Missiles are intended. Space rocket: types, technical characteristics. The first space rockets and astronauts. High precision cruise missiles

Classification of combat missiles

One of the features of modern missile weapons is the huge variety of models of combat missiles. Modern army missiles differ in purpose, design features, type of trajectory, engine type, control method, launch site, target position, and many other features.

The first sign, according to which rockets are divided into classes, are starting point(first word) and target position(second word). The word "land" refers to the placement of launchers on land, on water (on a ship) and under water (on a submarine), the word "air" refers to the location of launchers on board an aircraft, helicopter and other aircraft. The same applies to the position of the targets.

By the second sign (by the nature of the flight) the missile can be ballistic or cruise.

The trajectory, i.e., the flight path of a ballistic missile, consists of active and passive sections. On the active site, the rocket flies under the influence of the thrust of a running engine. In the passive section, the engine is turned off, the rocket flies by inertia, like a body freely thrown with a certain initial speed. Therefore, the passive part of the trajectory is a curve, which is called ballistic. Ballistic missiles do not have wings. Some of their species are equipped with tails for stabilization, i.e. with. giving stability in flight.

Cruise missiles have wings of various shapes on their hulls. Wings use the air resistance to the flight of the rocket to create the so-called aerodynamic forces. These forces can be used to provide a given flight range for ground-to-ground missiles or to change the direction of movement for surface-to-air, air-to-air missiles. Ground-to-ground and air-to-ground cruise missiles, designed for significant flight ranges, usually have an aircraft shape, that is, their wings are located in the same plane. Missiles of the classes "ground-to-air", "air-to-air", as well as some; types of ground-to-ground missiles are equipped with two pairs of cross-shaped wings.

Ground-to-ground cruise missiles of the aircraft scheme are launched from inclined rails using powerful high-thrust starting engines. These engines operate for a short time, accelerate the rocket to a predetermined speed, then reset. The rocket is transferred to horizontal flight and flies to the target with a constantly running engine, which is called a main engine. In the target area, the missile goes into a steep dive and when it meets the target, the warhead is triggered.

Since such cruise missiles are similar to unmanned aircraft in flight and general arrangement, they are often referred to as projectile aircraft. Cruise missile propulsion engines have low power. Usually these are the previously mentioned air-jet engines (WFD). Therefore, the most correct name for such combat aircraft would not be a cruise missile, but a cruise missile. But most often, a combat missile is also called a projectile equipped with a VFD. Marching WFDs are economical and allow delivering a missile over a long range with a small supply of fuel on board. However, this is also the weakness of cruise missiles: They have low speed, low flight altitude and therefore are easily shot down by conventional air defense systems. For this reason, they are currently decommissioned by most modern armies.


The shapes of the trajectories of ballistic and cruise missiles, designed for the same flight range, are shown in the figure. X-wing missiles fly on trajectories of various shapes. Examples of air-to-ground missile trajectories are shown in the figure. Ground-to-air guided missiles have trajectories in the form of complex spatial curves.

Controllability in flight missiles are divided into guided and unguided. Unguided missiles also include missiles, for which the direction and range of flight are set at the time of launch by a certain position of the launcher in azimuth and elevation angle of the guides. After leaving the launcher, the rocket flies like a freely thrown body without any control action (manual or automatic). Ensuring stability in flight or stabilization of unguided rockets is achieved using the tail stabilizer or by rotating the rocket around the longitudinal axis at a very high speed (tens of thousands of revolutions per minute). Spin stabilized missiles are sometimes referred to as turbojets. The principle of their stabilization is similar to that used for artillery shells and rifle bullets. Note that unguided missiles are not cruise missiles. Rockets are equipped with wings in order to be able to change their trajectory during flight, using aerodynamic forces. Such a change is typical only for guided missiles. Examples of unguided rockets are the previously considered Soviet powder rockets of the Great Patriotic War.

Guided missiles are missiles that are equipped with special devices that allow you to change the direction of the missile during flight. Devices or control systems provide missile guidance to the target or their flight exactly along a given trajectory. This achieves hitherto unprecedented accuracy of hitting the target and high reliability of hitting enemy targets. The missile can be controlled on the entire flight path or only on a certain part of this trajectory. Guided missiles are usually equipped with various types of rudders. Some of them do not have air rudders. Changing their trajectory in this case is also carried out due to the operation of additional nozzles into which gases are discharged from the engine, or due to auxiliary steering low-thrust rocket engines, or by changing the direction of the jet of the main (main) engine by turning its chamber (nozzle), asymmetric injection liquid or gas into a jet stream using gas rudders.

Start of development guided missiles laid in 1938 - 1940 in Germany. The first guided missiles and their control systems were also created in Germany during the Second World War. The first guided missile is the V-2. The most advanced are the Wasserfall (Waterfall) anti-aircraft missile with a radar command guidance system and the Rotkapchen (Little Red Riding Hood) anti-tank missile with a manual wired command control system.

History of SD development:

1st ATGM - Rotkampfen

1st SAM - Reintochter

1st CR - V-1

1st OTR - V-2

By number of steps rockets can be single-stage and composite, or multi-stage. A single-stage rocket has the disadvantage that if it is necessary to obtain greater speed and flight range, then a significant supply of fuel is needed. Stock, fuel is placed in large containers. As the fuel burns out, these containers are released, but they remain in the composition of the rocket and are useless cargo for it. As we have already said, K.E. Tsiolkovsky put forward the idea of ​​multi-stage rockets, which do not have this drawback. Multi-stage rockets consist of several parts (stages) that are successively separated in flight. Each stage has its own engine and fuel supply. The steps are numbered in the order in which they are included in the work. After a certain amount of "fuel is used up, the released parts of the rocket are dumped. The fuel capacities and the first stage engine are dropped, which are not needed in the further flight. Then the second stage engine works, etc. If the value of the payload (rocket warhead) and speed are given, which he needs to be told, then the more stages are included in the composition of the rocket, the smaller its required starting weight and dimensions.

However, with an increase in the number of stages, the rocket becomes more complex in design, and the reliability of its operation when performing a combat mission decreases. For each specific class and type of rocket, there will be its own most advantageous number of stages.

Most known combat missiles consist of no more than three stages.

Finally, another sign by which rockets are divided into classes is engine tun. Rocket engines can be operated using solid or liquid propellants. Accordingly, they are called liquid propellant rocket engines (LRE) and solid propellant rocket engines (RDTT). LRE and solid propellant rocket engines differ significantly in design. This introduces many features into the characteristics of the missiles on which they are used. There may also be missiles on which both of these types of engines are installed simultaneously. This is most common with surface-to-air missiles.

Any combat missile can be assigned to a certain class according to the features listed earlier. For example, rocket A is a ground-to-ground, ballistic, guided, single-stage, liquid-propellant rocket.

In addition to dividing missiles into main classes, each of them is divided into subclasses and types according to a number of auxiliary features.

Rockets "ground-to-ground". By the number of samples created, this is the most numerous class. Depending on the purpose and combat capabilities, they are divided into anti-tank, tactical, operational-tactical and strategic.

Anti-tank missiles are an effective means of combating tanks. They are light in weight and small in size, easy to use. Launchers can be placed on the ground, on a car, on a tank. Anti-tank missiles can be unguided and guided.

tactical missiles are intended to destroy enemy targets such as artillery in firing positions, troops in combat formations and on the march, defensive structures and command posts. Tactical includes guided and unguided missiles with a range of up to several tens of kilometers.

Operational-tactical missiles designed to destroy enemy targets at ranges up to several hundred kilometers. The warhead of missiles can be of conventional or nuclear warheads of various capacities.

Strategic Missiles they are a means of delivering high-yield nuclear charges and are capable of hitting objects of strategic importance and deep behind enemy lines (large military, industrial, political and administrative centers, launching positions and bases of strategic missiles, control centers, etc.). Strategic missiles are divided into medium-range missiles (up to 5000 km ) and long-range missiles (more than 5000 km). Long-range missiles can be intercontinental and global.

Intercontinental missiles are missiles designed to be launched from one continent (continent) to another. Their flight ranges are limited and cannot exceed 20,000 km, t. half the circumference of the earth. Global missiles are capable of hitting targets anywhere on the earth's surface and from any direction. To hit the same target, a global missile can be launched in any direction. In this case, it is only necessary to ensure the fall of the warhead at a given point.

Air-to-ground missiles

Missiles of this class are designed to destroy ground, surface and underwater targets from aircraft. They can be unmanaged and managed. By the nature of the flight, they are winged and ballistic. Air-to-ground missiles are used by bombers, fighter-bombers and helicopters. For the first time such missiles were used by the Soviet army in the battles of the Great Patriotic War. They were armed with Il-2 attack aircraft.

Unguided missiles are not widely used due to the low accuracy of hitting the target. Western military experts believe that these missiles can only be used successfully against large-sized area targets and, moreover, massively. Due to their independence from the effects of radio interference and the possibility of massive use, unguided missiles remain in service in some armies.

Air-to-ground guided missiles have the advantage over all other types of aviation weapons that after launch they fly along a given trajectory and aim at the target, regardless of its visibility, with great accuracy. They can be launched at targets without entering the air defense zone of carrier aircraft. High speed missiles increase the likelihood of their breakthrough through the air defense system. The presence of control systems allows missiles to perform an anti-aircraft maneuver before switching to targeting, which complicates the task of defending a ground facility. Air-to-ground missiles can carry both conventional and nuclear warheads, which increases their combat capabilities. The disadvantages of guided missiles include a decrease in their combat effectiveness under the influence of radio interference, as well as a deterioration in the flight and tactical qualities of carrier aircraft due to the external suspension of missiles under the fuselage or wings.

According to their combat mission, air-to-ground missiles are divided into missiles for arming tactical aviation, strategic aviation and special-purpose missiles (missiles for combating ground-based radio equipment).

Surface-to-air missiles

These missiles are more often called anti-aircraft, i.e., firing upwards at the zenith. They occupy a leading place in the system of modern air defense, forming the basis of its firepower. Anti-aircraft missiles are intended to combat air targets: aircraft and cruise missiles of the ground-to-ground and air-to-ground classes, as well as ballistic missiles of the same classes. The task of the combat use of any anti-aircraft missile is to deliver a warhead to the desired point in space and detonate it in order to destroy one or another means of enemy air attack.

Anti-aircraft missiles can be unguided and guided. The first rockets were unguided.

At present, all known anti-aircraft missiles in service with the armies of the world are guided. An anti-aircraft guided missile is the main component of anti-aircraft missile weapons, the smallest firing unit of which is an anti-aircraft missile system.

Air-to-air missiles

Missiles of this class are intended for firing from aircraft at various air targets (aircraft, some types of cruise missiles, helicopters, etc.). Air-to-air missiles are usually used on fighter aircraft, but they can also be used on other types of aircraft. These missiles are distinguished by their high accuracy of hitting and reliability of hitting air targets, so they have almost completely replaced machine guns and aircraft cannons from aircraft armament. At high speeds of modern aircraft, firing distances have increased, and the effectiveness of fire from small arms and cannon weapons has fallen accordingly. In addition, a barreled weapon projectile does not have sufficient destructive power to disable a modern aircraft with a single hit. Arming fighters with air combat missiles dramatically increased their combat capabilities. The zone of possible attacks has significantly expanded, the reliability of hitting targets has increased.

The warheads of these missiles are mostly high-explosive fragmentation weighing 10-13 kg. When they are detonated, a large number of fragments are formed, easily hitting the vulnerable spots of targets. In addition to conventional explosives, nuclear charges are also used in combat units.

By type of combat units. Rockets have high-explosive, fragmentation, cumulative, cumulative-fragmentation, high-explosive fragmentation, fragmentation rod, kinetic, volumetric detonating types of warheads and nuclear warheads.

The Soviet Union has achieved outstanding success in the peaceful use of missiles, especially in; space exploration.

Meteorological and geophysical rockets are widely used in our country. Their use makes it possible to explore the entire thickness of the earth's atmosphere and near-Earth space.

To fulfill the tasks of space exploration, a completely new branch of technology, called space technology, has now been created in the USSR and some other countries. The concept of "space technology" includes spacecraft, carrier rockets for these vehicles, launch complexes for launching rockets, ground-based flight tracking stations, communications equipment, transport equipment, and much more.

Spacecraft include artificial Earth satellites with equipment for various purposes, automatic interplanetary stations and manned spacecraft with astronauts on board.

To launch an aircraft into a near-Earth orbit, it is necessary to inform it of a speed of at least first space. At the surface of the Earth, it is equal to 7.9 km / s . To send an apparatus to the Moon or to the planets of the solar system, its speed must be at least two space, which is sometimes called the speed of escape, or the speed of release. At the Earth, it is equal to 11.29 km / s. Finally, to go beyond the solar system, the speed of the device is not less than third space, which at the start of the Earth's surface is equal to 16.7 km/sec.

What is the device of a multi-stage rocket Let's take a look at the classic example of a rocket for space flight, described in the writings of Tsiolkovsky, the founder of rocket science. It was he who was the first to publish the fundamental idea of ​​manufacturing a multi-stage rocket.

The principle of the rocket.

In order to overcome gravity, the rocket needs a large supply of fuel, and the more fuel we take, the greater the mass of the rocket. Therefore, to reduce the mass of the rocket, they are built on the principle of multistage. Each stage can be considered as a separate rocket with its own rocket engine and fuel supply for flight.

The device of the stages of a space rocket.


The first stage of a space rocket
the largest, in a rocket for space flight, there can be up to 6 engines of the 1st stage, and the more heavy the load must be brought into space, the more engines in the first stage of the rocket.

In the classic version, there are three of them, located symmetrically along the edges of an isosceles triangle, as if encircling the rocket around the perimeter. This stage is the largest and most powerful, it is she who tears off the rocket. When the fuel in the rocket's first stage is used up, the entire stage is discarded.

After that, the movement of the rocket is controlled by the engines of the second stage. They are sometimes called accelerating, since it is with the help of the engines of the second stage that the rocket reaches the first space velocity, sufficient to reach the near-Earth orbit.

This can be repeated several times, with each stage of the rocket weighing less than the previous one, since the force of gravity of the Earth decreases with the climb.

How many times this process is repeated, so many steps are contained in a space rocket. The last stage of the rocket is designed for maneuvering (flight correction engines are available in each stage of the rocket) and delivery of the payload and astronauts to their destination.

We reviewed the device how a rocket works, ballistic multi-stage missiles, a terrible weapon carrying nuclear weapons, are arranged in exactly the same way and do not fundamentally differ from space rockets. They are capable of completely destroying both life on the entire planet and itself.

Multistage ballistic missiles go into near-Earth orbit and from there they hit ground targets with divided warheads with nuclear warheads. At the same time, 20-25 minutes are enough for them to fly to the most remote point.

Missiles are usually classified by type of flight path, by location and direction of launch, by range, by type of engine, by type of warhead, by type of control and guidance systems.

  1. cruise missiles
  2. ballistic missiles
  1. Surface-to-surface missiles
  2. Surface-to-air missiles
  3. Surface-to-sea missiles
  4. Air-to-air missiles
  5. Air-to-surface (ground, water) missiles
  6. Sea-to-sea missiles
  7. Sea-to-land (coastal) missiles
  8. Anti-tank missiles
  1. short range missiles
  2. Medium range missiles
  3. Intermediate range ballistic missiles
  4. Intercontinental ballistic missiles
  1. solid fuel engine
  2. Liquid engine
  3. hybrid engine
  4. ramjet engine
  5. Supersonic combustion ramjet engine
  6. cryogenic engine
  1. conventional warhead
  2. nuclear warhead
  1. wire guidance
  2. Command Guidance
  3. Landmark Guidance
  4. Geophysical guidance
  5. inertial guidance
  6. Beam guidance
  7. laser guidance
  8. RF and satellite guidance

By type of flight path:

(i) Cruise missiles: Cruise missiles are unmanned guided (until hitting the target) aircraft that are supported in the air for most of their flight due to aerodynamic lift. The main purpose of cruise missiles is to deliver an artillery shell or warhead to the target. They move in the Earth's atmosphere using jet engines. Intercontinental ballistic cruise missiles can be classified according to their size, speed (subsonic or supersonic), flight range and launch site: ground, air, ship or submarine.

Depending on the flight speed, rockets are divided into:

1) Subsonic cruise missiles

2) Supersonic cruise missiles

3) Hypersonic cruise missiles

Subsonic cruise missile moving at a speed below the speed of sound. It develops a speed of about Mach 0.8. A well-known subsonic missile is the American Tomahawk cruise missile. Other examples are the American Harpoon missile and the French Exocet.

supersonic cruise missile moves at a speed of about Mach 2-3, that is, it covers a distance of one kilometer in about a second. The modular design of the missile and its ability to launch at different angles of inclination allows it to be installed on a wide range of carriers: warships, submarines, various types of aircraft, mobile autonomous installations and launch silos. The supersonic speed and mass of the warhead provides it with high kinetic energy, creating a huge force of a striking blow. As far as is known BRAHMOS- This is the only multifunctional profile missile in service.

Hypersonic cruise missile moving faster than Mach 5. Many countries are working on the creation of hypersonic cruise missiles. Recently, the BRAHMOS-2 hypersonic cruise missile, capable of reaching Mach 5, developed by BrahMos Aerospace, was successfully tested in India.

(ii) Ballistic Missile:
it is a missile that has a ballistic trajectory for most of its flight path, regardless of whether it carries a warhead or not. Ballistic missiles are classified according to range. The maximum flight range is measured along a curve along the surface of the earth from the launch site to the point of impact of the last element of the warhead. The missile can carry a large amount of warhead over great distances. Ballistic missiles can be launched from ships and ground carriers. So, for example, ballistic missiles "Prithvi-1", "Prithvi-2", "Agni-1", "Agni-2" and "Dhanush" are currently used by the armed forces of India.

By class (place of launch and direction of launch):

(i) Surface-to-surface missile: it is a guided projectile that can be launched by hand, vehicle, mobile or fixed installation. It is often propelled by a rocket engine, or sometimes, if it is installed on a fixed installation, it is fired using a powder charge.

(ii) Surface-to-air missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy air targets such as aircraft, helicopters and even ballistic missiles. These missiles are commonly referred to as an air defense system, as they repel any kind of air attack.

(iii) Surface (land)-sea missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy enemy ships.

(iv) Air-to-air missile is launched from aircraft carriers and is designed to destroy air targets. These missiles travel at Mach 4.

(v) Air-to-surface missile designed to be launched from military aircraft carriers to strike both ground and surface targets.

(vi) Sea-to-sea missile designed to be launched from ships to destroy enemy ships.

(vii) Sea-to-surface (coastal) missile designed to be launched from ships to attack ground targets.

(viii) Anti-tank missile Designed primarily to destroy heavily armored tanks and other armored vehicles. Anti-tank missiles can be launched from aircraft, helicopters, tanks, and shoulder-mounted launchers.

By flight distance:

This classification is based on the parameter of the maximum range of the missile:

(i) Short Range Missile
(ii) Intermediate Range Missile
(iii) Intermediate-range ballistic missile
(iv) Intercontinental ballistic missile

According to the fuel type of the engine:

(i) Solid fuel engine: This type of engine uses solid fuel. Typically, this fuel is aluminum powder. Solid fuel engines have the advantage of being easy to store and can be handled while fueled. Such motors can deliver very high speeds quickly. Their simplicity also speaks in favor of their choice when high traction is required.

(ii) Liquid engine: The technology of liquid engines uses liquid fuel - hydrocarbons. Storing liquid propellant rockets is a difficult and complex task. In addition, the production of such missiles takes a long time. A liquid engine is easy to control, limiting the flow of fuel into it using valves. It is manageable even in critical situations. In general, liquid fuels provide high specific thrust compared to solid fuels.

(iii) Hybrid engine: The hybrid engine has two stages - solid fuel and liquid. This type of engine compensates for the shortcomings of both types - solid fuel and liquid, and also combines their advantages.

(iv) Ramjet: The ramjet does not have any of the turbines found in a turbojet. Compression of the intake air is achieved due to the speed of the direct movement of the aircraft. Fuel is injected and ignited. The expansion of hot gases after fuel injection and combustion accelerates the exhaust air to a velocity greater than that of the intake, resulting in a positive buoyant force. However, in this case, the speed of the air entering the engine must exceed the speed of sound. Thus, the aircraft must move at supersonic speed. A ramjet engine cannot provide supersonic speed to an aircraft from scratch.

(v) Supersonic combustion ramjet: Word scramjet is an acronym (abbreviation of initial letters) supersonic combustion ramjet and means "ramjet engine with supersonic combustion". The difference between a ramjet and a ramjet with supersonic combustion is that in the latter, the combustion in the engine occurs at supersonic speed. Mechanically, this engine is simple, but in terms of its aerodynamic characteristics, it is much more complicated than a jet engine. It uses hydrogen as fuel

(vi) Cryogenic engine: Cryogenic fuels are liquefied gases stored at a very low temperature, most commonly liquid hydrogen used as a fuel and liquid oxygen used as an oxidizer. Cryogenic fuels require special insulated containers with vents to allow the gases generated by product evaporation to escape. Liquid fuel and oxidizer from the storage tank are pumped into the diffusion chamber and injected into the combustion chamber where they mix and ignite with a spark. During combustion, the fuel expands and hot exhaust gases are expelled from the nozzle, thereby creating thrust.

Warhead type:

(i) Conventional warhead: A conventional warhead contains high-energy explosives. It is filled with chemical explosives, the explosion of which occurs from detonation. Fragments of the metal plating of the rocket serve as a lethal force.

(ii) Nuclear warhead: A nuclear warhead contains radioactive substances, which, when activated, release a huge amount of radioactive energy that can wipe out even entire cities from the face of the earth. Such warheads are designed for mass destruction.

By type of guidance:

(i) Wire guidance: This system is generally similar to radio control, but is less susceptible to electronic countermeasures. Command signals are given by wire (or wires). After the rocket is launched, this type of communication is terminated.

(ii) Command Guidance: Command guidance includes tracking the missile from the launch site or carrier and transmitting commands via radio, radar or laser, or through the thinnest wires and optical fibers. Tracking can be done by radar or optical devices from the launch site, or through a radar or television image transmitted from the missile.

(iii) Ground guidance: The correlation guidance system based on ground references (or on a map of the area) is used exclusively for cruise missiles. The system uses sensitive altimeters that track the terrain profile directly below the missile and compare it to a "map" stored in the missile's memory.

(iv) Geophysical guidance: The system constantly measures the angle in relation to the stars and compares it with the programmed angle of the rocket along the intended trajectory. The guidance system provides guidance to the control system whenever a change in flight path is required.

(v) Inertial Guidance: The system is pre-programmed and completely contained in the rocket. Three accelerometers mounted on a stand stabilized in space by gyroscopes measure accelerations along three mutually perpendicular axes. These accelerations are then integrated into the system twice: the first integration sets the rocket's speed, the second - its position. Then the control system receives information to save a predetermined trajectory. These systems are used in surface-to-surface (ground, water) missiles and cruise missiles.

(vi) Beam guidance: The idea of ​​beam guidance is based on the use of a ground-based or ship-based radar station, from which the radar beam is directed to the target. External (located on the ground or ship) radar tracks and accompanies the target, sending a beam that adjusts the pointing angle in accordance with the movement of the object in space. The rocket generates corrective signals, with the help of which its flight along the desired trajectory is ensured.

(vii) Laser guidance: With laser guidance, the laser beam is focused on the target, reflected from it and scattered. The rocket contains a laser homing head, which is able to detect even a minor source of radiation. The homing head sets the direction of the reflected and scattered laser beam to the guidance system. The missile is launched in the direction of the target, the homing head looks for the laser reflection, and the guidance system directs the missile to the source of the laser reflection, which is the target.

(viii) RF and satellite guidance: RF guidance system and GPS system - that is, global positioning system (GPS) via satellite repeaters - are examples of technologies used in the missile guidance system. The missile uses a satellite signal to locate a target. During its flight, the rocket uses this information by sending commands to the "control surfaces" and thus corrects its trajectory. In the case of radio frequency guidance, the missile uses high frequency waves to detect a target.

The most mobile rocket launcher: mobile and silo-based Topol-M ICBMs

Country Russia
First run: 1994
START code: RS-12M
Number of steps: 3
Length (with MS): 22.5 m
Launch weight: 46.5 t
Cast weight: 1.2 t
Range: 11000 km
MS type: monoblock, nuclear
Fuel type: solid

Nitrogen tetroxide usually acts as an oxidizing agent for heptyl. Heptyl rockets were devoid of many of the shortcomings of oxygen rockets, and so far the bulk of Russia's nuclear missile arsenal is made up of ICBMs with liquid-propellant rocket engines on high-boiling components. The first American ICBMs (Atlas and Titan) also operated liquid fuels, but back in the 1960s of the last century, US designers began to radically switch to solid propellant engines. The fact is that high-boiling fuel is by no means an ideal alternative to kerosene with oxygen. Heptyl is four times more toxic than hydrocyanic acid, that is, each rocket launch is accompanied by the release of extremely harmful substances into the atmosphere. The consequences of an accident with a fueled missile will also be sad, especially if it happens, say, on a submarine. Liquid-propellant rockets are also distinguished by more difficult operating conditions, a lower level of combat readiness and safety, and a shorter fuel storage period compared to solid-propellant ones. Ever since the Minutemen I and Polaris A-1 missiles (and this is the beginning of the 1960s), the Americans have completely switched to solid-fuel designs. And in this matter, our country had to run after it. The first Soviet ICBM on solid propellant elements was developed in the Royal Design Bureau-1 (now RSC Energia), which gave the military theme to Yangel and Chelomey, who were considered apologists for liquid rockets. Tests of the RT-2 began in Kapustin Yar and Plesetsk in 1966, and in 1968 the missile entered service.

The most promising Russian: Yars RS-24

Country Russia
First run: 2007
Number of steps: 3
Length (with MS): 13 m
Starting weight: no data
Thrown weight: no data
Range: 11000
MS type: MIRV, 3–4 warheads of 150–300 Kt each
Fuel type: solid

The new rocket, the first launch of which took place only three years ago, unlike the Topol-M, has multiple warheads. It became possible to return to such a design after Russia withdrew from the START-1 treaty that banned MIRVs. It is believed that the new ICBM will gradually replace the multiply charged modifications UR-100 and R-36M in the Strategic Missile Forces and, along with the Topol-M, will form a new, updated core of Russia's strategic nuclear forces being reduced under the START-III treaty.

The heaviest: R-36M "Satan"

Country: USSR
First launch: 1970
START code: RS-20
Number of steps: 2
Length (with MS): 34.6 m
Launch weight: 211 t
Cast weight: 7.3 t
Range: 11,200–16,000 km
MS type: 1 x 25 Mt, 1 x 8 Mt or 8 x 1 Mt
Fuel type: solid

“Korolev works for TASS, and Yangel works for us,” the military involved in the missile theme joked half a century ago. The meaning of the joke is simple - Korolev's oxygen rockets were declared unsuitable as ICBMs and sent to storm space, and the military leadership instead of the royal R-9 relied on heavy ICBMs with engines running on high-boiling fuel components. The first Soviet heavy heptyl-based ICBM was the R-16, developed at the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau (Dnepropetrovsk) under the leadership of M.K. Yangel. The successors of this line were the R-36 missiles, and then the R-36M in several modifications. The latter received the NATO designation SS-18 Satan ("Satan"). Currently, the Russian Strategic Missile Forces are armed with two modifications of this missile - R-36M UTTKh and R-36M2 "Voevoda". The latter is designed to destroy all types of targets protected by modern missile defense systems under any conditions of combat use, including multiple nuclear impacts on a positional area. Also, on the basis of the R-36M, a commercial space carrier "Dnepr" was created.

Longest Range: Trident II D5 SLBM

Country: USA
First run: 1987
Number of steps: 3
Length (with MS): 13.41 m
Starting weight: 58 t
Cast weight: 2.8 t
Range: 11300 km
MS type: 8x475 Kt or 14x100Kt
Fuel type: solid

The submarine-based ballistic missile Trident II D5 has very little in common with its predecessor (Trident D4). It is one of the newest and most technologically advanced intercontinental ballistic missiles. Trident II D5s are installed on US Ohio-class submarines and British Vanguards and are currently the only sea-launched nuclear ballistic missile in US service. The design actively used composite materials, which greatly facilitated the body of the rocket. High firing accuracy, confirmed by 134 tests, allows this SLBM to be considered as a first strike. Moreover, there are plans to equip the missile with a non-nuclear warhead for a so-called immediate global strike (Prompt Global Strike). As part of this concept, the US government hopes to be able to deliver a precision conventional strike anywhere in the world within an hour. True, the use of ballistic missiles for such purposes is in question because of the risk of starting a nuclear missile conflict.

The very first combat: V-2 ("V-two")

Country: Germany
First run: 1942
Number of steps: 1
Length (with MS): 14 m
Starting weight: 13 t
Cast weight: 1 t
Range: 320 km
Fuel type: 75% ethyl alcohol

The pioneering creation of the Nazi engineer Wernher von Braun does not particularly need to be introduced - his "weapon of retaliation" (Vergeltungswaffe-2) is well known, in particular, for the fact that, fortunately for the allies, it turned out to be extremely ineffective. Each V-2 fired across London killed an average of less than two people. But the German developments have become an excellent base for the Soviet and American rocket and space programs. Both the USSR and the USA began their journey to the stars by copying the V-2.

First submarine intercontinental: R-29

Country: USSR
First launch: 1971
START code: RSM-40
Number of steps: 2
Length (with MS): 13 m
Launch weight: 33.3 t
Cast weight: 1.1 t
Range: 7800–9100 km
MS type: monoblock, 0.8–1 Mt
Fuel type: liquid (heptyl)

Rocket R-29, developed in the Design Bureau. Makeev, was placed on 18 Project 667B submarines, its R-29D modification was placed on four 667BD missile carriers. The creation of intercontinental-range SLBMs gave serious advantages to the Soviet Navy, as it became possible to keep submarines much further from the coast of a potential enemy.

The very first underwater launch: Polaris A-1

Country: USA
First run: 1960
Quantity
steps: 2
Length (with MS): 8.53 m
Launch weight: 12.7 t
Cast weight: 0.5 t
Range: 2200 km
MS type: monoblock, 600 Kt
Fuel type: solid

The first attempts to launch missiles from submarines were made by the military and engineers of the Third Reich, but the real race for SLBMs began with the Cold War. despite the fact that the USSR was somewhat ahead of the United States with the beginning of the development of an underwater-launched ballistic missile, our designers were long pursued by failures. as a result, they were overtaken by the Americans with the polaris a-1 missile. On July 20, 1960, this missile was launched from the George Washington nuclear submarine from a depth of 20 m. The Soviet competitor is the R-21 missile designed by M.K. Yangel - made a successful start 40 days later.

The very first in the world: R-7

Country: USSR
First launch: 1957
Number of steps: 2
Length (with MS): 31.4 m
Launch weight: 88.44 tons
Cast weight: up to 5.4 t
Range: 8000 km
MS type: monoblock, nuclear, detachable
Fuel type: liquid (kerosene)

The legendary royal "seven" was born painfully, but was honored to become the world's first ICBM. True, very mediocre. The R-7 started only from an open, that is, a very vulnerable position, and most importantly - due to the use of oxygen as an oxidizing agent (it evaporated) - it could not be on combat duty in a refueled state for a long time. It took hours to prepare for the launch, which categorically did not suit the military, as did the low accuracy of the hit. On the other hand, the R-7 opened the way to space for mankind, and the Soyuz-U, the only carrier for manned launches today, is nothing more than a modification of the Seven.

Most ambitious: MX (LGM-118A) Peacekeeper

Country: USA
First launch: 1983
Number of steps: 3 (plus step
breeding warheads)
Length (with MS): 21.61 m
Launch weight: 88.44 tons
Cast weight: 2.1 t
Range: 9600 km
Warhead type: 10 nuclear warheads of 300 kt each
Type of fuel: solid (stages I–III), liquid (dilution stage)

The heavy ICBM "Peacemaker" (MX), created by American designers by the mid-1980s, was the embodiment of many interesting ideas and the latest technologies, such as the use of composite materials. Compared to the Minuteman III (of that time), the MX missile had a significantly higher hit accuracy, which increased the likelihood of hitting Soviet silo launchers. Particular attention was paid to the survivability of the missile under conditions of nuclear impact, the possibility of mobile railway basing was seriously studied, which forced the USSR to develop a similar RT-23 UTTKh complex.

Fastest: Minuteman LGM-30G

Country: USA
First run: 1966
Number of steps: 3
Length (with MS): 18.2 m
Launch weight: 35.4 t
Cast weight: 1.5 t
Range: 13000 km
MS Type: 3x300 Kt
Fuel type: solid

The Minuteman III light missiles are the only land-based ICBM currently in service with the United States. Despite the fact that the production of these missiles was discontinued three decades ago, these weapons are subject to modernization, including with the introduction of technical advances implemented in the MX missile. It is believed that the Minuteman III LGM-30G is the fastest or one of the fastest ICBMs in the world and can accelerate to 24,100 km / h in the terminal phase of flight.

Introduction

Mechanics(Greek μηχανική - the art of building machines) - a branch of physics, a science that studies the movement of material bodies and the interaction between them; at the same time, movement in mechanics is a change in time of the relative position of bodies or their parts in space.

“Mechanics in the broad sense of the word is a science dedicated to solving any problems related to the study of the movement or balance of certain material bodies and the interactions between bodies that occur in this case. Theoretical mechanics is the branch of mechanics that deals with general laws movement and interaction of material bodies, that is, those laws that, for example, are valid for the movement of the Earth around the Sun, and for the flight of a rocket or artillery shell, etc. Another part of mechanics is made up of various general and special technical disciplines devoted to the design and calculation of all kinds of specific structures, engines, mechanisms and machines or their parts (details). 1

The special technical disciplines include the Flight Mechanics proposed for you to study [ballistic missiles (BR), launch vehicles (LV) and spacecraft (SC)]. ROCKET- an aircraft moving due to the rejection of high-speed hot gases created by a jet (rocket) engine. In most cases, the energy to propel a rocket comes from the combustion of two or more chemical components (fuel and oxidizer, which together form rocket fuel) or from the decomposition of a single high-energy chemical 2 .

The main mathematical apparatus of classical mechanics: differential and integral calculus, developed specifically for this purpose by Newton and Leibniz. The modern mathematical apparatus of classical mechanics includes, first of all, the theory of differential equations, differential geometry, functional analysis, etc. In the classical formulation, mechanics is based on Newton's three laws. The solution of many problems in mechanics is simplified if the equations of motion allow the formulation of conservation laws (momentum, energy, angular momentum, and other dynamic variables).

The task of studying the flight of an unmanned aircraft in the general case is very difficult, because for example, an aircraft with fixed (fixed) rudders, like any rigid body, has 6 degrees of freedom and its movement in space is described by 12 differential equations of the first order. The flight path of a real aircraft is described by a much larger number of equations.

Due to the extreme complexity of studying the flight path of a real aircraft, it is usually divided into a number of stages and each stage is studied separately, moving from simple to complex.

At the first stage research, you can consider the movement of an aircraft as the movement of a material point. It is known that the motion of a rigid body in space can be divided into translational motion of the center of mass and rotational motion of a rigid body around its own center of mass.

To study the general pattern of aircraft flight, in some cases, under certain conditions, it is possible not to consider rotational motion. Then the movement of the aircraft can be considered as the movement of a material point, the mass of which is equal to the mass of the aircraft and to which the force of thrust, gravity and aerodynamic resistance is applied.

It should be noted that even with such a simplified formulation of the problem, in some cases it is necessary to take into account the moments of forces acting on the aircraft and the required deflection angles of the controls, since otherwise, it is impossible to establish an unambiguous relationship, for example, between lift and angle of attack; between lateral force and slip angle.

At the second stage the equations of motion of the aircraft are studied taking into account its rotation around its own center of mass.

The task is to study and study the dynamic properties of the aircraft, considered as an element of a system of equations, while mainly interested in the reaction of the aircraft to the deviation of the controls and the influence of various external influences on the aircraft.

At the third stage(the most difficult) conduct a study of the dynamics of a closed control system, which includes, along with other elements, the aircraft itself.

One of the main tasks is to study the flight accuracy. Accuracy is characterized by the magnitude and probability of deviation from the required trajectory. To study the accuracy of aircraft motion control, it is necessary to compose a system of differential equations that would take into account all forces and moments. acting on the aircraft, and random perturbations. The result is a system of high-order differential equations, which can be non-linear, with time-dependent correct parts, with random functions on the right-hand sides.

Missile classification

Missiles are usually classified by type of flight path, by location and direction of launch, by range, by type of engine, by type of warhead, by type of control and guidance systems.

Depending on the type of flight path, there are:

Cruise missiles. Cruise missiles are unmanned guided (until hitting the target) aircraft that are supported in the air for most of their flight due to aerodynamic lift. The main purpose of cruise missiles is to deliver a warhead to the target. They move in the Earth's atmosphere using jet engines.

Intercontinental ballistic cruise missiles can be classified according to their size, speed (subsonic or supersonic), flight range and launch site: ground, air, ship or submarine.

Depending on the flight speed, rockets are divided into:

1) Subsonic cruise missiles

2) Supersonic cruise missiles

3) Hypersonic cruise missiles

Subsonic cruise missile moving at a speed below the speed of sound. It develops a speed corresponding to the Mach number M = 0.8 ... 0.9. A well-known subsonic missile is the American Tomahawk cruise missile. Below are diagrams of two Russian subsonic cruise missiles in service.

Kh-35 Uranium - Russia

supersonic cruise missile moves at a speed of about M = 2 ... 3, that is, it overcomes a distance of approximately 1 kilometer in a second. The modular design of the missile and its ability to be launched at various angles of inclination allow it to be launched from various carriers: warships, submarines, various types of aircraft, mobile autonomous installations and launch silos. The supersonic speed and mass of the warhead provides it with high impact kinetic energy (for example, Onyx (Russia) aka Yakhont - export version; P-1000 Vulkan; P-270 Mosquito; P-700 Granite)

P-270 Mosquito – Russia

P-700 Granite - Russia

Hypersonic cruise missile moves at a speed of M > 5. Many countries are working on the creation of hypersonic cruise missiles.

ballistic missiles. A ballistic missile is a missile that has a ballistic trajectory for most of its flight path.

Ballistic missiles are classified according to range. The maximum flight range is measured along a curve along the surface of the earth from the launch site to the point of impact of the last element of the warhead. Ballistic missiles can be launched from sea and land carriers.

The launch site and launch direction determine the rocket class:

    Ground-to-ground missiles. A surface-to-surface missile is a guided projectile that can be launched by hand, vehicle, mobile or fixed installation. It is propelled by a rocket engine or sometimes, if a stationary launcher is used, it is fired using a powder charge.

In Russia (and earlier in the USSR), surface-to-surface missiles are also divided according to their purpose into tactical, operational-tactical and strategic. In other countries, according to their purpose, ground-to-ground missiles are divided into tactical and strategic.

    Surface-to-air missiles. A surface-to-air missile is launched from the surface of the earth. Designed to destroy air targets, such as aircraft, helicopters and even ballistic missiles. These missiles are usually part of the air defense system, as they reflect any kind of air attack.

    Surface-to-sea missiles. A surface (land)-sea missile is designed to be launched from the ground to destroy enemy ships.

    Air-to-air missiles. The air-to-air missile is launched from aircraft carriers and is designed to destroy air targets. Such rockets have speeds up to M = 4.

    Air-to-surface (ground, water) missiles. The air-to-surface missile is designed to be launched from aircraft carriers to strike both ground and surface targets.

    Sea-to-sea missiles. The sea-to-sea missile is designed to be launched from ships to destroy enemy ships.

    Sea-to-land (coastal) missiles. The sea-to-land (coastal zone) missile is designed to be launched from ships at ground targets.

    Anti-tank missiles. The anti-tank missile is designed primarily to destroy heavily armored tanks and other armored vehicles. Anti-tank missiles can be launched from aircraft, helicopters, tanks, and shoulder-mounted launchers.

According to the flight range, ballistic missiles are divided into:

    short-range missiles;

    medium-range missiles;

    medium-range ballistic missiles;

    intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Since 1987, international agreements have used a different classification of missiles by range, although there is no generally accepted standard classification of missiles by range. Different states and non-governmental experts use different classifications of missile ranges. Thus, the following classification was adopted in the treaty on the elimination of medium-range and short-range missiles:

    short-range ballistic missiles (from 500 to 1000 kilometers).

    medium-range ballistic missiles (from 1000 to 5500 kilometers).

    intercontinental ballistic missiles (over 5500 kilometers).

By type of engine from the type of fuel:

    solid propellant engine or solid propellant rocket engines;

    liquid engine;

    hybrid engine - chemical rocket engine. Uses propellant components in different states of aggregation - liquid and solid. The solid state can be both an oxidizing agent and a fuel.

    ramjet engine (ramjet);

    ramjet with supersonic combustion;

    cryogenic engine - uses cryogenic fuel (these are liquefied gases stored at a very low temperature, most often liquid hydrogen used as a fuel, and liquid oxygen used as an oxidizer).

Warhead type:

    conventional warhead. A conventional warhead is filled with chemical explosives that explode on detonation. An additional damaging factor is fragments of the metal plating of the rocket.

    Nuclear warhead.

Intercontinental missiles and medium-range missiles are often used as strategic missiles, they are equipped with nuclear warheads. Their advantage over aircraft is their short approach time (less than half an hour at an intercontinental range) and high speed of the warhead, which makes it very difficult to intercept them even with a modern missile defense system.

Guidance systems:

    Electrical guidance. This system is generally similar to radio control, but is less susceptible to electronic countermeasures. Command signals are sent through wires. After the launch of the rocket, its connection with the command post is terminated.

    Command guidance. Command guidance includes tracking the missile from the launch site or carrier and transmitting commands via radio, radar or laser, or through the thinnest wires and optical fibers. Tracking can be done by radar or optical devices from the launch site, or through a radar or television image transmitted from the missile.

    Ground guidance. The system of correlation guidance on ground reference points (or on a map of the area) is used exclusively in relation to cruise missiles. The system uses sensitive altimeters that track the terrain profile directly below the missile and compare it to a "map" stored in the missile's memory.

    Geophysical guidance. The system constantly measures the angular position of the aircraft in relation to the stars and compares it with the programmed angle of the rocket along the intended trajectory. The guidance system provides information to the control system whenever it is necessary to make adjustments to the flight path.

    inertial guidance. The system is programmed before launch and is completely stored in the missile's "memory". Three accelerometers mounted on a stand stabilized in space by gyroscopes measure accelerations along three mutually perpendicular axes. These accelerations are then integrated twice: the first integration determines the speed of the rocket, and the second - its position. The control system is configured to maintain a predetermined flight path. These systems are used in surface-to-surface (ground, water) missiles and cruise missiles.

    Beam guidance. A ground-based or ship-based radar station is used, which accompanies the target with its beam. Information about the object enters the missile guidance system, which, if necessary, corrects the guidance angle in accordance with the movement of the object in space.

    Laser guidance. With laser guidance, the laser beam is focused on the target, reflected from it and scattered. The missile is equipped with a laser homing head, which is able to detect even a small source of radiation. The homing head sets the direction of the reflected and scattered laser beam to the guidance system. The missile is launched in the direction of the target, the homing head looks for the laser reflection, and the guidance system directs the missile to the source of the laser reflection, which is the target.

Combat missile weapons are usually classified according to the following parameters:

    aircraft types accessories- ground forces, naval forces, air forces;

    flight range(from the place of application to the target) - intercontinental (launch range - more than 5500 km), medium range (1000-5500 km), operational-tactical range (300-1000 km), tactical range (less than 300 km);

    physical environment of application- from the launch site (ground, air, surface, underwater, under ice);

    basing method– stationary, mobile (mobile);

    the nature of the flight- ballistic, aeroballistic (with wings), underwater;

    flight environment- air, underwater, space;

    type of control- managed, unmanaged;

    target appointment- anti-tank (anti-tank missiles), anti-aircraft (anti-aircraft missile), anti-ship, anti-radar, anti-space, anti-submarine (against submarines).

Classification of launch vehicles

Unlike some horizontally launched aerospace systems (AKS), launch vehicles use a vertical launch type and (much less often) air launch.

Number of steps.

Single-stage launch vehicles that carry payloads into space have not yet been created, although there are projects of varying degrees of development ("KORONA", HEAT-1X and others). In some cases, a rocket that has an air carrier as the first stage or uses boosters as such can be classified as a single-stage rocket. Among the ballistic missiles capable of reaching outer space, there are many single-stage ones, including the first V-2 ballistic missile; however, none of them is capable of entering the orbit of an artificial satellite of the Earth.

The location of the steps (layout). The design of launch vehicles can be as follows:

    longitudinal layout (tandem), in which the stages are located one after the other and work alternately in flight (LV "Zenith-2", "Proton", "Delta-4");

    parallel layout (package), in which several blocks located in parallel and belonging to different stages operate simultaneously in flight (Soyuz launch vehicle);

    • conditional-package layout (the so-called one and a half-stage scheme), which uses common fuel tanks for all stages, from which the starting and sustainer engines are powered, starting and operating simultaneously; at the end of the operation of the starting engines, only they are reset.

    combined longitudinal-transverse layout.

used engines. As marching engines can be used:

    liquid rocket engines;

    solid rocket engines;

    different combinations at different levels.

payload mass. Depending on the mass of the payload, launch vehicles are divided into the following classes:

    super-heavy class missiles (more than 50 tons);

    heavy missiles (up to 30 tons);

    medium-class missiles (up to 15 tons);

    light class missiles (up to 2-4 tons);

    ultra-light missiles (up to 300-400 kg).

The specific class boundaries change with the development of technology and are rather conditional, at present, rockets that put a load of up to 5 tons into a low reference orbit are considered a light class, from 5 to 20 tons of medium - from 5 to 20 tons, heavy - from 20 to 100 tons, superheavy - over 100 There is also a new class of so-called "nano-carriers" (payload - up to several tens of kg).

Reuse. The most widely used disposable multi-stage rockets, both batch and longitudinal layout. Disposable rockets are highly reliable due to the maximum simplification of all elements. It should be clarified that, in order to achieve orbital speed, a single-stage rocket theoretically needs to have a final mass of no more than 7-10% of the starting one, which, even with existing technologies, makes them difficult to implement and economically inefficient due to the low mass of the payload. In the history of world cosmonautics, single-stage launch vehicles were practically not created - there were only so-called. one and a half step modifications (for example, the American Atlas launch vehicle with resettable additional starting engines). The presence of several stages allows you to significantly increase the ratio of the mass of the output payload to the initial mass of the rocket. At the same time, multi-stage rockets require the alienation of territories for the fall of intermediate stages.

Due to the need to use highly efficient complex technologies (primarily in the field of propulsion systems and thermal protection), fully reusable launch vehicles do not yet exist, despite the constant interest in this technology and periodically opening projects for the development of reusable launch vehicles (for the period 1990-2000s). - such as: ROTON, Kistler K-1, AKS VentureStar, etc.). Partially reusable was the widely used American reusable space transport system (MTKS)-AKS "Space Shuttle" ("Space Shuttle") and the closed Soviet program MTKS "Energy-Buran", developed but never used in applied practice, as well as a number of unrealized former (for example, "Spiral", MAKS and other AKS) and newly developed (for example, "Baikal-Angara") projects. Contrary to expectations, the Space Shuttle was unable to reduce the cost of delivering cargo to orbit; in addition, manned MTKS are characterized by a complex and lengthy stage of pre-launch preparation (due to increased requirements for reliability and safety in the presence of a crew).

The presence of a person. Missiles for manned flights should be more reliable (they are also equipped with an emergency rescue system); permissible overloads for them are limited (usually no more than 3-4.5 units). At the same time, the launch vehicle itself is a fully automatic system that launches a device with people on board into outer space (these can be both pilots capable of direct control of the device, and the so-called "space tourists").



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