Atomic rocket. Technical Details: Nuclear Powered Rocket

Addressed a message to the Federal Assembly. The part of his speech that touched on defense issues became the subject of lively discussion. The head of state presented new weapons.

We are talking about placing a small-sized, ultra-powerful nuclear power plant in the body of the X-101 air-to-ground cruise missile.

militaryrussia.ru Cruise missile X-101 Since such a missile carrying nuclear combat unit, has no limitation on flight range, and its trajectory cannot be predicted; it negates the effectiveness of any missile defense and air defense, and therefore has the potential to cause irreparable damage to any country in the world. According to the President, at the end of 2017, successful test this weapon. And no one in the world has anything like it yet.

Some Western media They were skeptical about the information that Putin voiced. So a certain American official who knows the state Russian military-industrial complex, in a conversation with CNN, doubted that the described weapon exists. The agency's interlocutor said that the United States observed Not large number Russian tests of a nuclear cruise missile and saw all the accidents that accompanied them. “In any case, if Russia ever attacks the United States, it will be met with overwhelming force,” the official concluded.

Experts in Russia did not stand aside either. Thus, The Insider took a comment from the head of the Institute of Space Problems, Ivan Moiseev, who considered that a cruise missile cannot have a nuclear engine.

“Such things are impossible, and, in general, not necessary. You cannot put a nuclear engine on a cruise missile. Yes, and there are no such engines. There is one such megawatt-class engine in development, but it is a space engine and, of course, no tests could be carried out in 2017,” Moiseev told the publication.

“There were some similar developments in the Soviet Union, but all ideas to put nuclear engines on air rather than space vehicles - airplanes, cruise missiles - were discarded in the 50s of the last century,” he added.

The USSR did have nuclear power plants for missiles. Work on their creation began in 1947. America did not lag behind the USSR. In 1961, John Kennedy named the program to create a rocket with a nuclear rocket engine one of the four priority areas in the conquest of space. But since funding was focused on the Lunar program, there was not enough money to develop a nuclear engine, and the program was closed.

Unlike the USA Soviet Union continued work on nuclear engines. They were developed by scientists such as Mstislav Keldysh, Igor Kurchatov and Sergei Korolev, who, unlike the expert from the Institute of Space Problems, assessed the possibilities of creating rockets with nuclear power sources quite highly.

In 1978, the first nuclear rocket engine 11B91 was launched, followed by two more series of tests - the second and third devices 11B91-IR-100.

In short, the USSR acquired satellites with nuclear power sources. On January 24, 1978, a huge international scandal broke out. Kosmos-954, a Soviet nuclear-powered space reconnaissance satellite, crashed into Canada. power plant on board. Some territories were recognized as radioactively contaminated. There were no casualties among the population. It turned out that the satellite was closely monitored by American intelligence, which knew that the device had a nuclear power source.

Because of the scandal, the USSR had to abandon launches of such satellites for almost three years and seriously improve the radiation safety system.

On August 30, 1982, another spy satellite was launched from Baikonur with nuclear engine- Cosmos-1402. After completing the task, the device was destroyed by the reactor's radiation safety system, which was previously absent.

Moscow. March 12. website - Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Yuri Borisov, in an interview published on Monday with the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper, spoke about the latest Russian weapons, which on March 1 became one of Vladimir Putin’s main topics for the Federal Assembly.

Nuclear powered cruise missile

Among other new products, the president has a nuclear-powered cruise missile. According to him, no other country in the world has anything like this yet.

“It can practically be detected as it approaches the target, and its maneuver capabilities make the cruise missile also invulnerable. It can carry a load to any distance. It can fly for days,” the Deputy Minister of Defense told Krasnaya Zvezda.

“We probably managed to do this for the first time. Thank you very much to our nuclear scientists, who made this fairy tale a practical reality. Last year, comprehensive tests were carried out, they confirmed all the approaches that were incorporated into this cruise missile,” Borisov continued.

He clarified that during the tests, the capabilities of bringing a nuclear power plant to a given power level were confirmed. The Deputy Minister explained that the rocket starts on conventional powder engines, and then is launched nuclear installation, and the launch should occur in a short period of time.

“The uniqueness of this missile is that it may be slower compared to the hypersonic Kinzhal, but it flies along a given trajectory, skirting folds of terrain at low altitude, which makes it difficult to detect,” Borisov said.

Hypersonic complex "Avangard"

The representative of the military department also paid attention to the Avangard hypersonic complex. According to him, the system has been well tested and the Ministry of Defense has a contract for its mass production. “So this is not a bluff, but real things,” Borisov claims.

He noted that when creating the Avangard, Russian scientists had to overcome a number of difficulties related to the fact that the temperature on the surface of the warhead reaches 2 thousand degrees. “It really flies in plasma. Therefore, the problem of controlling this object and protection issues were very acute, but solutions were found,” Borisov noted.

ICBM "Sarmat"

The Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) should replace the Voevoda ICBM, the deputy minister continued.

"It is understood that, unlike its predecessors, it can also be equipped with hypersonic units, which increase the problem of its interception by an order of magnitude anti-missile systems", he said.

According to Borisov, all practical, scientific, technical and production problems have already been solved, and the necessary production capacities have been prepared.

“Last year, the throwing tests went well. They will certainly continue, because, as you know, rocket technology requires increased reliability. This is very formidable weapon, and it is required to guarantee its 100% application. Therefore, a large number of tests is, of course, normal practice,” Borisov said.

According to him, the launch weight of the Sarmat rocket will exceed 200 tons.

"She can fly through both the Northern and South pole due to the fact that its range of application is significantly increased in relation to the Voevoda. And the opportunity to deduce serious payload allows us to use various “fillings” - warheads that, together with heavy decoys, quite effectively overcome all kinds of missile defense elements,” he said.

“The most attractive thing, of course, is to shoot down a ballistic missile at launch, when it is in the active phase of the flight. Our new Sarmat has this active phase much smaller than its progenitor Voyevoda. This is what makes the new ICBM less vulnerable,” - Borisov said.

Disposal of "Voevoda"

In the near future, the Russian military will begin dismantling the Voevoda ICBM (according to NATO classification - SS-18 Satan).

"About this strategic missile everyone has heard it well, and in our country she is nicknamed “Voevoda”, and in the West she is called “Satan”. It was developed back in the mid-1980s and is on combat duty, but time passes, technology moves forward, and this system becomes obsolete. She's already at the finish line life cycle...", explained Borisov.

Meanwhile, last December, the commander of the Strategic Missile Forces, Colonel General Sergei Karakaev, stated that Voevoda would remain in combat strength Missile Forces strategic purpose(Strategic Missile Forces) until 2024. He said that the complexes could remain on combat duty after that, until 2025-2027.

Nuclear underwater drone

An underwater vehicle with a nuclear power plant, which the president described with the words “this is simply fantastic,” makes it possible to create on its basis a torpedo with record size and weight characteristics, Borisov said.

He clarified that the device can dive to a depth of over 1 thousand meters and maneuver while moving towards the intended target, moving almost autonomously.

“It does not require any correction, i.e. gyroscopy and guidance system allow it to approach the target with sufficiently high accuracy, quickly, “without evidence.” I don’t know today any means that can stop this weapon, because even the speed characteristics it is many times higher than that of existing surface and underwater assets, including torpedo weapon", said Borisov.

He called the new weapon unique, opening up completely different opportunities for the defense and security of the Russian Federation. According to him, unlike the current nuclear submarines, to bring the new device to a given reactor power, it takes a matter of seconds, not several hours.

Hypersonic complexes "Dagger"

Finally, speaking of hypersonic missile systems“Dagger,” Borisov noted that they can destroy both stationary and moving targets, including aircraft carriers and ships of the cruiser, destroyer, and frigate class.

In addition to hypersonic speed, Kinzhal has the ability to bypass everything hazardous areas air or missile defense. “It is the ability to maneuver in hypersonic flight that makes it possible to ensure the invulnerability of this product and a guaranteed hit on the target,” said the deputy minister.

He recalled that since December last year, the first “Daggers” were put into experimental combat operation and are already on duty.

Nuclear rocket engine- a rocket engine whose operating principle is based on a nuclear reaction or radioactive decay, in this case, energy is released that heats the working fluid, which can be reaction products or some other substance, such as hydrogen.

There are several types of rocket engines that use the principle of operation described above: nuclear, radioisotope, thermonuclear. Using nuclear rocket engines, it is possible to obtain specific impulse values ​​significantly higher than those that can be achieved by chemical rocket engines. High value specific impulse is explained high speed the outflow of the working fluid is about 8-50 km/s. The thrust force of a nuclear engine is comparable to that of chemical engines, which will make it possible in the future to replace all chemical engines with nuclear ones.

The main obstacle to complete replacement is radioactive contamination environment, which is caused by nuclear rocket engines.

They are divided into two types - solid and gas phase. In the first type of engines, fissile material is placed in rod assemblies with a developed surface. This makes it possible to effectively heat a gaseous working fluid, usually hydrogen acts as a working fluid. Flow rate is limited maximum temperature working fluid, which, in turn, directly depends on the maximum permissible temperature of the structural elements, and it does not exceed 3000 K. In gas-phase nuclear rocket engines, the fissile substance is in a gaseous state. Its retention in the working area is carried out through the influence of an electromagnetic field. For this type of nuclear rocket engines, the structural elements are not a limiting factor, so the exhaust speed of the working fluid can exceed 30 km/s. They can be used as first stage engines, despite the leakage of fissile material.

In the 70s XX century In the USA and the Soviet Union, nuclear rocket engines with fissile matter in the solid phase were actively tested. In the United States, a program was being developed to create an experimental nuclear rocket engine as part of the NERVA program.

The Americans developed a graphite reactor cooled by liquid hydrogen, which was heated, evaporated and ejected through a rocket nozzle. The choice of graphite was due to its temperature resistance. According to this project, the specific impulse of the resulting engine should have been twice as high as the corresponding figure characteristic of chemical engines, with a thrust of 1100 kN. The Nerva reactor was supposed to work as part of the third stage of the Saturn V launch vehicle, but due to the closure lunar program and the lack of other tasks for rocket engines of this class, the reactor was never tested in practice.

A gas-phase nuclear rocket engine is currently in the theoretical development stage. A gas-phase nuclear engine involves using plutonium, whose slow-moving gas stream is surrounded by a faster flow of cooling hydrogen. On orbital space stations MIR and ISS conducted experiments that could give impetus to further development gas-phase engines.

Today we can say that Russia has slightly “frozen” its research in the field of nuclear propulsion systems. The work of Russian scientists is more focused on the development and improvement of basic components and assemblies of nuclear power plants, as well as their unification. The priority direction for further research in this area is the creation of nuclear power propulsion systems capable of operating in two modes. The first is the nuclear rocket engine mode, and the second is the installation mode of generating electricity to power the equipment installed on board the spacecraft.

On August 6th, 1945, the first nuclear weapon was used against the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Three days later, the city of Nagasaki was subjected to a second strike, and currently the last in human history. They tried to justify these bombings on the grounds that they ended the war with Japan and prevented further losses of millions of lives. In total, the two bombs killed approximately 240,000 people and ushered in a new atomic age. From 1945 until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the world experienced cold war and constant anticipation of the possible nuclear strike between the United States and the Soviet Union. During this time, the parties built thousands of nuclear weapons, from small bombs and cruise missiles, to large intercontinental ballistic warheads (ICBM) and naval ballistic missiles(SLBM). Britain, France and China have added their own nuclear arsenals to this stockpile. Today, the fear of nuclear annihilation is much less than in the 1970s, but several countries still possess large arsenals of these destructive weapons.

Despite agreements aimed at limiting the number of missiles, nuclear powers continue to develop and improve their inventory and delivery methods. Advances in the development of missile defense systems have led some countries to increase the development of new and more effective missiles. There is a threat of a new arms race between the world's superpowers. This list contains the ten most destructive nuclear missile systems currently in service in the world. Accuracy, range, number of warheads, warhead yield and mobility are the factors that make these systems so destructive and dangerous. This list is presented without a certain order because these nuclear missiles do not always share the same mission or target. One missile may be designed to destroy a city, while another type may be designed to destroy enemy missile silos. Additionally, this list does not include missiles currently being tested or not officially deployed. Thus, missile systems India's Agni-V and China's JL-2, which are being tested step-by-step and ready for service this year, are not included. Israel's Jericho III is also not included, since little is known about this missile at all. It is important to keep in mind when reading this list that the size of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs were equivalent to 16 kilotons (x1000) and 21 kilotons TNT respectively.

M51, France

After the United States and Russia, France deploys the third largest nuclear arsenal in the world. In addition to nuclear bombs and cruise missiles, France relies on its SLBMs as its primary nuclear deterrent. The M51 missile is the most advanced component. It entered service in 2010 and is currently installed on the Triomphant class of submarines. The missile has a range of approximately 10,000 km and is capable of carrying 6 to 10 warheads per 100 kt. The circular excursion probable (CEP) of the missile is noted to be between 150 and 200 meters. This means that the warhead has a 50% chance of striking within 150-200 meters of the target. The M51 is equipped with a variety of systems that make attempts to intercept warheads much more difficult.

DF-31/31A, China

The Dong Feng 31 is a road-mobile and bunker-series intercontinental ICBM system deployed by China since 2006. Original model This missile carried a large 1 megaton warhead and had a range of 8,000 km. The probable deflection of the missile is 300 m. The improved 31 A has three 150 kt warheads and is capable of covering a distance of 11,000 km, with a probable deflection of 150 m. An additional fact is that these missiles can be moved and launched from a mobile launch vehicle, which makes them even more dangerous.

Topol-M, Russia

Known as the SS-27 by NATO, the Topol-M was introduced into Russian service in 1997. Intercontinental missile based in bunkers, but several Poplars are also mobile. The missile is currently armed with a single 800 kt warhead, but can be equipped with a maximum of six warheads and decoys. WITH maximum speed At 7.3 km per second, with a relatively flat flight path and a probable deflection of approximately 200 m, the Topol-M is very effective nuclear missile, which is difficult to stop in flight. The difficulty of tracking mobile units makes it a more effective weapon system worthy of this list.

RS-24 Yars, Russia

The Bush Administration's plans to develop a missile defense network in Eastern Europe angered leaders in the Kremlin. Despite the statement that the shield for protection against external impacts is not intended against Russia, Russian leaders viewed it as a threat to their own security and decided to develop a new ballistic missile. The result was the development of the RS-24 Yars. This missile is closely related to the Topol-M, but delivers four warheads of 150-300 kilotons and has a deflection of 50 m. Sharing many of the features of the Topol, the Yars can also change direction in flight and carries decoys, making interception by missile defense systems extremely difficult .

LGM-30G Minuteman III, USA

It is the only land-based ICBM deployed by the United States. First deployed in 1970, the LGM-30G Minuteman III was to be replaced by the MX Peacekeeper. That program was canceled and the Pentagon instead spent $7 billion updating and modernizing the existing 450 LGM-30G Active Systems over the past decade. With a speed of almost 8 km/s and a deviation of less than 200 m ( exact number highly classified) the old Minuteman remains formidable nuclear weapons. This missile initially delivered three small warheads. Today, a single warhead of 300-475 kt is used.

RSM 56 Bulava, Russia

The RSM 56 Bulava naval ballistic missile is in Russian service. In terms of naval missiles, the Soviet Union and Russia were somewhat behind the United States in operational efficiency and capability. To correct this shortcoming, the Bulava was created, a more recent addition to the Russian submarine arsenal. The missile was developed for the new Borei-class submarine. After numerous failures during the testing phase, Russia accepted the missile into service in 2013. The Bulava is currently equipped with six 150 kt warheads, although reports say it can carry as many as 10. Like most modern ballistic missiles, the RSM 56 carries multiple decoys to increase survivability in the face of missile defense. The range is approximately 8,000 km when fully loaded, with an estimated deviation of 300-350 meters.

R-29RMU2 Liner, Russia

Latest development V Russian weapons The Liner has been in service since 2014. The missile is effectively an updated version of the previous Russian SLBM (Sineva R-29RMU2), designed to make up for the problems and some shortcomings of the Bulava. The liner has a range of 11,000 km and can carry a maximum of twelve warheads of 100 kt each. Warhead payload can be reduced and replaced with decoys to improve survivability. The warhead's deflection is kept secret, but is likely similar to the 350 meters of the Mace.

UGM-133 Trident II, USA

The current SLBM of the US and British submarine forces is the Trident II. The missile has been in service since 1990 and has been updated and modernized since then. Fully equipped, Trident can carry 14 warheads on board. This number was later reduced, and the missile currently delivers 4-5 475 kt warheads. The maximum range depends on the warhead load and varies between 7,800 and 11,000 km. The US Navy required a deviation probability of no more than 120 meters for the missile to be accepted for service. Numerous reports and military journals often state that the Trident's deflection actually exceeded this requirement by a fairly significant factor.

DF-5/5A, China

Compared to other missiles on this list, the Chinese DF-5/5A can be considered a gray workhorse. The rocket does not stand out either in appearance or complexity, but at the same time it is capable of completing any given task. The DF-5 entered service in 1981 as a message to any potential enemies that China was not planning preemptive strikes but would punish anyone who attacked it. This ICBM can carry a huge 5 mt warhead and has a range of over 12,000 km. The DF-5 has a deflection of approximately 1 km, which means that the missile has one purpose - to destroy cities. The warhead's size, deflection and the fact that it only takes an hour to fully prepare for launch all mean that the DF-5 is a punitive weapon, designed to punish any would-be attackers. The 5A version has increased range, improved 300m deflection and the ability to carry multiple warheads.

R-36M2 "Voevoda"

R-36M2 “Voevoda” is a missile that in the West is called nothing less than Satan, and there are good reasons for this. First deployed in 1974, the Dnepropetrovsk-developed R-36 has undergone many changes since then, including the relocation of the warhead. The latest modification of this missile, the R-36M2 can carry ten 750 kt warheads and has a range of approximately 11,000 km. With a maximum speed of almost 8 km/s and a probable deflection of 220 m, Satan is a weapon that has caused great concern to US military planners. There would have been much more concern if Soviet planners had been given the green light to field one version of this missile, which would have had 38 250 kt warheads. Russia plans to retire all of these missiles by 2019.


In continuation, visit a selection of the most powerful weapons in history, which contains not only missiles.

Journalists that Russia is preparing to flight test prototypes of the advanced nuclear-powered Burevestnik cruise missile. The department indicated that a stealth cruise missile with a virtually unlimited range, carrying a nuclear warhead, is invulnerable to all existing and future systems of both missile defense and air defense.

The editors of TASS-DOSSIER prepared reference material about projects for the use of nuclear engines in cruise missiles.

Nuclear engines

The idea of ​​using nuclear engines in aviation and astronautics arose in the 1950s, shortly after the creation of controlled atomic reaction technology. The advantage of such an engine is long time operation on a compact fuel source that is practically not consumed during flight, which means an unlimited flight range. The downsides were heavy weight and dimensions nuclear reactors of that time, the difficulty of recharging them, the need to provide biological protection for operating personnel. Since the early 1950s, scientists in the USSR and the USA have independently studied the possibility of creating different types nuclear engines:

• nuclear ramjet engine (NRJE): in it, the air entering through the air intake enters the reactor core, heats up and is thrown out through the nozzle, creating the necessary thrust;
• nuclear turbojet engine: operates according to a similar scheme, but the air is compressed by a compressor before entering the reactor;
• nuclear rocket engine: thrust is created by the reactor heating the working fluid, hydrogen, ammonia, other gases or liquids, which are then thrown into the nozzle;
• nuclear pulse engine: jet thrust is created by alternating nuclear explosions low power;
• electric jet engine: the electricity generated by the reactor is used to heat the working fluid to the state of plasma.

The most suitable engines for cruise missiles and aircraft are the ramjet or turbojet engine. In cruise missile projects, preference has traditionally been given to the first option.

In the USSR, work on the creation of a nuclear ramjet engine was carried out by OKB-670 under the leadership of Mikhail Bondaryuk. The nuclear-powered jet engine was intended to modify the Burya intercontinental cruise missile (product 375), which had been designed by OKB-301 under the leadership of Semyon Lavochkin since 1954. The launch weight of the rocket reached 95 tons, the range was supposed to be 8 thousand km. However, in 1960, a few months after Lavochkin’s death, the “conventional” Burya cruise missile project was closed. The creation of a rocket with a nuclear-propelled jet engine never went beyond the scope of preliminary design.

Subsequently, specialists from OKB-670 (renamed the Krasnaya Zvezda Design Bureau) began creating nuclear rocket engines for space and combat ballistic missiles, but none of the projects reached the testing stage. After Bondaryuk's death, work on aviation nuclear engines was virtually stopped.

They were returned to them only in 1978, when a design bureau was formed at the Research Institute of Thermal Processes from former specialists"Red Star", which was engaged in ramjet engines. One of their developments was a nuclear ramjet engine for a more compact cruise missile compared to the Burya (launch weight up to 20 tons). As the media wrote, “the studies conducted showed the fundamental possibility of implementing the project.” However, its trials have not been reported.

The design bureau itself existed under different names(NPVO "Plamya", OKB "Plamya-M") until 2004, after which it was closed.

US experience

Since the mid-1950s, scientists at the Livermore Radiation Laboratory in California, as part of Project Pluto, have been developing a nuclear ramjet engine for a supersonic cruise missile.

By the early 1960s, several prototypes of nuclear-powered jet engines had been created, the first of which, Tory-IIA, was tested in May 1961. In 1964, testing began on a new modification of the engine - Tory-IIC, which was able to operate for five minutes, showing thermal power about 500 MW and a thrust of 16 tons.

However, the project was soon closed. It is traditionally believed that the reason for this in both the USA and the USSR was successful creation intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear warheads to enemy territory. In this situation, intercontinental cruise missiles could not withstand the competition.

In Russia

On March 1, 2018, speaking with a message to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that at the end of 2017 at the Central training ground Russian Federation The latest nuclear-powered cruise missile, the flight range of which “is virtually unlimited,” was successfully tested. Its development began after the US withdrawal from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in December 2001. The rocket received the name “Burevestnik” on March 22, 2018, based on the results of an open vote on the website of the Ministry of Defense.