Kilotons on autopilot
The prospects for UAVs are very broad. In principle, it is possible that their use as carriers of certain types of nuclear weapons. Experience is available, although not very successful.
During the Cold War, NATO commanders were haunted by thoughts not only about Russian hordes rushing to the English Channel tanks, which were supposed to be stopped by the nuclear bombs laid right in front of the peaceful burghers in the special wells, right under the nose. Another numerous misfortune - the red submarines, which, in the view of the same generals were swarming with the waters of the World Ocean, were supposed to be "jammed" in a variety of, sometimes very unusual ways. Here it is necessary to make a remark that our generals were experts on all kinds of anti-submarine notions. For example, the Strategic Missile Forces were preparing to strike at those areas in the ocean, where there could be enemy nuclear submarines with ballistic missiles. It was believed that ICBM warheads, mercilessly boiling the sea, could well destroy submarines. It seems that in the USA they have not thought of this before.
But back to the NATO headache. The Soviet Union really created a powerful submarine fleet. According to Western experts, the USSR has deployed 1965 submarines by 357, of which 44 are atomic. Subsequently, the overall quantitative index remained more or less stable, but the share of submarines grew steadily. According to official domestic data presented to the UN General Assembly, at 1 in July of 1988, the Soviet Union had 376 submarines. And at the time of the collapse of the USSR, he had 58 SSBNs, 113 multipurpose SSNs (including cruise missiles), and 114 diesel boats, including those equipped with cruise and ballistic missiles.
The Pentagon was concerned with the second half of 50's response to this constantly evolving challenge, and therefore the United States was very careful about the formulation of tactical and technical requirements for anti-submarine weapons and the corresponding proposals of its developers.
A dream of a miser admiral
Gyrodyne proposed an original solution based on the previously created single rotorcycle helicopter. The QH-50 unmanned submarine hunter was a lightweight model (take-off weight of just over a thousand kilograms) of a coaxial scheme with a turboshaft engine equipped with telecontrol equipment. It was supposed to be based on ships. This anti-submarine weapon system fleet called Drone Antisubmarine Helicopter - DASH (the abbreviation echoes the English dash, which can be translated as a jerk or rush). The American admirals liked the idea. Rotorcraft allowed to do without large ship hangars. In addition, the idea of the absence in this case of the cost of training and the maintenance of helicopter crews seemed attractive. Serious cost savings were expected, given the ability to equip such helicopters with a significant number (more than a hundred) of Giering, Carpenter, and Allen M. Sumner destroyers of the old construction surviving by the 1960s. They were modernized according to the FRAM (Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization) program, which had primarily an anti-submarine profile.
Launching from a ship, the helicopter of the QH-50С series model was to be radar-guided to a predetermined area and dropped the small-sized self-guided anti-submarine torpedo Mk324 (or two Mk46) in the intended 44 square. And in the QH-50D modification - and something more impressive: the depth charge bomb with a W-44 nuclear charge of 10 kiloton power, which was a variant of the ASROC anti-ship missile warhead. The highest probability of hitting a submarine with torpedoes was provided when the helicopter was removed from the ship at a distance of about 10 kilometers, and in general the combat radius of action was up to 30 kilometers. The maximum speed of the "helipad" was about 150 kilometers per hour, cruising - 90, practical ceiling - up to 5000 meters.
Nuclear losses
This original machine, the Yankees could be proud, but only the electronic brains failed. During operation, it turned out that the control system in the onboard equipment part has the habit of unexpectedly refusing flight. And they released DES of various modifications in 1962 – 1969's 755 pieces. Of these, about half were lost - mainly due to electronic failures.
The fiasco with the DASH program led to the fact that by 1970 almost all such drones written off. And even then, to say that, having gone crazy in a combat situation, his own unmanned helicopter with a nuclear charge under his belly promised to turn the worst dream of some American admiral into an even more nightmarish reality. And the command of the US Navy has not escaped stress due to incidents with nuclear weapons. In 1965, in the Pacific Ocean, the A-4 Skyhawk carrier-based attack aircraft with a suspended nuclear bomb rolled out from the aircraft carrier's aircraft carrier, flopped into the water and drowned along with the pilot. In 1967, Viet Cong mortars covered (a unique case!) The destroyer Ozborn (DD-846 Ozbourn), which was imprudently maneuvering off the coast, knocking out a couple of nuclear-armed ASROC anti-submarine missiles. Interestingly, Osborn was also equipped with a DASH system.
The fleet decided to abandon the wayward technology, leaving a few DEH for use as unmanned reconnaissance aircraft on ships off the coast of Vietnam. Two dozen of these drones managed to sniff the Land of the Rising Sun, and the Japanese soldiers, who did not have any nuclear weapons, of course, failed with the miracle of overseas science and technology until the year 1977. The DASH system was never able to become an alternative to manned anti-submarine helicopters. However, this does not mean that the idea itself has outlived itself - apparently, it just passed its time.
During the Cold War, NATO commanders were haunted by thoughts not only about Russian hordes rushing to the English Channel tanks, which were supposed to be stopped by the nuclear bombs laid right in front of the peaceful burghers in the special wells, right under the nose. Another numerous misfortune - the red submarines, which, in the view of the same generals were swarming with the waters of the World Ocean, were supposed to be "jammed" in a variety of, sometimes very unusual ways. Here it is necessary to make a remark that our generals were experts on all kinds of anti-submarine notions. For example, the Strategic Missile Forces were preparing to strike at those areas in the ocean, where there could be enemy nuclear submarines with ballistic missiles. It was believed that ICBM warheads, mercilessly boiling the sea, could well destroy submarines. It seems that in the USA they have not thought of this before.
But back to the NATO headache. The Soviet Union really created a powerful submarine fleet. According to Western experts, the USSR has deployed 1965 submarines by 357, of which 44 are atomic. Subsequently, the overall quantitative index remained more or less stable, but the share of submarines grew steadily. According to official domestic data presented to the UN General Assembly, at 1 in July of 1988, the Soviet Union had 376 submarines. And at the time of the collapse of the USSR, he had 58 SSBNs, 113 multipurpose SSNs (including cruise missiles), and 114 diesel boats, including those equipped with cruise and ballistic missiles.
The Pentagon was concerned with the second half of 50's response to this constantly evolving challenge, and therefore the United States was very careful about the formulation of tactical and technical requirements for anti-submarine weapons and the corresponding proposals of its developers.
A dream of a miser admiral
Gyrodyne proposed an original solution based on the previously created single rotorcycle helicopter. The QH-50 unmanned submarine hunter was a lightweight model (take-off weight of just over a thousand kilograms) of a coaxial scheme with a turboshaft engine equipped with telecontrol equipment. It was supposed to be based on ships. This anti-submarine weapon system fleet called Drone Antisubmarine Helicopter - DASH (the abbreviation echoes the English dash, which can be translated as a jerk or rush). The American admirals liked the idea. Rotorcraft allowed to do without large ship hangars. In addition, the idea of the absence in this case of the cost of training and the maintenance of helicopter crews seemed attractive. Serious cost savings were expected, given the ability to equip such helicopters with a significant number (more than a hundred) of Giering, Carpenter, and Allen M. Sumner destroyers of the old construction surviving by the 1960s. They were modernized according to the FRAM (Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization) program, which had primarily an anti-submarine profile.Launching from a ship, the helicopter of the QH-50С series model was to be radar-guided to a predetermined area and dropped the small-sized self-guided anti-submarine torpedo Mk324 (or two Mk46) in the intended 44 square. And in the QH-50D modification - and something more impressive: the depth charge bomb with a W-44 nuclear charge of 10 kiloton power, which was a variant of the ASROC anti-ship missile warhead. The highest probability of hitting a submarine with torpedoes was provided when the helicopter was removed from the ship at a distance of about 10 kilometers, and in general the combat radius of action was up to 30 kilometers. The maximum speed of the "helipad" was about 150 kilometers per hour, cruising - 90, practical ceiling - up to 5000 meters.
Nuclear losses
This original machine, the Yankees could be proud, but only the electronic brains failed. During operation, it turned out that the control system in the onboard equipment part has the habit of unexpectedly refusing flight. And they released DES of various modifications in 1962 – 1969's 755 pieces. Of these, about half were lost - mainly due to electronic failures.
The fiasco with the DASH program led to the fact that by 1970 almost all such drones written off. And even then, to say that, having gone crazy in a combat situation, his own unmanned helicopter with a nuclear charge under his belly promised to turn the worst dream of some American admiral into an even more nightmarish reality. And the command of the US Navy has not escaped stress due to incidents with nuclear weapons. In 1965, in the Pacific Ocean, the A-4 Skyhawk carrier-based attack aircraft with a suspended nuclear bomb rolled out from the aircraft carrier's aircraft carrier, flopped into the water and drowned along with the pilot. In 1967, Viet Cong mortars covered (a unique case!) The destroyer Ozborn (DD-846 Ozbourn), which was imprudently maneuvering off the coast, knocking out a couple of nuclear-armed ASROC anti-submarine missiles. Interestingly, Osborn was also equipped with a DASH system.
The fleet decided to abandon the wayward technology, leaving a few DEH for use as unmanned reconnaissance aircraft on ships off the coast of Vietnam. Two dozen of these drones managed to sniff the Land of the Rising Sun, and the Japanese soldiers, who did not have any nuclear weapons, of course, failed with the miracle of overseas science and technology until the year 1977. The DASH system was never able to become an alternative to manned anti-submarine helicopters. However, this does not mean that the idea itself has outlived itself - apparently, it just passed its time.
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