Combat railway missile system "Barguzin". Special Ghost Train

MOSCOW. August 28 - RIA Novosti, Andrey Kots. Thirty years ago, the Soviet Union completed a program of testing a unique strategic weapon - the combat railway missile system (BZHRK) RT-23 UTTKh "Molodets", known in the West under the name "Scalpel". This train, capable of bringing down three intercontinental ballistic missiles on a potential enemy, "rewarded" Western intelligence leaders with an unrelenting headache. Considering the huge length of the railways of the USSR and the number of trains plying on them, it was impossible to find among them a launcher disguised as an ordinary car.

By the time of the collapse of the USSR, our country had three missile divisions - 12 trains with 36 launchers. However, in 1993, Russia agreed to sign the START-II Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which provided for the disposal of all RT-23 missiles. In the period from 2003 to 2007, all "Molodtsy" were disposed of, except for two left as museum exhibits. Then it seemed that there was no need for them. The BZHRK was again remembered in the current decade, when relations between Russia and the West began to deteriorate sharply. In December 2013, information appeared in the press about the revival of these complexes in Russia on a new technological basis. And in July 2017, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin announced that Russia was ready to create new BZHRK under the Barguzin project.

Composition with "surprise"

The BZHRK is a strategic rail-based mobile missile system, outwardly indistinguishable from an ordinary freight train. Its cars are equipped with fully equipped ICBMs, command posts, technological and technical systems, means of communication and deployed personnel - missile officers. In case of a threat nuclear war BZHRK go to patrol routes and merge with the flow of other trains. If, however, an order comes from "above" combat use, the train stops and prepares to launch an attack. The shutters on the roofs of three cars move apart, and the mechanisms hidden inside bring the missile launch containers to a vertical position. Another couple of minutes - and in the direction of the aggressor, three missiles fly out with a mortar launch, in total carrying 30 individually targeted warheads with a capacity of 550 kilotons each.

In the USSR, the design bureau Yuzhnoye was engaged in the development of the BZHRK. The main designers were academicians Vladimir and Alexei Utkin. The task before the brothers was not trivial: to "shove" a rocket with a launcher with a total weight of more than 150 tons into an ordinary railway car. At the same time, the BZHRK was supposed to accelerate on rails up to 120 kilometers per hour. This issue was resolved by creating reinforced wagon bogies and special unloading devices for the complex, which redistributed part of the weight to neighboring wagons. BZHRK got the opportunity to move along the tracks without the risk of "breaking" them. Ultimately, "Molodets" looked like an ordinary train of refrigerated, mail-luggage and passenger cars. Fourteen wagons had eight wheelsets, and three had four. Thanks to all the necessary reserves, the BZHRK could work offline for up to 28 days.

Flight tests of the missiles of the complex were carried out in 1985-1987 at the Plesetsk cosmodrome, in total 32 launches and 18 exits of the BZHRK were carried out railways countries. As part of trial operation, they covered more than 400 thousand kilometers in all climatic zones countries - from tundra to deserts. All this time, the existence of the complexes remained a mystery to Western intelligence. BZHRK were disguised to the conscience. The only unmasking factor was the unusual configuration of the train - it was pulled by three diesel locomotives at once. Nevertheless, there were cases when even experienced railroad workers could not understand at close range what was “wrong” with this train.
Officially adopted "Molodets" in 1989. By that time, five missile regiments had already been deployed - four in the Kostroma region and one in the Perm region.

In the 2000s, the BZHRK, in accordance with international agreements, began to be disposed of. The command of the Strategic Missile Forces decided to rely on mobile ground-based missile systems (PGRK) "Topol-M" as the basis of the mobile component of the forces nuclear deterrence. However, over time it became clear that the PGRK, although difficult to track, is still easier than the BZHRK, which can "get lost in the crowd." And in 2012, the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering (MIT) began work on a new strategic train.

Guaranteed Answer

There is little information about the promising BZHRK in open sources, but it is known that one train will already carry six intercontinental ballistic missiles - most likely, three-stage solid-propellant RS-24 Yars, also developed by MIT specialists. One such ICBM is capable of throwing three to six warheads with a capacity of about 300 kilotons each at a distance of 12,000 kilometers. Smaller than the RT-23 UTTKh, however, the Yars weighs half as much, which simplifies its installation and transportation in a standard car. In addition, only one locomotive will be used for traction, which makes the operation of the complex easier and better masks it. It is assumed that the new BZHRK will be able to move throughout the country, overcoming a thousand kilometers a day.

© Ministry of Defense of the Russian FederationLoading ballistic missiles RS-24 "Yars" in the launcher. Personnel of the Ministry of Defense

© Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

In November 2016, at the Plesetsk cosmodrome, successful throw tests of a rocket modification specifically for the BZHRK took place. It is known that one "Barguzin" will be equated to a missile regiment, and the missile division of the Strategic Missile Forces should include five missile regiments - 30 launchers. Most likely, work on the BZHRK will receive funding under the State Armaments Program for 2018-2025 and may be put on combat duty as early as 2020-2021.

“In the context of the US deployment of new precision weapons, including on the territory of America, the presence of the BZHRK will become a trump card,” RIA Novosti said. Chief Editor magazine "National Defense" Igor Korotchenko. “These complexes create a factor of uncertainty. BZHRK, along with mobile PGRKs, is a response to the American concept of a global disarming strike with non-nuclear weapons, mainly cruise missiles. This doctrine implies the destruction of the military-political leadership of the country, command and control centers, mine launchers with one powerful blow. But if the enemy does not have the exact coordinates of all the launchers, this concept no longer works."

Moreover, even having completely destroyed our "nuclear triad" with massive missile attack, a potential adversary will not be able to deprive the Strategic Missile Forces of the possibility of delivering a retaliatory strike. Many kilometers of railway tracks in Russia pass through rocky tunnels that can be used as shelter for the BZHRK. And there is no guarantee that when the explosions die down, one single ghost train will not shoot the entire ammunition load at the aggressor from somewhere Ural mountains.

© Photo: provided by the press service of the Strategic Missile Forces

© Photo: provided by the press service of the Strategic Missile Forces

At one time, the creation of a military railway missile system (BZHRK) 15P961 "Molodets" with a solid-propellant three-stage intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) RT-23UTTH (according to NATO classification - SS-24 Scalel Mod 3) with a multiple warhead with 10 individually targetable warheads became a landmark event in the domestic strategic nuclear forces and made it possible to significantly increase the combat potential of the Strategic Missile Forces (RVSN). But since then the situation has changed dramatically.

INVISIBLE "GOOD MAN"

The development of a rail-based missile system based on the RT-23UTTKh ICBM was assigned in accordance with the Decree of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR of August 9, 1983. Moreover, at the same time, the creation of stationary (mine) and mobile ground-based complexes on the basis of this missile was also set. The latter was never created, but the presence of a silo-based option subsequently played a cruel joke on the BZHRK: by and large, its liquidation took place not because it was necessary to destroy the rocket train itself, but because it was necessary to eliminate the rocket standing on it.

The Dnepropetrovsk Design Bureau (KB) Yuzhnoye was appointed the lead developer of the BZHRK, and the Utkin brothers became its chief designers: Vladimir Fedorovich from the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau was responsible for the creation of the rocket, and Alexei Fedorovich, who worked at the Leningrad Design Bureau of Special Machine Building (KBSM), was responsible for the design of the launch complex and carriages for the rocket train.

In November 1982, a draft design of the RT-23UTTKh and BZHRK missiles with improved railway launchers was developed. The complex provided the ability to carry out rocket firing from any point of the route, including from electrified railways, for which it included a high-precision navigation system, and its launchers were equipped with special devices for shorting and tapping the contact network. At the same time, as indicated in the domestic literature on the history of the BZHRK, Alexei Utkin managed to find unique solution"Problems of transferring large mass loads to the railway track during the operation of BZHRK complexes".

The combat railway missile system "Molodets" was put into service on November 28, 1989, and the first complex began to carry out combat duty even earlier - on October 20, 1987. The production of intercontinental ballistic missiles of the RT-23UTTKh type was carried out at the Pavlograd Mechanical Plant (PO Yuzhmash). In the period 1987-1991, 12 complexes were built, and the number of missiles fired was about 100.

Rocket trains were deployed in three regions of the country, and, interestingly, due to the huge mass of wagons - launchers of special trains - within a radius of 1500 km from the places where the latter were based, it was necessary to strengthen the embankments of the railway bed with denser gravel, lay heavier rails, replace wooden sleepers for concrete, etc.

It can be said that the creation of the BZHRK to a certain extent positively influenced the development of the country's railway network. However, the cost of creating a missile system and ensuring its operation was simply enormous. But the situation at the time cold war- she demanded it.

In light of the warming relations between the USSR and the West, starting from 1991, rocket trains began to carry out combat duty at points of permanent deployment - patrolling took place on a strictly limited route, without leaving the country's railway network. Then, according to the START-2 treaty, the country agreed to eliminate all RT-23UTTKh missiles. Which is what was done. The trains were disposed of in the period 2003-2007 (the last BZHRK was removed from combat duty in 2005).

LIVING IDEA

Rocket trains are not a new topic. And the pioneers here, as in a number of other classes of weapons, were the American military. For the first time, they made an attempt to get a military railway complex at their disposal back in the 1960s, during the implementation of an ambitious program to create a new solid-propellant Minuteman ICBM.

In the summer of 1960, as part of a theoretical study this issue The US Department of Defense conducted Operation Big Star, during which prototypes of future rocket trains were secretly moved along America's railroads. The experience was considered successful, and the following year they prepared a project, as well as a prototype of the American-style BZHRK with five ICBMs. It was planned to put the first such train on duty as early as 1962, and the entire Air Force intended to launch 30 trains with 150 missiles across the country. But in the summer of 1961, the project was closed due to its high cost - mine "minutemen" turned out to be cheaper, simpler, and more reliable (see the article "Well done" in American style - an unsuccessful debut "in this issue of HBO).

In 1986, the idea of ​​a rocket train again took hold of the Pentagon, but already as part of the creation of a new heavy ICBM "Pekekeeper", also known as the MX. The train, called the Peacekeeper Rail Garrison ("Railway Garrison with Pikeper missiles"), was supposed to carry two missiles, each with a multiple warhead with 10 individually targetable warheads. It was planned since 1992 to put 25 such trains on combat duty. The prototype was tested in 1990, but a year later the main enemy was gone - Soviet Union, and therefore, in order to receive "peacetime dividends", the United States put the program under the knife (it was possible to save $ 2.16 billion on the purchase of the first seven trains in this way).

But the idea in America, as well as in Russia, turned out to be surprisingly tenacious. Thus, within the framework of the "Analysis of alternatives" on the issue further development ground grouping of national strategic nuclear forces, completed in 2014, American experts considered, among other things, the so-called "mobile option", which included the development of a new ICBM as part of a mobile strategic ground- or rail-based missile system. Moreover, a "tunnel option" was also considered - the creation of a strategic missile system based underground in specially constructed tunnels and moving through them. However, the cost of creating such complexes was eventually recognized as too expensive even for the huge military budget of the United States.

NEW GHOST TRAIN

The Russian military-political leadership also did not remain indifferent to the idea of ​​a rocket train. Discussing the need to create a replacement for the disposed of and sent to museums "Molodets" began almost from the day the last BZHRK was removed from combat duty.

The development of a new complex, called "Barguzin", was launched in Russia in 2012, although back in June 2010 a patent was issued by the Federal State Unitary Enterprise Central Design Bureau "Titan" for an invention designated as "Launcher for transporting and launching a rocket from a transport and launch container located in a railway car or on a platform. The lead executor of the new BZHRK was the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering - the creator of Topol, Yars and Bulava.

In December 2015, the commander of the Strategic Missile Forces, Colonel General Sergei Karakaev, said that "the preliminary design has now been completed, and working design documentation for the units and systems of the complex is being developed." “Of course, when reviving the BZHRK, all the latest developments in the field of combat missiles will be taken into account,” Sergey Karakaev emphasized. - The Barguzin complex will significantly exceed its predecessor in terms of accuracy, missile range and other characteristics, which will allow long years, at least until 2040, this complex will be in the combat composition of the Strategic Missile Forces.

“Thus, in the Strategic Missile Forces a grouping based on three types of missile systems will be recreated: mine, mobile soil and railway, which in the Soviet years proved its high efficiency,” he was quoted then Commander of the Strategic Missile Forces Interfax agency.

In November of the following year, 2016, the first ICBM throw tests for a promising missile train were successfully completed. “The first throw tests took place at the Plesetsk cosmodrome two weeks ago. They were recognized as fully successful, which paves the way for the start of flight design tests, ”Interfax quoted the interlocutor as saying. Representatives of the Ministry of Defense and the military-industrial complex of the Russian Federation were very optimistic, they reported that a report was planned for 2017 to Russian President Vladimir Putin on the prospects for deploying the Barguzin complex and the start of flight design tests of the missile intended for it.

And suddenly - unexpected that "the topic is closed" at least in the short term. What is even more remarkable: if this decision is officially confirmed, this will be the first case of stopping - temporarily or permanently - work in the field of strategic nuclear weapons, which, we recall, are considered by the Russian military-political leadership to be the main guarantor of the country's security against the aggression of any adversary, in connection with than resources are allocated for their development in a priority order.

So what's the deal? Is it just a banal lack of funds in the current difficult economic situation, or has the very approach to the development of Russia's strategic nuclear forces changed? To answer this question, it is necessary to consider the main features of the BZHRK.

THE SITUATION HAS CHANGED

The main goal of creating the BZHRK "Molodets" was the desire of the Soviet military-political leadership to increase the power and effectiveness of the retaliatory / retaliatory missile strike grouping in the face of a tough confrontation with the countries - members of the NATO military-political bloc, and primarily the United States. It became possible to solve this problem due to the high secrecy of the action of the BZHRK, which was ensured by the following circumstances:

- the actual closeness of the country to foreigners, which significantly limited the ability to organize constant monitoring of areas of possible deployment and patrolling of missile trains (and Soviet citizens were also significantly limited in visiting a number of regions and cities of the country);

- the lack of opportunities for the armed forces and special services of a potential enemy to conduct aerial (aviation) reconnaissance of the territory of interest to them in the depths of the Soviet Union, which was due to the high efficiency of the air defense system created by that time;

– significant restrictions on the conduct of round-the-clock space intelligence objects on the territory of the USSR, which, in turn, was due to the poor development of radar means of monitoring earth's surface, placed on board spacecraft (satellites) of the appropriate purpose and the only ones capable of providing all-weather and round-the-clock control over areas of interest for reconnaissance of a potential enemy (the most widespread optical and infrared means of observation did not provide such an opportunity);

- underdevelopment of high-precision air attack weapons, primarily such as relatively small-sized stealth cruise missiles various types basing, intended for strikes against ground targets located deep in enemy territory, and capable of flying in the mode of enveloping the terrain (not to mention corrected and guided bombs long range and, even more so, hypersonic aircraft);

- the absence of such international treaties in the field of control over strategic offensive arms, which in one way or another limited the operation of such missile systems.

However, today the situation in this area has changed in the most radical way, significantly reducing or even completely leveling many of the advantages of rocket trains, and first of all, their secrecy.

Firstly, the country has become open and free to travel almost throughout its entire territory for both its citizens and foreign guests (provided, of course, that the latter freely entered Russia).

Secondly, modern facilities space exploration include spacecraft, equipped with highly efficient radar detection tools that are capable of conducting all-weather round-the-clock monitoring of the BZHRK deployment areas known from the results of the exchange of relevant information under various international treaties or revealed as a result of various kinds of reconnaissance activities (and when establishing the classification signs of a missile train and knowing its deployment area control over it can be set simply rigid).

Thirdly, high-precision means of aerospace attack have also made a qualitative leap, capable, with appropriate target designation and guidance, to easily disable such an object as the BZHRK. It does not even need to be destroyed, the main thing is to prevent it from performing rocket fire.

And in a study by the American corporation RAND from 2014, it is indicated that the rocket train also has the following significant drawbacks: more complex maintenance; the possibility of natural (snow, landslides) and artificial (sabotage, accidents) blocking of the railway track; limited set of routes for movement; lower survivability compared to mine complexes (being detected by the enemy, the BZHRK can be considered destroyed).

Moreover, according to the set of treaties in the field of limitation of strategic weapons, to which Russia is a party, the operation of the BZHRK is literally squeezed into the vise of numerous restrictions that do not allow them to fully realize their unique combat potential. And most importantly, it does not allow for the secrecy of patrolling. If a rocket train must move only along a certain route or routes in its deployment area, and even regularly demonstrate itself to air and space surveillance equipment of foreign "controllers", then what kind of secrecy can we talk about? And this is perhaps the most important advantage of the BZHRK, without which the very concept of a rocket train loses its meaning (although, we emphasize this especially, there is no ban on the creation of such missile systems).

Of course, you can remove all these “controllers” with one stroke of the pen – withdraw from these treaties, thereby removing any restrictions from yourself, but the two superpowers did not allow themselves this even during the hottest periods of the Cold War. Not to mention that there is also undercover intelligence our potential "friends", and spy satellites are not going anywhere. Whether they will be able to disguise themselves is a big question.

Finally, we must not forget that the invisibility of the rocket train and the inability to distinguish it from ordinary freight trains is a myth. Don't believe? In confirmation, let us cite the words of the commander of the Strategic Missile Forces, Colonel-General Sergei Karakaev, which he told reporters in December 2013. According to him, the BZHRK car of the first generation was quite different from the refrigerator car, under which it was disguised. “It was longer, heavier, the number of wheelsets was more. No matter how they hid it, if the BZHRK was in the parking lot, any specialist could determine that this was not a train National economy", - RIA Novosti quotes the words of the general. The car of the new train, according to Sergei Karakaev, can be disguised more successfully, although experts in railway rolling stock questioned this thesis. Moreover, even if this succeeds, it is not clear what to do with such a revealing sign as several locomotives in the head of a short “special train”.

As a result, it seems that the creation of the BZHRK as a means of retaliatory or retaliatory strike is becoming a very dubious undertaking. In this regard, it is noteworthy that back in February 2011, in an interview with the VPK weekly, Yuri Solomonov, general designer of the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering Corporation, said: “In fact, the survivability of a mobile soil and railway complexes is almost the same. Quite recently, we just won a competition on this topic, but I was in favor of making a decision not to deploy full-scale work on the BZHRK. Firstly, here we are talking not so much about missiles as about the type of basing, which is connected with necessary costs to recreate the military infrastructure, which today is completely destroyed. This is a lot of money, and it will potentially add nothing to the combat effectiveness of our strategic nuclear forces. Moreover, the BZHRK has a fundamental drawback in modern conditions: low anti-terrorist stability. it vulnerable spot railway complex, and it significantly reduces its combat capabilities.

So, maybe it would be more expedient to allocate additional funds for mobile ground-based missile systems or for a new heavy intercontinental ballistic missile "Sarmat"?

MOSCOW. August 28 - RIA Novosti, Andrey Kots. Thirty years ago, the Soviet Union completed a program of testing a unique strategic weapon - the combat railway missile system (BZHRK) RT-23 UTTKh "Molodets", known in the West under the name "Scalpel". This train, capable of bringing down three intercontinental ballistic missiles on a potential enemy, "rewarded" Western intelligence leaders with an unrelenting headache. Considering the huge length of the railways of the USSR and the number of trains plying on them, it was impossible to find among them a launcher disguised as an ordinary car.

By the time of the collapse of the USSR, our country had three missile divisions - 12 trains with 36 launchers. However, in 1993, Russia agreed to sign the START-II Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which provided for the disposal of all RT-23 missiles. In the period from 2003 to 2007, all "Molodtsy" were disposed of, except for two left as museum exhibits. Then it seemed that there was no need for them. The BZHRK was again remembered in the current decade, when relations between Russia and the West began to deteriorate sharply. In December 2013, information appeared in the press about the revival of these complexes in Russia on a new technological basis. And in July 2017, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin announced that Russia was ready to create new BZHRK under the Barguzin project.

Composition with "surprise"

The BZHRK is a strategic rail-based mobile missile system, outwardly indistinguishable from an ordinary freight train. Fully equipped ICBMs, command posts, technological and technical systems, communications equipment are installed in its cars, and personnel are deployed - missile officers. In the event of a threat of nuclear war, the BZHRK enter patrol routes and merge with the flow of other trains. If, however, an order is received from above for combat use, the train stops and prepares to launch an attack. The shutters on the roofs of three cars move apart, and the mechanisms hidden inside bring the missile launch containers to a vertical position. Another couple of minutes - and in the direction of the aggressor, three missiles fly out with a mortar launch, in total carrying 30 individually targeted warheads with a capacity of 550 kilotons each.

In the USSR, the design bureau Yuzhnoye was engaged in the development of the BZHRK. The main designers were academicians Vladimir and Alexei Utkin. The task before the brothers was not trivial: to "shove" a rocket with a launcher with a total weight of more than 150 tons into an ordinary railway car. At the same time, the BZHRK was supposed to accelerate on rails up to 120 kilometers per hour. This issue was resolved by creating reinforced wagon bogies and special unloading devices for the complex, which redistributed part of the weight to neighboring wagons. BZHRK got the opportunity to move along the tracks without the risk of "breaking" them. Ultimately, "Molodets" looked like an ordinary train of refrigerated, mail-luggage and passenger cars. Fourteen wagons had eight wheelsets, and three had four. Thanks to all the necessary reserves, the BZHRK could work offline for up to 28 days.

Flight tests of the missiles of the complex were carried out in 1985-1987 at the Plesetsk cosmodrome, in total 32 launches and 18 exits of the BZHRK to the country's railways were made. As part of trial operation, they covered more than 400 thousand kilometers in all climatic zones of the country - from tundra to deserts. All this time, the existence of the complexes remained a mystery to Western intelligence. BZHRK were disguised to the conscience. The only unmasking factor was the unusual configuration of the train - it was pulled by three diesel locomotives at once. Nevertheless, there were cases when even experienced railroad workers could not understand at close range what was “wrong” with this train.
Officially adopted "Molodets" in 1989. By that time, five missile regiments had already been deployed - four in the Kostroma region and one in the Perm region.

In the 2000s, the BZHRK, in accordance with international agreements, began to be disposed of. The command of the Strategic Missile Forces decided to rely on mobile ground-based missile systems (PGRK) "Topol-M" as the basis of the mobile component of the nuclear deterrence forces. However, over time it became clear that the PGRK, although difficult to track, is still easier than the BZHRK, which can "get lost in the crowd." And in 2012, the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering (MIT) began work on a new strategic train.

Guaranteed Answer

There is little information about the promising BZHRK in open sources, but it is known that one train will already carry six intercontinental ballistic missiles - most likely, three-stage solid-propellant RS-24 Yars, also developed by MIT specialists. One such ICBM is capable of throwing three to six warheads with a capacity of about 300 kilotons each at a distance of 12,000 kilometers. Smaller than the RT-23 UTTKh, however, the Yars weighs half as much, which simplifies its installation and transportation in a standard car. In addition, only one locomotive will be used for traction, which makes the operation of the complex easier and better masks it. It is assumed that the new BZHRK will be able to move throughout the country, overcoming a thousand kilometers a day.

© Ministry of Defense of the Russian FederationLoading ballistic missiles RS-24 "Yars" in the launcher. Personnel of the Ministry of Defense

© Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

In November 2016, at the Plesetsk cosmodrome, successful throw tests of a rocket modification specifically for the BZHRK took place. It is known that one "Barguzin" will be equated to a missile regiment, and the missile division of the Strategic Missile Forces should include five missile regiments - 30 launchers. Most likely, work on the BZHRK will receive funding under the State Armaments Program for 2018-2025 and may be put on combat duty as early as 2020-2021.

“In the context of the US deployment of new precision-guided weapons, including on American soil, our presence of BZHRK will become a trump card,” Igor Korotchenko, editor-in-chief of the National Defense magazine, told RIA Novosti. “These systems create a factor of uncertainty. BZHRK along with mobile PGRK is a response to the American concept of a global disarming strike with non-nuclear weapons, mainly cruise missiles. This doctrine implies the destruction of the country's military-political leadership, command posts, silo launchers with one powerful blow. But if the enemy does not have the exact coordinates of all launchers, this concept no longer works.

Moreover, even having completely destroyed our "nuclear triad" with a massive missile strike, a potential adversary will not be able to deprive the Strategic Missile Forces of the possibility of delivering a retaliatory strike. Many kilometers of railway tracks in Russia pass through rocky tunnels that can be used as shelter for the BZHRK. And there is no guarantee that when the explosions die down, one single ghost train will not shoot the entire ammunition load at the aggressor from somewhere in the Ural Mountains.

© Photo: provided by the press service of the Strategic Missile Forces

© Photo: provided by the press service of the Strategic Missile Forces

On the development of a new combat railway missile system (BZHRK). As follows from recent reports, work is proceeding in full accordance with the schedule and in the foreseeable future will allow the construction of new systems to begin.

Last Thursday, there were reports in the domestic media about recent statements Department of Defense leadership. As Rossiyskaya Gazeta reports with reference to Interfax, Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov spoke about the current work on the creation of the BZHRK project, codenamed Barguzin. According to the Deputy Minister, the development of the project is proceeding according to plan. The authors of the project do not face any difficulties. On the this moment The Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering, which is responsible for the creation of a new complex, has completed the development of a preliminary design.

Also, Yu. Borisov revealed some details of plans for the construction and deployment new technology. By the end of this decade, it is planned to begin the full-fledged construction of new BZHRK. So, by 2020, one of the divisions of the strategic missile forces should receive up to five regiments armed with Barguzin complexes. More exact figures have not yet been called.

The Deputy Minister of Defense indirectly confirmed that the new BZHRK "Barguzin" will be seriously different from the previously operated complexes "Molodets" of a similar purpose. According to Yu. Borisov, the new BZHRK will not differ in any way from conventional trains. It is expected that this will increase the secrecy of the transfer of "rocket trains" and significantly reduce the likelihood of their detection on the patrol route.

According to earlier press reports, the development of the new BZHRK project was launched in 2012 and is being carried out by the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering. As follows from latest news, to date, the draft design has been completed. Thus, during the course of the project, certain successes were achieved and an important design stage was completed. Over the next few years, a technical project should be developed, as well as experimental systems built and tested. As a result of all these works, by 2020 the Strategic Missile Forces should receive the first serial Barguzin complexes.

Until recently there was topical issue missile planned for use. Various assumptions have been made in this regard. By different versions, BZHRK "Barguzin" was supposed to be equipped with RS-24 "Yars", RS-26 "Rubezh" missiles or products based on them. In addition, the use of the R-30 Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile for submarines was not ruled out. In December last year, it was announced that the Yars or Yars-M missile would become the main armament of the new BZHRK. Thanks to this, as expected, it will be possible to ensure the highest possible degree of unification with existing missile systems and, as a result, simplify the development and construction of new systems.

Other features of the promising railway missile system are still the subject of controversy due to the lack of official information. Obviously, according to the general architecture of the BZHRK "Barguzin" will resemble the complex "Molodets" previously in service with the RT-23UTTKh missile. This complex will include one or more locomotives (depending on the total weight of the train), wagons for combat crew, life support systems, as well as wagons with launchers.

The experience of the "Molodets" complex allows us to speak with confidence about the design of the car - launcher. Apparently, this element of the complex will be made in the form of a freight car or a refrigerator car, with minimal differences from similar civilian products. In the internal volume of the car there will be a transport and launch container of the rocket and systems for its attachment to the lifting boom. Thus, before launch, the roof of the car will open, and the task of the boom will be to lift the rocket container to a vertical position. A different structure of the launcher looks impractical or technically impossible.

Estimated composition of the BZHRK "Barguzin". Infographics of "Rossiyskaya Gazeta"

Of great interest are the words of Yu. Borisov about the camouflage of the new BZHRK. According to him, the “rocket train” of the new model will have the minimum possible differences from conventional trains. It should be recalled that the Molodets complex had several noticeable differences from other trains. In particular, due to the large starting weight of the rocket and the launcher, the cars had to be equipped with reinforced undercarriage that distinguished them from other rolling stock. There were also other differences. All this to a certain extent unmasked the BZHRK "Molodets", although in general the secrecy of the complex received good marks.

Apparently, the key to solving the stealth problem was the use of new missiles. According to open data, the RS-24 Yars missile is more than twice as light as the RT-23RTTX product. Among other things, this makes it possible to simplify the design of the launch car and, as a result, not to use special equipment and various elements able to unmask it.

The Deputy Minister of Defense claims that the first combat railway missile systems of the new model will be transferred to the Strategic Missile Forces before the end of this decade. Such information may be cause for optimism. According to information from 2012-13, before the end of the decade, it was planned to complete development work and begin preparations for testing the complex. Deliveries of serial equipment were attributed to the next decade. According to updated data, R&D will be completed much earlier, which will allow all the necessary work to be completed within the next five years. Thanks to this, the production of serial complexes "Barguzin" and the transfer of such equipment to the troops will begin in a few years.

According to the websites:
http://rg.ru/
http://interfax.ru/
http://ria.ru/
http://lenta.ru/
http://tass.ru/