Tactical rocket "Tochka-U": characteristics

On July 29, 2014, the American news channel CNN informed the whole world that the ballistic missile "Tochka-U", launched during the hostilities conducted by Ukraine, was not to cross the state border. At least that was the meaning of the mysterious message. Why could there be an assumption that the purpose of the launch could be an object in the territory of another country? Which one? And if the goal was in Ukraine, why use ballistic missiles to destroy it? There are many questions ...

Whatever it was, but precisely because of these events, the public had an interest in the tactical complex "Tochka-U".

Diplomatic incident

One of the main questions was how likely is the mistake made when the missile is aimed at the target? To answer it, it is necessary to understand the structure of this type of weapons.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine immediately announced their non-involvement, calling at once three reasons why it was impossible to do so. First, there are no ballistic missiles in the arsenal of the APU. Secondly, they did not get anywhere. And thirdly, the Ukrainian army did not use them. Then, at the initiative of the US State Department, a meeting of his representatives with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov took place, at which the latter was once again assured that the blow was not applied across the territory of the Russian Federation. The incident was formally exhausted, although the "Tochka-U" missile, incidentally, is in the arsenal of the Ukrainian army, is well suited to the definition of the mysterious "precision weapons", which Prime Minister Yatseniuk tried to frighten the leaders of the People's Democratic Republic of NN and LNR. At least, the APU, obviously, does not possess anything more precise.

I really did not manage to get into anything. But this does not mean that there was no attempt. Military experts are building various bold assumptions, finding certain parallels between the successful reflection of the Israeli missile attack by the Syrian missile defense system and this incident. The most plausible is the version according to which four Ukrainian "Tochka-U" missiles are shot down by Russian defense systems. Documentary evidence of this is not, but some known facts suggest this.

So what kind of rocket is this and where did it come from in Ukraine? When and where were they produced? How old are the newest samples? What are the characteristics of this type of weapons? How should they be applied and for what purpose were they created? What warheads can it carry? Who can manage this complex?

This article will answer these and other questions clearly and without undue detail.

Tactical missiles and a modified military concept

All nuclear forces are divided into two main categories. Strategic missiles, the underwater nuclear fleet and long-range aviation carry charges that serve to inflict the maximum, destructive damage to the economy of the enemy country in the event of a global conflict. But there are also less powerful tools that solve the tasks of the front-line confrontation - they are called tactical. For these purposes in 1965, Soviet engineers from the KB "Fakel" created a rocket "Tochka". She had good characteristics, but by the end of the sixties they had ceased to meet the demands of the military. When using nuclear warheads, accuracy did not matter much, but at that time changes took place in foreign policy that affected the nature of the defense doctrine. Strategic forces were given the role of a global deterrent and guarantor of the territorial integrity of the countries of the socialist camp, but the number of local conflicts increased. The idea of the use of special charges during the Vietnam or Middle Eastern wars may have visited someone's hotheads, but, fortunately, to no avail. The role of conventional ammunition has increased, therefore, it was required to seriously increase the accuracy of hitting the target. And at the same time, and increase the range. The work was entrusted to the Design Bureau of Machine Building. A secretive institution with a modest name was led by S. P. Invincible. Surname speaking.

New rocket

The design documentation for the previous model of the missile was transferred to the MSC from the MKB "Fakel". These materials proved to be a very important component of the work, saved a lot of time and energy. Many units, assemblies and systems have been preserved, a kind of test bed for which the "Tochka" rocket served. In the new model, other rudders, including gas-jet, disrupted the destabilizer, the technologies of control and guidance were changed. As a result of the hard work of engineers during 1968-1971, serious improvements in performance were achieved, apogee and perigee increased. And - most importantly - hit the target became more accurate. The tests were carried out at the Kapustin Yar Cosmodrome, and in 1973 the State Commission adopted the draft. Production began. The prototypes were manufactured at the Volgograd Barrikady Plant (start-up and control systems) and Votkinsk Machine-Building Plant (the missiles themselves). In series the system went to the plant of heavy engineering in Petropavlovsk. In addition, orders for components were placed at various defense enterprises throughout the country. Official acceptance for service took place in 1975, they were equipped with land forces at the division level.

Further modernization of the complex took place in the mid-eighties. Various climatic conditions of operation were taken into account, for which additional tests were carried out in Transbaikalia and Central Asia.

Tactical missile "Tochka-U" (such was the new name of this weapon) was built in the city of Votkinsk.

Point-P and new guidance systems

The first test launches began in 1971, they were made by factory specialists. For two years, the debugging and final determination of the correspondence of the received data to the state order was carried out. Characteristics are quite arranged a high commission. Deviation from the target did not exceed 250 meters with a minimum range of 15 kilometers and a maximum of 70.

The target designation systems were also improved. "Point-R" could use a passive head to aim at radios and locators, which expanded the range of its use and allowed the use of these weapons to suppress the enemy's air defense or disorientation of the military command and communication systems of the likely enemy. With an area of damage of two hectares, the accuracy increased - now it was 45 meters.

These were very good indicators.

Appointment

Tactical use of weapons implies the possibility of striking small-scale targets, for which the military understands small and large airfields, headquarters, communication centers, warehouses, storage facilities, railway stations, ports and other infrastructure that are of special military importance.

At the same time, the size of such a goal can not be called miniature. The hit of a ballistic missile (even a small one) in a separate structure, a ship, an airplane, a helicopter or a railway car can not go on. The impact is applied over the area, for which an entire arsenal of various combat warheads has been developed.

At the time when the Soviet Army received the Tochka-U missile, the citizens of the USSR learned about international terrorism mainly from the program "Time", and even then only when they were talking about the situation in Ulster. The events of recent decades have shown that this tactical tool can be useful also for fighting bandit formations, in particular, for the destruction of the bases of militants and their training camps. But in no case was the use of the Tochka-U missiles for firing at residential areas of cities or villages. Whatever the accuracy, it is impossible to achieve selective defeat of armed groups of people surrounded by civilians.

By land and water

The missile itself can not be started with a launcher. The system is mobile, it is a column of several vehicles, the number of which varies depending on the task. First, we need a launcher, which directly carries out the launch of the Tochka-U missile. But not for the sake of a single shot created complex! The PU follows a column consisting of a charging and transporting machine, a mobile test and control station and a maintenance workshop. The missiles are transported in special containers designed for the safe transportation of ammunition. The charging machine is equipped with loading and unloading equipment. The equipment and devices are designed to monitor the integrity of systems and units. Almost everything is provided for the occurrence of abnormal situations.

A fuel refueler is only needed if there is a march for long distances (more than 650 km - that's the power reserve). The missile is fueled at the factory, it has a solid fuel engine.

The complex can move almost anywhere, even on water. The speed of a good road is up to 60 km / h, on a primer - up to 40 km / h, on rough terrain - 15 km / h. When water jet engines are used, machines will overcome the water obstacle at a speed of 8 km / h. The motor resource of vehicles is 15 thousand kilometers.

Special charges

"Point-U" is a ballistic missile. Its characteristics, though more modest than those of strategic monsters, are quite sufficient to consider it a possible carrier of special charges. By this term, the military is understood as means of mass destruction, nuclear and chemical. To inflict a blow on the enemy, you need a corresponding head unit, which is also called the combat charging station. Tactical missile "Tochka-U" can be equipped with nuclear charges depending on the required explosion power. Thus, the head part of 9H39 has a trotyl equivalent of up to one hundred kilotons, and 9H64 has up to two hundred.

When using nuclear special forces, which can be equipped with a missile "Tochka-U", the radius of damage (solid), measured from the epicenter, will be over one and a half kilometers.

To conduct tactical chemical warfare, warheads 9N123G and 9N123G2-1 are provided, containing 65 sub-elements of OB in the amount of 60.5 and 50.5 kg respectively ("Zoman").

Conventional Ammunition

The range of blasting ammunition is wider. The warhead of high explosive fragmentation action 9Н123Ф provides the detonation of 162 kg of TNT, which disperses almost fifteen thousand fragments. For the greatest effect, the final maneuver that the "Tochka-U" rocket makes is important. The area of damage up to three hectares is provided by the explosion of the charge at an altitude of 20 meters after the turn from the ballistic trajectory to the regime of practically vertical drop. The axis of the cone of fragment scattering is shifted to expand the firing sector.

The 9N123K cassette head contains fifty elements (each weighing about eight kilograms), stuffed with striking elements totaling close to 16,000. Each of the cassettes represents an analogue of a conventional anti-personnel grenade, only larger. The ammunition destroys the unprotected objects on an area of up to seven hectares.

It is also possible to use the "Tochka-U" missile to scatter agitation literature.

Technical details

For a tactical missile, it is important not only the maximum flight range, but also the minimum. Otherwise, the enemy will be able to approach so close that it will be invulnerable, and therefore especially dangerous. The parabola of the steepest trajectory with a 15-kilometer base is the smallest distance that "Tochka-U" (a ballistic missile) can shoot at. The flight characteristics will be the following: altitude - up to 26 thousand meters, thrust - 9800 kN, time of the engine - up to 28 seconds. Then the flight goes along a ballistic trajectory.

If the goal is over-horizon, then the parameters will be somewhat different. The greatest height (apogee) will be significantly reduced. In 2 minutes 16 seconds the missile will overcome 120 km - this is the maximum range of the "Tochka-U" missile.

To carry out successful shooting, it is also important that the deployment of the combat crew be expeditious. A well-trained crew of the launcher, consisting of four people, is able to transfer the complex from transport to combat condition in 16 minutes, such is the standard. If the need to start is known in advance, then only two minutes after the release of the command to start it will be produced. A warhead weighing almost half a ton will fly to the target. The speed of the "Tochka-U" missile reaches one kilometer per second,

Each type of weapons is designed to solve a certain range of tasks, which, depending on specific conditions, can be more or less broad. The weapon is a kind of tool, in some cases it must be very powerful and rough, and in other situations it is better to use something more subtle and delicate. Tactical ballistic munitions, despite the high accuracy of aiming at the target, can not ensure a clear selectivity of the defeat, therefore, in densely populated areas, they are usually not used.

Practical tactical application

The Tochka-U missile, whose target radius does not exceed 120 kilometers, is perfectly suitable for the destruction of camps and terrorist bases located in the mountains or in the desert. During the first campaign in Chechnya, it was used for its intended purpose, as General G. N. Troshev wrote in his diaries-memoirs (the book was called "Chechen Break"). The tactics of using this ammunition assume that the command has reliable information and accurate target coordinates. Such information in our time can be provided by space reconnaissance (in case of suitable weather over the theater of operations and the absence of clouds obscuring the zone of bombardment). It is not excluded and the use of other sources, if they are obtained from a qualified agency with experience in working with topographic maps.

March 2000, near the village of Komsomolskoye ... It is known that in this area is a camp of militants. The object is well fortified, the level of fortification is such that when a storm is attempted, great losses of personnel are inevitable. Near the village, which, of course, can not be destroyed. The explosion of the "Tochka-U" missile covered the defensive area, and a powerful bandit formation ceased to exist, never joining the battle, which was so carefully prepared. Similar tasks were tackled by tactical missile forces on other sectors of the front, minimizing losses and achieving impressive successes, of which an important part was the excellent training of calculations.

The same high qualification was shown by the crews of Russian divisions during the events of 2008 in South Ossetia. Syrian servicemen are doing quite well with such tasks, suppressing the anti-government insurgency. Their targets are usually the terrorist base in the desert area.

Ukraine can not boast of such accuracy. The missiles "Tochka-U", inherited from this country by the USSR, may have already exhausted their shelf life (it is ten years). In 2000, during the exercises at the Goncharov Range, a launch was launched, which resulted in the death of three and wounded five residents of Brovarov (Kyiv region). The warhead was used for training, without charge, otherwise there could be very many victims.

Maintenance of the complex

The control equipment of the "Tochka" complex is quite complicated. Getting the necessary qualification takes several months, and even in the case of the most favorable circumstances (not the expired storage period, skillful calculation and the lack of active opposition from the enemy), there is no full guarantee of entry from the first launch. The "Tochka-U" missile is not an ultra-precise weapon. Experts argue that the best result can be achieved with the release of four projectiles, one of which with a high degree of probability at the end of the ballistic trajectory will be within a radius measured tens of meters from the target. It should also be taken into account that the standards have changed over the time since the development of this complex. The application of the "Point" to combat detachments of militia insurgents operating near populated areas is not only senseless, but also criminal, especially considering the low skill in missile calculations.