Price "Iskander"
The unique rocket complex has absorbed the advanced achievements of world science and industry, but even more so - the enthusiasm and patriotism of manufacturers
Omut perestroika, the collapse of the national economy, the disaster of the military-industrial sector could put an end to the development of high-precision operational-tactical weapons. Its creators turned out to be stronger than “objective circumstances”. They persevered.
For the designers and developers of Iskander-M, trips to Kapustin Yar are ordinary everyday life. Tests are held in the summer - under the scorching sun, and in winter, when the Astrakhan steppe sweeps snow in human growth, and in the fall - the eyes are covered with water pouring from the sky, and it is necessary to shoot.
18 November, everything turned out differently. It was a holiday. The cooperation of developers and manufacturers headed by OAO NPK KBM (part of JSC NPO High-Precision Complexes) handed over to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation a set of the Iskander-M complex to equip the missile brigade. Fourth last two years.
Techniques lined up so much that even against the background of the vast expanses of its mass suppressed their masses. More than fifty cars - huge, with a chassis of human height. The roar of turbines - the calculations raised the rocket into a vertical position - did not give the opportunity to talk.
Along a long line of cars lined up the staff of the rocket brigade. Played a military band. The brigade commander reported on the completion of the transfer.
On the contrary - the second rank - lined up the military leadership: the commander of the Central Military District, Colonel-General Vladimir Zarudnitsky, the head of the Missile Forces and Artillery, Major General Mikhail Matveevsky, director and chief designer of the developer of the complex - OAO NPK KBM, general director and chief Anatoly Shapovalov, designer of the Central Research Institute of Automatics and Hydraulics, Viktor Shurygin, General Director and General Designer of the TsBB Titan, heads of other related companies.
For industry, this is the culmination of decades of hard work. The avalanche of technology embodied sleepless nights of thought, hooting over drawings, debugging in assembly shops, launches at training grounds, and much more, gray-haired at temples and pricking in the heart.
For nearly half a century, KBM remains the only enterprise in the country that develops tactical and operational-tactical missile weapons for the Ground Forces.
Backlog
The engineering design bureau began its development of its first tactical missile system in 1967. They became the world-famous "Point" with a range of 70 rocket kilometers. High-precision, mobile, overcoming the small water obstacles, working on solid fuel, it made a real sensation in the troops.
To replace the “Point” came “Tochka-U” - an improved one. The range of the missile was already 120 kilometers. At the same time, the same accuracy as that of the “Point” was preserved.
The following development complexes of KBM were already operating in the operational-tactical depth of the enemy troops. The Oka was put into service with the range of the 400 rocket kilometers. Developed OTRK "Oka-U" (range - more than 500 km) and "Volga" (range - 1000 km).
The many thousands of authors were headed by Sergey Pavlovich the Invincible Chief and General Designer of KBM. Cooperation was formed from hundreds of design bureaus, factories, research institutes, in which KBM acted as the head organization.
In 1989, the Oka was destroyed. Not saboteurs. The non-opposing army is the then leadership of the Soviet Union, having included the complex in the Soviet-American Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles. He envisaged the elimination of missiles operating at a distance of over 500 kilometers. Range "Oka" was 400 kilometers. But Gorbachev, to put it in modern language, "passed" the complex, not having spared not only the feelings of its creators, many millions of rubles taken from the national economy of the Soviet Union, but even the security of citizens of the country he undertook to head.
The great merit of Sergei Pavlovich that the blow did not break this outstanding man. With his characteristic assertiveness, passion in everything related to work, and dedication, the Unbeatable achieved permission to develop a new OTRK with an 300 rocket range of kilometers. The Resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 1452-294 of December 21 from 1988 of the year on the start of development work on the creation of the Iskander tactical complex was issued.
There are a lot of legends and rumors about “Iskander-M”. He has a lot of "authors" resting on their laurels, which do not belong to them. The Internet is full of inaccurate information.
Under Sergey Pavlovich, KBM managed to defend a conceptual design, which provided for the placement of one rocket in the back of a car. This was in the first half of 1989.
At the end of the same year, S. P. Invincible, having rebelled at the wild order imposed by the restructuring of the country, resigned as the head of the enterprise.
Nikolai Ivanovich Guschin was chosen as the head and chief designer at KBM (according to the proclaimed principles of democracy, the heads of enterprises were chosen for several troubled years) Nikolai Ivanovich Guschin, who fell into disrepair for the country's defense industry. Oleg Ivanovich Mamalyga was appointed the chief designer of the thematic area where the Iskander was developed.
Some “authoritative sources” claim that the beginning of the topic of OTRK in KBM was the draft design of the 9K711 “Uranus” complex, which was allegedly transferred from the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering.
“They didn’t give us anything. KBM had its own backlog, which was developed during the creation of the solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile “Gnome” and the tactical missile complex “Tochka”, O.I. Mamalyga said. - This is a unique work. Until KBM, no one in the world has created a solid-fuel ramjet engine for an intercontinental rocket. And Boris Ivanovich Shavyrin, the founder of our company, has created. KBM has always had its own way, its own technical school and its own technical traditions. "Point", "Oka", "Iskander-M" - one hundred percent Kolomna brainchild ".
Task
Oleg Ivanovich can be called the first head of the group of authors. The Kapustin Yar proving ground and other areas of the country where bench, flight, and climatic tests took place became his “place of residence” for several years. A sort of voluntary reference to the good of the country. These are the people, invisible workers who do not shout from the high tribunes, do not beat themselves in the chest, but do a great job.
O. I. Mamaliga and V. A. Shurygin, General Director of the TsKB Titan, Iskander owes his “two-leggedness” - two missiles in the back.
“The task was set before the KBM: Iskander must destroy both fixed and moving targets,” recalls Oleg Ivanovich. - At one time, the same task was faced by the "Okoy-U". The Oki-U prototypes were destroyed along with the Oka under the same INF Treaty.
The reconnaissance-strike complex, into which the Iskander was to be included as a means of fire destruction, was called Equality. A special reconnaissance aircraft was developed, which is also a gunner. A plane detects, for example, tank column on the march. Transmits coordinates to the OTRK launcher. Further, it corrects the flight of the rocket depending on the movement of the target.
The reconnaissance and shock complex was supposed to hit from 20 to 40 targets per hour. It took a lot of rockets. Then I offered to place two missiles on the launch pad. ”
Each rocket weighs 3,8 tons. Doubling ammunition forced to revise the size and capacity of the launcher. Prior to this, the Bryansk Automobile Plant made the chassis for the Kolomna complexes “Tochka” and “Oka”. Now I had to turn to the Minsk Wheel Tractor Plant, which designed the four-axle chassis.
There was still a requirement to ensure a high probability of overcoming the enemy's missile defense. But unlike the Oka, the new complex should not have a nuclear charge. Combat mission to be performed at the expense of the highest accuracy.
Overcoming the missile defense system was based on several solutions.
Maximum reduced effective surface scatter rocket. For this, its contour was made as smooth, streamlined as possible, without protrusions and sharp edges.
During operation, you need to transport, load, charge, dock equipment, check the performance of the rocket. That is, without connectors, fasteners and other technological devices can not do.
The solution found non-standard. On the rocket set two clips with auxiliary elements. Each consisted of two half-rings connected by pirozamkami. When the rocket went off the rails, the control system gave a signal, the clips were shot, special automatic covers were pulled out, which closed the hatches and places of the connectors, and the rocket became “smooth”.
To prevent the rocket from being detected by locators, a special coating was applied to the external surface that absorbs radio waves.
But the main thing is that the rocket was endowed with the ability to actively maneuver and made the trajectory completely unpredictable. To calculate the advance meeting point in this case, in contrast to the situation when the object moves along a ballistic trajectory, it is very difficult, therefore, it is almost impossible to intercept the rocket.
No other tactical and operational-tactical missile in the world possessed and does not possess such properties.
We carried out a completely unique work, which forced us to reconsider many things inherent in the draft design. In the process of working out the appearance of ground equipment, little was left. Iskander became a kind of intermediate in the creation of a new generation complex.
28 February 1993 of the year issued a presidential decree on the deployment of development work on the Iskander-M PTRK, for which TTZ was issued, based on a new approach to building the complex and optimizing all solutions.
This complex was not a remake of the old, not an upgrade, but a new product, made on the basis of other technologies, more perfect. He absorbed the advanced achievements of not only domestic, but also world science and industry.
Patriotic charge
All this happened against the background of the collapse of the Soviet Union and the country's national economy. The defense industrial complex was one of the first to fly into the pool of perestroika.
The work on Iskander-M was largely based on the enthusiasm and patriotism of the enterprises of the core of the cooperation: KBM, TsNIIAG, TsBB Titan, GosNIIMash - and with the support of GRAU.
In the process of creating a TRK and OTRK, a tradition was born in cooperation: to compose a hymn to the glory of each product. When it became completely unbearable, the engineers hoarse at the Astrakhan winds with throats shouting at the theme “Farewell of the Slav”:
Do not cry, do not grieve,
In vain did tears not pour,
Create and create
Without state rubles!
The military joined their chorus, who were painfully worried by what was happening in the military-industrial complex. However, the army was no better.
The development went mostly into the theoretical and theoretical field. The scope of the tests assumed 20 starts. But in 1993, five Iskander-M missiles were fired, next year two, and then, for three years, one each. But the correspondence with the ministries intensified. The answers that the KBM received were like carbon copies: there was no money.
He helped the experience of the development of "Points", "Points-U", "Oki", "Oki-U", "Volga". All calculations were repeatedly checked. The most thorough way was carried out bench testing of elements.
For both KBM and other defense enterprises, people did not receive salaries for half a year. Those who had a "lifeline" in the form of civilian products, somehow kept afloat. A number of factories carried out only military orders. They had a very hard time. Like, for example, the Morozov Plant in the city of Vsevolozhsk, Leningrad Region, where charges for the engine were poured.
For the continuation of OCD required a regular test run. Rocket made in KBM. Launch - at the Volgograd plant "Barricades". Needed a motor charge. Only one. Fuck you!
The director of the Vsevolozhsk plant asked for an advance. His workers had been sitting for a few months without a penny. But the KBM had no money.
Then Lieutenant-General Velichko, the head of the Main Directorate of the Main Directorate of the State Administration of Ukraine, his assistant Colonel Kuksa and several people from KBM went to meet with the activists of the labor collective.
The military donned the dress uniform. Orders and medals sparkled on the chest. Velichko rose, straightened his shoulders, looked around attentively and attentively and said quietly: “Comrades! Troubled times have come. Destroyed missile complex "Oka". The Armed Forces were left without tactical weapons. You are the people who have devoted their lives to the defense of the country. Who, except us, will protect the Motherland?!. "
Morozovtsy poured two charges.
Reloading
The first four launches confirmed the correctness of the technical solutions.
The fifth launch at first also went in the normal mode. Testers hid in the bunker. To start, standing on the starting position, stretched black wires of cables, which were given control commands. Instead of a warhead, telemetry equipment stood in the “head” of the rocket. You need to understand what is happening with a rocket in flight. Sensors installed in the compartments continuously transmit readings to the ground. Temperature and pressure, voltage in electrical circuits and much more. Hundreds of parameters. Dozens of people are watching the flight. The bunker is made by monitors. On the trajectory there is a network of measurement points - IPs, where they also receive information.
Passed the "Start" command. The earth trembled. The multi-ton colossus released a cloud of flame, broke away from the launcher and went vertically into the sky.
The pressure measurement graph in the engine looked almost like a horizontal straight line. But suddenly ... in the last seconds of work, the line rushed sharply down. This meant that the engine stopped performing its task. Gases, which according to the reactive principle should push the rocket forward, went somewhere to the side. The rocket became uncontrollable and was driven by one it alone.
Let's go look for debris. Parts of the rocket, rushing at a speed of two kilometers per second, scattered a decent distance from each other. They were searched for several days. The tail section with the engine crumpled. The wheels broke away. Heat shield crumbled. It was impossible to determine the cause of depressurization in these parts.
Analyzed the data obtained during the flight of the rocket - also nothing to cling to.
During the next launch, the rocket fell again.
When they found the engine, someone noticed that the paint had darkened slightly in one place. This could be due to high temperature. When flying in the atmosphere, the surface of the rocket is heated to 150 degrees. If the paint has darkened, the body is heated up to three hundred degrees, no less.
While the engineers were looking for the cause of the accident, in the highest military circles they decided to close the topic. The two unsuccessful launches were considered sufficient grounds for dismissing the Iskander-M. And only the position of Colonel-General A. P. Sitnov, Chief of Armaments of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, of the Chief Rocket-Artillery Directorate, its leaders — Colonel-General N. A. Baranov, Lieutenant-General G. P. Velichko, and Colonel-General N. I. Karaulov, Colonel-General N. I. Svertilova - saved the subject. These people defended Iskander-M.
Attracted TSNIImash and Research Institute of Thermal Processes. They made a mock-up of the engine and worked it out on a stand installation. It turned out that the missile flight control method, which assumed large transverse, almost like an anti-aircraft missile, overload, led to the formation in the combustion chamber of a "harness" of the solid phase of the combustion products, the so-called K-phase, which destroyed the heat-shielding coating and the engine body. Found the reason - eliminated the investigation.
Strength tests
The complex was just unique. It was made completely autonomous, that is, provided the ability to perform a combat mission with a single combat vehicle. Equipped with satellite navigation system. But the autonomous system of topographic location was left.
For the first time, it became possible to enter the necessary data for the formation of a flight task remotely. The launch of the rocket can be carried out by the brigade commander or even higher army ranks. If the launcher falls into the hands of terrorists (which theoretically is not excluded), they will not be able to use it. To unlock the start circuit, you need an electronic cipher key.
Began state testing. With insufficient funding, it took six years to complete them.
The complex passed with the only type of missiles - with a cluster warhead. There was neither time nor money to achieve the high accuracy that Iskander-M has now. Cassette warhead solved the problem due to the fact that the combat elements covered a large area.
But even in the basic configuration, the Iskander-M impressed the military with its effectiveness. His missile skillfully overcame the enemy’s missile defense and carried out its combat mission without fail.
Government Decree number 172-12 from 31.3.2006 OTRK "Iskander-M" was adopted in the basic configuration.
There was a question about production. A gyroplatform was supposed to be done at NPO Electromechanics in Miass. But they replied that they could not do the required number of gyro platforms.
At other serial factories, things were no better. People were confused - the main resource for the production of complex, high-tech products.
What was left to do in this situation? KBM made a very difficult decision: to take over the mass production of the complex as the head organization.
None of the military believed that the MSC could do something. Many gave up: they say there will be no Iskander. Connected press. “The industry is not able to ensure the release of Iskander-M” - the leitmotif of the then publications.
The Chief of the General Staff, Army General N. E. Makarov, wrote a letter to S. V. Chemezov, General Director of the State Corporation “Russian Technologies”, in which he raised the question from a different angle. KBM does not get involved in its own business. The task of the design bureau is to design. And let someone else do the release.
In that situation it meant no one.
In the absence of a base for mass production and powerful psychological pressure, it was necessary to have a very great will, strength of mind and courage to say: “We will do it!”. In the KBM said so.
Then V.M. Kashin, Director General and Designer of FSUE “KBM”, and V. L. Solunin, Director General of TsNIIAG OJSC, made a proposal to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation to conclude a long-term contract with the Engineering Design Bureau as the leading enterprise of cooperation.
V. Kashin raised this question at all levels of government of the country, the defense complex, and the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
We must pay tribute to the leaders of the TsNIIAG: V. L. Solunin, then B. G. Gursky, A. V. Zimin, who also did not retreat, accepted the challenge and showed perseverance. However, they had no choice.
Serial production unfolded. The gyroplatform was replaced with an inertial measuring unit based on laser gyroscopes. It was very difficult. Again, no one believed that in a very short time, MSC will do this work. The measuring unit was developed by the Polyus Research Institute. TsNIIAGu had to create a new management system.
Immediately after the first use of the complex, the army team made persistent requests to develop new types of missiles. A missile with a cassette warhead did not allow to solve a number of combat missions.
KBM and its affiliates also did this work. In just eight years, the complex received five types of missiles, including cruise missiles.
By the way, there is no Iskander-K OTRK, which journalists often write about. There is the Iskander-M complex, which can use both cruise and aeroballistic missiles.
Cruise missiles were developed by the Novator Design Bureau from Ekaterinburg. Under the "krylatku" had to make changes in the launcher, and the command and staff, and all other machines OTRK. But the capabilities of the complex, equipped with aeroballistic and cruise missiles, significantly expanded. It is almost impossible to predict what type of missiles will be used and to take countermeasures.
Since 2006, the Iskander-M OTRK has undergone significant changes in almost all components. First of all, the complex of means of the automated control system of the brigade was modernized. The complex is developing, becoming even more powerful.
Difficulties with serial release, with funding continued. The supply of Iskander-M OTRK to the troops progressed slowly. The Ministry of Defense concluded a separate contract with each enterprise. Accordingly, the elements of the complex were delivered separately. This did not ensure the required pace of rearmament, a unified approach to pricing and reduced the combat capability of the army, since the troops did not have specialists who could conduct combat coordination.
Finally, in 2011, the initiative of the head of the KBM was crowned with success. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation concluded a long-term contract with KBM as the sole performer for the production of the Iskander-M OTRK. The economists of the Ministry of Defense, from top to bottom, “have gone through” both MSC and more than 150 cooperation enterprises. God forbid they put in the contract an extra penny! The issue with the price was settled for more than a year.
By the decision of the Military Industrial Commission under the Government of the Russian Federation, V.M. Kashin was appointed General Designer for operational-tactical missile weapons.
For two years now, KBM and its affiliates have been renting two sets of the complex to the Ministry of Defense. Each set is an 51 unit of motor vehicles, means of regulation and maintenance, training equipment, a set of rockets.
Such a price went to the complex, which Russia is protecting and proud of.
Omut perestroika, the collapse of the national economy, the disaster of the military-industrial sector could put an end to the development of high-precision operational-tactical weapons. Its creators turned out to be stronger than “objective circumstances”. They persevered.
For the designers and developers of Iskander-M, trips to Kapustin Yar are ordinary everyday life. Tests are held in the summer - under the scorching sun, and in winter, when the Astrakhan steppe sweeps snow in human growth, and in the fall - the eyes are covered with water pouring from the sky, and it is necessary to shoot.
18 November, everything turned out differently. It was a holiday. The cooperation of developers and manufacturers headed by OAO NPK KBM (part of JSC NPO High-Precision Complexes) handed over to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation a set of the Iskander-M complex to equip the missile brigade. Fourth last two years.
Techniques lined up so much that even against the background of the vast expanses of its mass suppressed their masses. More than fifty cars - huge, with a chassis of human height. The roar of turbines - the calculations raised the rocket into a vertical position - did not give the opportunity to talk.
Along a long line of cars lined up the staff of the rocket brigade. Played a military band. The brigade commander reported on the completion of the transfer.
On the contrary - the second rank - lined up the military leadership: the commander of the Central Military District, Colonel-General Vladimir Zarudnitsky, the head of the Missile Forces and Artillery, Major General Mikhail Matveevsky, director and chief designer of the developer of the complex - OAO NPK KBM, general director and chief Anatoly Shapovalov, designer of the Central Research Institute of Automatics and Hydraulics, Viktor Shurygin, General Director and General Designer of the TsBB Titan, heads of other related companies.
For industry, this is the culmination of decades of hard work. The avalanche of technology embodied sleepless nights of thought, hooting over drawings, debugging in assembly shops, launches at training grounds, and much more, gray-haired at temples and pricking in the heart.
For nearly half a century, KBM remains the only enterprise in the country that develops tactical and operational-tactical missile weapons for the Ground Forces.
Backlog
The engineering design bureau began its development of its first tactical missile system in 1967. They became the world-famous "Point" with a range of 70 rocket kilometers. High-precision, mobile, overcoming the small water obstacles, working on solid fuel, it made a real sensation in the troops.
To replace the “Point” came “Tochka-U” - an improved one. The range of the missile was already 120 kilometers. At the same time, the same accuracy as that of the “Point” was preserved.The following development complexes of KBM were already operating in the operational-tactical depth of the enemy troops. The Oka was put into service with the range of the 400 rocket kilometers. Developed OTRK "Oka-U" (range - more than 500 km) and "Volga" (range - 1000 km).
The many thousands of authors were headed by Sergey Pavlovich the Invincible Chief and General Designer of KBM. Cooperation was formed from hundreds of design bureaus, factories, research institutes, in which KBM acted as the head organization.
In 1989, the Oka was destroyed. Not saboteurs. The non-opposing army is the then leadership of the Soviet Union, having included the complex in the Soviet-American Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles. He envisaged the elimination of missiles operating at a distance of over 500 kilometers. Range "Oka" was 400 kilometers. But Gorbachev, to put it in modern language, "passed" the complex, not having spared not only the feelings of its creators, many millions of rubles taken from the national economy of the Soviet Union, but even the security of citizens of the country he undertook to head.
The great merit of Sergei Pavlovich that the blow did not break this outstanding man. With his characteristic assertiveness, passion in everything related to work, and dedication, the Unbeatable achieved permission to develop a new OTRK with an 300 rocket range of kilometers. The Resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 1452-294 of December 21 from 1988 of the year on the start of development work on the creation of the Iskander tactical complex was issued.
There are a lot of legends and rumors about “Iskander-M”. He has a lot of "authors" resting on their laurels, which do not belong to them. The Internet is full of inaccurate information.
Under Sergey Pavlovich, KBM managed to defend a conceptual design, which provided for the placement of one rocket in the back of a car. This was in the first half of 1989.
At the end of the same year, S. P. Invincible, having rebelled at the wild order imposed by the restructuring of the country, resigned as the head of the enterprise.
Nikolai Ivanovich Guschin was chosen as the head and chief designer at KBM (according to the proclaimed principles of democracy, the heads of enterprises were chosen for several troubled years) Nikolai Ivanovich Guschin, who fell into disrepair for the country's defense industry. Oleg Ivanovich Mamalyga was appointed the chief designer of the thematic area where the Iskander was developed.
Some “authoritative sources” claim that the beginning of the topic of OTRK in KBM was the draft design of the 9K711 “Uranus” complex, which was allegedly transferred from the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering.
“They didn’t give us anything. KBM had its own backlog, which was developed during the creation of the solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile “Gnome” and the tactical missile complex “Tochka”, O.I. Mamalyga said. - This is a unique work. Until KBM, no one in the world has created a solid-fuel ramjet engine for an intercontinental rocket. And Boris Ivanovich Shavyrin, the founder of our company, has created. KBM has always had its own way, its own technical school and its own technical traditions. "Point", "Oka", "Iskander-M" - one hundred percent Kolomna brainchild ".
Task
Oleg Ivanovich can be called the first head of the group of authors. The Kapustin Yar proving ground and other areas of the country where bench, flight, and climatic tests took place became his “place of residence” for several years. A sort of voluntary reference to the good of the country. These are the people, invisible workers who do not shout from the high tribunes, do not beat themselves in the chest, but do a great job.
O. I. Mamaliga and V. A. Shurygin, General Director of the TsKB Titan, Iskander owes his “two-leggedness” - two missiles in the back.
“The task was set before the KBM: Iskander must destroy both fixed and moving targets,” recalls Oleg Ivanovich. - At one time, the same task was faced by the "Okoy-U". The Oki-U prototypes were destroyed along with the Oka under the same INF Treaty.
The reconnaissance-strike complex, into which the Iskander was to be included as a means of fire destruction, was called Equality. A special reconnaissance aircraft was developed, which is also a gunner. A plane detects, for example, tank column on the march. Transmits coordinates to the OTRK launcher. Further, it corrects the flight of the rocket depending on the movement of the target.
The reconnaissance and shock complex was supposed to hit from 20 to 40 targets per hour. It took a lot of rockets. Then I offered to place two missiles on the launch pad. ”
Each rocket weighs 3,8 tons. Doubling ammunition forced to revise the size and capacity of the launcher. Prior to this, the Bryansk Automobile Plant made the chassis for the Kolomna complexes “Tochka” and “Oka”. Now I had to turn to the Minsk Wheel Tractor Plant, which designed the four-axle chassis.
There was still a requirement to ensure a high probability of overcoming the enemy's missile defense. But unlike the Oka, the new complex should not have a nuclear charge. Combat mission to be performed at the expense of the highest accuracy.
Overcoming the missile defense system was based on several solutions.
Maximum reduced effective surface scatter rocket. For this, its contour was made as smooth, streamlined as possible, without protrusions and sharp edges.
Oleg Mamalyga - Chief
OTRK constructor in 1989 – 2005 years
OTRK constructor in 1989 – 2005 years
During operation, you need to transport, load, charge, dock equipment, check the performance of the rocket. That is, without connectors, fasteners and other technological devices can not do.
The solution found non-standard. On the rocket set two clips with auxiliary elements. Each consisted of two half-rings connected by pirozamkami. When the rocket went off the rails, the control system gave a signal, the clips were shot, special automatic covers were pulled out, which closed the hatches and places of the connectors, and the rocket became “smooth”.
To prevent the rocket from being detected by locators, a special coating was applied to the external surface that absorbs radio waves.
But the main thing is that the rocket was endowed with the ability to actively maneuver and made the trajectory completely unpredictable. To calculate the advance meeting point in this case, in contrast to the situation when the object moves along a ballistic trajectory, it is very difficult, therefore, it is almost impossible to intercept the rocket.
No other tactical and operational-tactical missile in the world possessed and does not possess such properties.
We carried out a completely unique work, which forced us to reconsider many things inherent in the draft design. In the process of working out the appearance of ground equipment, little was left. Iskander became a kind of intermediate in the creation of a new generation complex.
28 February 1993 of the year issued a presidential decree on the deployment of development work on the Iskander-M PTRK, for which TTZ was issued, based on a new approach to building the complex and optimizing all solutions.
This complex was not a remake of the old, not an upgrade, but a new product, made on the basis of other technologies, more perfect. He absorbed the advanced achievements of not only domestic, but also world science and industry.
Patriotic charge
All this happened against the background of the collapse of the Soviet Union and the country's national economy. The defense industrial complex was one of the first to fly into the pool of perestroika.
The work on Iskander-M was largely based on the enthusiasm and patriotism of the enterprises of the core of the cooperation: KBM, TsNIIAG, TsBB Titan, GosNIIMash - and with the support of GRAU.
In the process of creating a TRK and OTRK, a tradition was born in cooperation: to compose a hymn to the glory of each product. When it became completely unbearable, the engineers hoarse at the Astrakhan winds with throats shouting at the theme “Farewell of the Slav”:
Do not cry, do not grieve,
In vain did tears not pour,
Create and create
Without state rubles!
The military joined their chorus, who were painfully worried by what was happening in the military-industrial complex. However, the army was no better.
The development went mostly into the theoretical and theoretical field. The scope of the tests assumed 20 starts. But in 1993, five Iskander-M missiles were fired, next year two, and then, for three years, one each. But the correspondence with the ministries intensified. The answers that the KBM received were like carbon copies: there was no money.
He helped the experience of the development of "Points", "Points-U", "Oki", "Oki-U", "Volga". All calculations were repeatedly checked. The most thorough way was carried out bench testing of elements.
For both KBM and other defense enterprises, people did not receive salaries for half a year. Those who had a "lifeline" in the form of civilian products, somehow kept afloat. A number of factories carried out only military orders. They had a very hard time. Like, for example, the Morozov Plant in the city of Vsevolozhsk, Leningrad Region, where charges for the engine were poured.
For the continuation of OCD required a regular test run. Rocket made in KBM. Launch - at the Volgograd plant "Barricades". Needed a motor charge. Only one. Fuck you!
The director of the Vsevolozhsk plant asked for an advance. His workers had been sitting for a few months without a penny. But the KBM had no money.
Then Lieutenant-General Velichko, the head of the Main Directorate of the Main Directorate of the State Administration of Ukraine, his assistant Colonel Kuksa and several people from KBM went to meet with the activists of the labor collective.
The military donned the dress uniform. Orders and medals sparkled on the chest. Velichko rose, straightened his shoulders, looked around attentively and attentively and said quietly: “Comrades! Troubled times have come. Destroyed missile complex "Oka". The Armed Forces were left without tactical weapons. You are the people who have devoted their lives to the defense of the country. Who, except us, will protect the Motherland?!. "
Morozovtsy poured two charges.
Reloading
The first four launches confirmed the correctness of the technical solutions.
The fifth launch at first also went in the normal mode. Testers hid in the bunker. To start, standing on the starting position, stretched black wires of cables, which were given control commands. Instead of a warhead, telemetry equipment stood in the “head” of the rocket. You need to understand what is happening with a rocket in flight. Sensors installed in the compartments continuously transmit readings to the ground. Temperature and pressure, voltage in electrical circuits and much more. Hundreds of parameters. Dozens of people are watching the flight. The bunker is made by monitors. On the trajectory there is a network of measurement points - IPs, where they also receive information.
Passed the "Start" command. The earth trembled. The multi-ton colossus released a cloud of flame, broke away from the launcher and went vertically into the sky.
The pressure measurement graph in the engine looked almost like a horizontal straight line. But suddenly ... in the last seconds of work, the line rushed sharply down. This meant that the engine stopped performing its task. Gases, which according to the reactive principle should push the rocket forward, went somewhere to the side. The rocket became uncontrollable and was driven by one it alone.
Let's go look for debris. Parts of the rocket, rushing at a speed of two kilometers per second, scattered a decent distance from each other. They were searched for several days. The tail section with the engine crumpled. The wheels broke away. Heat shield crumbled. It was impossible to determine the cause of depressurization in these parts.
Analyzed the data obtained during the flight of the rocket - also nothing to cling to.
During the next launch, the rocket fell again.
When they found the engine, someone noticed that the paint had darkened slightly in one place. This could be due to high temperature. When flying in the atmosphere, the surface of the rocket is heated to 150 degrees. If the paint has darkened, the body is heated up to three hundred degrees, no less.
While the engineers were looking for the cause of the accident, in the highest military circles they decided to close the topic. The two unsuccessful launches were considered sufficient grounds for dismissing the Iskander-M. And only the position of Colonel-General A. P. Sitnov, Chief of Armaments of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, of the Chief Rocket-Artillery Directorate, its leaders — Colonel-General N. A. Baranov, Lieutenant-General G. P. Velichko, and Colonel-General N. I. Karaulov, Colonel-General N. I. Svertilova - saved the subject. These people defended Iskander-M.
Attracted TSNIImash and Research Institute of Thermal Processes. They made a mock-up of the engine and worked it out on a stand installation. It turned out that the missile flight control method, which assumed large transverse, almost like an anti-aircraft missile, overload, led to the formation in the combustion chamber of a "harness" of the solid phase of the combustion products, the so-called K-phase, which destroyed the heat-shielding coating and the engine body. Found the reason - eliminated the investigation.
Strength tests
The complex was just unique. It was made completely autonomous, that is, provided the ability to perform a combat mission with a single combat vehicle. Equipped with satellite navigation system. But the autonomous system of topographic location was left.
For the first time, it became possible to enter the necessary data for the formation of a flight task remotely. The launch of the rocket can be carried out by the brigade commander or even higher army ranks. If the launcher falls into the hands of terrorists (which theoretically is not excluded), they will not be able to use it. To unlock the start circuit, you need an electronic cipher key.
Began state testing. With insufficient funding, it took six years to complete them.
The complex passed with the only type of missiles - with a cluster warhead. There was neither time nor money to achieve the high accuracy that Iskander-M has now. Cassette warhead solved the problem due to the fact that the combat elements covered a large area.
But even in the basic configuration, the Iskander-M impressed the military with its effectiveness. His missile skillfully overcame the enemy’s missile defense and carried out its combat mission without fail.
Government Decree number 172-12 from 31.3.2006 OTRK "Iskander-M" was adopted in the basic configuration.
There was a question about production. A gyroplatform was supposed to be done at NPO Electromechanics in Miass. But they replied that they could not do the required number of gyro platforms.
At other serial factories, things were no better. People were confused - the main resource for the production of complex, high-tech products.
What was left to do in this situation? KBM made a very difficult decision: to take over the mass production of the complex as the head organization.
None of the military believed that the MSC could do something. Many gave up: they say there will be no Iskander. Connected press. “The industry is not able to ensure the release of Iskander-M” - the leitmotif of the then publications.
The Chief of the General Staff, Army General N. E. Makarov, wrote a letter to S. V. Chemezov, General Director of the State Corporation “Russian Technologies”, in which he raised the question from a different angle. KBM does not get involved in its own business. The task of the design bureau is to design. And let someone else do the release.
In that situation it meant no one.
In the absence of a base for mass production and powerful psychological pressure, it was necessary to have a very great will, strength of mind and courage to say: “We will do it!”. In the KBM said so.
Then V.M. Kashin, Director General and Designer of FSUE “KBM”, and V. L. Solunin, Director General of TsNIIAG OJSC, made a proposal to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation to conclude a long-term contract with the Engineering Design Bureau as the leading enterprise of cooperation.
V. Kashin raised this question at all levels of government of the country, the defense complex, and the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
We must pay tribute to the leaders of the TsNIIAG: V. L. Solunin, then B. G. Gursky, A. V. Zimin, who also did not retreat, accepted the challenge and showed perseverance. However, they had no choice.
Serial production unfolded. The gyroplatform was replaced with an inertial measuring unit based on laser gyroscopes. It was very difficult. Again, no one believed that in a very short time, MSC will do this work. The measuring unit was developed by the Polyus Research Institute. TsNIIAGu had to create a new management system.
Immediately after the first use of the complex, the army team made persistent requests to develop new types of missiles. A missile with a cassette warhead did not allow to solve a number of combat missions.
KBM and its affiliates also did this work. In just eight years, the complex received five types of missiles, including cruise missiles.
By the way, there is no Iskander-K OTRK, which journalists often write about. There is the Iskander-M complex, which can use both cruise and aeroballistic missiles.
Cruise missiles were developed by the Novator Design Bureau from Ekaterinburg. Under the "krylatku" had to make changes in the launcher, and the command and staff, and all other machines OTRK. But the capabilities of the complex, equipped with aeroballistic and cruise missiles, significantly expanded. It is almost impossible to predict what type of missiles will be used and to take countermeasures.
Since 2006, the Iskander-M OTRK has undergone significant changes in almost all components. First of all, the complex of means of the automated control system of the brigade was modernized. The complex is developing, becoming even more powerful.
Difficulties with serial release, with funding continued. The supply of Iskander-M OTRK to the troops progressed slowly. The Ministry of Defense concluded a separate contract with each enterprise. Accordingly, the elements of the complex were delivered separately. This did not ensure the required pace of rearmament, a unified approach to pricing and reduced the combat capability of the army, since the troops did not have specialists who could conduct combat coordination.
Finally, in 2011, the initiative of the head of the KBM was crowned with success. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation concluded a long-term contract with KBM as the sole performer for the production of the Iskander-M OTRK. The economists of the Ministry of Defense, from top to bottom, “have gone through” both MSC and more than 150 cooperation enterprises. God forbid they put in the contract an extra penny! The issue with the price was settled for more than a year.
By the decision of the Military Industrial Commission under the Government of the Russian Federation, V.M. Kashin was appointed General Designer for operational-tactical missile weapons.
For two years now, KBM and its affiliates have been renting two sets of the complex to the Ministry of Defense. Each set is an 51 unit of motor vehicles, means of regulation and maintenance, training equipment, a set of rockets.
Such a price went to the complex, which Russia is protecting and proud of.
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