Second regiment on duty: deployment of Avangard complexes
Transportation of the rocket before loading into the silo, November 2022
A few years ago, a promising complex with hypersonic combat equipment Avangard entered service with the Russian strategic missile forces. Now such equipment is mass-produced and supplied to the troops for deployment and putting on combat duty. A few days ago, the second missile regiment, equipped with new hypersonic systems, took up duty. Despite the limited number, the new Avangards make a significant contribution to the defense capability.
In the process of being deployed
According to known data, the promising Avangard complex completed tests in 2018 and received a recommendation for mass production, adoption and deployment in the army. In the next 2019, the process of putting on combat duty began. The first to receive new systems was the Dombarovskoye formation of the Strategic Missile Forces (Orenburg Region).
In one of the regiments, the division re-equipped launchers and updated other materiel. In addition, the first hypersonic missiles were handed over to him. Having received the minimum required number of weapons, in the last days of December 2019, the regiment took up combat duty. In the future, the regiment received and placed new missiles in launchers.
The re-equipment of the Dombarovskaya division continued, and recently new missiles have been put into service with the second missile regiment. The Ministry of Defense regularly talks about such processes and even shows the main activities and procedures.
So, on November 18, they showed the loading of another UR-100N UTTKh missile into a silo launcher in the division's positional area. With the help of a towed transport-loading unit, the product was delivered to the launch complex, after which it was raised to a vertical position and lowered into the launcher. Judging by its appearance, the missile was transported and loaded into the mine without hypersonic combat equipment. It should have been mounted later, already in closed mode.
The Ministry of Defense recalled that along with the deployment of missiles, the infrastructure of the compound is being updated. At the same time, we are talking not only about launch complexes, but also about auxiliary means - places for carrying out combat duty and preparing for it, resting personnel, etc.
On December 17, on the Day of the Strategic Missile Forces, the Ministry of Defense published a new video on the deployment of the Avangard complexes. Another rocket arrived at the launcher and took its place inside it. The product was again demonstrated in an incomplete configuration, and the most interesting element of the complex was not included in the frame.
It is also reported that on the Day of the Strategic Missile Forces in the Dombarovskaya division, the second regiment equipped with Avangards took up combat duty. He is ready to solve combat missions and makes a significant contribution to the capabilities of both his unit and the missile forces as a whole.
Loading the rocket into the mine
High potential
To date, two missile regiments with Avangard complexes have taken up combat duty. The Ministry of Defense does not specify the number of deployed missiles, but indicates their high potential and special importance for the Strategic Missile Forces. According to various estimates, at least six missiles with special combat equipment can be located in the mines of one regiment.
The high value of Avangard products for the armed forces and their place in the system of strategic deterrence is determined not by the number of missiles on combat duty, but by their tactical and technical characteristics. The Avangard project was built on the basis of fundamentally new ideas and technologies that influenced its appearance and made it possible to obtain special opportunities.
According to known data, in the current configuration, the Avangard complex is being built on the basis of the UR-100N UTTKh intercontinental ballistic missile. The latter has high flight characteristics and is capable of carrying large and heavy payloads. Earlier, it was repeatedly reported that in the future there will be a version of a hypersonic complex based on the new Sarmat heavy ICBM.
The main element of the complex is the so-called. hypersonic gliding warhead. This is an aircraft of a special design, capable of independent flight at hypersonic speed. The block is resistant to the resulting mechanical and thermal loads, and is also capable of carrying a conventional or nuclear warhead. Hypersonic flight speed in theory allows you to do without warheads and hit the target only due to kinetic energy.
Product download December 2022
With the help of a launch vehicle, the warhead is launched onto a given trajectory and acquires the required flight speed. Then the "Avangard" makes a gliding flight due to the accumulated energy. The warhead can actively maneuver and fly towards the target along a complex trajectory.
Earlier, official sources reported that the maximum speed of the warhead reaches 28 M. In the dense layers of the atmosphere, the Avangard maintains a speed of up to 20 M. An intercontinental flight range is declared - at least 5500 km, but more exact numbers are not disclosed.
For all its complexity and high cost, the planning warhead has obvious advantages that determine its combat capabilities. Thus, the highest speed reduces the duration of the flight and the allowable reaction time of the enemy's anti-missile defense. In addition, the block is able to maneuver, which makes it difficult to intercept even at the level of theory.
It has been repeatedly reported that modern foreign missile defense systems designed to combat ballistic targets are virtually powerless against the Russian Avangard. Their main problem is the inability to quickly and correctly respond to sudden changes in the target's trajectory. Modeling showed that to intercept a hypersonic warhead with the characteristics of the Avangard, dozens of SM-3 anti-missiles are required.
Means of deterrence
Avangard complexes with special capabilities are entering service and are already in service with two missile regiments of the Strategic Missile Forces. The number of missiles with special warheads is still small, but the supply and deployment of such weapons should continue. It is not known how many Avangards the missile troops need, but in any case, the quantity will turn into quality.
The missile is placed in the silo, the lid closes
It should be noted that Avangard products do not replace "traditional" ICBMs with individually targetable multiple warheads. Hypersonic and ballistic systems of different types are proposed to be operated in parallel. The number of systems of the two classes and their share in the total grouping of the Strategic Missile Forces are determined in accordance with the assigned combat missions, intended targets and combat capabilities. At the same time, it is likely that more complex and expensive hypersonic systems will remain less numerous.
Ballistic and hypersonic systems have their own strengths and weaknesses of various kinds. Their joint operation will make it possible to maximize the potential of both classes of weapons and level the existing shortcomings or limitations. A mixed fleet of missile weapons will prove to be a more effective means of solving combat missions.
A grouping of "Vanguards" and ICBMs of several types will also be a more effective tool for strategic nuclear deterrence. A potential adversary will have to take into account that even the most advanced modern or advanced missile defense system will not be able to intercept all warheads. Despite all the efforts of the defense, the hypersonic unit will break through to the target of strategic importance and cause unacceptable damage.
Novelty and perspectives
According to the latest data from the Ministry of Defense, the share of modern weapons in our strategic nuclear forces has exceeded 91%. Such results were obtained thanks to the systematic development and production of a number of new missile systems with improved performance. The fundamentally new Avangard has recently been included in the number of such modern designs.
So far, the number and proportion of Avangard complexes in the troops are small, but even in this case they make a significant contribution to the overall capabilities of the Strategic Missile Forces. It is obvious that in the future the number of such products will increase. This process will positively affect both the total share of modern designs and the potential of nuclear forces.
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