ICBM launch in Vancouver. Strategic weapons of the future: launching ballistic missiles from aircraft Launching a ballistic missile
A few hours ago, Russia launched several intercontinental ballistic missiles.
This was reported in a report by the Russian Ministry of Defense, published on the morning of October 27. A minimum of details is provided.
The Strategic Nuclear Forces launched the Topol-M intercontinental ballistic missile (its mobile version) from the Plesetsk cosmodrome (800 km north of Moscow), reaching a target located at the Kura test site on the Kamchatka Peninsula. The launch involved two strategic nuclear submarines. The first, in service with the Pacific Fleet, launched a salvo of two ballistic missiles from the Sea of Okhotsk at targets located at the Chizha training ground in the Arkhangelsk region. The second strategic submarine belonging to the Northern Fleet launched a missile in the Barents Sea, hitting a target at the Kura training ground. Moscow has not provided details about the type of units involved or the weapons systems launched from the submarines. During the maneuvers, strategic bombers “Tupolev-160”, “Tupolev-85MS” and “Tupolev-22MZ” were also involved, taking off from the bases Ukrainka (30 km north of Belogorsk), Engels (Tu-160 command post 14 km from Saratov) and Shaikovka (17 km north of Kirov). The bombers launched cruise missiles (probably Kh-101/Kh-102) that hit targets located at the Kura, Pemboy (northeastern Komi) and Terekta training grounds in Kazakhstan. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, all missiles hit their targets.
The rearmament of the Russian nuclear triad will be completed by 2020, as ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin, with the start of operation of the Sarmat heavy intercontinental ballistic missile.
Topol RS-12M missile (SS-27 Sickle-B)
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Daily Star 10/03/2017 The three-stage Topol-M intercontinental ballistic missile was successfully tested at the Plesetsk cosmodrome, located in northwestern Russia. The solid-fuel inertial autonomous system missile can withstand any existing missile defense system, such as the American ABM, due to its ability to make sharp turns, release decoys and full protection against any type of EMP or laser attacks. The only opportunity to shoot down this missile is during the launch phase, and this is the task of interceptors located in Poland. With a range of 10 thousand kilometers, the Topol-M missile is capable of easily hitting any part of the United States. Probable circular deflection is estimated at 200 meters: the missile carries a single warhead with a maximum yield of 550 kilotons, but can easily be converted to carry up to a maximum of six Mirv/Marv warheads. Unlike its American counterpart, the Topol-M missile can be launched both from mobile installations and from silo launchers.Strategic submarines participating in the launch
It’s strange, but Moscow is not talking about the submarines that took part in the launch, although it is known that we are talking about nuclear strategic submarines, and we can narrow the circle of assumptions to the Delta and Borei classes. It is possible that the TK-208 Dmitry Donskoy boat, the last of the Typhoon class, was also used.
Delta IV submarines
At the moment, there are seven operational Delta IV submarines, project 667BDRM Dolphin. At this stage they represent the basis of the Russian deterrence system. The entire class has been converted to carry the latest version of the R-29RMU2 “Lainer” missiles, which entered service at the end of 2014. Unlike the Bulava missiles, tests of liquid-fueled nuclear missiles carried out by the K-84 Ekaterinburg and K-114 Tula were successful. The new weapon system originates from the R-29RMU Sineva missile, capable of transporting eight to ten Mirv/Marv warheads with varying combat effectiveness, their service life has been extended until 2030.
K-46, the third Delta IV class strategic submarine, was transferred from its base on the Kola Peninsula to the Zvezdochka Ship Repair Center in Severodvinsk. It is the only Delta IV-class boat that has been refitted to accommodate experimental Russian minisubs diving deep into icy Arctic waters. The central compartment, designed to hold 16 ballistic missiles, was modified to accommodate the new technology. BS-64 Podmoskovye was the first Russian submarine for underwater drones and Project 10830 Losharik. The frame was lengthened by 162.5 meters, the defensive resources were dismantled. Next year, Project 10830 Losharik will be transferred to K-139 Belgorod Project 09852. Officially designed as an evolution of the Oscar II class Project 949A, K-139 Belgorod will carry out scientific research as a platform for submarines without special equipment . K-139 was redesigned: the length of the new central compartment is 30 meters, which is why the size of the submarine was 184 meters. This is 30 meters more than the first Oscar class boats, and 11 meters more than the Typhoon class.
The last Typhoon
Borei class
According to the contracts, the Russian navy will receive eight Borei-class ballistic missiles: three 955 and five 955-A, or Borei II. The 955 will be armed with 16 Bulava missiles, the 955-A Borei II class will be armed with 20. Designed with a hydrodynamic frame designed to reduce broadband noise, the Borei-class submarines are the first in the Russian fleet to use water jet propulsion. The length of Borei submarines is 170 meters, diameter is 13 meters, maximum speed is 46 km/h, provided by the OK-650 nuclear reactor. The operating depth is estimated at 380 meters (tests were carried out at a maximum depth of 450 meters). The three-stage Bulava missile, NATO codification SS-N-30 Mace, is the naval version of Russia's most advanced ballistic missile, the SS-27 Topol-M. The launch can be done even when the boat is in motion. Its length is 12.1 meters, diameter - 2.1 meters, weight - 36.8 tons: it is capable of hitting targets at a distance of up to 8 thousand kilometers and is designed specifically to equip Borei-class nuclear submarines. Modifications to the Typhoon class boats were considered too expensive. After numerous problems with development, in January 2013, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced the start of operation of Bulava missiles. Today, the first line of fire should be Delta IV class submarines. Borey class boats are capable of carrying 148 R-30 Bulava missiles with 1,480 warheads of 100-150 kilotons each.
Borealis-class timeline
The last Borei-class nuclear-powered submarine, the Prince Pozharsky, entered production on December 23 last year at the Sevmash plant in Severodvinsk. The first three Borei Project 955 are K-535 Yuri Dolgoruky, K-550 Alexander Nevsky and K-551 Vladimir Monomakh. K-535 joined the North Sea Fleet in January 2013, followed by Nevsky in December of the same year, which began operating in the Pacific Fleet. The vessel K-551 "Vladimir Monomakh" entered service in 2014 as part of the Pacific Fleet. K-535 "Yuri Dolgoruky" was assigned to the forces patrolling the Arctic. The fourth Borei, Prince Vladimir, the first in Project 955/A, has been under construction since July 2012 at the Sevmash workshop in northern Russia. Construction of the fifth nuclear submarine “Prince Oleg” began in July 2014. Work on the creation of the sixth "Borey" "Generalissimo Suvorov" began in December 2015. A few weeks later, production of the seventh Borey, christened Emperor Alexander III, began in the Severodvinsk workshop. The workshop for the creation of the last Borey class submarine and the fifth in series A, the Prince Pozharsky, was launched on December 23 last year.
At the moment, nine Russian strategic submarines are in active operation. The 2020 strategic fleet will consist of 13 submarines: seven Boreys equipped with Bulava missiles, and six Delta IV submarines with a strategic patrol to cover vulnerable targets in the Barents and Okhotsk Seas. If the Russians launched from these areas, they could hit anywhere in the continental United States. One Borei-class submarine will be converted for covert operations.
InoSMI materials contain assessments exclusively of foreign media and do not reflect the position of the InoSMI editorial staff.
Ecuadorian authorities have denied Julian Assange asylum at the London embassy. The founder of WikiLeaks was detained by British police, and this has already been called the biggest betrayal in the history of Ecuador. Why are they taking revenge on Assange and what awaits him?
Australian programmer and journalist Julian Assange became widely known after the website WikiLeaks, which he founded, published secret documents from the US State Department in 2010, as well as materials related to military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
But it was quite difficult to find out who the police were leading out of the building, supporting him by the arms. Assange had grown a beard and looked nothing like the energetic man he had previously appeared in photographs.
According to Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno, Assange was denied asylum due to his repeated violations of international conventions.
He is expected to remain in custody at a central London police station until he appears at Westminster Magistrates' Court.
Why is the President of Ecuador accused of treason?
Former Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa called the current government's decision the biggest betrayal in the country's history. “What he (Moreno - editor’s note) did is a crime that humanity will never forget,” Correa said.
London, on the contrary, thanked Moreno. The British Foreign Office believes that justice has triumphed. The representative of the Russian diplomatic department, Maria Zakharova, has a different opinion. “The hand of “democracy” is squeezing the throat of freedom,” she noted. The Kremlin expressed hope that the rights of the arrested person will be respected.
Ecuador sheltered Assange because the former president had left-of-center views, criticized U.S. policies and welcomed WikiLeaks' release of secret documents about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Even before the Internet activist needed asylum, he managed to personally meet Correa: he interviewed him for the Russia Today channel.
However, in 2017, the government in Ecuador changed, and the country set a course for rapprochement with the United States. The new president called Assange “a stone in his shoe” and immediately made it clear that his stay on the embassy premises would not be prolonged.
According to Correa, the moment of truth came at the end of June last year, when US Vice President Michael Pence arrived in Ecuador for a visit. Then everything was decided. “You have no doubt: Lenin is simply a hypocrite. He has already agreed with the Americans on the fate of Assange. And now he is trying to make us swallow the pill, saying that Ecuador is supposedly continuing the dialogue,” Correa said in an interview with the Russia Today channel.
How Assange made new enemies
The day before his arrest, WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Kristin Hrafnsson said that Assange was under total surveillance. “WikiLeaks uncovered a large-scale espionage operation against Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian embassy,” he noted. According to him, cameras and voice recorders were placed around Assange, and the information received was transferred to the Donald Trump administration.
Hrafnsson clarified that Assange was going to be expelled from the embassy a week earlier. This did not happen only because WikiLeaks released this information. A high-ranking source told the portal about the plans of the Ecuadorian authorities, but the head of the Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry, Jose Valencia, denied the rumors.
Assange's expulsion was preceded by the corruption scandal surrounding Moreno. In February, WikiLeaks published a package of INA Papers, which traced the operations of the offshore company INA Investment, founded by the brother of the Ecuadorian leader. Quito said it was a conspiracy between Assange and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and former Ecuadorian leader Rafael Correa to overthrow Moreno.
In early April, Moreno complained about Assange's behavior at Ecuador's London mission. “We must protect the life of Mr. Assange, but he has already crossed all boundaries in terms of violating the agreement that we came to with him,” the president said. “This does not mean that he cannot speak freely, but he cannot lie and hack.” ". At the same time, back in February last year it became known that Assange at the embassy was deprived of the opportunity to interact with the outside world, in particular, his Internet access was cut off.
Why Sweden stopped its prosecution of Assange
At the end of last year, Western media, citing sources, reported that Assange would be charged in the United States. This was never officially confirmed, but it was because of Washington’s position that Assange had to take refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy six years ago.
In May 2017, Sweden stopped investigating two rape cases in which the portal’s founder was accused. Assange demanded compensation from the country's government for legal costs in the amount of 900 thousand euros.
Earlier, in 2015, Swedish prosecutors also dropped three charges against him due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.
Where did the investigation into the rape case lead?
Assange arrived in Sweden in the summer of 2010, hoping to receive protection from American authorities. But he was investigated for rape. In November 2010, a warrant was issued for his arrest in Stockholm, and Assange was put on the international wanted list. He was detained in London, but was soon released on bail of 240 thousand pounds.
In February 2011, a British court decided to extradite Assange to Sweden, after which a number of successful appeals followed for the WikiLeaks founder.
British authorities placed him under house arrest before deciding whether to extradite him to Sweden. Breaking his promise to the authorities, Assange asked for asylum at the Ecuadorian embassy, which was granted to him. Since then, the UK has had its own claims against the WikiLeaks founder.
What awaits Assange now?
The man was re-arrested on a US extradition request for publishing classified documents, police said. At the same time, Deputy Head of the British Foreign Ministry Alan Duncan said that Assange would not be sent to the United States if he faced the death penalty there.
In the UK, Assange is likely to appear in court on the afternoon of April 11. This is stated on the WikiLeaks Twitter page. British authorities are likely to seek a maximum sentence of 12 months, the man's mother said, citing his lawyer.
At the same time, Swedish prosecutors are considering reopening the rape investigation. Attorney Elizabeth Massey Fritz, who represented the victim, will seek this.
The Russian Ministry of Defense conducted training on managing the Strategic Nuclear Forces (SNF) of Russia. The exercise was attended by the Strategic Missile Forces (Strategic Missile Forces), the Navy and long-range aviation of the Aerospace Forces.
Practical actions were performed by the crews of the Strategic Missile Forces control centers, the crews of nuclear submarine cruisers of the Northern and Pacific fleets, as well as pilots of long-range bombers Tu-160, Tu-95MS and Tu-22M3. Thus, all components of the nuclear triad were involved: land, sea and air.
- Tu-160 aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces
- Russian Ministry of Defense
From the Plesetsk cosmodrome, the combat crew of the Strategic Missile Forces launched the Topol intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) at a target at the Kura training ground (Kamchatka).
From the Sea of Okhotsk, a nuclear-powered submarine of the Pacific Fleet fired two ICBMs at the Chizha test site (Arkhangelsk region), and a Northern Fleet submarine from the Barents Sea fired a missile at the Kura test site. Tu-160, Tu-95MS and Tu-22M3 launched cruise missiles at targets at the Pemboy (Komi Republic), Kura and Terekta (Kazakhstan) test sites.
“Based on the results of the training, the tasks were completed in full. All training targets were successfully hit,” the Russian Ministry of Defense said in a statement.
As stated by the press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov, the head of state Vladimir Putin took part in the training on managing strategic nuclear forces. The Supreme Commander-in-Chief launched four ballistic missiles.
Nuclear shield
Russia has had a full nuclear triad since the 1960s. The land component consists of silo-based and mobile-based missile systems, the sea component includes nuclear-powered strategic submarines, and the air component includes long-range bombers.
Moscow pays primary attention to improving strategic nuclear forces as a weapon of deterrence against the United States and NATO. The most powerful component of the triad is the land component. The Strategic Missile Forces are armed with more than 60% of the warheads and delivery vehicles available in the nuclear arsenal of the Russian Federation.
- Strategic missile system "Yars"
- RIA Novosti
- Alexander Kryazhev
Modernization of the Strategic Missile Forces includes putting on combat duty the RS-24 Yars mobile complexes (to replace the Topol-M), Sarmat silo launchers (to replace the Voevoda) and the development of the Barguzin combat railway complex (BZHRK) "
Russian submarine cruisers are being rearmed with Sineva and Bulava ICBMs. And in 2020-2021, Russian long-range aviation should receive hypersonic missiles.
The strengthening of the Russian nuclear shield occurs against the backdrop of the expansion of the US global missile defense system and the modernization of American strategic nuclear forces, for which $1 trillion will be spent.
Not a symbolic role
Professor of the Academy of Military Sciences Vadim Kozyulin believes that the training of the nuclear triad, which was carried out by the Russian Ministry of Defense, is of great importance for the development of coherence of the various components. According to him, Russia has practiced delivering a “strategic nuclear strike.”
“This is definitely not a routine exercise. We have a huge country. Of course, it is necessary to check the interaction between the fleets, the Strategic Missile Forces and aviation. As a rule, in such training, the efficiency of completing tasks, the quality of communication systems, the accuracy of the destruction are checked, and the advantages and disadvantages of the equipment are identified,” Kozyulin said in an interview with RT.
The expert called the launches a “serious result” that gives impetus to improving the strategic nuclear forces control system. As Kozyulin noted, nuclear triad exercises with the participation of the president instill confidence that Russia is capable of repelling any aggression.
- Vladimir Putin during joint strategic exercises
- RIA Novosti
- Mikhail Klimentyev
“The role of the president was not symbolic. In his hands is a nuclear briefcase. It is he who will make the decision if Russia is in mortal danger. Having launched missiles, the head of state felt a burden of responsibility,” Kozyulin said.
Military expert Dmitry Litovkin believes that the training of Russian strategic nuclear forces most likely became the “logical conclusion” of the Zapad-2017 strategic exercises. The analyst noted that previous maneuvers with Belarus also ended with launches of ballistic and cruise missiles.
“The strategic nature of the exercises suggests that the maneuvers should involve not only conventional weapons, but also nuclear weapons. In September we observed the practical phase of the use of ground forces, aviation, and navy. Now the strategic forces have completed their tasks,” Litovkin said in a commentary to RT.
As the analyst explained, different types and branches of the Russian Armed Forces operate in a “single strategic plan.” Therefore, he urged not to look for political motives in Vladimir Putin’s participation in strategic nuclear forces training.
“The President is the Supreme Commander. Only he can decide on the combat use of strategic forces. “As part of the last exercise, he fulfilled his function,” Litovkin summed up.
On August 21, 1957, exactly 60 years ago, the world's first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the R-7, was successfully launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. This Soviet missile became the first intercontinental ballistic missile to be successfully tested and deliver a warhead to intercontinental range. The R-7, which was also called the “seven” (GRAU index - 8K71), was a two-stage ICBM with a detachable warhead weighing 3 tons and a flight range of 8 thousand kilometers.
Subsequently, from January 20, 1960 to the end of 1968, a modification of this missile under the designation R-7A (GRAU index - 8K74) with a flight range increased to 9.5 thousand kilometers was in service with the USSR Strategic Missile Forces. In NATO countries, this missile became known as the SS-6 Sapwood. This Soviet rocket became not only formidable, but also a serious milestone in the domestic cosmonautics, becoming the basis for the creation of launch vehicles designed to launch spacecraft and ships, including manned ones, into space. The contribution of this rocket to space exploration is enormous: many artificial Earth satellites were launched into space on the R-7 family of launch vehicles, starting with the very first ones, and the first man flew into space.
creation of the R-7 rocket
The history of the creation of the R-7 ICBM began long before its first launch took place - in the late 1940s and early 1950s. During this period, based on the results of the development of single-stage ballistic missiles R-1, R-2, R-3 and R-5, which were led by the outstanding Soviet designer Sergei Pavlovich Korolev, it became clear that in the future, in order to reach the territory of a potential enemy, a significantly more powerful component would be required a multi-stage rocket, the idea of creating which was previously voiced by the famous Russian astronautics theorist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky.
Back in 1947, Mikhail Tikhonravov organized a separate group at the Research Institute of Artillery Sciences, which began to carry out systematic research into the possibility of developing composite (multistage) ballistic missiles. Having studied the results obtained by this group, Korolev decided to carry out a preliminary design of a powerful multi-stage rocket. Preliminary research on the development of ICBMs began in 1950: On December 4, 1950, by a Decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, a comprehensive exploratory research project was launched on the topic “Study of the prospects for creating RDDs of various types with a flight range of 5-10 thousand kilometers and a warhead weight from 1 to 10 tons.” . And on May 20, 1954, another government decree was issued, which officially set OKB-1 the task of developing a ballistic missile that could carry a thermonuclear charge to an intercontinental range.
New powerful engines for the R-7 rocket were created in parallel at OKB-456, the work was led by Valentin Glushko. The control system for the rocket was designed by Nikolai Pilyugin and Boris Petrov, the launch complex was designed by Vladimir Barmin. A number of other organizations were also involved in the work. At the same time, the country raised the question of building a new test site intended for testing intercontinental ballistic missiles. In February 1955, another decree of the USSR Government was issued on the beginning of the construction of the training ground, which was given the name 5th Research and Testing Range of the Ministry of Defense (NIIP-5). It was decided to build the test site in the area of the Baikonur village and the Tyura-Tam junction (Kazakhstan); it later went down in history and is known to this day as Baikonur. The cosmodrome was built as a top secret facility; the launch complex for the new R-7 rockets was ready in April 1957.
The design of the R-7 rocket was completed in July 1954, and already on November 20 of the same year, the construction of the rocket was officially approved by the USSR Council of Ministers. By early 1957, the first Soviet intercontinental ballistic missile was ready for testing. Beginning in mid-May 1957, the first series of tests of the new rocket was carried out, which demonstrated the presence of serious flaws in its design. On May 15, 1957, the first launch of the R-7 ICBM was carried out. According to visual observations, the rocket's flight proceeded normally, but then changes in the flame of escaping gases from the engines became noticeable in the tail section. Subsequently, after processing the telemetry, it was determined that a fire had broken out in one of the side blocks. After 98 seconds of controlled flight, due to loss of thrust, this block separated, followed by a command to turn off the rocket engines. The cause of the accident was identified as a leak in the fuel line.
The next launch, which was scheduled for June 11, 1957, did not take place due to a malfunction of the central block engines. Several attempts to start the rocket engines did not lead to anything, after which the automation issued an emergency shutdown command. The test management decided to drain the fuel and remove the R-7 ICBM from the launch position. On July 12, 1957, the R-7 rocket was able to take off, but at 33 seconds of flight, stability was lost and the rocket began to deviate from the specified flight path. This time, the cause of the accident was identified as a short circuit on the housing of the control signal circuits of the integrating device along the rotation and pitch channel.
Only the fourth launch of the new rocket, which took place on August 21, 1957, was considered successful; for the first time the rocket was able to reach the target area. The rocket launched from Baikonur, completed the active part of the trajectory, after which the head of the rocket hit a given square of the Kamchatka Peninsula (Kura missile range). But even in this fourth launch, not everything was smooth. The main drawback of the launch was the destruction of the rocket's head section in dense layers of the atmosphere on the downward section of its trajectory. Telemetric communication with the rocket was lost 15-20 seconds before the estimated time of reaching the earth's surface. The analysis of the fallen structural elements of the head part of the R-7 rocket made it possible to establish that the destruction began from the tip of the head part, and also at the same time to clarify the amount of loss of its heat-protective coating. The information received made it possible to finalize the documentation for the head of the rocket, clarify strength and design calculations, layout, and also produce a new rocket in the shortest possible time for the next launch. Moreover, already on August 27, 1957, the Soviet press published information about the successful testing of an ultra-long-range multistage rocket in the Soviet Union.
The positive results of the flight of the first Soviet ICBM R-7 on the active part of the trajectory made it possible to use this rocket to launch the first artificial Earth satellites in the history of mankind on October 4 and November 3 of the same year. Initially created as a combat rocket, the R-7 had the necessary energy capabilities, which made it possible to launch a significant payload into space (into low-Earth orbit), which was clearly demonstrated by the launch of the first Soviet satellites.
Based on the results of 6 test launches of the R-7 ICBM, its warhead was significantly modified (in fact, replaced with a new one), the warhead separation system was modified, and slot antennas of the telemetry system were used. On March 29, 1958, the first launch took place, which was completely successful (the head of the rocket reached the target without destruction). At the same time, during 1958 and 1959, flight tests of the rocket continued, based on the results of which more and more new improvements were made to its design. As a result, by resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR and the Central Committee of the CPSU No. 192-20 of January 20, 1960, the R-7 missile was officially adopted for service.
R-7 rocket design
The R-7 intercontinental ballistic missile, created at OKB-1 under the leadership of chief designer Sergei Pavlovich Korolev (chief designer Sergei Sergeevich Kryukov), was built according to the so-called “package” scheme. The first stage of the rocket consisted of 4 side blocks, each of which had a length of 19 meters and a maximum diameter of 3 meters. The side blocks were located symmetrically around the central block (the second stage of the rocket) and connected to it by the lower and upper belts of power connections. The design of the rocket blocks was the same. Each of them consisted of a support cone, a power ring, fuel tanks, a tail compartment, and a propulsion system. All blocks were equipped with an RD-107 liquid-propellant rocket engine with a pumping system for supplying fuel components. This engine was built according to an open design and included 6 combustion chambers. In this case, two cameras were used as steering cameras. The RD-107 liquid-propellant rocket engine developed a thrust of 82 tons at the earth's surface.
The second stage of the rocket (central block) included an instrument compartment, a tank for fuel and oxidizer, a power ring, a tail section, a propulsion engine and 4 steering units. The second stage contained a liquid propellant rocket engine-108, which was similar in design to the RD-107, but differed in a large number of steering chambers. This engine developed a thrust of 75 tons at the ground. It turned on simultaneously with the first stage engines (even at the moment of launch) and worked accordingly longer than the first stage liquid rocket engine. The launch of all available engines of the first and second stages directly at the launch was carried out for the reason that at that time the creators of the rocket did not have confidence in the possibility of reliable ignition of the second stage engines at high altitude. American designers who were working on their Atlas ICBM then faced a similar problem.
Liquid rocket engine RD-107 at the Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics in Moscow
All engines of the first Soviet ICBM R-7 used two-component fuel: fuel - T-1 kerosene, oxidizer - liquid oxygen. To drive the turbopump units of rocket engines, hot gas was used, formed in a gas generator during the catalytic decomposition of hydrogen peroxide, and compressed nitrogen was used to pressurize the tanks. To ensure the specified flight range of the rocket, an automatic system for regulating engine operating modes was placed on it, as well as a system for synchronous tank emptying (SEB), which made it possible to reduce the guaranteed fuel supply. The design and layout of the R-7 rocket ensured that all its engines were started at the moment of launch using special pyroignition devices; they were placed in each of the 32 combustion chambers. The propulsion rocket engines of this rocket stood out for their time with very high energy and mass characteristics, and also stood out for their high degree of reliability.
The control system of the R-7 intercontinental ballistic missile was combined. The autonomous subsystem was responsible for ensuring angular stabilization and stabilization of the center of mass while the rocket was in the active part of the trajectory. And the radio engineering subsystem was responsible for correcting the lateral movement of the center of mass at the final stage of the active part of the trajectory and issuing a command to turn off the engines. The executive bodies of the rocket control system were the air rudders and the rotating chambers of the steering engines.
The importance of the R-7 rocket in space exploration
The R-7, which many simply called the “seven,” became the progenitor of a whole family of Soviet and Russian-made launch vehicles. They were created on the basis of the R-7 ICBM during a deep and multi-stage modernization process. From 1958 to the present, all missiles of the R-7 family are produced by TsSKB-Progress (Samara).
Launch vehicles based on R-7
The success and, as a consequence, the high reliability of the rocket design, coupled with a power sufficiently large for an ICBM, made it possible to use it as a launch vehicle. Already during the operation of the R-7 in this capacity, some shortcomings were identified; a process of its gradual modernization took place to increase the mass of the payload put into orbit, reliability, and also expand the range of tasks solved by the rocket. Launch vehicles of this family truly opened up the space age to all humanity; with their help, among other things, the following were achieved:
Launching the first artificial satellite in history into earth orbit;
- launching into earth orbit the first satellite with a living creature on board (the astronaut dog Laika);
- launching the first spacecraft with a person on board into earth orbit (flight of Yuri Gagarin).
The reliability of the design of the R-7 rocket created by Korolev made it possible to develop on its basis a whole family of launch vehicles: Vostok, Voskhod, Molniya, Soyuz, Soyuz-2 and their various modifications. At the same time, the newest of them are actively used today. The R-7 family of missiles have become the most popular in history, the number of their launches is already about 2000, and they are also recognized as one of the most reliable in the world. To date, all manned launches of the Soviet Union and Russia have been carried out using launch vehicles of this family. Currently, Roscosmos and the Space Forces are actively operating the Soyuz-FG and Soyuz-2 rockets of this family.
Duplicate copy of Gagarin's Vostok-1. Exhibited on the territory of the Museum of Cosmonautics in Kaluga
Sources of information:
https://ria.ru/spravka/20120821/727374310.html
http://www.soyuz.by/news/expert/34128.html
http://rbase.new-factoria.ru/missile/wobb/r-7/r-7.shtml
Open source materials
