Work continues on the subject of BZHRK
Currently, the domestic defense industry is implementing several new projects aimed at updating the strategic missile forces. In the foreseeable future, the Strategic Missile Forces should receive several new missile systems. First of all, these are intercontinental silo-based missiles. Nevertheless, experts are engaged in the subject of mobile rocket complexes. Over the past few years, the issue of creating new combat railway missile systems (BZHRK) —special trains equipped with ballistic missile launchers — has been regularly raised.
A few days ago, a progress report on a promising project was published by the Zvezda TV channel. It is alleged that the 4 Central Research Institute of the Ministry of Defense, working in the interests of the Strategic Missile Forces, successfully reported to the leadership of the military department on carrying out certain research works on the subject of BZHRK. Details of the work carried out were not reported. All that is known is that research was conducted "in the interests of creating advanced mobile (rail) -based missile systems."
The Soviet Union and then Russia were already armed with combat railway missile systems of the 15P961 “Molodets” type with the RT-23UTTH rocket. The operation of these systems began in the mid-eighties and continued until the beginning of the two thousandths. From 2003 to 2007, all available complexes were removed from duty. Most of the “Well done” was disposed of, and the two complexes were disarmed and became museum exhibits. During the disposal of railroad missile systems it was claimed that they should be replaced by mobile ground systems of the Topol family and newer developments.
The main advantage of missile systems based on railway transport was considered and is considered their secrecy. After leaving the base of the country’s railway network, the composition with the rockets could move in any direction, which made its detection extremely difficult. Although the weight characteristics of the “Well done” complex imposed certain restrictions on the routes of movement, its effectiveness was evaluated quite high. Nevertheless, the full operation of the complexes lasted only a few years. In 1991, the leaders of the USSR and Western countries agreed to reduce the patrol routes. In accordance with the agreement, the Soviet BZHRK could be on duty only within their bases.
In 1993, the START-2 Treaty (Treaty on the Reduction of Strategic Offensive Arms) appeared. One of the clauses of this agreement determined the further fate of the 15P961 railway missile systems. In accordance with the treaty, by the year 2003, Russia was to remove from service all RT-23UTTH missiles. At that time, the Strategic Missile Forces had 12 trains with 36 launchers. The treaty obligations relating to missiles have been fully implemented. Missile systems, left without ammunition, were soon disposed of or sent to museums.
Shortly after the start of the disposal of the “Good” complexes, various statements and rumors began to appear concerning the possibility of creating a new BZHRK. Until a certain time, all the conversations on this score boiled down to the fact that the command of the Strategic Missile Forces and the leadership of the Ministry of Defense did not rule out the possibility of creating a new railway missile complex. Any information about the start of work on a new project was not disclosed. Only in the spring of 2013, Deputy Defense Minister Yury Borisov spoke about the launch of the new project. The Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering (MIT), which in recent years has created several missile systems for the Strategic Missile Forces, has become the lead enterprise for the new BZHRK project.
At the end of last year, Colonel-General Sergei Karakayev, commander-in-chief of the Strategic Missile Forces, said that the draft design of the new BZHRK would be completed in the first half of 2014. Other details of the work have not yet been announced. The recent information published by the Zvezda TV channel may indicate that MIT and the 4 Central Research Institute of the Ministry of Defense have completed preliminary work on the project and are ready to start developing a new missile system.
For obvious reasons, the technical appearance and characteristics of the promising BZHRK remain unknown to the public. Nevertheless, since the first information about the development of such a system has appeared, assumptions about its possible appearance have been regularly made. According to various estimates, the new BZHRK as a whole will be similar to the “Well done” written off, but it should seriously differ from it thanks to the use of new systems and components.
The basis of the advanced BZHRK, as before, will be a carriage equipped with a launcher. The 15P961 complex included wagons with launchers disguised as refrigerators and equipped with a system for distributing the load on neighboring wagons. The use of the latter was determined by the weight of the rocket and the characteristics of the railway tracks. Similarly, a wagon-launcher of a promising missile system can be built.
The fact that the creation of a new project BZHRK was entrusted to the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering allows us to make some assumptions about a promising rocket. Probably, in the ammunition for the new railway missile complex, some developments will be used for the Topol-M, Yars and Bulava projects. A certain benefit to the project of a new rocket can be brought by the borrowing of ideas and technical solutions from rockets intended for mobile soil complexes, such as Topol-M or Yars. These products have a much smaller starting weight in comparison with the RT-23UTTH rocket, which can greatly simplify their operation.
The characteristics of the new missiles and their combat equipment may be the subject of a separate discussion, since accurate information on this matter has not yet been announced and is unlikely to be announced in the next few years. Probably, the general characteristics of the promising BZHRK will be at the level of indicators of the latest ground-based missile systems or higher.
From various statements and assessments it follows that a new combat railway missile system for the Strategic Missile Forces can be created by 2020. Thus, by the middle of the next decade, missile forces could receive a sufficient amount of new technology that could have a serious impact on their combat capability.
However, these dates are purely evaluative. It is still unknown whether the Ministry of Defense will order the development of new railway missile systems. The decision of the military may affect some features of this technique. During the operation of the “Good work” complex, it was established that it has not only advantages, but also disadvantages. For example, despite the use of disguise, a train with missiles can be distinguished from civilian trains on some specific grounds. In addition, the heavy missile system required the strengthening of railway tracks, and also led to their increased wear. A characteristic feature of BZHRK is lower resistance to enemy attacks in comparison with silo-based missile systems.
According to recent reports, the domestic defense industry is capable of creating a new combat railway missile system. In this case, the military department remains to weigh all the pros and cons of such systems and determine whether the industry should develop and build new technology for the Strategic Missile Forces.
On the materials of the sites:
http://tvzvezda.ru/
http://arms-expo.ru/
http://ridus.ru/
http://rbase.new-factoria.ru/
A few days ago, a progress report on a promising project was published by the Zvezda TV channel. It is alleged that the 4 Central Research Institute of the Ministry of Defense, working in the interests of the Strategic Missile Forces, successfully reported to the leadership of the military department on carrying out certain research works on the subject of BZHRK. Details of the work carried out were not reported. All that is known is that research was conducted "in the interests of creating advanced mobile (rail) -based missile systems."
The Soviet Union and then Russia were already armed with combat railway missile systems of the 15P961 “Molodets” type with the RT-23UTTH rocket. The operation of these systems began in the mid-eighties and continued until the beginning of the two thousandths. From 2003 to 2007, all available complexes were removed from duty. Most of the “Well done” was disposed of, and the two complexes were disarmed and became museum exhibits. During the disposal of railroad missile systems it was claimed that they should be replaced by mobile ground systems of the Topol family and newer developments.
The main advantage of missile systems based on railway transport was considered and is considered their secrecy. After leaving the base of the country’s railway network, the composition with the rockets could move in any direction, which made its detection extremely difficult. Although the weight characteristics of the “Well done” complex imposed certain restrictions on the routes of movement, its effectiveness was evaluated quite high. Nevertheless, the full operation of the complexes lasted only a few years. In 1991, the leaders of the USSR and Western countries agreed to reduce the patrol routes. In accordance with the agreement, the Soviet BZHRK could be on duty only within their bases.
In 1993, the START-2 Treaty (Treaty on the Reduction of Strategic Offensive Arms) appeared. One of the clauses of this agreement determined the further fate of the 15P961 railway missile systems. In accordance with the treaty, by the year 2003, Russia was to remove from service all RT-23UTTH missiles. At that time, the Strategic Missile Forces had 12 trains with 36 launchers. The treaty obligations relating to missiles have been fully implemented. Missile systems, left without ammunition, were soon disposed of or sent to museums.
Shortly after the start of the disposal of the “Good” complexes, various statements and rumors began to appear concerning the possibility of creating a new BZHRK. Until a certain time, all the conversations on this score boiled down to the fact that the command of the Strategic Missile Forces and the leadership of the Ministry of Defense did not rule out the possibility of creating a new railway missile complex. Any information about the start of work on a new project was not disclosed. Only in the spring of 2013, Deputy Defense Minister Yury Borisov spoke about the launch of the new project. The Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering (MIT), which in recent years has created several missile systems for the Strategic Missile Forces, has become the lead enterprise for the new BZHRK project.
At the end of last year, Colonel-General Sergei Karakayev, commander-in-chief of the Strategic Missile Forces, said that the draft design of the new BZHRK would be completed in the first half of 2014. Other details of the work have not yet been announced. The recent information published by the Zvezda TV channel may indicate that MIT and the 4 Central Research Institute of the Ministry of Defense have completed preliminary work on the project and are ready to start developing a new missile system.
For obvious reasons, the technical appearance and characteristics of the promising BZHRK remain unknown to the public. Nevertheless, since the first information about the development of such a system has appeared, assumptions about its possible appearance have been regularly made. According to various estimates, the new BZHRK as a whole will be similar to the “Well done” written off, but it should seriously differ from it thanks to the use of new systems and components.
The basis of the advanced BZHRK, as before, will be a carriage equipped with a launcher. The 15P961 complex included wagons with launchers disguised as refrigerators and equipped with a system for distributing the load on neighboring wagons. The use of the latter was determined by the weight of the rocket and the characteristics of the railway tracks. Similarly, a wagon-launcher of a promising missile system can be built.
The fact that the creation of a new project BZHRK was entrusted to the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering allows us to make some assumptions about a promising rocket. Probably, in the ammunition for the new railway missile complex, some developments will be used for the Topol-M, Yars and Bulava projects. A certain benefit to the project of a new rocket can be brought by the borrowing of ideas and technical solutions from rockets intended for mobile soil complexes, such as Topol-M or Yars. These products have a much smaller starting weight in comparison with the RT-23UTTH rocket, which can greatly simplify their operation.
The characteristics of the new missiles and their combat equipment may be the subject of a separate discussion, since accurate information on this matter has not yet been announced and is unlikely to be announced in the next few years. Probably, the general characteristics of the promising BZHRK will be at the level of indicators of the latest ground-based missile systems or higher.
From various statements and assessments it follows that a new combat railway missile system for the Strategic Missile Forces can be created by 2020. Thus, by the middle of the next decade, missile forces could receive a sufficient amount of new technology that could have a serious impact on their combat capability.
However, these dates are purely evaluative. It is still unknown whether the Ministry of Defense will order the development of new railway missile systems. The decision of the military may affect some features of this technique. During the operation of the “Good work” complex, it was established that it has not only advantages, but also disadvantages. For example, despite the use of disguise, a train with missiles can be distinguished from civilian trains on some specific grounds. In addition, the heavy missile system required the strengthening of railway tracks, and also led to their increased wear. A characteristic feature of BZHRK is lower resistance to enemy attacks in comparison with silo-based missile systems.
According to recent reports, the domestic defense industry is capable of creating a new combat railway missile system. In this case, the military department remains to weigh all the pros and cons of such systems and determine whether the industry should develop and build new technology for the Strategic Missile Forces.
On the materials of the sites:
http://tvzvezda.ru/
http://arms-expo.ru/
http://ridus.ru/
http://rbase.new-factoria.ru/
Information