Ballistic missile "Sineva": characteristics, description

As early as the 19th century, the first attempts were made to place missiles on submarines. The idea belongs to the Russian engineer K. A. Schilder. According to his project at the Alexander Foundry in March 1834, a "rocket" submarine was built. But it was never adopted by the Russian Imperial Fleet. However, the very idea of delivering missiles secretly on submarines was developed in the workings of other military engineers. Particularly interesting from this point of view is the Sineva rocket.

Submarine weapons of retribution

III Reich also tried to realize the idea of launching missiles from a submarine in practice. So, in the center of Penemund in the summer of 1942, the U-511 submarine was re-equipped for this purpose. For this missile - high-explosive mines of caliber 280mm and 210mm - have been refined.

Also tests were conducted, in which shooting was carried out from depths of 9 to 15 meters. At the same time, the maximum range of the missile was within 4 km.

The results of the firing were so successful that the test report indicated the possibility of a covert attack by German submarines on the American coast.

Project "Wave"

When solving the problems of launching missiles from submarines, it was necessary to take into account many components. These include:

• Rocket technology;
• Underwater shipbuilding;
• Rocket launch;
• In-flight control.

The project to solve these problems received the cipher "Wave", and already in October 1948 engineer V. Ganin was awarded the author's certificate for the invention. It was noted that it was possible to launch missiles from different positions:

• Horizontal,
• Vertical,
• Inclined.

The basis for all missiles was the world's first operational-tactical R-11. She had a number of advantages:

• Long-term presence in the filled condition;
• Small size;
• The use of nitric acid-based components as an oxidizing agent.

All this helped to simplify the operation of such weapons.

Underwater launch, in which a liquid rocket R-21 was used, occurred in the USSR. It was in the 1960s. At the same time, the launch of missiles from submarines became possible from underwater depths of 40 to 50 meters.

"Sineva"

The unique mechanism is the R-29RM, which is better known as the Sineva ballistic missile .

It allowed to solve several problems:

• Correction of the course by signals of satellites;
• The flight path varied depending on the range;
• The ability to arbitrarily assign different targets to warheads;
• Application of the rocket in the Arctic.

The possibility of firing from the North Pole was demonstrated in September 2006 by the Yekaterinburg missile carrier. At launch, the Sineva rocket was used.

Underwater "Tula"

The idea of placing long-range projectiles on the submarine was fully embodied on the nuclear submarine cruiser Tula.

In order to install the Sineva rocket (R-29 PMU2), from June 2000 to April 21, 2004, Tula underwent a profound modernization, which helped increase the stealthiness of submarines. Radio-technical weapons were improved. The ship's survivability system, which also includes nuclear safety, is also improved.

"Tula" has an underwater speed of 24 knots (44 km / h) with a maximum depth of immersion of 650 meters. In autonomous navigation, it can be 90 days with a crew of 140 people.

The armament of the submarine is also solid. In addition to the Sineva ballistic missile (R-29 PMU2) and 16 launchers, the submarine is equipped with torpedo tubes. Also on board there are MANPADS "Igla-1" (9K310).

In order to have an idea of the dimensions of a nuclear submarine of the Tula class, we can also mention the largest length (according to the KVL) - 167.4 meters! The length of the football field, for example, 120 meters.

After the modernization of the nuclear submarine, Tula carried out the launch of the Sineva missile in the Barents Sea area by targets in the equatorial region of the Pacific Ocean. After overcoming 11,547 km, the targets were successfully hit.

Characteristics of "Blue"

The rocket is a three-stage, made on a compacted scheme, in which the stages are arranged in series. March engines are "drowned" in tanks LRE, united by a single assembly, in which the tank system is common.

With a rocket mass of 40.3 tons, the length is 14.8 meters. For placement in the launcher of the submarine, the diameter is brought to 1.9 m, while the mass of only the main part is equal to 2.8 tons.

One of the characteristics of the missile is its main head, which consists of four and ten blocks. In this case, each of them has individual guidance.

If missiles are used in a non-nuclear conflict, then the main part is equipped with high-explosive warfare, the mass of which is about 2 tons. Such systems have an exceptional feature - an ultra-precise defeat of goals.

The Sineva rocket, the characteristics of which we are considering, can be equipped with a nuclear warhead of ultra-small calibers (in TNT equivalent of 50 tons). This allows you to apply point strikes in a given area.

"Sighting" range of fire

The Sineva intercontinental rocket was included in the D-9RM missile system. They are in the arsenal of the Project 667BRM nuclear submarine (according to NATO classification Delta-IV).

The complex itself was accepted for industrial development in 1986. But already from 1996 to 1999, the production of rockets ceased. And in 1999, their production was again resumed in a modernized version.

After improvement, the range of the Sineva rocket exceeded the performance of American systems of this class (Trident 2), which can overcome the barrier of 11 thousand kilometers. Such a reserve in range is not possessed by any missile in the world.

At the same time, it is officially recognized that the range of the "Sineva" is 8,300 km. From which boats were launches of rockets of blue?

The commander-in-chief of the Russian Navy Vladimir Vysotsky was informed that the submarines armed with nuclear submarines, which are on duty in the World Ocean, are armed with missiles of this modification. In total, the Russian Navy received 7 missile carriers of such a project.

"Mace"

The intercontinental ballistic missile Bulava is supposed to be equipped with a Borey-class nuclear submarine, which has 12 missile silos.

This system was characterized by characteristics with ground-based Topol-M missile systems. At the same time the radius of the flight "Bulava" reaches 8,000 km, with a rocket mass of 36.8 tons. The nuclear warhead has separable warheads. The inclined start allows to make underwater start on "a course".

According to their characteristics, the "Bulava" and "Sineva" missiles are very close and differ only in the type of the propulsion engine. In "Bulava" it is solid fuel, and "Sineva" has a liquid one. At the same time, it should be noted that a liquid engine is used in the final phase of the Bulava missile flight, which provides additional opportunities for speeding up and maneuvering.

Peaceful use of ballistic missiles

Under the conversion program, boat ballistic missiles served as the basis for designing such carriers as "Wave" and "Calm".

Of course, they lose their capabilities to Soyuz and Proton, but they are very well suited for launching a spacecraft into a low Earth orbit.

Such complexes as "Calm" and "Wave" gained wide popularity due to the fact that they were created on the basis of the R-29R (the Sineva rocket).

In 1991-1993, submariners of Russia produced three launches of such missiles on suborbital trajectories.

What else is interesting? Conversion missiles such as "Sineva" even hit the Guinness World Records as the fastest mail.

On June 7, 1995, with the help of an R-29P carrier, a rocket with a set of scientific equipment was launched by the Russian nuclear-powered ship Ryazan. On its board also posted and mail correspondence. After 20 minutes, flying 9,000 km, the capsule was successfully delivered to Kamchatka.