Back in the 19th century, the first attempts were made to place missiles in submarines. The idea belongs to the Russian engineer K. A. Schilder. According to his project, a rocket submarine was built at the Alexander Foundry in March 1834. But it was never adopted by the Russian Imperial Navy. However, the very idea of delivering missiles covertly in submarines was developed in the development of other military engineers. Of particular interest from this point of view is the Sineva missile.
Underwater weapon of retaliation
The Third Reich also tried to put the idea of launching missiles from a submarine into practice. So, in the center of Peenemund in the summer of 1942, the U-511 submarine was converted for these purposes. For this, the rockets - high-explosive mines of 280 mm and 210 mm caliber - were finalized.
Tests were also conducted in which shooting was carried out from depths of 9 to 15 meters. At the same time, the maximum range of the missile was within 4 km.
The firing results were so successful that the test report indicated the possibility of a covert strike by German submarines on the American coast.
Project "Wave"
When solving missile launch missions, it was necessary to take into account many components. These include:
- rocket technology;
- underwater shipbuilding;
- rocket launch;
- flight control.
The project to solve these problems received the code "Wave", and already in October 1948, engineer V. Ganin was awarded the copyright certificate for the invention. At the same time, the possibility of launching missiles from different positions was noted:
- horizontal
- vertical
- inclined.
The basis for all missiles was the world's first operational-tactical R-11. She had several advantages:
- prolonged stay in the filled state;
- small dimensions;
- use of nitric acid based components as an oxidizing agent.
All this helped to simplify the operation of such weapons.
An underwater start, in which the R-21 liquid rocket was used, occurred in the USSR. That was in the 1960s. At the same time, the launch of missiles with submarines became possible from underwater depths from 40 to 50 meters.
"Blue"
The R-29RM mechanism, which is better known as the Sineva ballistic missile, has unique capabilities.
She allowed to solve several problems:
- course correction by satellite signals;
- flight path changed depending on range;
- the ability to arbitrarily assign various targets to warheads;
- the use of rockets in the Arctic.
The possibility of firing from the North Pole was demonstrated in September 2006 by the Yekaterinburg missile carrier. At launch, the Sineva rocket was used.
Underwater "Tula"
The idea of deploying long-range projectiles on a submarine was fully implemented on the Tula nuclear submarine cruiser.
In order for the Sineva rocket (R-29 RMU2) to be installed, from June 2000 to April 21, 2004 the Tula underwent a deep modernization, which helped to increase the stealth of the submarine. The radio equipment was improved. The ship's survivability system, which includes nuclear safety , has also been enhanced .
The Tula has an underwater speed of 24 knots (44 km / h) with a maximum immersion depth of 650 meters. In autonomous navigation, it can be 90 days with a crew of 140 people.
The armament of the submarine is also solid. In addition to the Sineva ballistic missile (R-29 RMU2) and 16 launchers, the submarine is equipped with torpedo tubes. Also on board are Igla-1 MANPADS (9K310).
In order to have an idea of the dimensions of the Tula class nuclear submarine, one can also mention the longest length (according to the design waterline) - 167.4 meters! The length of a football field, for example, is 120 meters.
After modernization, the Tula nuclear submarine launched the Sineva missile in the Barents Sea on targets in the equatorial region of the Pacific Ocean. After overcoming 11 547 km, the targets were successfully hit.
Blue features
The rocket is three-stage, made according to the compacted scheme, in which the steps are arranged in series. Marching engines "recessed" in the tanks of the rocket engine, united by a single assembly, in which the tank system is common.
With a rocket mass of 40.3 tons, the length is 14.8 meters. For placement in the launch pad of the submarine, the diameter was brought up to 1.9 m, while the mass of only the main part is 2.8 tons.
One of the features of the rocket is its main warhead, which consists of four and ten blocks. Moreover, each of them has an individual guidance.
If missiles are used in a non-nuclear conflict, then the warhead is equipped with high-explosive fragmentation warheads, the mass of which is about 2 tons. Such systems have an exceptional feature - ultra-precise target defeat.
The Sineva missile, the characteristics of which we are considering, can be equipped with a nuclear warhead of ultra-small calibers (in TNT equivalent of 50 tons). This allows you to apply point strikes in a given area.
"Sighting" firing range
The Sineva intercontinental missile was included in the D-9RM missile systems. They are in service with the nuclear submarines of project 667 RBDM (according to the NATO classification Delta-IV).
The complex itself was accepted for industrial equipment in 1986. But from 1996 to 1999, the production of rockets was stopped. And in 1999, their production was again resumed in a modernized version.
After improvement, the flight range of the Sineva missile exceeded the performance of American systems of this class (Trident-2), which can overcome the barrier of 11 thousand kilometers. No missile in the world has such a range reserve.
At the same time, it is officially recognized that the flight range of the Sineva is 8,300 km. Which boats launched the blue rockets?
The Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy Vladimir Vysotsky was informed that the missiles of this modification are armed with nuclear submarines that are on combat duty in the oceans. In total, the Russian Navy received 7 missile carriers of such a project.
"Mace"
The Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile is supposed to equip the Borey-type submarines, which have 12 missile silos.
This system was unified by characteristics with the Topol-M ground-based missile systems. At the same time, the radius of the Bulava’s flight reaches 8,000 km, with a rocket mass of 36.8 tons. The nuclear warhead has multiple warheads. Inclined launch allows underwater launch on the go.
By their characteristics, the Bulava and Sineva missiles are very close and differ only in the type of mid-flight engine. Bulava has solid fuel, while Sineva has liquid. It should be noted that in the final phase of the flight of the Bulava missiles, a liquid engine is used, which provides additional opportunities for increasing speed and maneuvering.
Peaceful use of ballistic missiles
Under the conversion program, ballistic missile boats served as the basis for the design of such carriers as Wave and Calm.
Of course, they lose in their capabilities to the “Union” and “Proton”, but they are very well adapted to put the spacecraft into low Earth orbit.
Such systems as the "Calm" and "Wave" are widely known due to the fact that they are based on the R-29R (rocket "Sineva").
In 1991-1993, Russian submariners made three launches of such missiles on suborbital trajectories.
What else can be noted interesting? Conversion rockets of the Sinev type even got into the Guinness Book of World Records as the fastest mail.
On June 7, 1995, with the help of the R-29R carrier, a rocket with a set of scientific equipment was launched by the Russian nuclear-powered ship Ryazan. On its board also posted and mail correspondence. After 20 minutes, flying 9,000 km, the capsule was successfully delivered to Kamchatka.