"Mace" (rocket): characteristics. Intercontinental ballistic missile "Bulava"

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

"Mace" is one of the latest developments in domestic rocket science. Until now, tests are being carried out on this object. Some of them were unsuccessful, which caused a lot of criticism from experts. It is safe to say that the Bulava is a rocket whose characteristics are truly unique, and you will learn what exactly in this article. It is worth paying your attention to the fact that this solid-propellant ballistic missile is designed to be placed on nuclear submarines (of the Akula type).

History of Creation

In 1998, a decision was made in favor of developing the Bulava ballistic missile. At that time, Vladimir Kuroyedov, who was developing the strategic Bark gun, was at the post of the Russian Navy. The complex was only 70% ready, and its tests were unsuccessful. After that, the Council of the Russian Federation decided to transfer the development of the latest intercontinental missile to the capitalInstitute of Thermal Engineering, despite the fact that the latter had no experience in creating such weapons. In June 2009, the first test of the Bulava missile was carried out, which turned out to be successful. After that, it was decided to start mass production of the most used parts and assemblies. So, by the end of 2012, Anatoly Serdyukov announced that these missiles would go into service with the Russian army in October 2012. As of January 2014, about 46 missiles were manufactured, about 14 of which were launched during testing.

Tests in progress

To date, about 20 tests have been completed, only 55% have been successful. The first launch of the Bulava rocket (mass and size mock-up) was carried out on September 23, 2004. The second, which can be called the first real one, was completed on September 25, 2005. Then the Bulava intercontinental missile successfully reached its target and hit it. The third submerged launch from the Dmitry Donskoy nuclear submarine took place in October 2005. The target at the Kura training ground in Kamchatka was successfully hit. The next few tests were unsuccessful. Either the engine of the last liquid stage of the rocket failed, then it deviated from the course and fell, then it simply self-destructed corny. The only good news is that in the course of unsuccessful tests, appropriate conclusions were made and certain nodes were finalized. As a result, 9 of the last 10 tests have been successful, which is a very good thing.result. Well, now let's look at another interesting point.

Rocket "Bulava": characteristics

This complex boasts the following features:

• Range - 8 thousand kilometers.
• Weight (starting) - 36.8 tons.
• Thrown (dumped) weight - 1,150 kilograms.
• The length/diameter of the launch canister is 12, 1/2, 1 meters.
• The diameter of the first stage is 2.0 meters.

The Mace rocket, whose characteristics you just learned, has three stages. The first two are solid propellant, and the last one is liquid. The mass of the motor of the first stage is about 18.5 tons with a length of 3.6 meters. To date, data on the second stage has not been disclosed. Until the beginning of 2014, it was not known how the 3rd stage was completed. Today, we can say with confidence that it is liquid. This is necessary in order to ensure maximum maneuvering of the object in the final stages of the flight. This missile in its composition can carry about 10 nuclear units, each of which is controlled. This is almost all the data that is known today.

Recent changes to the complex

It became known that the complex will include a special system to overcome missile defense. But what kind of system it will be has not yet been explained. Perhaps these will be decoys or a special coating that will make the block invisible to radars. It's top secretdata that will not be disclosed. Separately, a few words must be said about the fact that the Bulava missile, the characteristics of which we have already examined, has been somewhat modernized in recent years of development. In particular, the principle of disengagement of nuclear blocks was changed. If earlier the rocket brought blocks over the target, after which it dropped (scattered) them, now the principle of “grape bunch”, or “school bus” - in US terminology is used. Since Topol-M and Bulava were developed on the same base (Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering), and the accuracy of the first complex is very high, we can speak with great confidence about the high efficiency of the Bulava intercontinental missile. But, since there are various modifications - "Mace-30", "Mace-M", it is difficult to say something about the accuracy and other characteristics of a single complex.

Bulava missile speed

A ballistic missile is unguided almost all the time of its flight. The on-board electronics contains a special program that sets the speed and flight path even at the active stage of the flight. After the engine is turned off, the rocket moves along a ballistic trajectory and is not controlled from the outside. We can say that the speed of a ballistic missile of medium and short range is practically the same. But since we are dealing with an intercontinental ballistic missile, in this case the speed is somewhat higher and is about 5-6 kilometers per hour. Can't give exact data.because they are currently unknown. However, we can say that during the tests it was noted that the rocket flew 5,5 thousand kilometers in 14 minutes. From this we can draw a simple conclusion that a rocket flies about 6-7 kilometers per second. We can say that the speed of the Bulava missile is quite impressive, however, according to many reports, American similar systems are somewhat faster.

A little criticism

As noted above, due to the low percentage of successful tests, the Bulava ballistic missile has endured a lot of criticism, and not only from domestic scientists. So, the Americans say that this complex is almost one hundred percent similar to their Poseidon-C3 missile. True, the latter has already been withdrawn from service as obsolete. But this is due to the fact that there are only two solid fuel systems, and the maximum range is only five and a half thousand kilometers. It should be noted that many experts say that replacing liquid-propellant sea-based missiles with analogues such as the Bulava will only reduce the potential for nuclear deterrence. But, according to Solomonov (general designer), the decrease in payload is due to the increased survivability of the rocket.

Some test scores

Many experts very often criticized this complex. This was due to the fact that the launch of the Bulava rocket was unsuccessful in 45% of cases. Although this is rather controversial information, since several trials were partially successful, although they had deviations. Moreover, approximately 90% of unsuccessful launches were carried out at the stage of active development. But when the rocket was finalized, out of 10 launches, only one was unsuccessful. Such indicators indicate just the opposite - that the Bulava ballistic missile is very reliable, so to speak. Yuri Solomonov gave his comment about the large number of failures during the tests. He said that they are impossible to predict. The fact is that all the processes leading to a deviation take place in a fraction of a second. And to find out their nature, MIT conducted dozens of expensive tests, which ultimately led to a positive trend.

A little about the features of the complex

As noted above, the Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile is unique in its kind. First of all, this is due to the fact that in combat conditions the missile is able to withstand the fire of laser weapons. It is noteworthy that the inclined launch allows launching on the move, that is, while the nuclear submarine is moving. This will increase the maneuverability of the complex as a whole. By the way, it should be noted that after a series of unsuccessful tests, Solomonov left the post of general director of MIT, but at the same time remained the general designer of the complex. And now let's talk about the facilities at which the Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile will be used

Complex accommodation

Since this missile was created as a missile ship complex, thenit is quite logical to assume that the main location is nuclear submarines. Strategic submarine cruisers of the improved Akula project, for example, Dmitry Donskoy and Arkhangelsk, already have this complex in their arsenal. By the way, in our article there are pictures where the complex starts from the nuclear submarine, at this moment the Bulava looks quite impressive (photo). The missile is also installed on the Borey project facilities. Among them are "Yuri Dolgoruky", "Alexander Nevsky" and others. By the end of 2020, it is planned to build about 8 more submarines, 3 of which are under the Shark project and 5 under the Borey project. There will be 16 Bulava missiles on each eyeliner.

Conclusion

So we have examined with you the key features of the Bulava complex (photo), the rocket, as you can see, looks very impressive, and the latest tests indicate its high efficiency. Nevertheless, it is rather difficult to call it ideal. But she will be able to strengthen the underwater potential of the Russian Federation. In addition, the reduced power of the complex is due to increased accuracy. Many critics did not take into account the survivability of the missile compared to its counterparts. Resistance to damaging factors plays almost a key role during the conduct of hostilities.