felt like on an airplane taking off. I tensed, because the Kosmotras company announced the launch of a rocket with satellites on March 12, and it has not yet come. After lunch, local colleagues said that there was a running line on local TV about the blocking of the road to Ashchebutak (where the points of the Dombarovsky positional area are). In short, they fired somewhere unofficially. "

There were no official statements about the launches, let alone the results. But on March 4, the Rokot carrier rocket was removed from the launch pad, which was supposed to launch three Gonets-M communication satellites into orbit. According to an industry source cited by ITAR-TASS, the rocket was removed from the launch pad and sent to the assembly and test building for additional testing of the first stage engines.

The temporal proximity of events, as well as the fact that in both cases we are talking about products based on the UR-100NUTTH, suggests that the first launch was still unsuccessful. And this urgently required work to be carried out on the Rokot.

How it works

Product 4202 is most likely an analogue of the American Hypersonic Test Vehicle, which is already being tested, so you can try to build a scheme for using the Russian product.

The Pentagon and NASA place great emphasis on keeping secrets associated with hypersonic aircraft programs. Only one edition - Aviation Week on August 26, 2012 in the article "Hypersonic X-Plane (HX) - DARPA Tries Again" goes against the official position of the military department.

HTV is, as the foreign industry media call it, a hypersonic glider. That is, an aircraft that does not have engines, but is equipped with steering surfaces, accelerated to a speed of Mach 5-6 and glides to a given target. As it approaches it, the GZLA begins to smoothly decrease, lose speed, and so on to a given object.

It is precisely because of this flight pattern that in many works devoted to the global non-nuclear strike program, American experts argue that in the final section of the trajectory, due to friction in the air, the GZVA will actually switch from hypersonic to supersonic speed and become vulnerable to air defense systems.

The actual flight scheme of the GZLA looks completely different. The carrier rocket "lets go" the apparatus at an altitude of 60-70 kilometers, after which it continues its flight with a slight descent so that almost to the very target it does not leave the "comfortable" corridor of heights of 40-60 kilometers, when the HZVA is not yet in dense layers of the atmosphere and there is no heat load on it. But immediately in front of the target, the device begins to dive from a height of 40 kilometers, judging by the scheme in Aviation Week, almost vertically.

True, due to the weakness of the Minotaur launch vehicle, during the HTV-2 test, the Americans could not reach the optimal flight profile and, in order to obtain additional kinetic energy, the HTV-2 was launched to an altitude of 138 kilometers, from where it dived up to 45 kilometers, after which completed the ascent and entered the specified corridor. This maneuver was accompanied by severe overloads, which, according to American scientists, led to the destruction of the HTV-2 control systems, which led to the failure on August 11, 2011.

Thanks to the use of a launch vehicle based on the UR-100NUTTH, the 4202 product is most likely devoid of the shortcomings of the American GZLA. Considering the length of the A35-71 increased by seven meters, it should be assumed that the development of NPO Mashinostroyenia is at least as large as the HTV-2, but most likely surpasses it. There are no exact data on the height, length and width of the item, but it can be assumed that its weight is about two tons. Most likely, the seven additional meters in the launch vehicle are accounted for not only by the HZLA itself, but also by the upper stage, which acts as the third stage. As mentioned above, on the basis of the "hundred" there are two carriers: "Arrow" and "Rokot". In the first, a converted standard stage of breeding warheads is used as a booster (as in the American "Minotaurs"). The second one is equipped with an upper stage "Breeze".

If we take into account the dimensions of the GZLA itself, the problems that the Americans had with launch vehicles, as well as the fact that after the launch on February 26, it was the Rokot that was removed from the launch pad, it can be argued that a certain upper stage was installed on the A35-71, close to its characteristics, and most importantly - according to the design to the "Breeze". This solution should provide the Russian product with the ability to fly in the altitude corridor of 40-60 kilometers without additional maneuvers.

Perspective

UR-100NUTTH is not as simple as it seems at first glance. Even taking into account the extension of the resource, they do not have long to serve, and it hardly makes sense to keep the "oldies" in the ranks for a promising product. "Poplar" and "Yars" are unlikely to cope with the expected load of two tons. The Voevoda missile will probably be decommissioned even faster than a hundred thousand meters.

Currently, only one rocket can become a carrier for the 4202 product - the promising heavy liquid-fuel "Sarmat", which is being developed by the Makeyev Design Bureau. But this is more a guess or a guess.

Object "4202": to the shores of America on hypersound

By 2025, Russia will have a serious nuclear trump card in negotiations with the United States.

Russia is testing the new Yu-71 (Yu-71) hypersonic gliding aircraft, which is capable of carrying nuclear warheads. This was reported on June 28 by the Washington Free Beacon with reference to the publication of the well-known British military analytical center Janes Information Group.

According to the WFB, Russia has been developing the device for several years, but its first tests were carried out in February this year. The device is allegedly part of the Russian secret project "4202" associated with the missile program. According to the authors of the publication, this will give Russia the opportunity to guarantee hitting the target with only one missile. According to the Washington Times, Russia intends to use the hypersonic military project as an instrument of pressure during negotiations with the United States on arms control.

Hypersonic vehicles, like the one created by Russia, are extremely difficult to track down and shoot down, since they move along an unpredictable trajectory, and their speed reaches 11,200 km / h, experts from the British center say. According to them, up to 24 of these hypersonic aircraft (warheads) can be deployed in the Dombarovsky regiment of the Strategic Missile Forces in the period from 2020 to 2025. Previously, this designation - Yu-71 - did not appear in open sources.

It is worth noting that even retired generals of the Strategic Missile Forces prefer to refrain from commenting on object 4202, referring to the closed nature of the topic and the possible consequences of discussing this topic in the SP.

The plans to put into service the objects "4202" were really not announced. But from open sources it is known that the development of devices is carried out by NPO Mashinostroyenia (Reutov), ​​and it was started before 2009. The formal customer of the ROC 4202 is the Federal Space Agency of Russia, which, according to some experts, may serve as a kind of “cover”. In the New Year's greetings from NPO Mashinostroyenia in 2012, object 4202 was named one of the most important for the corporation for the next few years. Most likely, the first test of the apparatus from the object "4202" was carried out not in February 2015, as British experts say, but as part of the Security-2004 exercise at the Baikonur training ground, because at the press conference the then First Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Yuri Baluevsky said that during the training was "tested a spacecraft that is capable of flying at hypersonic speed, while making maneuvers, both in course and in altitude."

Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Missile and Artillery Sciences (RARAN), Doctor of Military Sciences Konstantin Sivkov says that the current warheads of intercontinental ballistic missiles in the passive sector are developing hypersound. However, the difference between a promising hypersonic warhead, most likely, lies in the fact that it acts not just like a ballistic warhead, but follows a rather complex trajectory, that is, it maneuvers like an aircraft with a tremendous flight speed.

- It is possible that experts on the topic "4202" are using Soviet technologies, on which one of the leading developers of Soviet aerospace technology worked Gleb Lozino-Lozinsky. Let me remind you that he was the project manager of the Spiral aerospace fighter-bomber, the leading developer of the Buran MTKK, supervised the project of the MAKS reusable aerospace system and a number of other programs, where work was carried out, including on hypersound.

It must be understood that hypersonic warheads are quite heavy - 1.5-2 tons. Therefore, probably, it can become a warhead of a light ICBM of the Topol-M type (after all, the last tests were carried out on the UR-100N UTTH), however, the RS-28 Sarmat ICBM, which should be put into service by the end of the decade, will be able to throw several such warheads at once, which will follow complex trajectories, which will make them practically invulnerable to enemy missile defense systems. For example, even in the interception of old ballistic missiles, whose warheads do not maneuver, the ground-based out-of-the-air American GBI interceptors give a very low probability of defeat - 15-20%.

If our Strategic Missile Forces will indeed adopt missiles with hypersonic warheads by 2025, then this will be a rather serious application. It is logical that in the West, ICBMs with hypersonic warheads are called Moscow's new possible trump card in negotiations with Washington. Practice shows that there is only one way to bring the United States to the negotiating table - to put into service systems that will make Americans really scared.

In addition, Russia is also developing hypersonic cruise missiles that can travel at low altitudes. Accordingly, their defeat by promising missile defense systems is problematic, because these are, in fact, aerodynamic targets. In addition, modern anti-missile defense systems have limits on the rate of destruction of targets within 1000 meters per second: as a rule, the speed of an interceptor is 700-800 meters per second. The problem is that when firing at a high-speed target, the interceptor missile must be able to maneuver with overloads measured in tens and even hundreds of g . Such interceptors do not yet exist.

Chief editor of the magazine "Arsenal of the Fatherland", member of the Expert Council under the Chairman of the Military-Industrial Commission under the Government of the Russian Federation Viktor Murakhovsky notes: it's no secret that the combat equipment and payload of our ICBMs are constantly being improved.

- And when the president Vladimir Putin, speaking on June 16 at the Army-2015 forum, he said that this year more than 40 new intercontinental missiles will be added to the nuclear forces, then all the media drew attention to this figure, but somehow they missed the continuation of the phrase - “which will be able to overcome any , even the most technically advanced missile defense systems. "

In the program to improve combat equipment, work is underway, including on the creation of hypersonic maneuvering warheads precisely on the maneuver trajectory - after the payload has been diluted, which will really ignore any conceivable promising missile defense system. Yes, the intercontinental ballistic missiles in service with the Strategic Missile Forces still have blocks that are deployed at a speed of 5-7 kilometers per second. But it is quite another matter to carry out a maneuver, moreover controlled, at such speeds. It is quite possible that these warheads can be installed on the new heavy Sarmat missile, which will replace the legendary Soviet R-36M2 Voevoda in the army. I think that in the future, similar warheads will be installed on the missiles that are already in service with the Strategic Missile Forces.

"SP": - According to information from open sources, on February 26, the launch of "object 4202" was carried out by a missile system UR-100N UTTH, serial production of which continued until 1985. This missile is a modification of the Stiletto (UR-100N, according to NATO classification - SS-19 mod.1 Stiletto) ...

- The service life of this missile system seems to have been extended until 2031, and it is used only for testing. Naturally, before each launch, this rocket is inspected, but it has always demonstrated reliability. So, our payload into orbit is being put into orbit by Dnepr launch vehicles - launch vehicles are, to put it mildly, not young, but also reliable, during the operation of which, as far as I remember, there were no major accidents.

"SP": - The media have repeatedly reported that the Chinese, in addition to WU-14 are developing a hypersonic cruise missile.

- Hypersonic missiles are, of course, a completely different direction. To be honest, I do not really believe in the appearance of such weapons, even in the long term, because I cannot imagine how it is possible to accelerate a cruise missile to hypersonic sound in the dense layers of the atmosphere. Of course, you can build something gigantic, but in relation to the payload, this will be absolutely not a rational expenditure of funds.

"SP": - In the United States, hypersonic projects within the framework of the "Rapid Global Strike" concept are being developed by various departments: the X-43A aircraft - NASA, the X-51A rocket - the Air Force, the AHW apparatus - by the Ground Forces, the ArcLight missile - DARPA and the Navy, the glider Falcon HTV-2 - DARPA and Air Force. Moreover, the timing of their appearance is called different: missiles - by 2018-2020, reconnaissance aircraft - by 2030.

- All these are promising developments, it is not for nothing that there are so many of them. For example, the AHW project, according to various sources, is also a combined weapon consisting of a three-stage launch vehicle and a hypersonic warhead directly. But how far the Americans have progressed in the development of this project is difficult to say. (tests were recognized as either successful or unsuccessful - "SP")... As you know, the Americans did not particularly bother about equipping their missiles with missile defense penetration systems, I mean, for example, the creation of a "cloud" of false targets around a real warhead.

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4202, complex 15P771

Presumably a controlled hypersonic warhead ICBM. Development is carried out by NPO Mashinostroeniya (Reutov). The development of the apparatus on the topic "4202" began before 2009. From March 18, 2011, Pavel Aleksandrovich Sudyukov was appointed the chief designer and deputy general director of NPO Mashinostroyenia on the topic "4202". The customer for the ROC "4202" is the Federal Space Agency of Russia. In the New Year's greetings to NPO Mashinostroyenia dated December 28, 2012, the topic “4202” was named one of the most important for the corporation for the next few years ().

All data on the complex are tentative in nature and taken from open sources and the media. The list of sources is attached.

Pilot production. In 2009, by order of NPO Mashinostroeniya, on the topic 4202, he performed work at the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center (). At the end of 2009 and beginning of 2010. at the pilot plant "NPO Mashinostroyenia" within the framework of reconstruction and technical re-equipment on the topic "4202", the equipment for heat treatment of metals and alloys was updated. Probably, the assembly of the first prototypes of the apparatus was carried out as of 2010 by the pilot production of NPO Mashinostroyenia. At least in 2011, the Strela Production Association (Orenburg) was involved in work on the 4202 theme - by the end of 2011, the 4202 with AGBO theme occupied 2% of the total production volume of the Strela Production Association. In 2011-2012. at PA "Strela" (Orenburg), the reconstruction of production for the serial production of products "4202" was carried out (, source). Also, the reconstruction and technical re-equipment of FSUE "VIAM" was carried out for the preparation of serial production of materials for high-temperature insulation of the product "4202" (). Earlier, in the late 1980s - early 1990s, the production of 15F178 guided warheads for 15A18M ICBMs was produced at the Strela Production Association in Orenburg, the tests of which were discontinued in the first half of the 1990s ().

Testing... Probably, the prototype of object "4202" made the first test flight in the launch of the RS-18B / 15A35 / UR-100NUTTKh ICBM, which consisted of silos from the Baikonur training ground as part of the Safety-2004 exercise on February 18, 2004 (at 12-00 pm). Moscow time). The launch was carried out at the Kura test site. On February 19, 2004, at a press conference, First Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Yuri Baluyevsky, said: "During the training, a spacecraft was tested that is capable of flying at hypersonic speed, while making maneuvers both in course and in altitude." (,).

To carry out tests on the topic "4202" in 2009, it was planned to begin re-equipment of the launch complex 15P718 at site No. 109 at the Baikonur range into the launch complex 15P771 (). Apparently, this conversion was not carried out. At the same time, probably, at the base of the ICBM in Yasnoye, one of the silos was re-equipped for testing the complex (see below for information on the launch).

Perhaps the tests of the 4202 product were carried out in the same way at the end of December 2013 or in the first days of January 2014 - in a series of tests of strategic missile systems.

It is believed that on February 26, 2015, a test launch of the UR-100NUTTH ICBM was carried out with the object 4202 from the silo from the ICBM base in Yasnoye (Orenburg region). The launch was made at 13-00 local time (,). There is no information on the results of the test launch, as there is no official information about this test.

Missile launches with object "4202" (presumably):

No.	date	Polygon	Description
01	02/18/2004 (12-00 Moscow time)	Baikonur	ICBM RS-18B / 15A35 / UR-100NUTTH, launch from silos within the framework of the Security-2004 exercise. The launch was carried out at the Kura test site. On February 19, 2004, at a press conference, First Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Yuri Baluyevsky, said: "During the training, a spacecraft was tested that is capable of flying at hypersonic speed, while making maneuvers both in course and in altitude." (,).
	2010 r.	Baikonur	A high-ranking representative of the Russian General Staff told Interfax-AVN that the new combat equipment of ICBMs was first successfully tested in 2010 ()
	December 27, 2011	Baikonur	"The main task of the launch is to test new combat equipment for intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of overcoming existing and future missile defense systems" ()
	09/26/2013?		Estimated date of testing the object with the launch of ICBMs RS-18B / 15A35 / UR-100NUTTH ()
	2014?		Presumably, a test launch was carried out with an ICBM RS-18B / 15A35 / UR-100NUTTH ()
	02/26/2015 (13-00 local time)	Clear	ICBM RS-18B / 15A35 / UR-100NUTTH, launch from silos (,).

Deployment and adoption. Plans for the adoption or deployment of facilities "4202" as of March 2015 were not announced. It can be assumed that UT-100NUTTKh ICBMs will be used as carriers in the future.

Launch and ground equipment:
- silo 15P771 - by 2011, SKTB-16 developed documentation for the re-equipment of the launch facility 15P716 of the R-36MUTTH ICBM. The re-equipment is supposed to be carried out by SKTB-16 (). As of 2013, SKTB-16 is developing assembly and technological documentation for the 15P771 combat missile system for the 4202 theme ().

Serial production of silo complex details is planned to be carried out at PA "Barrikady" (Volgograd), in 2011-2012. for work on this project, reconstruction and technical re-equipment of production was carried out (). Ground equipment on the topic "4202" in the framework of GOZ-2013 was planned to be produced in the same way at MMZ "Vympel" (Moscow,).

Transport and launch container for the product according to ROC "4202" - 15Ya54-4202.

By 2011, KB "Motor" for the complex "4202" created a set of transport and technological equipment ().

Object "4202":
Design - presumably, the structure of the facility has complex profiles and includes compartments F1, F2 and F3. Special heat-protective and radio-absorbing coatings () are applied to the body of the object. The hull frame of the F1 compartment has a complex bypass-forming shape ().

Object "4202" is equipped with a thermoregulation system "7301" developed by NPO Nauka. Working design documentation for STR "7301" was released in 2007 ().

Control system: probably an autonomous inertial one using an onboard computer. The controls are presumably aerodynamic.

TTX object:
Length - presumably 5.4 - 7 m

Warhead type:
- nuclear or conventional high power (presumably).

Modifications:
Object "4202", complex 15P771 - the basic version of the complex with the 15A35 / UR-100UNTTH launch vehicle.

Object "4202", ICBM - the proposed version of the complex with a carrier rocket. Probably, the Sarmat ICBM will be able to carry several (at least three) objects "4202".

Last Tuesday, an RS-18B Stilet ICBM was launched at a training ground in the Orenburg region, which attracted increased attention from specialists on both sides of the ocean. Actually, the rocket itself, which has been in service since 1979, does not arouse much interest. It is a silo-based liquid ICBM with increased reliability and six nuclear warheads.

But the warhead that was removed with the help of the "old woman" is an absolutely new word in rocketry. Experts say that not only modern missile defense systems are absolutely powerless in front of it, but also those that have not yet begun to be developed in the United States. The warhead is hypersonic, capable of maneuvering in two planes - vertical and horizontal. Not a single interceptor missile can reach it.

Designers began to approach the creation of hypersonic aircraft back in the 70s. Both in the USA and in the Soviet Union. In the Dubna MKB "Raduga", now part of the "Tactical Missile Armament" corporation, the Kh-90 hypersonic cruise missile ("Koala" according to NATO version) was developed for almost 20 years, which was supposed to reach a speed of 5 M. The project advanced so much that several test launches of the rocket were made, during the last of them the speed was steadily developing in the 3M-4M. The rocket weighed 15 tons, had a length of 9 meters and a wingspan of 7 meters. The flight range was supposed to be 3000 km.

The X-90 was lifted by the carrier aircraft, after which the start was made.

But in 1992, when the result was just around the corner, the project was closed. This happened both from the lack of funding, and as a result of US pressure to stop the creation of the most promising weapons.

However, it was impossible not to return to the idea of ​​creating a hypersonic missile with a speed of 5 M and higher, since such are the modern requirements for a new generation of weapons. But at the same time, the new project was strictly classified. It is only known that it is being implemented within the framework of the "4202" theme at the Reutov NPO Mashinostroeniya approximately since the mid-2000s.

American developments

Two more superpowers, the United States and China, also took up hypersound. And each of them built prototypes, which, by a strange coincidence, outwardly strongly resemble the X-90. Of course, designers, creating breakthrough technical devices, think about the same. The result is quite similar product shapes. However, it should be borne in mind that in Russia in the 90s everything was sold and everything was bought, and these processes were not monitored by the state.

The American X-51 missile, which is being created by Boeing as part of the "rapid global strike" concept, is supposed to reach a speed of 6M-7M. Tests began in 2010. But they were all unsuccessful. The maximum speed reached by the rocket is 5.1 M. The strategic bomber B-52 raises the rocket to the launch altitude. However, all flights ended with the destruction of the rocket before the end of the planned flight.

The rocket is equipped with a ramjet hypersonic jet engine. Fuel weight - 120 kg. Flight range - 500 km. It is planned to put the missile into service in 2017. However, without having carried out a single successful test, it is extremely frivolous to talk about any timing.

Starting this expensive project, the United States positioned it as the creation of means for effective and lightning strikes, primarily against terrorist groups. However, undoubtedly, this also meant the traditional confrontation between Russia and the rapidly developing China. And now this super-task has taken on a clear outline. Russia has become "threat number one" for Washington. However, the Kh-51, even when brought to mass production, does not solve the problem, since the Russian S-500 anti-aircraft missile system is also capable of destroying hypersonic missiles.

Higher speed characteristics were demonstrated by the experimental Falcon HTV-2 rocket, created since 2003 by the Agency for Advanced Defense Research and Development. It was possible to accelerate it to 20 M. True, the launch was not atmospheric, the Falcon was lifted by a carrier rocket into near space, from where the rocket rushed down, accelerating to a monstrous speed. However, there is no big news in this - the Shuttles and our Buran flew in the same way. After the second test, which took place in 2011, the promising missile was recognized by the Pentagon as unpromising, since it was, firstly, practically uncontrollable, and, secondly, it was impossible to establish contact with it.

China targets the US

China is also actively working in the field of hypersound. Its WU-14 gliding rocket from space began testing in 2013. Moreover, up to three launches are carried out annually, which requires significant expenditures on armaments, which the Chinese are capable of doing. The declared speed of the rocket, or rather the maneuvering warhead, is 10 M. Conflicting information is circulating regarding the results achieved - from 1.5 M to 7 M.

WU-14 is expected to be launched into production in the second half of the 1920s. It must be mounted on ballistic missiles. Which is extremely important for the Chinese. Now the PRC has a small number of ICBMs capable of reaching the United States. Therefore, the Americans are able to repel a nuclear attack from China. This is not only offensive for Beijing, but also disadvantageous in diplomatic games. With the launch of hypersonic warheads on missiles, the United States will behave more circumspectly.

Another task assigned by the PRC to new weapons is the destruction of aircraft carriers. Their missile defense will be powerless against warheads maneuvering at a speed of 10 M.

Russian perspectives

Reutov's development on topic 4202 has approximately the same tasks - to make the American missile defense system powerless in relation to new Russian weapons. And then each ICBM with a new warhead, guaranteed and without interference, reaching the target, will be equivalent to a dozen, or even more ballistic missiles. Now the latest weapons are being tested on the "old" RS-18B missiles. But after being put into service, they will be installed both on the new RS-28 "Sarmat" missiles and on promising developments. It is expected that the novelty will begin arriving at the Strategic Missile Forces in the period from 2020 to 2025. The first batch is slated to produce twenty hypersonic warheads that would render the maintenance of the American missile defense system meaningless. Each "Sarmat" will be equipped with 3 hypersonic nuclear warheads.

Topic 4202 is highly classified. So that both the United States and China do not have twin sisters of Russian missiles. Therefore, in open sources there is not even a maximum speed that Russian products should have, which in the NATO classification have already received the name Yu-71. More than 5 M, but how much is unknown.

The first test of the rocket allegedly took place in 2010 at the Baikonur cosmodrome. This year's April test, which was declared completely successful, is the sixth in a row. Since 2013, tests have been taking place at the Yasnoye Strategic Missile Forces base in the Orenburg Region.

The estimated length of the Yu-71 is from 5.4 m to 7 m.

A number of research institutes and design bureaus are taking part in the creation of the rocket. In particular, the thermoregulation system is being developed by the Scientific Research Institute "Science".

And in conclusion, about one more of our hypersonic development - the Zircon cruise anti-ship missile, which is also being created at NPO Mashinostroyenia. Her trials began in 2012. Of the five launches, the last one (March 16, 2016) was completely successful. It is designed to arm missile cruisers. The estimated speed is up to 12 M, the range is up to 1000 km.

Aeroballistic hypersonic unit "Object 4202" was successfully tested with the help of the RS-18 intercontinental rocket, life.ru reports.

On October 25, 2016, an RS-18 intercontinental ballistic missile was successfully launched from the strategic missile forces base in the Orenburg region. "Combat equipment" was delivered to the area of ​​the Kura training ground, located on the Kamchatka Peninsula. Most likely, we are talking about aeroballistic hypersonic combat equipment, that is, AGBO "object 4202", reports bmpd.livejournal.com.

The RS-18 missile has been in service for a long time (since 1975). Therefore, specialists are much more interested in the payload of this rocket than the launch itself. The fact is that "Object 4202" is a guided hypersonic warhead, which, according to some sources, is being developed for the "Sarmat" missile. It is assumed that the "Sarmat" will be able to carry at least three such blocks.

After acceleration with an intercontinental ballistic missile and launching into a ballistic trajectory, the combat hypersonic unit can maintain a speed of several strides and a low-flying trajectory, which is as difficult as possible to intercept it. At the same time, the hypersonic unit can maneuver during flight, which greatly complicates its interception by an anti-missile.

OKR "4202", product 15Yu71, complex 15P771

Aeroballistic hypersonic combat equipment (AGBO, source) / guided hypersonic warhead ICBM. The development of the apparatus on the topic "4202" started before 2009 and is being successfully carried out by NPO Mashinostroyenia (Reutov). Since March 18, 2011 Pavel Alexandrovich Sudyukov has been appointed Chief Designer and Deputy General Director of NPO Mashinostroyenia on the topic "4202". The customer for the development project "4202" is the Federal Space Agency of Russia. In the New Year's greetings from NPO Mashinostroyenia dated December 28, 2012, the topic "4202" was named one of the most important for the corporation for the next few years.

Probably, the 15Yu71 warhead was created on the basis of the 15Yu70 controlled warhead developed by NPO Mashinostroyenia, which, according to Western data, was tested from 1990 to 2004.

All data on the complex are tentative in nature and taken from open sources and the media. The list of sources is attached.

Launch of the RS-18 ICBM with the "Kondor-E" satellite from silos from the Baikonur test site, 12/19/2014

Pilot production. In 2009, by order of NPO Mashinostroyenia, on the topic "4202", he performed the work of the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center (source). At the end of 2009 and beginning of 2010. at the pilot plant "NPO Mashinostroyenia" within the framework of reconstruction and technical re-equipment on the topic "4202" the equipment for heat treatment of metals and alloys was updated. Probably, the assembly of the first prototypes of the apparatus was carried out as of 2010 by the pilot production of NPO Mashinostroyenia. At least in 2011, the Strela software (Orenburg) joined the work on the 4202 theme - by the end of 2011, the 4202 with AGBO theme took 2% of the total Strela production. In 2011-2012. at PA "Strela" (Orenburg), a reconstruction of production was carried out for the serial production of products "4202" (source). Also, the reconstruction and technical re-equipment of FSUE "VIAM" was carried out for the preparation of serial production of materials for high-temperature insulation of the product "4202" (source). In 2012, reconstruction and technical re-equipment of the production and bench-testing base of NPO Mashinostroyenia was carried out to organize the serial production of the order "42-02" (source). Earlier, in the late 1980s - early 1990s, the production of 15F178 guided warheads for 15A18M ICBMs was produced at the Strela PA in Orenburg in the first half of the 1990s.

Tests. Probably, the prototype of object "4202" made its first test flight in the launch of the RS-18B / 15A35 / UR-100NUTTKh ICBM, which consisted of silos from the Baikonur training ground as part of the Safety-2004 exercise on February 18, 2004 (at 12-00 pm). Moscow time). The launch was carried out at the Kura test site. On February 19, 2004, at a press conference, First Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Yuri Baluyevsky, said: "During the training, a spacecraft was tested that is capable of flying at hypersonic speed, while making maneuvers both in course and in altitude." ... According to Western data, the 15Yu70 / item 102 was tested in the launch.

Launch of the RS-18 ICBM with the Kondor-E satellite from silos, probably from the Baikonur test site, 12/19/2014 (NPO Mashinostroyenia 2014 Annual Report).

To carry out tests on the topic "4202" in 2009, it was planned to begin re-equipment of the 15P718 launch complex at site No. 109 at the Baikonur training ground into the 15P771 launch complex. Apparently, this conversion was not carried out. At the same time, probably, at the base of the ICBM in Yasnoye, one of the silos was re-equipped for testing the complex (see below for information on the launch).

Perhaps the tests of the 4202 product were carried out in the same way at the end of December 2013 or in the first days of January 2014 - in a series of tests of strategic missile systems.

It is believed that on February 26, 2015, a test launch of the UR-100NUTTH ICBM was carried out with the object "4202" from the silo from the ICBM base in Yasnoye (Orenburg region). The launch was made at 13-00 local time. There is no information on the results of the test launch, as there is no official information about this test.

On July 15, 2016, the media announced that starting in 2017, tests of object 4202 will be carried out as part of the tests of the Sarmat ICBM.

Presumably the launch of the UR-100NUTTH ICBM with a payload on December 27, 2011, the Baikonur test site.

Deployment and adoption. Plans for the adoption or deployment of 4202 facilities as of March 2015 were not announced. It can be assumed that the 15Yu71 ICBMs will be used as carriers of the UT-100NUTTH missiles and, in the future, the RS-28 "Sarmat". According to Western data published in June 2015 (source), 24 such combat aircraft (warheads) can be deployed in the Strategic Missile Forces Regiment located in Dombarovskiy (Yasny settlement) in the period from 2020 to 2025.

Launch and ground equipment:
- silo 15P771 - by 2011, SKTB-16 developed documentation for the re-equipment of the launch facility 15P716 of the R-36MUTTH ICBM. The re-equipment is supposed to be carried out by SKTB-16 (source). As of 2013, SKTB-16 is developing assembly and technological documentation for the 15P771 combat missile system for the 4202 theme.

Serial production of silo complex details is planned to be carried out at PA "Barrikady" (Volgograd), in 2011-2012. for work on this project, reconstruction and technical re-equipment of production was carried out (source). Ground equipment on the topic "4202" in the framework of GOZ-2013 was also planned to be produced at MMZ "Vympel" (Moscow, source).

Transport and launch container for the product according to ROC "4202" - 15Ya54-4202.

By 2011 KB "Motor" for the complex "4202" created a set of transport and technological equipment.

Installation of the "space" warhead on the 15A35 / UR-100UNTTKh launch vehicle, refueling the launch vehicle, the launch vehicle before launching into the silo.

Object "4202":

Design- presumably, the structure of the facility has complex profiles and includes compartments F1, F2 and F3. Special heat-protective and radio-absorbing coatings are applied to the body of the object (source). The hull frame of the F1 compartment has a complex bypass-forming shape (source).

R&D work on the development of the design and manufacturing technology of the outer case of the product "4202" for bench and flight tests was planned to be carried out at UNIIKM (Perm) in 2012.

Materials (edit)- non-metals are used in the construction of compartments F1, F2 and F3.

Object "4202" is equipped with a thermoregulation system "7301" developed by NPO Nauka. Working design documentation for STR "7301" was released in 2007.

Control system: probably an autonomous inertial one using an onboard computer. The controls are presumably aerodynamic.

TTX object:
Length - presumably 5.4 - 7 m

Warhead type:
- nuclear or conventional high power (presumably the source).

Modifications:
Object "4202", product 15Yu71, complex 15P771 - the basic version of the complex with a launch vehicle 15A35 / UR-100UNTTH.

Booster rocket "Strela" based on ICBM 15A35 / UR-100UNTTH.

Object "4202", ICBM RS-28 "Sarmat" - the proposed version of the complex with the carrier rocket RS-28 "Sarmat". Probably, the Sarmat ICBM will be able to carry several (at least three) 4202 objects. The deployment of warheads of this type on the promising Sarmat ICBM is confirmed by Western data in June 2015

To counter the threat of Russian and Chinese hypersonic missiles, the United States is looking to upgrade its THAAD mobile anti-missile system. This was reported on May 5 by the American edition of the Washington Free Beacon.

It is noted that last week the Congressional Armed Services Committee passed an amendment to the National Defense Appropriation Bill, according to which the US Missile Defense Agency will develop a program to combat the growing threat from high-speed, maneuvering missiles.

Congress was prompted to take this step by testing "revolutionary hypersonic gliding vehicles" by China and Russia. As an active supporter of the amendment, Congressman Trent Franks noted, such developments "change the paradigm" of modern warfare.

The fastest way to respond to the hypersonic challenge of Moscow and Beijing is to improve the US mobile ground-based anti-missile system for high-altitude transatmospheric interception of medium-range missiles THAAD, according to Trent Franks. Then you can already start developing laser weapons capable of shooting down hypersonic missiles, the speed of which is nine times the speed of sound.

As the American newspaper writes, on April 19 this year, Moscow again tested its experimental Yu-71 glider on the UR-100N intercontinental ballistic missile.

Note that there is indeed evidence in the open press that on April 19 the UR-100NUTTKh Stilet missile with a guided hypersonic warhead was launched from the Yasny test site. It is known as OKR "4202", object "4202", product 15Yu71.

This new combat equipment is being tested on the Stilettos, but in the future, as experts say, new heavy Sarmat ICBMs will be equipped with it. Despite the fact that even retired generals of the Strategic Missile Forces prefer to refrain from commenting on object "4202", referring to the closed nature of the topic, there are assumptions that "Sarmat" will be able to carry at least three blocks. According to the Western military-analytical center Jane's Information Group, published in the summer of 2015, 24 such warheads can be deployed in the Strategic Missile Forces regiment located in Dombarovskiy (Yasny settlement) from 2020 to 2025.

As for Russian cruise missiles, in February the media spread reports that by 2020 the heavy nuclear-powered missile cruiser Peter the Great would be equipped with the latest Zircon hypersonic cruise missiles.

Will the American missile defense, and THAAD in particular, be able to cope with the hypersonic threat, which, according to the Americans themselves, comes from promising Russian hypersonic cruise missiles and warheads of intercontinental missiles?

Note that the THAAD system is a key element of the US missile defense system and is designed to protect US troops and allied forces, as well as important facilities from short and medium-range ballistic missiles. According to the developer, giant Lockheed Martin, the interceptor missiles of the system are equipped with a kinetic warhead that provides hit-to-kill target destruction, and are the only weapon system capable of intercepting ICBMs, both in outer space and atmosphere.

For reference: The United States is trying to ensure that ICBMs are intercepted at all phases of flight, with different systems operating at each phase. In the active phase - while the rocket engines are running, interception is provided by ships equipped with Aegis BIUS with SM-3 antimissiles operating at an altitude of up to 250 kilometers. On the passive - in space - the destruction of the target is provided by strategic silo-based GBI anti-missiles. When the missile warheads fall on a descending trajectory, two types of systems operate: territorial protection is provided by the THAAD system, and the object protection is provided by the Patriot PAC-3 air defense system.

Grigory Tishchenko, deputy director of the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies, head of the RISS Center for Euro-Atlantic and Defense Studies, notes that in 2017 the United States plans to have eight batteries of the THAAD system, and by the end of 2016, 203 interceptor missiles should be in service.

At the same time, it was known earlier about the modernization of the system to THAAD 2.0, which will have significantly higher characteristics. It consists, first of all, in improving the software of the complex itself. The result should be a system that will be effective against cruise missiles as well. In general, the problem of cruise missiles is now one of the main problems in missile defense.

The Pentagon emphasizes that the ability to cover US territory from missile attacks is quite high. However, according to the test results, this is rather critical of both the agency that is directly responsible for these tests and the US General Audit Office - GAO (in 2015 it released a report stating that the American missile defense system is not capable of withstanding ballistic strikes missiles of Iran or North Korea - "SP").

However, the development of the missile defense infrastructure continues. So, now the US missile defense system (Ground-based Midcourse Defense, GMD) includes 30 GBI interceptors (in Alaska and California), and by the end of 2017, the deployment of an additional 14 interceptors should be completed. The system of combat control and communication is being improved.

In this sense, with a limited number of missiles with non-maneuvering warheads, that is, with a relatively simple threat, the anti-missile defense of the US territory, in general, will cope. But if we talk about more complex threats - the maneuvering parts of hypersonic vehicles, then, undoubtedly, neither the THAAD anti-missile system nor the GBI ground interceptors will be able to cope with this.

A military expert, reserve lieutenant colonel Vladimir Yevseev, believes that modernizing the THAAD system for the task of repelling hypersonic and maneuvering objects will require serious processing of the entire structure of the complex.

THAAD interceptors have severe deviation limitations. In order to intercept objects that change their trajectory, the system needs to have completely different controls.

But even if this is done, firstly, it is not very clear how the guidance of the anti-missile missile to the interception point will be ensured. Currently, this is done by calculating the ballistic trajectory, after which the target is locked, and the missile follows to the interception point (THAAD has an interception height of up to 150 km). It is clear that any maneuvering of an attacking object at high speed negates all calculations, since there is no certainty that the calculated interception point will coincide with the point where the object will actually be located. The intercontinental ballistic missiles in service with the Strategic Missile Forces still have blocks that are deployed at a speed of 5-7 kilometers per second, but it is a completely different matter when a maneuver is carried out, moreover, a controlled one at such speeds.

Secondly, to what extent will the conditions for overload be ensured, that is, will the missile be able to intercept the target at all at the angles at which it travels?

Thirdly, the big question is - how can kinetic interception be ensured in such conditions? Let me remind you that it implies a collision with an object, while the deviation should not exceed a meter (Russian air defense missile defense systems intercept by detonating a warhead, when a certain "cloud" of destructive elements is formed, which, even with a miss of up to 15-20 meters, ensure defeat warhead).

Thus, it is probably possible to work in this direction, but the prospects of this kind of development to combat high-speed and maneuvering ICBM units are highly questionable.

Now for the interception of cruise missiles. To be honest, I have no idea at all how the THAAD system can work on them. As I said, it is intended to intercept all the same at fairly high altitudes - up to 150 km. But intercepting a gliding cruise ICBM unit is one thing, and quite another - working on cruise missiles - aerodynamic targets flying at an altitude below 50 m above the earth's surface.

If we talk about the fight against cruise missiles, now the most effective means are aircraft carriers, as well as systems such as rapid-fire guns, that is, air defense systems. Rather, they can be used by the American modernized means of object protection of the Patriot air defense system with only the incoming version of the PAC-3 MSE missile and improved radar systems.

It should be said that in the United States there are quite a few hypersonic projects within the framework of the implementation of the concept of "Rapid Global Strike", which are being developed by various departments: the X-43A aircraft - NASA, the X-51A rocket - the Air Force, the AHW apparatus - by the Ground Forces, the ArcLight rocket - DARPA and Navy, glider Falcon HTV-2 - DARPA and Air Force. But apparently there are many obstacles to considering at least one of these projects a success. As for equipping its strategic missiles - ICBMs and SLBMs - with missile defense penetration complexes, the United States is far behind us in this regard. Their ballistic missiles do not know at all what a "cloud" of decoys around a real warhead is.