Percussion "Tempo"
The most important elements of strategic deterrence in Russia's nuclear triad are the Topol mobile missile systems. But the “poplars” did not grow in one day, and the road to them was paved by the design team led by Alexander Nadiradze. The first step on this path was the Temp-S and Temp-2S complexes. NEW CLASS OF WEAPONS
Alexander Davidovich Nadiradze was born on August 20, 1914 in the city of Gori (Georgia), but his whole life is inextricably linked with Russia. After completing his studies at the Moscow Aviation Institute, he worked in various defense design bureaus. In 1958, on the recommendation of Sergei Pavlovich Korolev, he was transferred from Vladimir Chelomey's design bureau to KB-1 and appointed chief designer of NII-1.
NII-1 was created in 1946 on the outskirts of Moscow (on Berezovaya Alley) on the basis of some repair shops within the Ministry of Agricultural Engineering in pursuance of the now widely known resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR “Issues of jet weapons” dated May 13, 1946.
NII-1 was engaged in the development of relatively small ammunition: aircraft bombs, mines, torpedoes, etc. The position of chief designer before the arrival of Nadiradze did not exist in the structure of NII-1.
Alexander Davidovich Nadiradze
NII-1 was headed by the director, the development of each ammunition was headed (supervised, coordinated) by the leading designer. By the way, NII-1 was widely known in defense circles because its director from its founding until his death in 1961 was Sergei Bodrov, who had previously been removed from the post of Deputy Minister of Agricultural Engineering by personal order of Joseph Stalin.
In 1961, Alexander Nadiradze was appointed director - chief designer of NII-1 (in 1965, renamed the Moscow Institute of Heat Engineering, now the Federal State Unitary Enterprise "Moscow Institute of Heat Engineering") and headed it for 26 years, until his death in 1987.
From the moment he joined KB-1, and especially after 1961, Alexander Nadiradze focused the efforts of the team he headed on creating a new class of weapons that was urgently needed by the Soviet Army - mobile operational-tactical missiles for front-line use as a means of delivering nuclear ammunition in the relevant theaters of military operations.
Naturally, such missiles could not, by definition, be liquid-fueled due to their low combat and operational characteristics - a long preparation period for launch, limited duty time in a fueled state, the need to deliver missiles to their deployment sites and store fuel components there. On the other hand, solid propellant powder charges of the required power did not exist then either in the USSR or in the world.
The team of the Lyubertsy Design Bureau "Soyuz", working selflessly under the leadership of Boris Zhukov, managed to create the required powder charges, but even the theoretical possibility of maintaining stability of characteristics, especially during mass serial production, was highly doubtful.
In such conditions, the development of the Temp missile system began and proceeded at a rapid pace. Under these conditions, the first brilliant character trait of Alexander Davidovich appeared.
Without falling into euphoria from the first successful launches, without rubbing glasses with military customers and the country's leadership, he insisted on the need to clarify the direction of work - the transition to mixed fuel. In general, reliability, high quality of pre-flight ground testing, and the ability to withstand any administrative pressure like “How will we celebrate May Day?”, “How do you order me to report to the Central Committee (president)?” is still the “highlight” of the team of the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering.
In the shortest possible time, the Temp-S mobile missile system was developed and flight tested. In total, more than 1,200 missiles were manufactured and were in service with the Soviet Army from 1966 to 1987.
The second characteristic feature of Alexander Nadiradze was the lack of fear of laying down at the beginning of the development of the maximum characteristics in all parameters of not only the missiles, its charges, but also all components of the complex. And his ability to “squeeze” all possible and impossible “juices” out of subcontractors in the process of further work is still legendary.
I'll give just one example. For the Temp-S complex, the team of the Minsk Automobile Plant design bureau under the leadership of Boris Lvovich Shaposhnik specially created a 4-axle MAZ-543 automobile chassis. With its own weight of 20 tons, it had the same load capacity (1:1 ratio).
Later, dozens of weapons were mounted on the chassis of the MAZ-543 family (MAZ-543A, MAZ-543V, MAZ-543M), which are still in service today with the Ground Forces, Air Defense Forces, Missile Forces and others. This chassis is also widely used in the national economy. Alexander Nadiradze “paid” with Boris Shaposhnik’s team, not with reprimands or orders, but with apartments and residential buildings, which he skillfully wrested from the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Belarus.
For the creation of the Temp-S complex, the Moscow Institute of Heat Engineering was awarded the Order of Lenin. Alexander Davidovich, as well as his first deputy Vyacheslav Gogolev and deputy director of the institute for scientific affairs and design Boris Lagutin, were awarded the title of Lenin Prize laureates.
It just so happened that in the future, the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering further dealt with the topic of class missiles only on paper, since the Temp-S complex never needed to be replaced in the troops. Extension of the warranty period of the complex ensured its long-term viability.
Subsequently, the development of mobile missile systems for the Ground Forces of shorter, army range was taken over by the Kolomenskoye Design Bureau under the leadership of Sergei Nepobedimy, who later created the Oka and Iskander missile systems.
COMPLEX "TEMP-2S"
In 1965, after the removal of Nikita Khrushchev, the sectoral system of managing the national economy was restored. It is also well known that at the same time the so-called “nine” was created - a complex of sectoral defense ministries. Less is known about the consolidation of the functions of these ministries.
Without pretending to provide a complete analysis, the author will allow himself to touch upon only one aspect that is directly related to the topic of this article - the creation of mobile strategic missile systems. On the one hand, space and combat missile issues were transferred to the newly created Ministry of General Engineering, on the other, all teams with at least some experience in creating mobile missile systems were included in the recreated Ministry of Defense Industry.
As they say, the circle is closed.
It cannot be said that the Ministry of General Machinery did not try to deal with solid fuel and mobile missiles. The 8K96 complex with a solid-fuel medium-range missile (launcher index - 15U15), developed at the Arsenal design bureau (chief designer - Pyotr Tyurin) was developed and successfully tested at the Kapustin Yar test site in the late 60s.
Without explanation of the reasons, the complex was not accepted into service with the Soviet Army. At approximately the same time, the 8K99 complex with an intercontinental missile developed at the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau under the leadership of Mikhail Yangel was undergoing flight tests at the Plesetsk test site.
Unlike the 8K96 rocket, the 8K99 rocket (launcher index 15U21) had a mixed configuration - the first stage of the rocket was solid fuel, the second was liquid. The initial period of flight testing was marked by a number of failures, and therefore flight testing was terminated by a corresponding government decision.
Mikhail Yangel was allowed to finish firing the remaining missiles, however, despite the fact that about 10 more launches were successful, the fate of the complex was sealed.
At the same time, Sergei Pavlovich Korolev, who, unlike the design bureau of Mikhail Yangel and the design bureau of Vladimir Chelomey, fundamentally refused to switch to heptyl and other “poison” in liquid rocket technology, made an attempt to compete with them in combat missile technology.
The 8K98 (8K98P) silo missile system was developed with a three-stage solid-fuel intercontinental-range missile (launch weight - 51 tons). Although with some difficulties, the complex passed flight tests at the Plesetsk training ground in the test department under the command of Colonel Pyotr Shcherbakov.
Further, since I was not a direct participant in the events, I quote from the book “Test Site of Special Importance” (Moscow, Soglasie Publishing House, 1997).
“On November 4, 1966, at 11 o’clock Moscow time, the combat crew of the Separate Engineering Test Unit under the command of Yu.A. Yashin, with the technical guidance of test engineers and chief specialists of the Test Site, the RS-12 rocket was launched. This was the first test launch at the test site...
Flight tests of the RS-12 missile after modernization continued until January 1972, fifty-one launches were carried out. During the experimental duty, the test department carried out one hundred and forty-two combat training launches of missiles of this class.”
The 8K98P complex was adopted by the Soviet army and deployed mainly in the missile division in the Yoshkar-Ola area.
However, serial production of 8K98P missiles was minimal - about 60 missiles. The enterprises of the Ministry of General Machinery did not make further attempts to return to solid fuel (until the end of the 70s) and mobile (soil) topics.
And with the complete skepticism of the Ministry of General Engineering (“there are many of them”) and the neutral indifference of the Ministry of Defense Industry (“not our profile”), Alexander Nadiradze sets himself and his team the task: “Creating a mobile soil complex with a solid-fuel intercontinental-range missile with a monoblock warhead.”
After carrying out the appropriate pre-design and design studies, the corresponding development work received the Temp-2C index in 1967.
As with the Temp-S rocket, all charges for the Temp-2S rocket were developed at the Lyubertsy Soyuz Design Bureau under the leadership of Boris Zhukov and his first deputy Vadim Vengersky. The work went hard, but confidently.
The former secretary of the party committee, Viktor Protasov, was “sent” from the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering to the Khotkovo Design and Technology Bureau near Moscow, who created, practically from scratch, the best design and production organization in the country for the development of products made of fiberglass (later carbon materials). Engine casings, missile transport and launch containers, launcher bunkers are all fiberglass, and all of this is KTB. And today the Central Research Institute of Special Engineering under the leadership of Vladimir Barybin occupies a leading position in these issues not only in Russia, but also in the world.
By the end of 1968, it became clear that the rocket was working. Two important issues remained unresolved: making a decision on the launch weight of the rocket (discussed below) and on the developer of the rocket control system.
The development of the control system for the Temp-2S missile was entrusted to the Central Research Institute of Automation and Hydraulics, which was part of the Ministry of Defense Industry, which, to put it mildly, was “not up to speed” in this matter. For the sake of objectivity, I must say that the Central Research Institute of Automation and Hydraulics has always been and still is the main developer of the hydraulic drive (chief designer - now, alas, the late Yuri Danilov) of all missiles of the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering, as well as the developer of the ground hydraulic drive for all launchers on which did these missiles ever lie.
And again, Alexander Nadiradze makes courageous decisions: he increases the launch weight of the rocket from 37 to 44 tons and at the same time turns to the country's leadership with a proposal to replace the developer of the rocket control system.
In July 1969, a corresponding resolution was issued by the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR, the main cooperation was specified (Nikolai Pilyugin was appointed chief designer of the missile control system) and the main tactical and technical characteristics, and the basic terms of work were established. The customer, the Missile Forces, gritting his teeth, issues, as prescribed by the decree, “Tactical and technical requirements for the development of the Temp-2S mobile missile system #T-001129.”
SOME DETAILS
The previously mentioned launchers 15U15 and 15U21 for the 8K96 and 8K99 complexes were developed at KB-3 of the Kirov Plant under the leadership of Deputy Chief Designer Nikolai Kurin on the basis of the T-10 heavy tank. If we characterize them very briefly, then they performed the main task - they rode and fired from them. The author, who as a young specialist took part in their creation and missile launches, does not remember any serious complaints about KB-3 during launches.
At the same time, if we characterize these launchers as a weapon system, we can say that they drove poorly (in particular, only outside paved roads, since they broke asphalt, the cruising life was only 3000-5000 km), it was extremely difficult their operation (access to many chassis elements is difficult, replacement of some special systems required the dismantling of adjacent systems, etc.).
Therefore, on the one hand, the development of a tracked launcher (index 15U67) for the Temp-2S missile was entrusted to KB-3 of the Kirov plant (and the design bureau team did an excellent job with the task - for a missile with a launch weight of 37 tons), and, on the other hand, Alexander Nadiradze simultaneously envisaged the development of the Temp-2S missile and a self-propelled launcher on a vehicle chassis (index 15U68). The development of the 15U67 launcher and the ground equipment of the complex as a whole was entrusted to the same creators of the launcher and chassis for the Temp-S missile - Volgogradsky Design Bureau (chief designer - Georgy Sergeev), Minsk Automobile Plant Design Bureau under the leadership of Boris Shaposhnik.
Now about the main thing, without which, in the author’s opinion, no mobile ground-based missile systems capable of carrying combat duty would ever have been created.
Here the author is obliged to quote a relatively long quotation from Mikhail Koltsov’s story “Night Blindness,” written in 1932: “I don’t know what a “complex” is. This word, if it ever meant anything, has now lost it forever due to endless mention at numerous meetings, primarily in the State Planning Committee. “Complex” is called anything, and most often nothing. When I hear the word “complex” I fall silent. I have nothing to object to about the “complex.”
So, if I needed to characterize the life and work of Alexander Davidovich Nadiradze in one phrase, I would say this: “He was a genius in rocket technology and a person who perfectly understood the importance of the word “complex.”
If the task of supervising the creation of a launcher, means of transportation, reloading missiles (the so-called KSO - a set of maintenance facilities) was somehow managed by the small department of ground equipment of the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering under the leadership of Kirill Sinyagin, whose main task was the development of a transport and launch container, No one at the institute knew what a “complex” was.
I think that no one in the USSR understood this then.
In any case, the standard regimental structure, which had already undergone joint flight tests of the 8K96 and 8K99 complexes, consisted of six tracked launchers standing in a circle and a mobile command post of the regiment located in the center of the circle, consisting of many vehicles on different types of automobile chassis. Somewhere nearby there is the same mobile energy. Pyotr Tyurin and Mikhail Yangel either did not think about the fact that people needed to sleep and eat, that they needed to be protected, or believed that this was a matter for the military. I’m not sure that they understood or gave due credit to such concepts as “camouflage” and “survivability”.
In the bowels of the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering, these issues (from the point of view of the experienced “elders” - purely secondary) were of interest only to a small group of very young engineers, organized first as sector 19 in the structure of the missile SKB-1, led by Boris Lagutin, and then, after the appointment the latter as deputy director for scientific work and design - in an independent department 110. What these guys do, what they draw there, few people knew, much less understood, but since the “products” are in the form of piles of drawings, blueprints, etc. they did not give out, but scribbled some reports, posters, etc., everyone considered them, if not slackers, then, in any case, second-class people.
And so, obviously guided by the well-known Stalinist principle “Personnel decide everything,” Alexander Nadiradze makes a revolutionary personnel decision.
In October 1970, an order was issued by the Minister of Defense Industry, by which pure rocket scientist Vyacheslav Gogolev is moved from the post of first deputy director - chief designer to the post of deputy chief designer for design, he is entrusted with the supervision of only two departments (rocket and propulsion systems); 43-year-old Boris Lagutin is appointed to the post of first deputy director - chief designer.
By the first order of Alexander Nadiradze after the announcement of the minister’s order, a complex department (department 6) was created in the structure of the institute, and 30-year-old Alexander Vinogradov was appointed its head. Department 6 becomes the head department of the institute.
"TEMP-2S" AS A WEAPON SYSTEM
The main unit of the complex was the missile regiment.
The regiment consisted of 3 divisions and a mobile command post of the regiment.
Each division consists of 9 vehicles: 2 self-propelled launchers on a 6-axle MAZ-547A chassis, a preparation and launch vehicle on a MAZ-543A chassis, 2 diesel power plants (each with 4 diesel units with a capacity of 30 kW each) on the MAZ-543A chassis, 2 utility vehicles (canteen car, dormitory car) on the MAZ-543V chassis, 2 security vehicles (security duty vehicle on the MAZ-543A chassis and a car combat post based on the BTR-60 chassis).
The regiment's mobile command post also includes 9 vehicles: combat control and communication vehicles on the MAZ-543-A chassis, a tropospheric communication vehicle on the MAZ-543V chassis, 2 diesel power vehicles, 2 utility vehicles and 2 security vehicles.
All vehicles were developed within the framework of a single development work “Creation of the Temp-2S missile system”, passed joint flight tests as part of it and were adopted by the Soviet army by a single resolution of the CPSU Central Committee and the Council of Ministers of the USSR.
The complex also included equipment that ensured the life cycle of missiles and ground equipment units: means of transporting and reloading missiles, storing them in arsenals, regulatory and training facilities.
Joint flight tests of the Temp-2S complex (RS-14 complex) began with the launch of the first rocket on March 14, 1972 at 21:00 from the Plesetsk cosmodrome. The flight development stage in 1972 was quite difficult: 2 launches (second and fourth) out of 5 were unsuccessful.
However, there were no further failures. A total of 30 launches were carried out during flight testing. Joint flight tests were completed in December 1974 with a salvo launch of 2 missiles.
The Temp-2S mobile ground-based missile system was adopted by the Soviet Army by decree of the CPSU Central Committee and the USSR Council of Ministers in 1976. However, in accordance with the Treaty on the Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms, it was considered non-deployed.
All 42 mass-produced Temp-2S missiles were on combat duty at the Plesetsk training ground at a point of permanent deployment in storage facilities.
For the creation of the complex, the Moscow Institute of Heat Engineering was awarded the second Order of Lenin. Alexander Nadiradze was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor.
Two employees of the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering (Alexander Vinogradov, Nikolai Nefedov), chief designer of the Minsk Automobile Plant Boris Lvovich Shaposhnik, first deputy chief designer of the Volgogradsky Design Bureau (at the time the title was assigned to the chief designer - head of OKB-1) Valerian Sobolev, deputy chief designer for testing of the Research Institute automation and instrumentation engineering Igor Zotov, as well as the chairman of the State Commission for joint flight testing of the complex, Lieutenant General Alexander Brovtsin, were awarded the title of Lenin Prize laureates.
More than 1,500 employees of the cooperation that created the Temp-2S complex were awarded government awards, and about 30 were awarded the title of USSR State Prize laureates.
Despite the seemingly relatively modest deployment of the Temp-2S complex, we should not forget that it was not only the basis for the further development of mobile missiles in the USSR, but also allowed us to accumulate operating experience and train both civilian and military personnel. I hope I will have the opportunity to talk about civilians in the future, but here, in conclusion, I will only mention the further service of some military specialists from the Plesetsk test site, who were directly involved in joint flight tests of the complex.
The head of the test site, Lieutenant General Hero of the Soviet Union Galaktion Alpaidze, after retiring in 1975, was deputy director of the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering for warranty supervision for about 20 years, and made a worthy contribution to ensuring the deployment and operation of the Pioneer and Topol complexes.
The head of the testing unit, Lieutenant Colonel Nikolai Mazyarkin, with the rank of lieutenant general, commanded the Kapustin Yar training ground. He died in retirement in the city of Minsk.
The head of the integrated department of the testing department, Lieutenant Colonel Gennady Yasinsky, by resolution of the CPSU Central Committee, was seconded in 1973 to the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering. Major General, permanent technical head of testing, in 1992-1997, first deputy general designer and director of the institute, from 1997 to the present - first deputy general designer for testing and warranty supervision.
His deputy, Lieutenant Colonel Mikhail Zholudev, the head of the group, Major Albert Zhigulin - major generals, completed their service as deputy commanders of the Plesetsk training ground.
Major Vasily Kurdaev, Lieutenant Alexander Bal, commanders of the first combat crews, Lieutenants Dmitry Bespalov, Evgeny Rezepov, resigned from various command positions in the central apparatus of the Ministry of Defense and the Plesetsk training ground with the rank of colonels.
Sorry to those I didn't name.
In conclusion. The author is infinitely grateful for the school of life to the honorary director - honorary general designer of the Moscow Institute of Heat Engineering, twice Order of Lenin, Boris Nikolaevich Lagutin and Alexander Konstantinovich Vinogradov, who left us untimely.
The author hopes that he will still be able to persuade Boris Nikolaevich Lagutin to write memories of Alexander Davidovich Nadiradze in a book that veterans would like to publish long before the 100th anniversary of his birth.
Intercontinental ballistic missile "Temp-2S" 15Zh42 (pc-14)By the early 1970s, not a single strategic mobile complex with a solid propellant missile had been put into service. The only solid-fuel ICBM was the stationary RT-2. The task of creating a mobile ICBM has come to the fore.
“Ensuring the survivability of mobile missile launchers is based mainly on creating uncertainty for the enemy in knowing the location of the missile launcher at the time of their attack on the missile launcher areas. Therefore, in contrast to stationary ones, for mobile missile launchers, their secrecy from enemy reconnaissance is of particular importance. This is achieved by carrying out camouflage measures (using standard means and natural camouflage properties of the terrain), and in addition, implementing such modes of operation of mobile units (frequency and time of changing parking points, choosing the distance between them, organizing the route of movement), in which the enemy’s space reconnaissance will be unable to accurately and promptly track their location.” (Intercontinental ballistic missiles of the USSR (RF) and the USA. History of creation, development and reduction / Edited by E.B. Volkov. - M.: Strategic Missile Forces, 1996. P. 237). In 1965, the team of the Moscow Research Institute-1 of the Ministry of Defense Industry, under the leadership of Alexander Nadiradze, completed work on the Temp-S mobile operational-tactical complex using mixed fuel. It was a mobile solid-fuel operational-tactical missile. Soon the design team began work on a new project - Temp-2S.
NII-1 of the Ministry of Agricultural Engineering was formed by the Decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR dated May 13, 1946 on the basis of the State Central Design Bureau No. 1 of the People's Commissariat of Ammunition (GTsKB-1), located in Moscow near the Belorussky railway station. The institute was ordered to develop propellant rockets for the Ground Forces, Air Force and Navy.
In 1947, the institute expanded and moved to a new site located in Vladykino, northeast of Moscow. In Vladykino there was a small aircraft repair enterprise engaged in the restoration of LI-2 aircraft. Here, after returning from evacuation to Kazan, aircraft designer Vladimir Myasishchev settled in 1944 with his design bureau. Soon Myasishchev moved to Khodynka, and the building of his design bureau was transferred to the NII-1 branch of the Ministry of Aviation Industry for the development of gunpowder shells. This territory was given to the future MIT.
For a whole decade, the position of chief designer of NII-1 was absent. The institute was led by a director, and the leading specialists of a particular project were appointed as chief designers. The institute was headed by a prominent organizer of the defense industry, Sergei Bodrov.
In previous years, Bodrov worked as Deputy Minister of Agricultural Engineering and was famous for the fact that he received a personal reprimand from Stalin and was removed from his post right in his Kremlin office. For some time he taught at the Moscow Higher Technical School named after N.E. Bauman, and after Stalin’s death he headed NII-1. Under the leadership of Bodrov, anti-submarine jet systems were created at NII-1, which were adopted by the country's Navy.
In 1958, the institute was reorganized. Some of his numerous developments were transferred to other design bureaus. The institute was assigned the main topic - ballistic guided missiles using solid fuel. Alexander Nadiradze became the chief designer of ballistic missiles at NII-1 (since 1967, the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering of the USSR Ministry of Defense Industry).
Alexander Nadiradze was born in 1914 in the Georgian city of Gori. In 1936, after graduating from the Transcaucasian Industrial Institute, he came to Moscow. Entered the Moscow Aviation Institute. Already in 1938, a talented student was invited to work at TsAGI, where he soon became the head of a group for designing hovercraft landing gear. Later he went to work at KB-2 of the Ministry of Agricultural Machinery. On October 15, 1951, by government decree KB-2 of the Ministry of Agricultural Machinery (later GSNII-642), the development of radio-controlled aircraft bombs was entrusted. Alexander Nadiradze, who also worked on anti-aircraft guided missiles, was appointed chief designer.
At the end of 1957, Moscow GSNII-642 merged with Reutov OKB-52. Nadiradze becomes deputy chief designer Chelomey. In 1958, he went to work at NII-1 GKOT. In 1961, he was appointed director and chief designer of the enterprise.
For a long time, the team headed by Nadiradze was the most secretive even among the developers of missile weapons. The foreign press published information that this design bureau was located in the city of Biysk, Altai Territory, and close friends of the chief designer believed that Nadiradze was Sergei Korolev’s successor.
Enterprise veteran Vladimir Guzhkov told me about Nadiradze:
“He was a passionate man, a designer from God! Current, draft issues were always resolved by his deputies. Nadiradze took upon himself the solution of the most important issues and sometimes seemingly fantastic projects. From a distance, even to a dedicated person it might seem like he was in the clouds. And only much later it became clear how right the chief designer was in choosing an unusually bold decision. And in the clouds... in the clouds and high above them, his combat missiles were already hovering. Surprisingly, he never rested. Only after the heart attack did I take my first vacation.”
By decision of the country's government, the Ministry of Defense organized a competition for the best project for a mobile ICBM. The competition was won by the team of Alexander Nadiradze. On March 6, 1966, NII-1 MOP was entrusted with the development of a solid-fuel ICBM for a mobile soil complex. The project was given the name Temp-2S - the second Temp-S rocket using mixed fuel.
When starting to create it, Nadiradze rejected tracked projects, although the previous experimental mobile systems were based on tank chassis.
Fairly believing that the control system devices simply could not withstand the shaking of a tank, taking into account other arguments, Nadiradze turned to the problem of creating a wheeled tractor. Temp-2S
Heavy rocket carrier could have been developed in the design bureau for the special production of wheeled tractors at the Minsk Automobile Plant. Nadiradze turned to chief designer Boris Shaposhnik, who agreed with his proposal. This design bureau created the MAZ-547 five-axle rocket carrier, capable of delivering a three-stage rocket weighing 32 tons off-road to the launch position.
However, it was not possible to meet the calculated weight parameters. The weight of ICBMs increased to forty and a half tons. Shaposhnik created a new, more powerful tractor - the six-axle MAZ-547A.
During these years, cooperation between Nadiradze and rocket fuel developer Boris Zhukov developed. While heading the Lyubertsy NII-125, Zhukov created mixed fuel and solid propellant charges with unique characteristics.
This is what Boris Zhukov told me:
“We were faced with the problem of developing a body. The combustion temperature of a large solid propellant charge is three thousand degrees. Such heating leads to structural destruction, so the first missile bodies had to be armored. But a rocket is not a tank. It should be light. Our institute was the first to develop fiberglass housings - lightweight, durable, heat-resistant.
The design bureau of Alexander Davidovich Nadiradze developed the Temp tactical missile for the mobile complex. A mobile rocket must be lightweight and easy to use. Armored hulls were not suitable. We developed ballistic fuel, charges and fiberglass casings for this missile. But to increase the firing range, it was necessary to create new ones - mixed fuels. Scientists from our institute and teams from Research Institute-4 of the Ministry of Defense worked on them. Moscow Research Institute-6 (now the Federal Center of Chemistry and Technology), Altai Research Institute of Chemical Technology in Biysk (now NPO Altai), Perm Research and Production Association named after S.M. Kirov.
This is how mixed fuel was created for the new Temp-S rocket. We also developed charges and cases for Tempa-S. This was a joint work of a large number of organizations and the country's largest specialists. Later, Temp-2S appeared. For this rocket, we, together with the Nadiradze Design Bureau, developed engines for all three stages.” The first missile launch from a silo was made in 1971. On March 14, 1972, the Temp-2S complex entered testing, during which thirty-five missile launches were carried out. Vladimir Lapygin, former general designer and general director of NPO Automation and Instrument Making, recalls:
“A lot of people came to the first launch of Temp-2S... Report to the state commission: the control system is ready for launch! Naturally, there are no questions for us (although in complex tests before launch, all our three SU channels “ran away” in different directions, but were “alive”!). Just before the launch, A.D. Nadiradze and I walked up to the launcher, to the wheels, they “blessed” it for good luck and let it go. The launch was excellent in all respects, including accuracy.” (Creators of nuclear missile weapons and veteran rocket scientists tell. - M.: TsIPK, 1996. P. 130).
Minister of Defense Industry Boris Belousov recalls the tests of the missile system in the past: “I had the opportunity to be with him (with the director of the Votkinsk plant Sadovnikov - author's note) and at the test site for the first launches of new strategic missiles ("Temp-2S" - note . ed.). All work was carried out in special secrecy. The first launch showed excellent results and Vladimir Gennadievich could not stand it - he went to the post office and gave a telegram to the chief engineer of the plant, congratulating him on his “birthday”. The information did not go unnoticed, and everyone received a corresponding beating.” (Trace on the ground. Memories of associates, friends and close people about Vladimir Gennadievich Sadovnikov. - Udmurt University Publishing House, 1997. P. 16).
Tests at the Plesetsk test site lasted more than two and a half years and were completed in December 1974.
The launcher and support vehicle were developed at the Design Bureau of the Volgograd Production Association "Barricades" (now TsKB Titan) under the leadership of Georgy Sergeev. Serial production of launchers has been launched at the Volgograd Production Association "Barricades". The control system was originally developed at the Central Research Institute of Automation and Hydraulics. The final version was developed by an autonomous inertial control system at the Research Institute of Automation and Instrumentation under the leadership of Nikolai Pilyugin. The aiming system was developed under the leadership of Kievsky chief designer Seraphim Parnyakov.
“When creating the first domestic mobile ground complex with a solid-fuel guided ballistic missile, capable of launching from a patrol route with a minimum duration of pre-launch preparation with high accuracy in solving navigation problems, it was necessary to create a control system based on a digital computer of high reliability, accuracy and speed. Such a system had two autonomous units: an onboard and a ground control system. The ground control system solved the problems of controlling the automatic control system, preparing initial data and calculating the flight mission. The on-board control system had a gyro-stabilized platform with high-precision accelerometers oriented in three directions during optical communication with a ground-based aiming system, and an on-board digital computer (ONDC). To achieve high reliability, given the insufficient reliability of the on-board computer element base, “triplication” of channels was implemented in the control system, which, naturally, led to the heavier weight of the control system equipment. To reduce weight, the devices were made in a non-hermetic design based on their placement in a sealed instrument compartment (HIC). To simplify the calculation of the flight mission using the functional guidance method, a single system of a family of flexible pitch angle programs was used for the entire range of ranges.” (Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering. Proceedings. Volume 1. Science. Technology. Production. 1995. P. 27).
Preparations for missile production at the Botkin plant began in 1971. Serial production began in 1974 at the Botkin plant under the leadership of Vladimir Sadovnikov.
The missile had three sustainer stages and a combat stage with a low-thrust propulsion system. The launch range was regulated by cutting off the thrust through the transverse cutting of the third stage engine housing. Each of the propulsion systems used two solid propellant charges: the large one was attached to the cylindrical part of the hull, the small one to the front bottom, so that the hull was protected from heating by unburned fuel most of the time. Control elements for the upper stages were designed that use the injection of a gas jet into the supercritical (expanding) part of the nozzle, for which a metal-free solid fuel was created, which included RDX, since condensed oxides of aluminum, which is part of the main fuel, could clog the injection valves. For the first stage, drop-down lattice aerodynamic rudders and gas rudders made of refractory tungsten, used during the initial phase of the flight, were used.
The design of the rocket uses central control nozzles and high-strength fiberglass housings for propulsion systems. A so-called cold stage separation scheme was developed, in which subsequent stages were launched only after the previous ones had retreated to a safe distance. The combat stage is equipped with a solid propellant propulsion system. The entire period of operation of the rocket was in a sealed transport and launch container, made of fiberglass with a thick layer of heat-insulating foam for lightweight purposes.
The most difficult problem was mastering the production of plastic wound casings. In the 1960s, the first ballistic missiles with solid fuel engines were developed in our country. These were medium- and intercontinental-range missiles RT-1 and RT-2 by Sergei Korolev, RT-20P by Mikhail Yangel, RT-15 by Pyotr Tyurin, as well as operational-tactical missiles Temp and Temp-S by Alexander Nadiradze. All of them were equipped with monoblock or multiblock engines with four movable control nozzles.
The multi-nozzle design of the engine did not allow achieving the required degree of expansion of the nozzles and, consequently, the required high performance of the engine and rocket. Therefore, in the early 1970s, a transition was made to monoblock single-nozzle engine designs (a nozzle unit with one central nozzle is simpler and more reliable than a multi-nozzle unit). The ancestor of the family of such missiles was the Temp-2S ICBM. The composite plastic structures of the rocket and its container were manufactured at the Khotkovo Central Research Institute of Special Mechanical Engineering under the leadership of Viktor Protasov.
A cold (mortar) start was carried out directly from the container using a special powder pressure accumulator. The main engines were turned on at altitude, thanks to which the launcher remained operational.
On February 21, 1976, two Temp-2S missile regiments in the Plesetsk area began combat duty.
This is what Lev Solomonov, Deputy General Designer of the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering, told me:
“Temp-2S is a complex. It is no longer possible to say about it the way they spoke about the first experimental tracked mobile systems: this is a tank, and this is a rocket. "Temp-2S" is a single organism. Before Nadiradze, no one succeeded in creating such a complex. Nadiradze managed to solve a very difficult problem. The complex was successfully tested in Plesetsk and was deployed. The military got what they dreamed of - take it and shoot.”
As eyewitnesses of those events say, the operation of the Temp-2S complexes took place in conditions of top secrecy. Officers were prohibited from using the phrases “combat duty” and “command post.” It was believed that the missiles were in long-term storage. When the rocket carrier left the garage shelter, all soldiers nearby were required, on command, to turn their backs to the garage and stand at attention until the rocket carrier disappeared into the taiga. The rocket carriers left the garages during breaks between flights of American satellites over Plesetsk. There were mistakes, but they were quickly corrected. In these cases, the rocket carriers that left the garages immediately returned.
The number of regiments of the missile division stationed near Plesetsk was increased to seven (according to the recollections of veterans, the division had from 38 to 40 launchers). Each regiment was armed with six launchers. There were also regiments of reduced strength. Mobile systems traveled thousands of kilometers of taiga during sea trials.
The removal of missiles began ten years after taking up duty - in 1986.
The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, signed in 1987, officially classified the RS-14 as a non-deployed system for the first time. "TEMP-2S".
15Zh42 (RS-14) SS-16. SINNER "Temp-2S" is a mobile ground-based complex with a three-stage solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile. Developed at NII-1 MOP under the leadership of Alexander Nadiradze. Development began on March 6, 1966. The first launch at the Plesetsk test site took place on March 14, 1972. Tests completed in December 1974. The complex entered combat duty on February 21, 1976.
Solid propellant propulsion engines were developed at NII-125 under the leadership of Boris Zhukov. The launcher and support vehicle were created at the Design Bureau of the Volgograd Production Association "Barricades" (now the Central Design Bureau "Titan") under the leadership of chief designer Georgy Sergeev. The launch method is mortar. Serial production of launchers has been launched at the Volgograd Production Association "Barricades". The autonomous control system was developed at the Research Institute of AP under the leadership of Nikolai Pilyugin. The aiming system was developed under the leadership of Kievsky chief designer Seraphim Parnyakov. The six-axle all-terrain vehicle MAZ-547A was developed under the leadership of Boris IIIa-poshnik. The missile has a monoblock nuclear warhead.
Maximum firing range, km……………. 10 500
Maximum launch weight, t……………………….. 41.5
Weight of the head part, t…………………………….. 1
Rocket length, m…………. 18.5
Maximum body diameter, m………. 1.8
Table of contents
Mobile soil complex Temp-2S with ICBM 15Zh42
A number of fundamental innovations have been used in the design of the rocket.
Lattice aerodynamic rudders that open in flight, central control nozzles, fiberglass control nozzles, high-strength fiberglass propulsion housings. A cold stage separation scheme was developed, in which subsequent stages were launched only after the previous ones had retreated to a safe distance. The combat stage is equipped with a solid propellant propulsion system for the first time. The rocket itself was kept in a sealed TPC for the entire period of operation, made of fiberglass with a thick layer of heat-insulating foam. The mortar launch was carried out directly from the container using a special pad. The main engines turned on already at altitude, thanks to which the launcher remained operational. The control system was built on the basis of a digital computer of high reliability, accuracy and speed, and had two autonomous units: an onboard and a ground control system.
The ground control system solved the problems of controlling the automatic control system, preparing initial data and calculating the flight mission.
The onboard control system had a gyro-stabilized platform with high-precision accelerometers oriented in three directions with optical communication with a ground-based targeting system, as well as an on-board computer.
Due to the insufficient reliability of the on-board computer element base, “triplication” of channels was implemented in the control system, which naturally led to heavier on-board equipment. To reduce weight, the devices were made in a non-hermetically sealed design and were placed in a sealed instrument compartment. To simplify the calculation of the flight mission using the functional guidance method, a single system of a family of flexible pitch angle programs was used for the entire range of ranges. The launch range was regulated by cutting off the thrust through the transverse cutting of the third stage engine housing.
Each of the main propulsion systems (developed by Lyubertsy NPO Soyuz, chief designer Zhukov B.P.) used two solid propellant charges: a large one was attached to the cylindrical part of the hull, a small one to the front bottom, so that the hull was protected from heating with unburnt fuel. For the roll controls on the upper stages, a special metal-free solid fuel was created, which included hexogen, since condensed aluminum oxides, which are part of the main fuel, could clog the injection valves. To control the first stage, drop-down lattice aerodynamic rudders and gas rudders made of refractory tungsten, used during the initial phase of the flight, were used.
The Temp-2S missile system included two vehicles based on the MAZ-547A chassis: a launcher and a transport-loading vehicle. Both of them had special equipment, the composition of which depended on the purpose of the machines. Thus, the launcher had devices in the rear part designed to bring the transport and launch container from the traveling position to the combat position and back. Additionally, the vehicle was equipped with special hydraulic jacks, which were used to unload the chassis, level and ensure the stability of the launcher during a missile launch.
A high-power power unit was mounted in the front of the car. Two non-metallic cabins were installed on both sides of it. The vehicle had twelve single wheels equipped with wide-profile tires. Ten of the twelve wheels were driving. The wheels of the first three axles were made steerable.
"Temp-S" and "Rubezh" - Soviet missile systems on the MAZ-543 8x8 chassis
Since the design of this family, all vehicles included in it were designed to install new highly mobile missile and artillery weapons systems, and for each of them the chassis was subject to certain modifications and adaptations.
In this article we will talk about self-propelled launchers (SPU) of operational-tactical missile systems (OTRK) 9K72 and Temp-S, as well as the first coastal system Rubezh, mounted on the MAZ-543 chassis.
Missile launcher of the 9K72 complex on the MAZ-543 chassis (photo by the author)
Launcher of the Temp-S complex on the MAZ-543A chassis (photo by the author)
Articles / History Missile carrier MAZ-543 - the best four-axle vehicle of the Soviet army This all-wheel drive vehicle, entirely equipped with domestic units and components, actually became the highest achievement of the Soviet military-automotive complex, and the strict co… 31377 1 5 10/13/2016
The development of such systems was carried out by a special design bureau from Volgograd. Assembly and testing of prototypes were also carried out there, and serial production was launched at the Petropavlovsk Heavy Engineering Plant in the Kazakh SSR. Behind each missile system were long chains of transport-loading vehicles (TZM) and mobile support equipment.
Missile system 9K72 (1962–1987)
The prototype of this system on the MAZ-543 car appeared in May 1962 and became the winner of comparative tests. Its first public display took place on November 7, 1965 during a parade on Red Square, and two years later the 9K72 OTRK with a range of 300 km was put into service. It did not have any verbal code name, but at the same time, the design of an even more powerful Elbrus missile system was carried out, the name of which was mistakenly assigned to the 9K72 complex in a number of unprofessional sources.
Surprisingly, this entire complex fit on one autonomous SPU 9P117 for launching ballistic missiles with liquid engines and various warheads, including nuclear ones. Structurally, this installation has become one of the most original, richly equipped and most widespread machines of this kind. Its rich equipment made it possible to independently carry out the entire cycle of operations from loading and preparing the rocket to its launch. The vehicle had a two-section boom for lifting the rocket into a vertical launch position and a crane beam that folded back for reloading it directly from the transport trolley without the use of a heavy lift vehicle or a conventional crane.
Autonomous missile launcher 9P117 on a MAZ-543 vehicle
At the parade in Moscow, the 9P117 launch system of the 9K72 missile system
Missile launcher 9P117 of the 9K72 complex in firing position
The SPU included on-board hydraulic and electrical systems, test and launch equipment, its own diesel-electric station and means for refueling the rocket with fuel and compressed air. The most original feature was the two three-person side cabins (wheelhouses) with entrance doors, round porthole windows and space for six operators. Their equipment included: a hydraulic pump, remote control equipment, a radio station, lighting and heating systems, an internal intercom, a tank with drinking water, an entrenching tool, boxes for ammunition and spare parts. In combat condition with a missile and a combat crew of eight people, the SPU could move along the highway at speeds of up to 45 km/h. Due to the excessive saturation of working equipment, it turned out to be too complex and expensive, but the most practical and effective.
Upgraded SPU 9P117M during testing at 21 Research Institutes (from the archives of NIITs AT)
Launching a liquid-propellant rocket with a frame fence
Crane reloading of a chemical rocket onto the 9P117M-1 launcher
Export launcher 9P117M1-1 in the People's Army of the GDR
Since 1969, the modernized SPU 9P117M with a simplified single-section boom came into service, and the rocket was loaded using a truck crane. Until the mid-1980s, about 800 such installations were assembled.
Complex 9K72 from the collection of the Artillery Museum in St. Petersburg (photo by the author)
SPU 9P117M with its own electric generator and hydraulic system (photo by the author)
Missile system 9K76 "Temp-S" (1963–1987)
Soon after the birth of the 9K72 complex, a new OTRK 9K76 “Temp-S” appeared on the MAZ-543A chassis, which was used to launch solid-fuel ballistic missiles with a firing range of up to 900 km. They were placed in transport and launch containers (TPC) and equipped with various warheads, including chemical and nuclear. After much testing and firing, the complex entered service and was first presented at a parade in Moscow on November 7, 1967.
Complex "Temp-S" on the MAZ-543A chassis (reconstruction of the Central Design Bureau "Titan")
The 9P120 launcher was equipped with side body compartments with entrance doors and places for combat crews. Unlike the 9K72 system, the hydraulic system was used only to drive hydraulic supports and lift the boom together with the TPK into a vertical combat position, and all other working equipment was placed in special vans on the chassis of Ural-375 trucks. So, along with the simplification and lightening of the SPU, came the need to create several more transport and reloading vehicles for it, also mounted on the MAZ-543A chassis.
Complex 9K76 on display at the St. Petersburg Artillery Museum (photo by the author)
SPU 9P120 with a solid propellant rocket in a transport container (photo by the author)
The main transport vehicle 9T215 of the Temp-S complex served for storing and transporting a detachable TPK with a missile without a warhead and externally differed from the SPU in the absence of means of lifting the missile.
Transport vehicle 9T215 for transporting a container with one missile
The second transport vehicle, 9T219, was used to transport nuclear warheads in a thermally insulated TPK with a system for maintaining a given temperature. The containers were reloaded onto the launcher by a 9T35 military truck crane.
| Vehicle 9T219 with a container for transporting nuclear warheads | Crane reloading of a container with a combat charge onto a 9T219 transporter |
By the end of 1987, the Soviet army had 135 Temp-S systems, a small number of which were exported to the GDR and Czechoslovakia. This complex was included in the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), was withdrawn from service, and was liquidated along with its support systems in 1988–1989.
Most Soviet missile systems regularly appeared at military parades on Red Square, causing Soviet citizens to feel a surge of patriotism and a sense of pride in their great country, capable of developing, building and putting into service such powerful and advanced wheeled combat vehicles. They evoked completely opposite feelings among the military attaches of Western countries - furious hatred of the Land of the Soviets, boundless fear for their own prosperity and deep concern for the democratic development of their neighbors and the most distant countries. At the same time, the US government and NATO leadership tried with all their might to encourage the USSR to stop production and completely eliminate its mobile missile systems.
Missile launchers of the 9K72 complex on Red Square (from the ITAR-TASS archive)
In combat formation, the missile systems of the Temp-S complex on the MAZ-543A chassis (from the archives of the Scientific Research Center AT)
Complex "Temp-S" at the parade in honor of the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution
The West was especially irritated by the 9K72 and 9K76 Temp-S mobile missile systems, deployed in European socialist countries and capable of hitting NATO troops located on the closest approaches to the borders of the socialist camp and the territory of the USSR. In Soviet times, they were able to be defended, but perestroika and the destructive demilitarization of the Soviet army cost the life of one of the most advanced OTRK Temp-S.
Coastal missile system "Rubezh" (1978–1989)
In 1970, the development of a powerful autonomous anti-ship coastal missile system (PBRK) 4K51 "Rubezh" of the USSR Navy began, designed for the protection and defense of military facilities in the coastal zone, detection and destruction of surface targets at any time of the day and in any weather conditions. It entered service in October 1978.
Coastal complex "Rubezh" on the MAZ-543M chassis in transport position
The 3P51 launcher on the MAZ-543 or MAZ-543M chassis was equipped with a rotating platform with guidance and launch systems for two cruise missiles with a flight range of 80 km, stored in the TPK and equipped with high-explosive or nuclear warheads. A control cabin and an all-round radar station with a hydraulic antenna lift to install it at a height of 7.3 m were also mounted on the platform. The source of electricity was a generator driven by an auxiliary gas turbine engine.
Launcher 3P51 with two missiles and a Harpoon radar station
Anti-ship complex "Rubezh" protecting the coast of Romania
Since 1983, a modernized version of Rubezh-A was produced with a 3P51M SPU mounted on a MAZ-543M chassis. In this version, the extended-range surveillance radar could be installed on a vehicle or on a special 40B6 tower.
Coastal complex 4K51 "Rubezh-A" in deployed position (from the archives of NIITs AT)
Launch of the Termit-R cruise missile with a range of 80 km (from the archives of the Scientific Research Center AT)
Coastal systems "Rubezh" were supplied to the Warsaw Pact countries, Cuba, India, the states of North Africa and the Middle East. In 2008, they were replaced by the “Ball” complex.
An important application of the MAZ-543A chassis could be the compact mobile missile system “Kopyo-R” with a 13-meter intercontinental missile, developed in the 1980s at the Ukrainian Yuzhnoye Design Bureau and remaining only a bold project.
Project of the compact intercontinental missile system "Kopyo-R"
In Pakistan, the MAZ-543A served as the basis for the SPU with the Shaheen-1 ballistic missile. In the mid-1990s, the prototype S-125M Neva-SC launcher with four cruise missiles and digital control units was based on the MAZ-543M chassis.
Pakistani Shaheen-1 missile on a modified MAZ-543A chassis (from the SKB-1 MAZ archive)
Polish experimental cruise missile launcher C-125M Neva-SC
At home, in addition to missile systems, the MAZ-543M found an equally important application: it was used to mount the powerful Smerch multiple rocket launcher, the Bereg coastal artillery complex and several types of anti-aircraft launchers of the S-300 complex. The next article will be devoted to them.
From RT-15 and "Gnome" to "Topol". History of the creation of mobile intercontinental ballistic missiles
In the early 70s, this event became a turning point in the American-Soviet rivalry. For the first time, the USSR had a stealth missile system with nuclear weapons on board. Its coordinates could not be determined using spy satellites. The new top-secret weapon received the letter “Temp-2S”. But more on that a little later.
15P696 medium-range missile system with 8K96 (RT-15) missile
On November 23, 1974, a meeting between US President Gerald Ford and General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Leonid Brezhnev took place in Vladivostok. Then the American president literally demanded that Leonid Brezhnev not develop or produce mobile systems. Overseas, they were well aware that in the event of a nuclear strike, the attacking side would face inevitable retribution.
The history of the creation of mobile complexes with nuclear missiles began much earlier than the events described above. In 1959, the revolution won in Cuba and Fidel Castro came to power, taking an anti-American position. The first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev, openly supported the Castro government - and relations with the United States deteriorated sharply. By that time, the Americans were 10 times larger than the Soviet Union in the number of nuclear warheads on bombers and the number of ICBMs. The situation worsens further when, on February 1, 1961, the Americans conduct the first launch of the Minuteman-1A ICBM at the Vandenberg Missile Range. With a launch range of 9000 km, the missile deviation did not exceed 1500 m. The new high-precision Minuteman, using previously known coordinates, could now destroy our missiles directly in the launch silos. In this case, the Soviet Union had no opportunity to strike back.
Therefore, in the early 60s, the country's leadership faced a very difficult problem: how to protect strategic forces. Two options were proposed: building expensive silos capable of withstanding a nuclear strike, or mobile missile launchers. Under pressure from the military elite, the Khrushchev government decides to build heavy-duty silos for our ballistic missiles. The military insisted on mines because for them it was simpler and more familiar: to have a mine, simply operate, protect, guard, and a system of maintenance regulations had already been worked out. In the 60s, in the strictest secrecy, gigantic construction was launched throughout the country, hundreds of underground mines and underground control points were laid. And yet, at the same time, on the initiative of Dmitry Ustinov, who was then in charge of the defense industry, a decision was made to begin experimental work on installing ballistic missiles on a self-propelled chassis.
Tyurin P.A. (25.06.1917-26.02.2000)
Shavyrin B.I. (04/27/1902-10/9/1965)
In 1966, testing of the first mobile complex began at one of the secret testing grounds under the code RT-15. The development of the RT-15 complex began at TsKB-7 (Design Bureau, Leningrad) under the leadership of Pyotr Tyurin, in accordance with the government decree of April 4, 1961. Two years later, it was suspended until positive results were obtained in the development of the RT-2 ICBM. Work on the complex resumed in 1965.
Performance characteristics of the RT-15 missile Max. firing range - 2500 km Launch weight of the rocket - 16 t Weight of the warhead - 0.5 t Rocket length - 11.74 m Max. case diameter - 1.49 m
In 1957, TsKB-7 carried out work on a topic that received the index D-6, in which, for the first time in domestic rocket science, the task was set to create a solid-fuel ballistic missile for submarines.
The first development, according to chief designer Pyotr Tyurin, was a failure. The proposed version of the rocket, based on engine packages with ballistic fuel with low energy for such fuels, had large dimensions and weight. The development of mixed fuels lagged far behind, so the option of a boat-based solid-fuel rocket was temporarily postponed.
The TsKB-7 team has begun a project to create a mobile ground-based missile system with a two-stage solid-fuel medium-range missile.
The production of RT-15 missiles was established at the Leningrad Machine-Building Plant No. 7 named after M.V. Frunze. Serial production of missiles ceased in January 1969
The first ten flight RT-15 rockets used a first-stage engine developed by chief designer Pyotr Tyurin, with a charge of butyl rubber-based fuel from the Altai Scientific Research Institute of Chemical Technology (ANII HT), and a second-stage engine developed by chief designer SKB-172 of the Perm Machine-Building Plant, Mikhail Tsirulnikov - with a charge of polyfurite-based fuel developed by the Perm Research Institute of Polymer Materials. Finally, the version of the second stage engine developed by Pyotr Tyurin was chosen as part of the rocket, as it was more reliable and productive.
The RT-15 complex included: six self-propelled tracked launchers, based on the T-10 heavy tank, equipped with RT-15 missiles in transport and launch containers; a mobile command post (MCP), consisting of combat control vehicles, a position preparation vehicle, two diesel power plants and a mobile communications center “Relief”. All PKP vehicles are built on a high-cross-country wheeled chassis based on the MAZ-543.
A number of priority solutions were used in the design of the rocket: split control nozzles of the first and second stage engines, firmly attached to the engine body and manufactured by injection molding of the fuel mass directly into the engine body. The rocket itself was kept in a sealed, heated fiberglass transport and launch container during its entire operational life. All loading and unloading operations were carried out using a craneless method.
The launches of the RT-15 missile as part of a mobile combat missile system (PBRK) were carried out at the Kapustin Yar training ground. During the flight testing period - from November 1966 to March 1970 - 20 launches were made, of which two were two-missile salvos. The missile test was completed in March 1970.
The PBRK with the RT-15 missile was recommended for equipping one regiment in order to practice special tasks. The regiment included six self-propelled launchers and a mobile PKP. In January 1969, serial production of missiles was stopped; the complexes within the regiment were in operation until 1971.
Missiles of this type were equipped with a monoblock nuclear warhead. Because The launch range of such missiles was 2500 km, but this turned out to be not enough. The military needed weapons capable of hitting targets overseas.
In the early 1960s, a government decree was issued on the creation of ground-based ICBMs with a total weight of the complex with a launcher of no more than 60 tons. It was planned to create a mobile version on caterpillar tracks (the complex had to independently move away from reconnaissance satellites and be in constant readiness to strike back) and a silo version. A competition was announced for the best project.
During this competition in the 60s of the last century, two more complexes of mobile ICBMs appeared. These are the Gnome and RT-20P complexes, but they never went into production. And yet we will tell you a little about these complexes, because during production and testing new, extraordinary design solutions were developed on them.
Performance characteristics of the Gnome complex Firing range - 11,000 km Missile weight - 29 tons Missile weight in a container - 31.2 tons SPU weight in full gear - 60 tons Missile length - 16.14 m Maximum body diameter - 2.6 m Engine diameter - 2.6 m Average trajectory specific impulse of the first stage engine - 250 kgf*s/kg Guaranteed shelf life - 10 years
Taking into account the experience accumulated by Boris Shavyrin’s design team during work on solid-fuel engines, Dmitry Ustinov entrusted this team with the development of an ICBM equipped with a solid-fuel ramjet engine.
Boris Ivanovich Shavyrin created a large group of designers to study the experience of creating solid fuel rockets. The group members dispersed to the design bureaus of Korolev, Yangel, Tyurin and Tsirulnikov. After reviewing the materials received from the group members, the Mechanical Engineering Design Bureau began creating its own ICBM.
A preliminary design for the rocket was developed and successfully defended. Later working drawings were developed. At the end of October 1965, a few days after the death of Boris Shavyrin, the first launch of a direct-flow jet engine took place at a stand in Turaevo. All the capacities of the stands in Turaevo were not enough to ensure the engine was operating at maximum speed, and additional equipment had to be installed. During the launch, glass flew out of the windows of the surrounding houses. The bench engine for testing in Turaevo had a metal casing, but later a fiberglass casing was developed at the Central Research Institute of Special Mechanical Engineering. No one in the world has tested such engines. This was a unique project, but, unfortunately, for unknown reasons, at the end of 1965, a decision was made to close the topic. The name of the project is “Gnome”.
"Gnome" is a three-stage ballistic missile with an accelerator. The rocket took off after launching an accelerator, which accelerated it to a speed of 1.75M (1M = speed of sound). Having worked, the accelerator was separated and the first stage with a solid-fuel ramjet jet was turned on. The first stage engine operated for 60-70 seconds until a speed of 5.5M was reached, after which the second and then the third stage separated and turned on. The second and third stages were equipped with solid mixed fuel engines. The rocket was equipped with powder pressure accumulators. It was housed in a half-container, which was connected to the combustion chamber (the housing of the VRD combustion chamber was part of the container structure). This made it possible to reduce weight. If adopted, the combat missile system was supposed to have 10 self-propelled launchers of Gnome ICBMs.
The Gnome is the only intercontinental ballistic missile equipped with a solid-fuel ramjet engine.
During this period, another mobile complex with ICBMs on board appeared. It was tested under the symbol RT-20P. The preliminary design of a combined two-stage ballistic missile was developed at the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau under the leadership of Mikhail Yangel in December 1964. It was assumed that the rocket would be equipped with a first stage with a solid fuel engine and a second ampulized stage equipped with a rocket engine. With this scheme, the required mass and shooting accuracy were ensured. After all, as you know, the most important parameter affecting the accuracy of shooting is the speed of the rocket when the last stage engine is turned off. And at the beginning of the development of the RT-20P, there was not yet a sufficiently effective thrust cut-off mechanism at the moment the stage’s solid propellant engine was turned off. Therefore, Yangel decided to create a combined rocket. In 1963, the Pavlograd Mechanical Plant was established to produce solid fuel engines and rockets. And in 1964, to develop solid fuel engines, their own design bureau was even created on the territory of the plant. Mine, mobile ground and railway versions of the combat missile system were developed. A mobile-soil complex was chosen as the final option. It was decided to place the launcher on the chassis of the T-10 M heavy tank, developed at KB-3 of the Leningrad Kirov Plant under the leadership of Joseph Kotin.
The missile was housed in a transport and launch container. For the first time, a mortar launch from a transport and launch container using a powder pressure accumulator was tested for a ground-based missile. This is a method in which the first stage propulsion engine is turned on at an altitude of 20-30 meters above the upper edge of the launcher in order to reduce the destructive effect of the gas jet of a working propulsion engine on the starting units.
It was planned to be equipped with two types of warheads: heavy, with a power of 1.5 Mt, and light, with a power of 0.5 Mt. The estimated range of the missile with a heavy warhead was 5,000 km, and with a light warhead the intercontinental launch range was already achieved.
ICBM RT-20P on a mobile tracked self-propelled installation based on the T-10M tank
The RT-20P combined ballistic missile was equipped with an autonomous inertial control system. In October 1967, rocket testing began at the Plesetsk test site. As part of the flight test, 8 (according to other sources - 12) launches were carried out. In October 1969, development of the RT-20P combat missile system was discontinued. The reason for the cessation of work was the difficulty of operating a mobile complex with a liquid rocket engine at the second stage, as well as the lack of a state program for its deployment in the country. But this complex drove along Red Square in Moscow, at the parade on November 7, 1965.
The RT-20P is the only combined ICBM equipped with solid and liquid propellant rocket engines.
RT-20P complex at a military parade in Moscow. November 7, 1965 Performance characteristics of the RT-20P missile Max. estimated range with light warhead - 7000 km Max. estimated range with a heavy warhead - 5000 km Missile diameter - 18 m Body diameter - 1.6 m Missile launch weight - 30 t Weight of a heavy warhead - 1410 kg Power of a nuclear warhead with a heavy warhead - 1.5 Mt Power of a nuclear warhead with a light warhead - 0.55 Mt
By the early 1970s, not a single strategic mobile complex with a solid propellant missile had been put into service, and therefore the task of creating ICBMs came to the fore. In 1965, the team of the Moscow Research Institute-1 under the leadership of Alexander Nadiradze completed work on the Temp-S mobile operational-tactical complex using mixed fuel. It was a solid-fuel operational-tactical missile. Soon the team began work on a new top-secret complex, which was called “Temp -2c”. When developing an intercontinental missile, it was necessary to use completely new technical solutions, sharply different from those adopted during the development of the operational-tactical Temp-S. The fact is that an intercontinental missile with already proven design solutions, materials and fuels used would weigh at least 50 tons, which precluded its placement on a mobile launcher. To ensure an acceptable launch weight, it was necessary to reduce the relative mass of the structure by approximately one and a half times and increase the specific impulse of the propulsion systems by 15-20%, that is, to achieve an increase in perfection achieved, for example, during the transition from Katyusha engines to operational propulsion systems. tactical missiles.
When starting to create it, Nadiradze rejected tracked projects, although the previous experimental mobile systems were based on tank chassis. He rightly believed that the control system instruments simply could not withstand the tank shaking. Nadiradze chose the idea of creating a wheeled tractor.
The heavy rocket carrier could have been developed in the design bureau for the special production of wheeled tractors at the Minsk Automobile Plant. Nadiradze turned to chief designer Boris Shaposhnik, who agreed with his proposal. And the design bureau created a five-axle MAZ-547 rocket carrier, capable of delivering a three-stage rocket weighing 32 tons off-road to the launch position. But it was not possible to meet the calculated weight parameters: the weight of the ICBM increased to 40.5 tons. Shaposhnik created a new, more powerful tractor - MAZ-547A.
During these years, cooperation between Nadiradze and rocket fuel developer Boris Zhukov developed. Scientists from Lyubertsy NII-125, headed by B. Zhukov, developed ballistic fuel, charges and fiberglass casings for missiles designed by Nadiradze.
On March 14, 1971, the Temp-2S complex entered testing, during which 35 missile launches were carried out. The first launch of Temp-2S was excellent in all respects, incl. and in terms of accuracy. Tests at the Plesetsk test site lasted more than two and a half years and were completed in December 1974.
When creating the first domestic mobile ground complex with a solid-fuel guided ballistic missile, capable of launching from a patrol route with a minimum duration of pre-launch preparation with high accuracy in solving navigation problems, it was necessary to create a control system (CS) based on a digital computer of high reliability, accuracy and speed. To achieve high reliability - given the insufficient reliability of the elemental base of the on-board digital computer - the control system was implemented with “triplication” of channels, which, naturally, made its equipment heavier. To reduce weight, the devices were made in a non-hermetic design based on their placement in a sealed instrument compartment.
MAZ-547A - chassis for the SPU of the Temp-2S complex
Serial production began in 1974 at the Votkinsk plant in Udmurtia. The missile had three sustainer stages and a combat stage with a low-thrust propulsion system. The launch range was regulated by cutting off the thrust through the transverse cutting of the third stage engine housing. For the first stage, deployable lattice aerodynamic and gas rudders made of refractory tungsten were used during the initial phase of the flight. The design of the rocket uses high-strength fiberglass housings for propulsion systems. A so-called cold stage separation scheme was developed, in which subsequent stages were launched only after the previous ones had retreated to a safe distance. The entire period of operation of the rocket was in a sealed transport and launch container made of fiberglass with a thick layer of heat-insulating foam.
The multi-nozzle design of the engine did not allow achieving the required degree of expansion of the nozzles and, consequently, the required high performance of the engine and rocket. Therefore, in the early 1970s, a transition was made to monoblock single-nozzle engine designs (a nozzle unit with one central nozzle is simpler and more reliable than a multi-nozzle unit). The ancestor of such missiles was the Temp-2S ICBM.
One of the rare photographs compared with the launch system of the Temp-2S complex. Performance characteristics of the Temp-2S missile Maximum firing range - 10,500 km Maximum launch weight - 41.5 tons Ward weight - 1 t Missile length - 18.5 m Maximum diameter body -1.8 m
A cold (mortar) start was carried out directly from the container using a special powder pressure accumulator. The main engines were turned on at altitude, thanks to which the launcher remained operational.
On February 21, 1976, two Temp-2S missile regiments in the Plesetsk area began combat duty. The operation of the complexes took place in an atmosphere of top secrecy. Officers were prohibited from using the phrases “combat duty” and “command post.” It was believed that the missiles were in long-term storage. When the rocket carrier left the garage shelter, all soldiers nearby had to turn their backs to the rocket carrier and stand there until it disappeared. The rocket carriers departed during breaks between flights of American satellites over Plesetsk. There was good reason for this secrecy. According to the plan of the Soviet leadership, it was mobile missile systems that were supposed to become the weapons that would survive in the event of a sudden nuclear strike by the enemy. Simply put, these were the missiles we were going to use to take revenge on the enemy.
The number of regiments of the missile division stationed near Plesetsk was increased to seven. Each regiment was armed with six launchers. Mobile systems traveled thousands of kilometers of taiga during sea trials. The missile was equipped with a monoblock nuclear warhead (MC).
The removal of missiles began 10 years after taking up duty - in 1986. Based on the experience of creating this ICBM, the institute began developing a three-stage mobile strategic missile RS-12 M “Topol”...
To be continued.
The article was published in the September 2010 issue of the journal Science and Technology.
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Tags: Rocketry and astronautics ICBM intercontinental ballistic missile
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