Rocket train "Barguzin" derailed. Bzhrk "scalpel" - the previous generation of nuclear trains

At one time, the creation of a combat railway missile system (BZHRK) 15P961 "Molodets" with a three-stage solid-propellant 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 significant event in the national strategic nuclear forces and allowed to significantly increase the combat potential of the Rocket Forces strategic purpose(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 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 stationed 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 secretly moved around railways America. 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 - the 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 Peacekeeper Rail Garrison ("Railway garrison with missiles" Peekeper "), 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 dollars on the purchase of the first seven trains alone).

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 others, the so-called "mobile option", which provided for 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.

December 2015 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 is located in combat strength Strategic Missile Forces.

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

In November of the next year, 2016, the first ICBM drop 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 the deployment of 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-oncoming grouping missile attack in the conditions 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 possibility of organizing 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 surveillance systems did not provide such an opportunity);

- underdevelopment of high-precision means of air attack, primarily such as relatively small-sized inconspicuous 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 became open and free to move 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 high-performance radar detection tools that are capable of conducting all-weather round-the-clock monitoring of the areas of deployment of the BZHRK, known from the results of the exchange of relevant information under various international treaties or revealed as a result of various reconnaissance activities (and when establishing the classification signs of a missile train and knowing its area of ​​deployment control over it can be set simply rigid).

Thirdly, high-precision aerospace attack weapons have also made a qualitative leap, capable of easily disabling such an object as the BZHRK with appropriate target designation and guidance. 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 arms, 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 general as saying. The car of the new train, according to Sergey 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"?

The BZHRK, or Barguzin combat railway missile system, is a new generation of trains armed with ballistic missiles. Developed in Russian Federation. In 2020, it is planned to be adopted.

What is a nuclear train? What was the first generation of rocket trains in the USSR? Why did the US fail to create a ghost train? You will get answers to these and many other questions in this article.

What is "BZHRK"?

BZHRK (or ghost train) is a military railway strategic missile system. The complex is located on the basis of a railway train consisting of a diesel locomotive and freight cars. From the outside, it is no different from the ordinary freight trains that ply Russia by the thousands. However, it has a very difficult filling. Inside are placed intercontinental missiles, command posts, technical service systems, technological modules that ensure the functioning of the complex and the vital activity of personnel. At the same time, the train is autonomous.

The BZHRK was created primarily as the main strike power for delivering retaliatory nuclear strike against a potential enemy, therefore, it had the qualities of mobility and survivability. According to the plans of the command, he was supposed to survive after being hit by an intercontinental ballistic missile by a potential enemy.

BZHRK "Scalpel" - the previous generation of nuclear trains

For the first time, the development of nuclear trains began to be carried out in the 60s of the twentieth century. Work was carried out in the USSR and the USA approximately in parallel.

What does the idea of ​​​​creation, according to legend, was thrown up, namely, by the Americans. After unsuccessful attempts by the United States to create a complex, it was decided to start disinformation that such trains were being actively created and would soon be on the rails. The purpose of false information was one - to force the Soviet Union to invest huge funds in an unrealizable idea. As a result, the result exceeded all expectations.

On January 13, 1969, the Order of the Commander-in-Chief "On the creation of a mobile combat railway missile system (BZHRK) with the RT-23 missile" was signed, in pursuance of which by the 1980s in the USSR for the first time in the world it was put into production and tested in conditions close to combat, a missile carrier on a railway platform, which had no analogues and does not exist in the whole world. As experts said, there is no more formidable and mobile weapon on the planet than a mobile railway combat train with a continental missile on board.

The team worked on the creation of the complex Russian Academy Sciences, headed by brothers Alexei and Vladimir Utkin. During the creation, the designers faced several serious difficulties.

• Firstly, the mass of the train - a huge weight could deform the railway track. The weight of the smallest ICBM (Intercontinental Ballistic Missile) was 100 tons.
• Secondly, the direct flame at the launch of the rocket melted the train and the rails on which it stood.
• Thirdly, the contact network above the car, of course, was an obstacle to launching a rocket. And this is not the whole list of problems faced by Soviet specialists.

The BZHRK used RT-23U missiles (according to NATO classification SS-24 "Scalpel"). For the composition, special rockets were made with a retractable nozzle and fairing. One missile carries a MIRV-type multiple reentry vehicle with 10 warheads with a yield of 500 kilotons each.

An original decision was made to distribute the load on the track. Three cars were connected by a rigid coupling, which ensured that the weight of the rocket was distributed over a longer section of the railway track. In a combat state, special hydraulic paws were put forward.

To divert the contact suspension of the network that interferes with the launch, a special device was invented that carefully removed the wires from the operating area of ​​the complex. The network was de-energized before launch.

To launch a rocket, an ingenious solution was also invented - a mortar launch. The powder charge threw the rocket 20 meters above the ground, after which another charge corrected the inclination of the rocket nozzle away from the train, and after that the first stage engine was turned on. Thus, a column of flame of great temperature did not cause damage to the cars and tracks, but was directed in the right direction.

The autonomy of the rocket train was more than 20 days.

On October 20, 1987, after tests carried out at the Semipalatinsk test site, the RT-23UTTH Molodets missile regiment took up combat duty. And by 1989, 3 divisions of the BZHRK were deployed on the territory of the USSR, dispersed at a distance of many thousands of kilometers: in the Kostroma region, in the Perm and Krasnoyarsk regions.

The BZHRK device includes railway modules for various purposes, namely: 3 launch modules for RT-23UTTKh ICBMs, 7 cars as part of the command module, a module with fuel reserves in a railway tank, and 2 diesel locomotives of the DM-62 modification. Work on improving the equipment did not stop even after entering the troops, and its combat potential was steadily growing.

BZHRK "Molodets" were a nightmare for the Americans. Enormous funds were allocated for tracking ghost trains. Reconnaissance satellites searched for 12 ghost trains across the country and could not distinguish the combat complex from the train with refrigerators (refrigerator cars) carrying food.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, everything changed in Russia. On January 3, 1993, the START-2 treaty was signed in Moscow, according to which the Russian Federation must destroy part of its missile potential, including RT-23U missiles, therefore, by 2005, according to the official version, all BZHRKs are removed from combat duty and destroyed, and a few survivors are sent to storage for further disposal.

The complex was officially on combat duty in the Soviet Union for about 20 years, until 2005.

US attempts to create a ghost train

The United States also made attempts to create missile systems on a railway platform. Their development began in the 1960s, since around the same time, Pentagon scientists first created the Minuteman solid-fuel ballistic missile, which, in its own way, technical parameters could be launched from small sites and in conditions of railway shaking. The development was given the name "Minitman Rail Garrison".

It was originally planned that the ghost train filled with missiles would run to predetermined positions, for which work would be carried out at the indicated locations to create conditions in order to simplify the launch and adjust the missile's navigation system to the specified launch points.

The first mobile Minuteman missiles on a railway platform were to enter the US Army by mid-1962. But the American administration did not allocate the necessary amount to prepare the infrastructure and launch the production of prototypes, and the program was shelved. And the created transport wagons were used to deliver the "Minitman" to the place of combat deployment - launch mines.

However, after the success of the Soviet Union in the development of similar projects, the United States remembered the technology that had been gathering dust since the 60s and in 1986 created new project using old work. For the prototype, the then-existing LGM-118A "Peacekeeper" missile was chosen. It was planned that its traction would be provided by four-axle diesel locomotives, and each train would be provided with two security cars. 2 wagons will be allocated to the launcher with an already loaded missile in the launch container, another one will have a control center, and the rest of the wagons will take fuel and parts for current repairs.

But "Peacekeeper Rail Garrison" was never destined to get on the rails. After the official end of the Cold War, the US authorities abandoned the development of missile systems on a railway platform and redirected cash flows to other military industry projects.

In the United States, the rail-based missile system was never put into operation - its history ended after unsuccessful tests in 1989.

New railway missile complex of the Russian Federation

Currently on different reasons none of the world's armies are armed with railway launchers. The Russian Federation is the only one that has been working on the creation of this type of weapon since 2012, and by now has developed preliminary projects for the railway launcher, which meets all modern requirements for strategic weapons.

It is known that the design name of the new BZHRK is "Barguzin". The project documentation indicates that the Barguzin will be assembled from two main parts: a railway launcher and a combat missile.

The railway launcher will be located on a railway platform, to which a special beam with a lifting boom and a control mechanism is attached. A lifting frame is attached to the railway boom with the possibility of longitudinal movement. TPK (torpedo hull perforator) with a rocket will be supported by supports that are mounted on base plates and equipped with swivel rods.

The rocket is brought to the launch from the TPK, commands to which are given from a special car as part of the BZHRK with control systems brought to it. When the rocket is launched, the roof of the car opens (folds back), due to which the distance necessary for the launch is formed.

Comparative characteristics

Advantages of the new BZHRK:

1. Less train weight
2. Modern navigation systems
3. Greater missile hit accuracy

rockets

At the stage of development of project documentation, the developers and the command had a choice - which of modern missiles in service with Russian army, use as a projectile on the BZHRK "Barguzin". After numerous discussions, the Yars and Yars-M missiles were chosen. This missile is a silo-based and mobile-based solid-propellant ballistic missile with a separable warhead, the maximum flight range of which is 11,000 kilometers, and the charge capacity in TNT equivalent is from 150 to 300 kilograms. The specified ballistic missile proved to be excellent during preliminary tests.

Does BZHRK exist now?

After the signing of the START-2 international treaty in January 1993, Russia lost its combat railroad missile systems. Now most of them have been destroyed, and the rest have turned into exhibits standing on the sidings of the railway depots. Therefore, in fact, until 2006, our state was left without a strike force to strike back with colossal mobile capabilities. But in 2002, Russia refused to ratify the START-2 treaty, which meant the possibility of restoring the ballistic missile potential.

As mentioned above, not one of the world powers currently has a single BZHRK worker in combat service. The only country that is taking steps to create a BZHRK is Russia, and several stages have already passed in the process of creating the complex.

Current situation

In 2006, instead of the BZHRK, the troops began to receive Topol-M mobile ground-based missile systems armed with Yars missiles. Currently, the Russian army is armed with more than a hundred Topol-M combat complexes, which can partially fill the gap left after the decommissioning of the BZHRK.

The current situation gives reason for optimism - we all hope that by 2020 the BZHRK "Barguzin" will enter mass production, which will equip our army.

Experimental design work (R&D) on the Barguzin project was started by the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering in 2012. The completion of the R&D is planned for 2020, and funds for their implementation are already being allocated. In 2014, the preliminary design of the complex was completed, and by the beginning of 2015, the designers began the first stage of experimental design work to create a railway launcher. The development of design documentation has been in full swing since 2015. The timing of the creation of individual elements of the Barguzin, its collection and preliminary tests will be known by 2018. The start of the deployment of the complex and its entry into the army is planned for 2020.