With the help of the RS-18 intercontinental missile, the aeroballistic hypersonic unit "object 4202" was successfully tested, reports life.ru
On October 25, 2016, an intercontinental ballistic missile RS-18 was successfully launched from the base of the strategic missile forces in the Orenburg region. "Combat equipment" was delivered to the area of the Kura test site, located on the Kamchatka Peninsula. Most likely, we are talking about aeroballistic hypersonic combat equipment, that is, AGBO "object 4202", reports bmpd.livejournal.com.
The RS-18 missile has been in service for a long time (since 1975). Therefore, specialists are much more interested in the payload of this rocket than the launch itself. The fact is that "object 4202" is a guided hypersonic warhead, which, according to some information, is being developed for the Sarmat missile. It is assumed that "Sarmat" will be able to carry at least three such units.
After boosting with the help of an intercontinental ballistic missile and entering the ballistic trajectory, the hypersonic combat unit can maintain a speed of several Machs and a low-flying trajectory, which is as difficult as possible for its interception. At the same time, the hypersonic unit can maneuver during the flight, which greatly complicates its interception by an anti-missile.
Design and development work "4202", product 15Yu71, complex 15P771
Aeroballistic hypersonic combat equipment (AHBO, source) / ICBM guided hypersonic warhead. The development of the device on the topic "4202" was started before 2009 and is being successfully carried out by the "NPO Mashinostroeniya" (Reutov). On March 18, 2011, Pavel Alexandrovich Sudyukov was appointed chief designer and deputy general director of NPO Mashinostroeniya on the topic "4202". The customer of R & D "4202" is the Federal Space Agency of Russia. In the New Year's resolution of "NPO Mashinostroeniya" dated 12/28/2012, the topic "4202" was named one of the most important for the corporation for the next few years.
Probably, the 15Yu71 warhead was created on the basis of the 15Yu70 guided warhead developed by NPO Mashinostroeniya, which, according to Western data, was tested from 1990 to 2004.
All data on the complex are conjectural in nature and are taken from open sources and the media. The list of sources is attached.
Launch of the RS-18 ICBM with the Kondor-E satellite from the silo from the Baikonur test site, 12/19/2014
Experimental production. In 2009, by order of "NPO Mashinostroeniya" on the topic "4202", he performed the work of the Khrunichev State Research and Production Center (source). At the end of 2009-beginning of 2010. in the pilot production of NPO Mashinostroeniya, as part of the reconstruction and technical re-equipment on the topic "4202", equipment for heat treatment of metals and alloys was updated. Probably, the assembly of the first prototypes of the device was carried out as of 2010 by the pilot production of NPO Mashinostroeniya. At least in 2011, Strela Production Association (Orenburg) joined the work on the "4202" theme - according to the results of 2011, the "4202 with AGBO" theme took 2% in the total volume of production of the Strela Production Association. In 2011-2012 at the Production Association "Strela" (Orenburg), the reconstruction of production for the mass production of products "4202" was carried out (source). The reconstruction and technical re-equipment of FSUE "VIAM" was also carried out to prepare for the mass production of materials for high-temperature insulation of the product "4202" (source). In 2012, the reconstruction and technical re-equipment of the production and bench-test base of "NPO Mashinostroeniya" was carried out for the organization of mass production of order "42-02" (source). Earlier, in the late 1980s - early 1990s, Strela Production Association in Orenburg produced 15F178 guided warheads for the 15A18M ICBMs, tests of which were discontinued in the first half of the 1990s.
Tests. Probably, the prototype of the object "4202" made the first test flight in the launch of the RS-18B / 15A35 / UR-100NUTTH ICBM, which took place from the silo from the Baikonur training ground as part of the "Safety-2004" exercises on February 18, 2004 (at 12-00 a.m. Moscow time). The launch was carried out at the Kura range. On February 19, 2004, at a press conference, Yury Baluyevsky, First Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, stated: "During the training, a spacecraft was tested that is capable of flying at hypersonic speed, while performing maneuvers both in heading and in height" . According to Western data, the 15Yu70 / product 102 was tested during the launch.
Launch of the RS-18 ICBM with the Kondor-E satellite from the silo, probably from the Baikonur test site, 12/19/2014 (Annual report of NPO Mashinostroeniya for 2014).
To carry out tests on the topic "4202" in 2009, it was planned to begin re-equipment of the launch complex 15P718 at site No. 109 at the Baikonur test site into the launch complex 15P771. Apparently, this conversion was not carried out. At the same time, probably at the ICBM base in Yasnoye, one of the silos was reequipped for testing the complex (see information on the launch below).
It is possible that the tests of the product "4202" were also carried out at the end of December 2013 or in the first days of January 2014 - in a series of tests of strategic missile systems.
It is believed that on February 26, 2015, a test launch of the UR-100NUTTH ICBM with object "4202" from the silo from the ICBM base in Yasnoy (Orenburg region) was carried out. The launch was made at 13-00 local time. There is no information on the results of the test launch, just as there is no official information about this test.
On July 15, 2016, the media announced that starting from 2017, tests of object 4202 will be carried out as part of tests of the Sarmat ICBM.
Presumably, the launch of the UR-100NUTTH ICBM with a payload on December 27, 2011, at the Baikonur test site.
Deployment and adoption. Plans for the adoption or deployment of objects "4202" as of March 2015 were not announced. It can be assumed that UT-100NUTTH missiles and, in the future, RS-28 "Sarmat" missiles will be used as carriers of 15Yu71 ICBMs. According to Western data published in June 2015 (source), 24 such combat aircraft (warheads) can be deployed in the Strategic Missile Forces located in the Dombarovsky regiment (p. Yasny) in the period from 2020 to 2025.
Launch and ground equipment:
- ShPU 15P771 - by 2011, SKTB-16 developed documentation for the re-equipment of the launch facility 15P716 ICBM R-36MUTTKh. Re-equipment is supposed to be carried out by forces of SKTB-16 (source). As of 2013, SKTB-16 is developing assembly and technological documentation for the 15P771 combat missile system for the topic "4202".
Serial production of parts of the silo complex is planned to be carried out at the Barricades Production Association (Volgograd), in 2011-2012. for work on this project, reconstruction and technical re-equipment of production was carried out (source). Ground equipment on the topic "4202" within the framework of the State Defense Order-2013 was also planned to be produced at the MMZ "Vympel" (Moscow, source).
The transport and launch container for the product according to the R&D "4202" - 15Ya54-4202.
By 2011, KB "Motor" for the complex "4202" created a set of transport and technological equipment.
Installation of a "space" warhead on the launch vehicle 15A35 / UR-100UNTTKh, refueling of the launch vehicle, launch vehicle before launch in the silo.
Object "4202":
Design- presumably, the design of the object has complex profiles and includes compartments F1, F2 and F3. Special thermal protection and radio-absorbing coatings are applied to the body of the object (source). The body frame of compartment F1 has a complex contour-forming shape (source).
R&D to develop the design and manufacturing technology of the outer case of the product "4202" for bench and flight tests was planned to be carried out at UNIIKM (Perm) in 2012.
materials- non-metals are used in the design of compartments F1, F2 and F3.
Object "4202" is equipped with a thermoregulation system "7301" developed by NPO "Nauka". Working design documentation for STR "7301" was issued in 2007.
Control system: probably autonomous inertial using an onboard computer. The controls are presumably aerodynamic.
TTX of the object:
Length - presumably 5.4 - 7 m
Warhead type:
- nuclear or conventional high power (presumably the source).
Modifications:
Object "4202", product 15Yu71, complex 15P771 - the basic version of the complex with a launch vehicle 15A35 / UR-100UNTTKh.
Launch vehicle "Strela" based on ICBM 15A35 / UR-100UNTTKh.
Object "4202", ICBM RS-28 "Sarmat" - the proposed version of the complex with the launch vehicle RS-28 "Sarmat". Probably, the Sarmat ICBM will be able to carry several (at least three) 4202 objects. The displacement of warheads of this type on the promising ICBM "Sarmat" is confirmed by Western data in June 2015
The Russian hypersonic warhead makes modern US missile defense systems ineffective. The age-old confrontation "weapon" / "defense" once again lost its balance - the "weapon" pulled ahead at a speed of Mach 15. Before the advent of a new generation of missile defense - and not even missile defense "tomorrow", but missile defense "the day after tomorrow".
This loss of balance guarantees Russia peace for the next 15-20 years. The United States would gladly launch a nuclear strike on Russia if they were sure that they would not receive a "response" in sizes incompatible with the continued existence of American civilization. And the military-political elites of the United States would like to deal with Russia once and for all, but they are well aware that this will be a one-way ticket, and they absolutely do not like all-American suicide.
That is why the Pentagon and the Western media reacted so nervously to the news about the appearance of "product 4202".
The Western world generally shudders every time it hears the incomprehensible Russian word “product”.
The 4202 warhead is planned to be installed on the new RS-28 Sarmat missiles.
Due to the fact that the hypersonic maneuvering “product 4202” is almost impossible to intercept, each intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) will be equal in efficiency to several missiles of the previous generation. Both economic and military benefits in one solution.
Separately, we note the factor RS-28 "Sarmat". The RS-28 is capable of striking US territory along a suborbital trajectory, both through the North Pole and through the South Pole, which completely eliminates a number of deployed US missile defense systems.
The possibility of striking through the South Pole significantly reduces the likelihood of destroying ICBMs in the booster section.
In addition, the Russian military-industrial complex finally got rid of ties with the Ukrainian military-industrial complex.
The Russian military has been talking about this for a long time - such an unreliable and corrupt partner as Ukraine could not be part of the Russian military-industrial complex, as this undermined the state's defense capability. With the development of Sarmat, interaction with the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau and Yuzhmash was finally and forever terminated. Ukrainian rocket science is waiting for disintegration and liquidation, because they do not have the necessary state resources for new developments.
The throwable mass of the RS-28 "Sarmat" is supposedly 5000-5500 kilograms. In total, 3 "products 4202" will be placed on one ICBM. The mass of each varies from 1000 to 1500 kilograms.
"Product 4202" is a unique atmospheric spacecraft capable of flying at hypersonic speed and performing maneuvers both in direction and in pitch at a speed of 12-15 M.
The design of the "4204" includes three compartments, the case is protected by a thermal protective coating. Also, a radio-absorbing coating is applied to the body.
One of the features of the "product 4202" is the ability to carry not only a nuclear charge of the order of 750 kilotons, but also a kinetic shock unit.
The kinetic energy on the final segment of the trajectory of the "4202 product" at a speed of 15 M will be approximately 13 Gigajoules. And this is with an accuracy of hitting at the level of 10 meters.
The Pentagon has already assessed the prospects of how quickly the American fleet can sink almost all over the world - regardless of distance, latitude, longitude and air defense cover. And these prospects absolutely did not please the Americans.
In addition, Russia can now throw a very evil and very fast gliding blank anywhere in the world in order to load it directly on the forehead and not spoil the landscape in the area.
Let's take a simple example. In some eastern city, a gathering of hairy barmaley and star-striped Johns from the NSA is gathering with a small addition of Mr. Smiths from MI6. Around the civilian population, a large city of a million people. Throwing a warhead with a nuclear part at such a thing is somehow inhumane and ugly from the point of view of international politics.
But the "product 4202" will fly in, a small fungus of dust will rise - and without any radiation contamination, the hairy barmaley will evenly mix with the Johns and Mr. Smiths. In neighboring buildings, glass will fly out at most, and at the other end of the city they won’t even pay much attention to the loud bang. Although, of course, such a goal is not worth an expensive kinetic warhead.
In general, kinetic hypersonic glide warheads are designed to 100% guaranteed to overcome any missile defense system - even the United States, even Britain - and to destroy enemy critical infrastructure without radiation contamination of the area. Such facilities include power plants, military bases, ammunition depots, command posts, aircraft carriers, submarine bases, and industrial facilities.
Ultimately, it is possible to completely destroy the economy of any state with a global strike of kinetic warheads in 1-2 hours - and at the same time do without a nuclear strike.
With the advent of AHBO (aeroballistic hypersonic combat equipment), the doctrine of a warning missile strike is being significantly corrected.
New ICBMs "Sarmat" with warheads "Product 4202" should massively enter the Strategic Missile Forces by 2020.
Intercontinental range missile system with aeroballistic hypersonic combat equipment (AHBO, ) / ICBM guided hypersonic warhead. The development of a controlled warhead / hypersonic vehicle on the topic "4202" began before 2009 and is being carried out by the NPO Mashinostroeniya (Reutov). On March 18, 2011, Pavel Alexandrovich Sudyukov was appointed chief designer and deputy general director of NPO Mashinostroeniya on the topic "4202". The customer of R & D "4202" is the Federal Space Agency of Russia. In the New Year's greeting of "NPO Mashinostroeniya" dated December 28, 2012, the topic "4202" was named one of the most important for the corporation for the next few years ().
The 15P771 Avangard complex includes an ICBM carrier UR-100NUTTH and AGBO "4202" / 15Yu71. Presumably, the 15Yu71 combat unit was created on the basis of a controlled combat unit developed by NPO Mashinostroeniya, which, according to Western data, was tested from 1990 to 2004 ().
All data on the complex are conjectural in nature and are taken from open sources and the media. The list of sources is attached.
Pilot production. In 2009, by order of "NPO Mashinostroeniya" on the topic "4202", he performed the work of the Khrunichev State Research and Production Center (). At the end of 2009-beginning of 2010. in the pilot production of NPO Mashinostroeniya, as part of the reconstruction and technical re-equipment on the topic "4202", equipment for heat treatment of metals and alloys was updated. Probably, the assembly of the first prototypes of the device was carried out as of 2010 by the pilot production of NPO Mashinostroeniya. At least in 2011, Strela Production Association (Orenburg) joined the work on the "4202" theme - according to the results of 2011, the "4202 with AGBO" theme took 2% in the total volume of production of the Strela Production Association. In 2011-2012 at the Production Association "Strela" (Orenburg), a reconstruction of production for the mass production of products "4202" () was carried out. The reconstruction and technical re-equipment of FSUE "VIAM" was also carried out to prepare for the mass production of materials for high-temperature insulation of the product "4202" (). In 2012, the reconstruction and technical re-equipment of the production and bench-test base of "NPO Mashinostroeniya" was carried out to organize mass production of the order "42-02" (). Earlier, in the late 1980s - early 1990s, the Strela Production Association in Orenburg produced 15F178 guided warheads for the 15A18M ICBMs, tests of which were discontinued in the first half of the 1990s ().
Launch of the RS-18 ICBM with the Kondor-E satellite from the silo, probably from the Baikonur test site, 12/19/2014 (Annual report of NPO Mashinostroeniya for 2014).
It is possible that the tests of the product "4202" were also carried out at the end of December 2013 or in the first days of January 2014 - in a series of tests of strategic missile systems. In 2014, it was planned to conduct interdepartmental tests (MVI) of the complex with the product "4202" (source - Annual report of MMZ "Vympel" for 2013). It is likely that MW were started only in 2015 with the launch on February 26, 2015.
It is believed that on February 26, 2015, a test launch of the UR-100NUTTH ICBM with object "4202" from the silo from the ICBM base in Yasnoy (Orenburg region) was carried out. The launch was made at 13-00 local time ( , ). There is no information on the results of the test launch, just as there is no official information about this test.
On July 15, 2016, the media announced that starting from 2017, tests of the 4202 object will be carried out as part of tests of the Sarmat ICBM ().
On December 26, 2018, after the launch of the Avangard complex, it was announced that in 2017 a contract was signed for the supply of the Avangard rocket launcher to the Strategic Missile Forces starting from 2019 ().
Missile launches with object "4202" (presumably):
| No. pp | date | Polygon | Description |
| 00 | February 18, 2004 (12-00 Moscow time) | Baikonur | ICBM RS-18B / 15A35 / UR-100NUTTKh, launched from a silo as part of the "Safety-2004" exercise. The launch was carried out at the Kura range. On February 19, 2004, at a press conference, Yury Baluyevsky, First Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, stated: "During the training, a spacecraft was tested that is capable of flying at hypersonic speed, while performing maneuvers both in heading and in height" ( , ). According to Western data, UBB 15Yu70 was tested, and not object 4202 () |
| 2010 | Baikonur | A high-ranking representative of the Russian General Staff told Interfax-AVN that the new ICBM combat equipment was first successfully tested in 2010 () | |
| 01 | December 27, 2011 (15-00 Moscow time) | Baikonur | Object 4202, carrier - ICBM RS-18B / 15A35 / UR-100NUTTH, launch from a silo at the Kura range (). "The main task of the launch is to test new combat equipment for intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of overcoming existing and future anti-missile defense systems" () |
| 02 | 09/26/2013 | Clear | Object 4202. The estimated date of testing the object with the launch of the RS-18B / 15A35 / UR-100NUTTH () (). Start-up as part of the integrated testing program with the main work with the product ( ist. - KBSM Annual Report 2013). |
| 03 | February 26, 2015 (13-00 local time) | Clear | Object 4202 / 15Yu71 () - RS-18B / 15A35 / UR-100NUTTH ICBM, launched from a silo (,). Western data - . |
| 04 | 04/19/2016 () (09-41 Moscow time) | Clear | Object 4202 / 15Yu71. Test run. CarrierICBM RS-18B / 15A35 / UR-100NUTTH, launch from silo ( ) (). |
| until the end of 2016 | Clear | 07/15/2016, plans are announced for a test launch of object 4202 before the end of 2016 () | |
| 05 | December 26, 2018 | Clear | Successful launch of the Avangard complex at the Kura test site. The third launch of the Avangard complex (). |
Deployment and adoption. Plans for the adoption or deployment of objects "4202" as of March 2015 were not announced. As it became clear later, (2018,) for the deployment of the Avangard complexes, it is planned to use UT-100NUTTH () missiles as carriers and in the future. At the same time, at least 30 UR-100NUTTKh missiles received several years ago from Ukraine are in storage. According to Western data published in June 2015 (), 24 such complexes can be deployed in the Strategic Missile Forces located in the Dombarovsky regiment (Yasny village) in the period from 2020 to 2025.
Purpose and description(personal opinion of the author): object 4202 / 15Yu71 is an aeroballistic object that moves along a flat ballistic trajectory in a conditionally airless space for most of the way to the target. During this movement, the vehicle stabilizes and can probably even correct the trajectory using maneuvering rocket engines. Approximately the same as satellites or warhead breeding stages do (in the case of traditional ICBMs). Stabilization of the device is also required to provide the desired angle of entry into denser layers of the atmosphere and for the operation of correction systems and, possibly, even guidance. It is likely that the device can use guidance on the map of the area with a comparison of the reference map of the area with the radar image, which is obtained using the radar located on the device, as well as an astrocorrection system. It is also possible to place a side-looking radar on the device. The device can make several ricocheting jumps based on dense layers of the atmosphere with a change in the parameters of the trajectory. The maximum speed of the device during the jump can reach 27 M (according to sources, see TTX).
When approaching the target at a distance of about 200-300 km (I think it could be 500 km, but hardly more), the device switches to atmospheric flight. Accordingly, by the time the atmospheric part of the flight begins, the device has a speed of the order of 14-15M, which gradually decreases. The device is not equipped with a marching hypersonic engine. Maneuvers of the apparatus on the atmospheric part of the flight are controlled with the help of aerodynamic rudders - with the help of wings and shields on the fuselage - both in roll and in pitch and in yaw. With a decrease in flight speed to values of the order of 6-8M, the radar homing of the apparatus on the map of the area probably begins to be used. Up to this point, it is likely that the device can perform programmable maneuvering in order to counter missile defense.
Launch and ground equipment:
- ShPU 15P771 - design and development of design documentation have been carried out since 2007 (source - Annual report for 2007 of NPO Nauka). By 2011, SKTB-16 developed documentation for the re-equipment of the launch facility 15P716 MBR R-36MUTTKh. The re-equipment is supposed to be carried out by the forces of SKTB-16 (). As of 2013, SKTB-16 is developing installation and technological documentation for the 15P771 combat missile system for the topic "4202" ().
Design Bureau of Special Machine Building (KBSM) was developing the launch equipment of the experimental base on the topic "4202" - in 2011, the development of design and operational documentation was completed and equipment was delivered to the experimental base ( ist. - KBSM Annual Report 2011). In 2012, equipment for facility 15P771 and a shipping container were manufactured and delivered, installation and author's control are being carried out ( ist. - KBSM Annual Report 2012).
Serial production of parts of the silo complex is planned to be carried out at the Barricades Production Association (Volgograd), in 2011-2012. for work on this project, the reconstruction and technical re-equipment of production was carried out (). Ground equipment on the topic "4202" within the framework of the State Defense Order-2013 was also planned to be produced at the MMZ "Vympel" (Moscow, Russia).
The transport and launch container for the product according to the R&D "4202" - 15Ya54-4202.
By 2011, Design Bureau "Motor" for the complex "4202" created a set of transport and technological equipment ().
The starting position is equipped with the 7301 thermoregulation system developed by NPO Nauka. Working design documentation for STR "7301" was released in 2007 ().
Installation of the "space" warhead on the launch vehicle 15A35 / UR-100UNTTKh, refueling of the launch vehicle, launch vehicle before launch at the silo (http://www.npomash.ru/).
.
R&D to develop the design and manufacturing technology of the outer case of the "4202" product for bench and flight tests was planned to be carried out at UNIIKM (Perm) in 2012 ( , ). Serial production of external cases 15Yu71 was planned to be deployed until 2015 ().
Materials - non-metals are used in the design of compartments F1, F2 and F3 ().
It is likely that the device will use either a radar or optical system for extreme navigation on terrain maps. It is also possible to use a side-looking radar for these purposes.
Propulsion system- presumably, the device is equipped with shunting engines for correcting the flight path in its airless section, as well as gas-dynamic steering machines for control surfaces that are used in the atmospheric section of the trajectory.
TTX of the object:
Length - presumably about 5.4 m
Max speed:
- 14-15 M (2015 data)
- 27 M ()
Speed in the target area - 6-8 M (estimate)
Warhead type:
- nuclear or conventional high power (presumably).
Presumably, there are two options for nuclear warheads of the object:
- taking into account the high accuracy at the facility, warheads of low power (about 150 kt) can be used;
- taking into account the fact that objects of type 4202 will be used for targets of the highest priority of destruction, it is possible to use high-power warheads (up to 1 Mt).
Modifications:
Object "4202", product 15Yu71, complex 15P771 - the basic version of the complex with a launch vehicle 15A35 / UR-100NUTTH.
Status: Russia
- 2015 - the complex and the object are being tested.
December 2019 - 2 units are expected to be placed on experimental combat duty. complexes 15P771 "Avangard" with warheads 15Yu71.
Deployment schedule for 15P771 Avangard systems:
| Year | Forecast (2018) | Factual data |
| 2019 | 2 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2021 | 4 | |
| 2022 | 6 | |
| 2023 | 6 | |
| 2024 | 8 | |
| 2025 | 10 | |
| 2026 | 12 | |
| 2027 |
Sources: mainly indicated in the text
Russia is testing a hypersonic "object 4202" that will make the US missile defense system meaningless.
Russia levels the US missile defense system with the help of the Object 4202 hypersonic aircraft
In the event of a successful completion of the ongoing development work in Russia "4202" to develop and create a hypersonic aircraft, the US-created global missile defense system will become meaningless, Interfax writes, citing a source familiar with the situation.
"If Russia gets an aircraft that has already become known as the" object 4202 ", capable of performing maneuvers in pitch (vertical plane) and yaw (horizontal plane) at hypersonic speed intcbatch plane), our country will have the opportunity to solve the problem of guaranteed overcoming any promising missile defense system," the source said.
According to him, a promising Russian hypersonic aircraft "will make it possible to neutralize the combat potential of the US global missile defense and, in fact, make it meaningless."
Speaking about the "object 4202", he explained that it was a rather old development, "which is now considered as an intermediate on the way to creating a more modern warhead for existing and future heavy ICBMs, including the RS-28 Sarmat.
What can "object 4202"?
One of the experts with access to information regarding the classified “object 4202” said that in the period from 2005 to the present, the device periodically undergoes flight tests, the last of which was carried out in February of this year, from the closed position area of the Dombarovsk missile formation, and heavy versions were launched from reserve launch pads of the Baikonur Cosmodrome (Kazakhstan), writes Svopi.ru.
This year the tests of "object 4202" will be continued.
Directly at hypersonic speed, the device is capable of performing pitch maneuvers in the vertical plane, as well as yaw in the horizontal plane. The guarantor of success is the power energy elements, usually used when launching cargo spacecraft into orbit. Traction engines are enclosed in the fuselage, in front of which is located the warhead, the same as that of heavy intercontinental ballistic missiles. In fact, the design of the planes and the fuselage of the heavy apparatus of the 4202 project is very similar to a greatly reduced version of the Tu-144 known in the USSR.
The United States was afraid of the Russian "project 4202"
Speaking of the mysterious Russian “Project 4202” or Yu-51 with revolutionary speed characteristics, the American media, led by the Washington Free Beacon, refer to Jane's Information Group and give many colorful and tragic details for the American consciousness. It is even alleged that the first hypersonic missiles (or some new strategic missiles with hypersonic upper stages) of 25 pieces should take up combat duty in the Dombarovsky regiment of the Strategic Missile Forces in the period from 2020 to 2025. For the United States (which is also confirmed by sources in Moscow), this would mean the destruction of the entire system of strategic nuclear weapons and missile defense, Vzglyad notes.
“Designs of devices capable of 5-7 times the speed of sound have been developed in the USSR and the USA in parallel since the 80s. The USSR was the first
The most important thing in information is the source. You trust the source - you will believe the information, no matter how fantastic it may seem initially.
The Washington Free Beacon is an extremely conservative publication and is directly associated with the American military-industrial complex. It is WFB that regularly informs American readers about Russian bombers off the coast of California, Iran's underground nuclear plants, and the achievements of hackers from Shanghai and Pyongyang.
The author of the sensation is also noteworthy. This is not a young journalist in search of “hot”, but a venerable publicist Bill Hertz, well-known in intelligence circles and the military-industrial complex, who worked as a columnist for The Washington Times under Clinton and became famous for exclusive exposés on intelligence, international trade in weapons and technologies. He is also the author of six books with titles such as The China Threat, The Failure (about US intelligence agencies after 9/11), and Betrayal (about the Clinton administration).
However, the publication notes that the sensation about the "object 4202" is not such a sensation. Projects of devices capable of 5-7 times the speed of sound were developed in the USSR and the USA in parallel starting from the 80s. The USSR was the first to succeed: a hypersonic experimental aircraft (GELA), also known as the X-90, was created by the Raduga Design Bureau already in the late 80s, but in 1992 the project was closed for obvious reasons. From him there was a model, which was exhibited several times for some reason at the MAKS in Zhukovsky, although no work on the topic was carried out until the zero years.
Object "4202": to the shores of America on hypersonic
By 2025, Russia will have a serious nuclear trump card in negotiations with the United States.
Russia is testing a new Yu-71 (Yu-71) hypersonic glide vehicle capable of carrying nuclear warheads. This was reported on June 28 by the Washington Free Beacon, citing a publication by the well-known British military think tank Janes Information Group.
According to WFB, Russia has been developing the device for several years, but its first tests were carried out in February this year. The device is allegedly part of the Russian secret project "4202" associated with the missile program. According to the authors of the publication, this will give Russia the opportunity to hit the target with only one missile. According to the Washington Times, Russia intends to use the hypersonic military project as an instrument of pressure during negotiations with the United States on arms control.
Hypersonic devices like the one created by Russia are extremely difficult to track down and shoot down, as they move along an uncalculated trajectory, and their speed reaches 11,200 km / h, experts from the British center say. According to them, up to 24 of these hypersonic aircraft (warheads) can be deployed in the Dombarovsky regiment of the Strategic Missile Forces in the period from 2020 to 2025. Previously, this designation - Yu-71 - did not appear in open sources.
It is worth noting that even retired generals of the Strategic Missile Forces prefer to refrain from commenting on the 4202 object, referring to the closed nature of the topic and the possible consequences of discussing this topic in the "SP".
Plans for the adoption of objects "4202" were not really announced. But it is known from open sources that the development of devices is carried out by NPO Mashinostroeniya (Reutov), and it was started before 2009. The formal customer of R&D "4202" is the Federal Space Agency of Russia, which, according to some experts, can serve as a kind of "cover". In the 2012 NPO Mashinostroeniya's New Year's greetings, the 4202 facility was named one of the most important for the corporation for the next few years. Most likely, the first test of the device from object "4202" was carried out not in February 2015 of the year, according to British experts, but as part of the "Safety-2004" exercises at the Baikonur training ground, because at a press conference the then First Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Yuri Baluyevsky stated that during the training was "tested a spacecraft that is capable of flying at hypersonic speed, while making maneuvers, both in course and in height."
Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Missile and Artillery Sciences (RARAN), Doctor of Military Sciences Konstantin Sivkov says that the current warheads of intercontinental ballistic missiles in the passive section develop hypersound. However, the difference between a promising hypersonic warhead, most likely, lies in the fact that it acts not just like a ballistic warhead, but follows a rather complex trajectory, that is, it maneuvers like an aircraft with a huge flight speed.
- It is possible that specialists on the topic "4202" use Soviet technologies, which were worked on by one of the leading developers of Soviet aerospace technology Gleb Lozino-Lozinsky. Let me remind you that he was the head of the Spiral aerospace fighter-bomber project, the lead developer of the Buran MTKK, oversaw the project of the MAKS reusable aerospace system and a number of other programs where work was carried out, including on hypersonic.
It must be understood that hypersonic warheads are quite heavy - 1.5-2 tons. Therefore, probably, it can become a warhead of a light Topol-M ICBM (after all, the last tests were carried out on the UR-100N UTTKh), however, the RS-28 Sarmat ICBM, which should be put into service by the end of the decade, will be able to throw several such warheads at once, which will follow complex trajectories, which will make them practically invulnerable to enemy missile defense systems. For example, even in the interception of old ballistic missiles, the warheads of which do not maneuver, the American ground-based exatmospheric GBI interceptors give a very low probability of defeat - 15-20%.
If our Strategic Missile Forces really adopt missiles with hypersonic warheads by 2025, then this will be a rather serious application. It is logical that in the West, ICBMs with hypersonic warheads are called Moscow's new possible trump card in negotiations with Washington. As practice shows, the only way to bring the United States to the negotiating table is to put in place systems that will make Americans really scared.
In addition, Russia is also developing hypersonic cruise missiles that can fly at low altitudes. Accordingly, their defeat by advanced missile defense systems is problematic, because these are, in fact, aerodynamic targets. In addition, modern missile defense systems have limits on the speed of hitting targets within 1000 meters per second: as a rule, the speed of an interceptor is 700-800 meters per second. The problem is that when firing at a high-speed target, an interceptor missile must be able to maneuver with overloads measured in tens and even hundreds of g . Such anti-missiles do not yet exist.
Editor-in-Chief of the Arsenal of the Fatherland magazine, member of the Expert Council under the Chairman of the Military-Industrial Commission under the Government of the Russian Federation Viktor Murakhovsky notes: it is no secret that the combat equipment and payload of our ICBMs are being continuously improved.
And when the President Vladimir Putin, Speaking on June 16 at the Army-2015 forum, he said that this year more than 40 new intercontinental missiles would replenish the nuclear forces, then all the media paid attention to this figure, but somehow missed the continuation of the phrase - "which will be able to overcome any , even the most technically advanced missile defense systems.
In the program to improve combat equipment, work is underway, including the creation of hypersonic maneuvering warheads precisely on the maneuver trajectory - after diluting the payload, which will really allow ignoring any conceivable promising missile defense system. Yes, the intercontinental ballistic missiles in service with the Strategic Missile Forces even now have units that are bred at a speed of 5-7 kilometers per second. But it is quite another matter to carry out a maneuver, and a controlled one at that, at such speeds. It is quite possible that these warheads can be installed on the new Sarmat heavy missile, which will replace the legendary Soviet R-36M2 Voyevoda in the army. I think that in the future, similar warheads will be installed on the missiles already entering service with the Strategic Missile Forces.
"SP": - According to information from open sources, on February 26, the launch of "object 4202" was carried out by a missile system UR-100N UTTH, mass production of which continued until 1985. This missile is a modification of the "Stiletto" (UR-100N, according to NATO classification - SS-19 mod.1 Stiletto) ...
- The service life of this missile system seems to have been extended until 2031, and it is used only for testing. Naturally, before each launch, this missile is examined, but it has always demonstrated reliability. So, in our country, the Dnepr launch vehicles put the payload into orbit - launch vehicles, to put it mildly, are not young, but also reliable, during the operation of which, as far as I remember, major accidents did not happen.
"SP": - The media has repeatedly reported that the Chinese, in addition to WU-14s are developing a hypersonic cruise missile.
- Hypersonic missiles are, of course, a completely different direction. To be honest, I don’t really believe in the appearance of such weapons even in the long term, because I can’t imagine how a cruise missile can be accelerated to hypersonic in dense layers of the atmosphere. Of course, you can build something gigantic, but in relation to the payload, this will be absolutely not a rational expenditure of funds.
"SP": - In the United States, hypersonic projects as part of the implementation of the "Fast Global Strike" concept are being developed by various departments: the X-43A aircraft - NASA, the X-51A rocket - the Air Force, the AHW apparatus - the Ground Forces, the ArcLight missile - DARPA and the Navy, the glider Falcon HTV-2 - DARPA and Air Force. Moreover, the timing of their appearance is called different: missiles - by 2018-2020, reconnaissance aircraft - by 2030.
- All these are promising developments, it is not for nothing that there are so many of them. For example, the AHW project, according to various sources, is also a combined weapon consisting of a three-stage launch vehicle and a directly hypersonic warhead. But how much the Americans have advanced in the development of this project is hard to say. (tests were recognized as successful, then unsuccessful - "SP"). As you know, the Americans did not particularly bother about equipping their missiles with anti-missile defense systems, meaning, for example, creating a “cloud” of decoys around a real warhead.
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Presumably a guided hypersonic ICBM warhead. Development is carried out by "NPO Mashinostroeniya" (Reutov). The development of the apparatus on the topic “4202” was started before 2009. On March 18, 2011, Pavel Aleksandrovich Sudyukov was appointed chief designer and deputy general director of NPO Mashinostroeniya on the topic “4202”. The customer of R&D "4202" is the Federal Space Agency of Russia. In the New Year's greeting from NPO Mashinostroeniya dated December 28, 2012, the topic "4202" was named one of the most important for the corporation for the next few years ().
All data on the complex are conjectural in nature and are taken from open sources and the media. The list of sources is attached.
Pilot production. In 2009, by order of "NPO Mashinostroeniya" on the topic "4202", he performed the work of the Khrunichev State Research and Production Center (). At the end of 2009-beginning of 2010. in the pilot production of "NPO Mashinostroeniya" as part of the reconstruction and technical re-equipment on the topic "4202", equipment for heat treatment of metals and alloys was updated. Probably, the assembly of the first prototypes of the device was carried out as of 2010 by the pilot production of NPO Mashinostroeniya. At least in 2011, PA Strela (Orenburg) joined the work on the 4202 theme - according to the results of 2011, the 4202 with AGBO theme occupied 2% in the total production volume of the Strela PA. In 2011-2012 at the production association "Strela" (Orenburg), a reconstruction of production was carried out for the mass production of products "4202" (, source). The reconstruction and technical re-equipment of FSUE "VIAM" was also carried out to prepare for the mass production of materials for high-temperature insulation of the product "4202" (). Earlier, in the late 1980s - early 1990s, Strela Production Association in Orenburg produced 15F178 guided warheads for 15A18M ICBMs, the tests of which were discontinued in the first half of the 1990s ().
Tests. Probably, the prototype of the object "4202" made the first test flight in the launch of the RS-18B / 15A35 / UR-100NUTTH ICBM, which took place from the silo from the Baikonur test site as part of the "Safety-2004" exercise on February 18, 2004 (at 12-00 to Moscow time). The launch was carried out at the Kura range. On February 19, 2004, at a press conference, Yury Baluyevsky, First Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, stated: “During the training, a spacecraft was tested that is capable of flying at hypersonic speed, while performing maneuvers both in course and in height” ( , ).
To conduct tests on the topic "4202" in 2009, it was planned to begin re-equipment of the launch complex 15P718 at site No. 109 at the Baikonur training ground into the launch complex 15P771 (). Apparently, this conversion was not carried out. At the same time, probably at the ICBM base in Yasnoye, one of the silos was reequipped for testing the complex (see information on the launch below).
It is possible that the tests of the product "4202" were also carried out at the end of December 2013 or in the first days of January 2014 - in a series of tests of strategic missile systems.
It is believed that on February 26, 2015, a test launch of the UR-100NUTTKh ICBM with the object "4202" from the silo from the ICBM base in Yasnoy (Orenburg region) was carried out. The launch was made at 13-00 local time ( , ). There is no information on the results of the test launch, just as there is no official information about this test.
Missile launches with object "4202" (presumably):
| No. pp | date | Polygon | Description |
| 01 | February 18, 2004 (12-00 Moscow time) | Baikonur | ICBM RS-18B / 15A35 / UR-100NUTTH, launch from the silo as part of the exercises "Safety-2004". The launch was carried out at the Kura range. On February 19, 2004, at a press conference, Yury Baluyevsky, First Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, stated: “During the training, a spacecraft was tested that is capable of flying at hypersonic speed, while performing maneuvers both in course and in height” ( , ). |
| 2010 | Baikonur | A high-ranking representative of the Russian General Staff told Interfax-AVN that the new ICBM combat equipment was first successfully tested in 2010 () | |
| December 27, 2011 | Baikonur | "The main task of the launch is to test the new combat equipment of intercontinental ballistic missiles, capable of overcoming existing and future missile defense systems" () | |
| September 26, 2013? | The estimated date of testing the object with the launch of the RS-18B / 15A35 / UR-100NUTTH ICBM () | ||
| 2014? | Presumably, a test launch was carried out with an ICBM RS-18B / 15A35 / UR-100NUTTH () | ||
| February 26, 2015 (13-00 local time) | Clear | ICBM RS-18B / 15A35 / UR-100NUTTH, launch from silo ( , ). |
Deployment and adoption. Plans for the adoption or deployment of objects "4202" as of March 2015 were not announced. It can be assumed that UT-100NUTTKh type ICBMs will be used as carriers in the future.
Launch and ground equipment:
- ShPU 15P771 - by 2011, SKTB-16 developed documentation for the re-equipment of the launch facility 15P716 ICBM R-36MUTTKh. The re-equipment is supposed to be carried out by the forces of SKTB-16 (). As of 2013, SKTB-16 is developing installation and technological documentation for the 15P771 combat missile system for the topic "4202" ().
Serial production of parts of the silo complex is planned to be carried out at the Barricades Production Association (Volgograd), in 2011-2012. for work on this project, the reconstruction and technical re-equipment of production was carried out (). Ground equipment on the topic "4202" within the framework of the State Defense Order-2013 was also planned to be produced at the MMZ "Vympel" (Moscow, Russia).
The transport and launch container for the product according to the R&D "4202" - 15Ya54-4202.
By 2011, Motor Design Bureau for the 4202 complex created a set of transport and technological equipment ().
Object "4202":
Design
- presumably, the design of the object has complex profiles and includes compartments F1, F2 and F3. Special thermal and radio absorbing coatings () are applied to the body of the object. The body frame of the F1 compartment has a complex contour-forming shape ().
Object "4202" is equipped with a thermoregulation system "7301" developed by NPO "Nauka". Working design documentation for STR "7301" was released in 2007 ().
Control system:
probably autonomous inertial using an onboard computer. Controls - presumably aerodynamic.
TTX of the object:
Length - presumably 5.4 - 7 m
Warhead type:
- nuclear or conventional high power (presumably).
Modifications:
Object "4202", complex 15P771 - the basic version of the complex with a launch vehicle 15A35 / UR-100UNTTKh.
Object "4202", ICBM - the proposed version of the complex with a launch vehicle. It is likely that the Sarmat ICBM will be able to carry several (at least three) 4202 objects.
