The US was scared of the Russian "project 4202"
Publications about the new Russian hypersonic weapons, which will undermine the entire American missile defense system, are most similar to knocking money out of Congress to the Pentagon’s needs for talk of a “threat from Moscow.” Meanwhile, when talking about the "project 4202", alarmists are not so wrong. At least Washington really has a reason to worry.Speaking of the mysterious Russian “4202 project” or U-51 with revolutionary speed characteristics, the American media refer to the Jane's Information Group and give many details that are colorful and tragic for the American consciousness. It is even claimed that the first hypersonic missiles (or some new strategic missiles with hypersonic booster blocks) of 25 units should take up combat duty in the Dombarovsky Strategic Rocket Forces Regiment during the period from 2020 to 2025. For the United States (as confirmed by sources in Moscow), this would mean the destruction of the entire system of strategic nuclear weapons and missile defense.
In the information the most important is the source. If you trust the source, you will believe the information, no matter how fantastic it may seem initially. The Washington Free Beacon is an extremely conservative edition and is directly related to the US military-industrial complex. Their idol - Ronald Reagan, Hillary Clinton for them - the horror in the flesh, and more than half of the headings consist of horror stories about the "Russian threat", as well as the threat of Chinese, Iranian and North Korean (these are specialized sections). It is the WFB that regularly informs American readers about Russian bombers off the coast of California, Iran’s underground nuclear plants and the achievements of hackers from Shanghai and Pyongyang.
At the same time, they cannot be called inventors or story-tellers, just people sometimes shift accents in the required direction and exaggerate paints. In addition, the presentation of the material sometimes changes when translated into Russian. So, in our case, almost every paragraph of the original text about the “4202 object” contains the word “hypothetical”. This is an important detail.
The author of the sensation is also remarkable. This is not a young journalist in search of "hot", but a publicist, well-known in intelligence circles and the military-industrial complex, publicist Bill Hertz, during Clinton who worked as a columnist for The Washington Times (not to be confused with the semi-official The Washington Post) and famous for his exclusive exposing materials intelligence, international trade in weapons and technology. In 1996, he uncovered a scheme for the supply of nuclear technologies from China to Pakistan, in 1997, he accused Russia of a similar deal with Iran, relying on data from Mossad (where did he get it?), In 2004, he again denounced Russia for the supply of weapons of mass destruction in Syria, in 2008, he was summoned to California in the case of a Chinese spy who stole rocket technology, but refused to name his sources, citing the fifth amendment.
He is also the author of six books with titles like “Chinese threat”, “Failure” (about American special services after September 11) and “Treachery” (about Clinton administration). His weekly column is called "Inside the Rings" and is dedicated to the Pentagon and the MIC weekdays (the internal structure and architecture of the building of the US Department of Defense resemble rings). Nobody even tries to hide his close relations with the CIA, like his extreme right-wing views (he used to ruin the life of Bill, and now he is aggressively spoiling Hillary). So, it’s just not going to fantasize on a given topic Bill Hertz, his reputation is more precious.
At the same time, the sensation about the “4202 object” is not such a sensation. Designs of devices capable of exceeding the speed of sound in 5 – 7, have been developed in the USSR and the USA in parallel since the 80-s. The USSR was the first to succeed: a hypersonic experimental aircraft (GEL), it’s X-90, was created by the Raduga ICD at the end of 80, but in 1992, the project was closed for obvious reasons. He left a model, which for some reason was exhibited several times at the MAKS in Zhukovsky, although no work on the topic was carried out until the 2000s.
Apparently, they were added. The American acting analogue X-51 strikingly resembles the Soviet project, forgotten even externally. If (according to unconfirmed data) the Soviet rocket was developing in a straight line speed in 10 000 kilometers per hour (it was dropped in the stratosphere from an airplane), then the American analog accelerated to 11 200 from the third time (the first launches were not very successful). Now in the USA (according to official data) it is planned to achieve a stable speed in 5 – 6 sound. In theory, the X-51 should, over the years through 10 – 15, generally supplant modern ballistic missiles.
The Americans are betting on hypersonic rockets when planning the strategy of the so-called rapid global strike (BSU) - applying one missile volley of maximum destructive effect on the objects of the Russian strategic missile forces and control centers. If it is necessary to eliminate the Russian strategic nuclear component with one movement and paralyze power, it requires hypersonic missiles that carry a small but still nuclear charge. This is the modern concept of atomic war when viewed from the Pentagon.
So far, the combat use of anything hypersonic is impossible for objective reasons. Theoretically, it is quite possible to raise such a thing into a near-earth orbit - and throw it down. But to manage it at a speed of more than 10 000 kilometers per hour, no one has yet learned. There is no guarantee that the slightest deviation from a straight line in the dense layers of the atmosphere will not break the head, obeying the laws of physics. In addition, Americans have traditional problems with quickly combustible fuel and engines in general - they do not work with them. This is the result of over-enthusiasm for manned Shuttles, as a result, the design thought in rocket production has died down, engines have to be bought in Russia despite sanctions.
The last two X-51 tests (in 2011 and 2012) were failures. The first rocket received an order for self-destruction just because of problems with control, and the second completely "went crazy." According to a number of data, now the USA has serious problems with the further development of hypersonic rockets - and this is when all the programs related to the BSU strategy are actively reanimated.
The general message of the column of Bill Hertz: these Russians are again ahead of us and (hypothetically) put the hypersonic missile on combat duty in 10 years. Some of the details, clearly taken from the ceiling (as, for example, indications of Dombarovsky, aka Yasnensky polygon in the Orenburg region as a location), are intended to add credibility. From the same ceiling, perhaps, the figure was taken in 25 devices, for some reason tied to the Sarmat rocket. Considering the reputation of Bill Hertz as the author who opens with his foot any door to the CIA, the American reader should take all these details as, let's say, based on something and close to reality. Beautiful move. The article, of course, does not say in plain text: Congress, give the Pentagon more money for a hypersonic rocket, otherwise Clinton will come and take everything in general, but this is the implication. Everyone should be afraid of the new species form of the Russian threat, from which there is no protection.
Meanwhile, Bill Hertz, although pursuing his goals, is not so wrong. According to some data, in Russia, work on creating a new hypersonic rocket (or even a whole family of devices with similar characteristics) was resumed five years ago and is being conducted very actively. They even occupied several KBs at once, and not just like in the USSR - only “Rainbow”. And it is quite possible that experimental launches can really be made. Whether this device is called Yu-71 or something else is a minor question. But if he is really able to develop speed in 11 200 kilometers per hour (that is, the same as the American project that has come to a standstill) in dense layers of the atmosphere, this is a serious breakthrough. At least, this is a real opportunity to reach a new level of technology, which will leave far behind the existing and even promising American missile defense system. But it’s still early to say anything about this.
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