Project "Cedar". Waiting for a promising missile system
In the interests of the strategic missile forces, several research and development work is currently being carried out or planned at once to modernize existing complexes or create new ones. This year it was announced about the upcoming development of the project with the cipher "Cedar". A missile of this type will enter service by the end of the decade, but flight tests have already been reported.
Future news
The first statements that can be linked to the Kedr project were made in December last year. Then the commander of the Strategic Missile Forces, Colonel-General Sergei Karakaev, said that in the short and medium term, the development of new missile systems would begin. At the same time, the main goals of such works were announced, although no details were given. In addition, specific names and indexes were not announced.
On March 1, the TASS agency, referring to its source, announced the start of research and development with the code "Kedr", aimed at creating a new generation strategic missile system. The work involves unnamed enterprises of the military-industrial complex. No details were given due to the fact that the project was at an early stage - “it will be possible to speak substantively” only after the transition of R&D to R&D.
In early April, TASS published new information about the plans for the "Cedar". It was argued that this project is included in the current State Armaments Program, calculated until 2027. The transition to the stage of development work is planned for 2023-24. All work on the project, including flight tests, will be completed by the end of the decade. At the turn of the twenties and thirties, the first "Cedars" will enter the troops. The developer of the project remains unknown, but TASS tried to get a comment from the Moscow Institute of Heat Engineering.
In April, for the first time, some technical details of the project were revealed. According to a TASS source, the Kedr complex will receive a solid-propellant rocket. It is planned to be used in silo and mobile launchers. Thanks to this, the new product will be able to replace the current Yars ICBMs. However, this information has not received official confirmation.
Trials and confusion
The next time the project "Kedr" hit the pages of the press at the end of June. He was remembered in connection with the news on flight tests of a promising rocket. However, it quickly became clear that the latest news had nothing to do with current research and development.
TASS reported on flight tests of an unknown type of missile at the end of June. According to his source, in the middle of the month at the Plesetsk test site, the launch of the "newest intercontinental ballistic missile" developed at MIT took place. The event was successful. Details of these trials were not reported. The organization-developer and the Ministry of Defense did not comment on the news.
In a note about the launch, TASS recalled previous news on the topic of R&D "Cedar" - without indicating any connection between this project and the latest tests. However, soon in the specialized media, Russian-speaking and foreign, publications appeared in which the prototype for recent tests was identified with the Kedr ICBM. However, some of these publications have an ambiguous reputation, which explains the appearance of such "sensations".
Obviously, the Kedr missile system could not be tested in June. Development work on this product will begin no earlier than 2023, and, therefore, flight tests will start only in the second half of the decade. Testing new ideas and solutions for the Kedr research and development project using an experimental rocket of the existing model is also unlikely.
Also, in the wake of the TASS report, other versions appeared. More authoritative publications and blogs suggested that a missile of one of the modernized types could pass the tests. Mentioned ROC with codes "Osina-RV" and "Sirena-M". However, these versions have not received official confirmation.
At the time,
Thus, reports of the recent start of flight tests of the "Kedr" product were premature and ahead of the schedule by about half a decade. Nevertheless, a promising project has already been launched. In the coming years, it will go through a research stage, and no later than 2024, a full-fledged development is expected to start, followed by the manufacture and testing of prototype rockets.
The Kedr project is being carried out with an eye to the medium and long term, and therefore the Strategic Missile Forces and industry have the opportunity not to rush things. The timing of the project and the adoption of missiles into service is determined taking into account the capabilities of the industry, as well as the current and future needs of the troops. In other words, "Kedr" will go into series production and enter the troops in due time - at the time when the Strategic Missile Forces will need it.
Currently, the Russian Strategic Missile Forces operate several types of solid-propellant ICBMs. The oldest is the RT-2PM Topol product, which was put into service at the end of the eighties. Recently, the domestic press reported that in 2024 the last complexes of this type will be removed from service due to the development of a resource and replacement with modern models.
In 2000, the modernized "Topol-M" complex in a mine design entered service. The mobile version began to enter the troops later. According to known data, at the beginning of the tenth years, the army stopped purchasing Topol-M ICBMs and launched full-scale production of newer RS-24 Yars products for mine and mobile complexes. Deliveries of Yars are still ongoing, and now these missiles are one of the main weapons of the Strategic Missile Forces.
It is easy to calculate that by 2030 the age of the newest Topol-M missiles and the oldest Yarsov will reach the level of 20 years. In this regard, measures will be needed to extend the resource or complete replacement of obsolete products. And it is during this period, as reported, that the promising complex "Kedr" of the same class will be ready for the series.
Accordingly, at the beginning of the next decade, the Strategic Missile Forces will be able to completely abandon the outdated Topol-M and begin the process of replacing not the newest Yars. As a result of these measures, the newest Kedr will become the main light missile in the troops. It will have advantages, at least in the form of novelty and the ability to remain in service for the next several decades.
In addition, by the time the "Cedar" appears, the R & D work on the "Sarmat" theme will be completed. Thanks to this, new ICBMs of a heavy class, capable of carrying conventional warheads and hypersonic gliding blocks, will begin to arrive in the Strategic Missile Forces. As a result, over the next 15-20 years, a full-fledged and full-scale rearmament of the missile forces with modern models for that period will be carried out.
Planned development
News of the start of work on a promising strategic missile naturally attracted attention and even caused some excitement, both in our country and abroad. In addition, they triggered the emergence of messages that could only be expected in a few years. It should be noted and numerous attempts to predict what the new missile system will be.
What will be the results of the current R&D "Kedr" and the subsequent R&D is not yet known. At the same time, it is clear that this project is being worked out with an eye to the distant future - the new type of missile systems will have to serve since the thirties and, at least, until the middle of the century. This imposes special requirements on the project and poses complex tasks for its developers, which take a lot of time to solve. But such efforts and expectations will fully justify themselves, and the planned development of the Strategic Missile Forces will continue.
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