Types of rockets. Missile weapons

In our civilized world, each country has its own army. And not a single powerful, trained army can do without missile troops. And what rockets happen? This entertaining article will tell you about the main types of rockets that exist today.

anti-aircraft missiles

During the Second World War, bombing at high altitudes and beyond the range of anti-aircraft guns led to the development of rocket weapons. In Great Britain, the first efforts were directed towards achieving the equivalent destructive power of 3 and later 3.7 inch anti-aircraft guns. The British came up with two significant innovative ideas for 3-inch rockets. The first was a rocket system air defense. To stop the propellers of the aircraft or to cut its wings into the air, a device was launched, consisting of a parachute and wire, and dragging a wire tail behind it, which was unwound from a reel located on the ground. An altitude of 20,000 feet was available. Another device was a remote fuse with photocells and a thermionic amplifier. The change in light intensity on the photocell, caused by the reflection of light from a nearby aircraft (projected onto the cell with the help of lenses), set the explosive projectile in motion.
The only significant invention of the Germans in the field of anti-aircraft missiles was the Typhoon. A small 6-foot rocket of a simple concept, powered by LRE, the Typhoon was designed for altitudes of 50,000 feet. The design provided for a consonantly placed container for nitric acid and mixtures of fossil fuels, but in fact the weapon was not sold.

air rockets

Great Britain, the USSR, Japan and the USA - all countries were engaged in the creation of air missiles for use against ground and air targets. All rockets are almost completely fin stabilized due to the aerodynamic force applied when launched at speeds of 250 mph or more. At first, tubular launchers were used, but later they began to use installations with straight rails or zero length, and place them under the wings of the aircraft.
One of the most successful German rockets was the 50mm R4M. Its end stabilizer (wing) remained folded until launch, which allowed the missiles to be close to each other during loading.
The American outstanding achievement is 4.5 inch rockets, each Allied fighter had 3 or 4 of them under the wing. These missiles were especially effective against motorized rifle detachments (colon military equipment), tanks, infantry and supply trains, as well as fuel and artillery depots, airfields and barges. To change air rockets, a rocket engine and stabilizer were added to the traditional design. They got a leveled trajectory, a longer flight range and an increased impact speed, effective against concrete shelters and hardened targets. Such a weapon was dubbed the cruise missile, and the Japanese used the 100 and 370 kilogram types. In the USSR, 25 and 100 kg rockets were used and launched from the IL-2 attack aircraft.
After WWII, unguided rockets with a folding stabilizer fired from multi-tube launchers became the classic air-to-ground weapon for attack aircraft and heavily armed helicopters. Although not as accurate as guided missiles or weapons systems, they bombard concentrations of troops or equipment with deadly fire. Many ground troops continued development of vehicle-mounted, container-tube-launched missiles that can be fired in bursts or at short intervals. As a rule, in such an artillery rocket system or rocket system salvo fire rockets with a diameter of 100 to 150 mm and a range of 12 to 18 miles are used. Missiles have Various types warheads: explosive, fragmentation, incendiary, smoke and chemical.
The USSR and the USA created unguided ballistic missiles some 30 years after the war. In 1955, the US began testing the Honest John in Western Europe, and since 1957, the USSR has been producing a series of huge rotating rockets launched from a mobile vehicle, introducing it to NATO as a FROG (unguided ground-to-ground rocket). These missiles, 25 to 30 feet long and 2 to 3 feet in diameter, had a range of 20 to 45 miles and could be nuclear. Egypt and Syria used many of these missiles in the first salvos of the Arab-Israeli war in October 1973, as did Iraq in the war with Iran in the 80s, but in the 70s large missiles were moved from the front line of the superpowers by inertial system missiles guidance, such as the American Lance and the Soviet SS-21 Scarab.

Tactical guided missiles

Guided missiles were the result of post-war developments in electronics, computers, sensors, avionics, and, to a lesser extent, rockets, turbojet propulsion, and aerodynamics. And although tactical, or combat, guided missiles were developed to perform various tasks, they are all combined into one class of weapons due to the similarity of tracking, guidance, and control systems. Control over the direction of the missile's flight was achieved by deflecting airfoils such as the vertical stabilizer; jet blast and thrust vectoring were also used. But it is precisely because of their guidance system that these missiles have become so special, as the ability to make adjustments while moving to find a target is what distinguishes a guided missile from purely ballistic weapons such as unguided rockets or artillery shells.

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 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 weak side cruise missiles: They have low speed, low flight altitude and are therefore easily shot down by conventional means air defense. 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 along the trajectories of the most various forms. 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 times 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 on the grounds listed above. 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 effective tool fighting tanks. They are light weight and small 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 missiles medium range(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. military specialists Western countries believe that these missiles can be used successfully only 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 warhead, 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 missiles. special purpose(missiles to combat ground 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 allows you to explore the entire thickness 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.

The spacecraft are artificial satellites Earth 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 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.

This article will introduce the reader to such an interesting topic as a space rocket, a launch vehicle and all the useful experience that this invention has brought to mankind. It will also be told about payloads delivered into outer space. Space exploration began not so long ago. In the USSR, this was the middle of the Third Five-Year Plan, when the Second World War. The space rocket was developed in many countries, but even the United States failed to overtake us at that stage.

First

The first in a successful launch to leave the USSR was a space launch vehicle with an artificial satellite on board on October 4, 1957. The PS-1 satellite was successfully launched into low Earth orbit. It should be noted that for this it took six generations, and only the seventh generation of Russian space rockets were able to develop the speed necessary for reaching near-Earth space - eight kilometers per second. Otherwise, it is impossible to overcome the attraction of the Earth.

This became possible in the process of developing long-range ballistic weapons, where engine boosting was used. Not to be confused: a space rocket and a spaceship are two different things. A rocket is a delivery vehicle, and a ship is attached to it. Instead, there can be anything - a space rocket can carry a satellite, equipment, and a nuclear warhead, which has always served and still serves as a deterrent for nuclear powers and an incentive to preserve peace.

Story

The first to theoretically substantiate the launch of a space rocket were the Russian scientists Meshchersky and Tsiolkovsky, who already in 1897 described the theory of its flight. Much later this idea was picked up by Oberth and von Braun from Germany and Goddard from the USA. It was in these three countries that work began on the problems of jet propulsion, the creation of solid-fuel and liquid-propellant jet engines. Best of all, these issues were resolved in Russia, at least solid-fuel engines were already widely used in World War II ("Katyusha"). Liquid-propellant jet engines turned out better in Germany, which created the first ballistic missile - the V-2.

After the war, the team of Wernher von Braun, having taken the drawings and developments, found shelter in the USA, and the USSR was forced to be content with a small number of individual rocket assemblies without any accompanying documentation. The rest they invented themselves. Rocket technology developed rapidly, increasing the range and mass of the load carried more and more. In 1954, work began on the project, thanks to which the USSR was the first to carry out the flight of a space rocket. It was an intercontinental two-stage ballistic missile R-7, which was soon upgraded for space. It turned out to be a success - exceptionally reliable, providing many records in space exploration. In a modernized form, it is still used today.

"Sputnik" and "Moon"

In 1957, the first space rocket - that same R-7 - launched the artificial Sputnik-1 into orbit. The United States later decided to repeat such a launch. However, in the first attempt, their space rocket did not go into space, it exploded at the start - even live. "Vanguard" was designed by a purely American team, and he did not live up to expectations. Then Wernher von Braun took over the project, and in February 1958 the launch of the space rocket was a success. Meanwhile, in the USSR, the R-7 was modernized - a third stage was added to it. As a result, the speed of the space rocket became completely different - the second space rocket was reached, thanks to which it became possible to leave the Earth's orbit. A few more years, the R-7 series was modernized and improved. The engines of space rockets were changed, they experimented a lot with the third stage. The next attempts were successful. The speed of the space rocket made it possible not only to leave the Earth's orbit, but also to think about studying other planets of the solar system.

But first, the attention of mankind was almost completely riveted to the natural satellite of the Earth - the Moon. In 1959, the Soviet space station Luna-1 flew to it, which was supposed to make a hard landing on the lunar surface. However, due to insufficiently accurate calculations, the device passed somewhat by (six thousand kilometers) and rushed towards the Sun, where it settled into orbit. So our luminary got his first own artificial satellite - a random gift. But our natural satellite was not alone for long, and in the same 1959, Luna-2 flew to it, having completed its task absolutely correctly. A month later, "Luna-3" delivered us photos reverse side our night light. And in 1966, Luna 9 softly landed right in the Ocean of Storms, and we got panoramic views of the lunar surface. The lunar program continued for a long time, until the time when the American astronauts landed on it.

Yuri Gagarin

April 12 became one of the most significant days in our country. It is impossible to convey the power of national jubilation, pride, truly happiness when the world's first manned flight into space was announced. Yuri Gagarin became not only a national hero, he was applauded by the whole world. And therefore, April 12, 1961, a day that triumphantly went down in history, became Cosmonautics Day. The Americans urgently tried to respond to this unprecedented step in order to share space glory with us. A month later, Alan Shepard took off, but the ship did not go into orbit, it was a suborbital flight in an arc, and the US orbital only turned out in 1962.

Gagarin flew into space on the Vostok spacecraft. This is a special machine in which Korolev created an exceptionally successful space platform that solves many different practical problems. At the same time, at the very beginning of the sixties, not only a manned version of space flight was being developed, but a photo reconnaissance project was also completed. "Vostok" generally had many modifications - more than forty. And today satellites from the Bion series are in operation - these are direct descendants of the ship on which the first manned flight into space was made. In the same 1961, German Titov had a much more difficult expedition, who spent the whole day in space. The United States was able to repeat this achievement only in 1963.

"East"

An ejection seat was provided for cosmonauts on all Vostok spacecraft. This was a wise decision, since a single device performed tasks both at the start (emergency rescue of the crew) and a soft landing of the descent vehicle. Designers have focused their efforts on the development of one device, not two. This reduced the technical risk; in aviation, the catapult system was already well developed at that time. On the other hand, a huge gain in time than if you design a fundamentally new device. After all, the space race continued, and the USSR won it by a fairly large margin.

Titov landed in the same way. He was lucky to parachute about railway, along which the train was traveling, and journalists immediately photographed it. The landing system, which has become the most reliable and soft, was developed in 1965, it uses a gamma altimeter. She still serves today. The US did not have this technology, which is why all their descent vehicles, even the new Dragon SpaceX, do not land, but splash down. Only shuttles are an exception. And in 1962, the USSR had already begun group flights on the Vostok-3 and Vostok-4 spacecraft. In 1963, the detachment of Soviet cosmonauts was replenished with the first woman - Valentina Tereshkova went into space, becoming the first in the world. At the same time, Valery Bykovsky set the record for the duration of a solo flight, which has not been beaten so far - he spent five days in space. In 1964, the Voskhod multi-seat ship appeared, and the United States lagged behind by a whole year. And in 1965, Alexei Leonov went into outer space!

"Venus"

In 1966, the USSR began interplanetary flights. Spaceship"Venera-3" made a hard landing on a neighboring planet and delivered there the globe of the Earth and the pennant of the USSR. In 1975, Venera 9 managed to make a soft landing and transmit an image of the planet's surface. And Venera-13 made color panoramic pictures and sound recordings. The AMS series (automatic interplanetary stations) for the study of Venus, as well as the surrounding outer space, continues to be improved even now. On Venus, the conditions are harsh, and there was practically no reliable information about them, the developers did not know anything about the pressure or temperature on the surface of the planet, all this naturally complicated the study.

The first series of descent vehicles even knew how to swim - just in case. Nevertheless, at first the flights were not successful, but later the USSR succeeded so much in the Venusian wanderings that this planet was called Russian. Venera-1 is the first spacecraft in the history of mankind, designed to fly to other planets and explore them. It was launched in 1961, communication was lost a week later due to overheating of the sensor. The station became uncontrollable and was only able to make the world's first flyby near Venus (at a distance of about one hundred thousand kilometers).

In the footsteps

"Venus-4" helped us to know that on this planet two hundred and seventy-one degrees in the shade (the night side of Venus), the pressure is up to twenty atmospheres, and the atmosphere itself is ninety percent carbon dioxide. This spacecraft also discovered the hydrogen corona. "Venera-5" and "Venera-6" told us a lot about the solar wind (plasma flows) and its structure near the planet. "Venera-7" specified data on temperature and pressure in the atmosphere. Everything turned out to be even more complicated: the temperature closer to the surface was 475 ± 20°C, and the pressure was an order of magnitude higher. Literally everything was redone on the next spacecraft, and after one hundred and seventeen days, Venera-8 softly landed on the day side of the planet. This station had a photometer and many additional instruments. The main thing was the connection.

It turned out that the lighting on the nearest neighbor is almost no different from the earth - like ours on a cloudy day. Yes, it’s not just cloudy there, the weather cleared up for real. Pictures seen by the equipment simply stunned earthlings. In addition, the soil and the amount of ammonia in the atmosphere were studied, and the wind speed was measured. And "Venus-9" and "Venus-10" were able to show us the "neighbor" on TV. These are the world's first recordings transmitted from another planet. And these stations themselves are now artificial satellites of Venus. Venera-15 and Venera-16 were the last to fly to this planet, which also became satellites, having previously provided mankind with absolutely new and necessary knowledge. In 1985, the program was continued by Vega-1 and Vega-2, which studied not only Venus, but also Halley's comet. The next flight is planned for 2024.

Something about space rocket

Since the parameters and specifications all rockets differ from each other, consider a new generation launch vehicle, for example, Soyuz-2.1A. It is a three-stage medium-class rocket, a modified version of the Soyuz-U, which has been in operation with great success since 1973.

This launch vehicle is designed to ensure the launch of spacecraft. The latter may have military, economic and social purposes. This rocket can take them to different types orbits - geostationary, geotransitional, sun-synchronous, highly elliptical, medium, low.

Modernization

The rocket has been completely modernized, a fundamentally different digital control system has been created here, developed on a new domestic element base, with a high-speed on-board digital computer with a much larger volume random access memory. The digital control system provides the rocket with high-precision launch of payloads.

In addition, engines were installed on which the injector heads of the first and second stages were improved. Another telemetry system is in operation. Thus, the accuracy of launching the rocket, its stability and, of course, controllability have increased. The mass of the space rocket did not increase, and the useful payload increased by three hundred kilograms.

Specifications

The first and second stages of the launch vehicle are equipped with RD-107A and RD-108A liquid-propellant rocket engines from NPO Energomash named after Academician Glushko, and a four-chamber RD-0110 from the Khimavtomatika design bureau is installed on the third stage. Rocket fuel is liquid oxygen, which is an environmentally friendly oxidizer, as well as low-toxic fuel - kerosene. The length of the rocket is 46.3 meters, the mass at the start is 311.7 tons, and without the warhead - 303.2 tons. The mass of the launch vehicle structure is 24.4 tons. The fuel components weigh 278.8 tons. Flight tests of Soyuz-2.1A began in 2004 at the Plesetsk cosmodrome, and they were successful. In 2006, the launch vehicle made its first commercial flight - it launched the European meteorological spacecraft Metop into orbit.

It must be said that rockets have different payload output capabilities. Carriers are light, medium and heavy. The Rokot launch vehicle, for example, launches spacecraft into near-Earth low orbits - up to two hundred kilometers, and therefore it can carry a load of 1.95 tons. But the Proton is a heavy class, it can put 22.4 tons into low orbit, 6.15 tons into geotransitional orbit, and 3.3 tons into geostationary orbit. The carrier rocket we are considering is designed for all sites used by Roskosmos: Kuru, Baikonur, Plesetsk, Vostochny, and operates within the framework of joint Russian-European projects.

Russia's missiles are a guarantee of our country's security and a formidable peacekeeping weapon. Let's talk about the classification of missile weapons, about the missile weapons of the Russian army, the use of existing and the development of new super-modern missiles.

Intercontinental ballistic missile system "Topol"

Russian missile classification

Combat missiles are unmanned aerial vehicles that deliver to the target damaging means jet flight.

There are five classes of missiles:

• earth-earth;
• earth-air;
• air-ground;
• air-to-air;
• air-surface.

In turn, there are different types of ground-to-ground missiles:

• along the flight path - ballistic and cruise;
• by destination - tactical, operational-tactical and strategic;
• by distance.

All missile weapons are divided into anti-tank, anti-aircraft, anti-ship, anti-submarine (to destroy submarines), anti-radar and anti-space weapons.

earth-to-earth

Russian ground-to-ground missiles are launched from missile systems(RK), located in mines, on terrestrial relief or on ships, and are designed to destroy surface, ground and buried targets.

Launches of such missiles are possible both from fixed structures and from mobile self-propelled or towed installations.

Previously, the missile forces were armed mainly with unguided rockets (NURS). New ground-to-ground missiles are created and produced as controlled, equipped with equipment that regulates their flight and ensures the achievement of the goal.

ground-air

Anti-aircraft missile system S-400

The surface-to-air class combines anti-aircraft guided missiles (SAMs) designed to destroy air targets, mainly combat and transport aircraft of the enemy.

According to the method of launch and control, four types of missiles are distinguished:

• radio command;
• induced by radio beam;
• homing;
• combined.

Also, surface-to-air missiles differ in aerodynamic features, range, height and speed of air "targets".

An illustrative example of Russian missiles - anti-aircraft systems with medium-range and long-range missiles, featured in a scandal over a planned delivery to Turkey, which aroused strong objections from the United States.

Air to ground

Air-to-ground - missile means of destroying ground and buried targets, which are in service with bomber and attack aircraft. According to their purpose and range, they are classified similarly to ground-to-ground missiles. According to the types of goals, additionally allocate anti-tank missiles air-to-ground for strikes against enemy armored vehicles and anti-radar - to disable radar stations (RLS).

Air to air

Air-to-air missiles are weapons of Russian fighter aircraft designed to destroy manned and unmanned enemy aircraft (LA).

By range there are:

• small - to hit a target visually detected by the pilot;
• medium - to hit a target at a distance of up to 100 kilometers;
• large - for launching at a distance of more than 100 km.

Guidance systems for launching air-to-air missiles are used radio command (in the USSR K-5 missiles), active and semi-active radar (ARLS - in R-37, R-77 and PRLS - in R-27), infrared (in R-60 missiles and R-73).

R-27 air-to-air missile

Air-to-surface

Non-air-to-surface missiles are anti-ship weapons.

It is characterized by:

• relatively large mass;
• high-explosive type of damaging agent;
• radar guidance.

See below for details on Russia's modern anti-ship missiles.

Types of Russian missiles

Intercontinental ballistic missiles

By type of deployment, intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) are divided into launched:

• from mine launchers (silos) - RS-18, PC-20;
• from mobile launchers based on a wheeled chassis - "Poplar";
• from railway devices - RT-23UTTH "Molodets";
• from the sea / ocean floor - "Skif";
• from submarines - "Mace".

Intercontinental ballistic missile RS-20

The silos used today perfectly protect against the damaging factors of a nuclear explosion and mask preparations for launch quite well. Other methods of deploying missiles guarantee high mobility and, accordingly, are more difficult to detect, but limit the army and navy in terms of the dimensions and mass of ICBMs.

High precision cruise missiles

Five of the most dangerous domestically produced cruise missiles:

1. Family "Caliber". Mostly they strike at the manpower and infrastructure of the "opposition" militants and outright terrorists in Syria. The development, which started in the 1980s on the basis of the strategic nuclear 3M10 and anti-ship Alfa, was completed in 1993. In NATO they are codified as Sizzler. The range of impact on marine targets is up to 350 km, on coastal targets - up to 2600;
2. Kh-101 air-to-ground strategic missile (variation with a nuclear warhead - Kh-102). Designed in Design Bureau Raduga by 2013. It was also used in Syria for the above purposes. It is mainly included in the armament of the Tu-22 and Tu-160 bombers. The exact parameters of the X-101 are hidden from the public, but according to unofficial information, its maximum range is about 9 thousand km;
3. Anti-ship P-270 "Mosquito" (NATO coded as SS-N-22 Sunburn). Created in the 1970s in the USSR. It can sink any ships with a displacement of up to 20 thousand tons. Range - up to 120 km along a low-altitude trajectory and 250 km along a high-altitude trajectory. To overcome the air defense system (ABM) makes a "snake" maneuver;
4. Strategic aviation X-55, air-to-ground class - for Tu-95 and Tu-160 bombers. It moves at subsonic speeds, skirting the landscape below, which makes it very difficult to intercept. The power of the explosion is more than 20 times greater than that of the notorious Little Boy dropped by the Americans in 1945 on Hiroshima;
5. - a long-range anti-ship missile, to defeat large ship and ship-air groupings of the enemy. It strikes objects at a distance of up to 550 km. The P-700 devices are armed, among others, with the heavy cruiser-aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov.

Launch of anti-ship missile P-700 "Granit"

anti-ship missiles

In addition to the aforementioned cruise anti-ship missiles, the Kh-35 missile, together with the Uran missile launcher, created in 1995 by the Zvezda-Arrow state company, should be noted.

The X-35 is capable of sinking ships with a displacement of up to 5,000 tons. Due to its compact dimensions and low weight, it is used as a weapon for ships of any class, including corvettes and boats, as well as weapons for various aircraft, including helicopters and light fighters. For launches of the Kh-35, coastal missile systems "Bal" were created.

The structure of the Kh-35 is two-stage, including a launch booster, a sustainer engine, and an active radar homing system. The range reaches 260 kilometers. The striking part is high-explosive, weighing 145 kg.

Aviation missiles of Russia

A particularly formidable property of the Russian Air Force is a modernized variation of the R-37M Strela. This air-to-air guided missile is the world's No. 1 in terms of range.

In NATO, it is codified as AA-13 "Arrow".

Used as a weapon:

• heavy Su-27 fighters;
• super-maneuverable Su-35 fighters;
• MiG-31BM interceptor fighters.

The unique properties of the R-37M are dynamic instability and the highest maneuverability. They allow it, bypassing all enemy anti-missile systems, to hit a flying target that has approached the fighter by 300 kilometers or less.

According to a number of military experts, the R-37M and the similar Chinese PL-15 are capable of easily shooting down American air tankers that serve to ensure the non-stop flights of their strategic bombers, as well as reconnaissance, control and electronic warfare (EW) aircraft. Victories in today's wars are simply impossible without the listed auxiliary aircraft, while the effectiveness of the latest air-to-air missiles of Russia and China deprives the United States of an advantage in the air.

Supernew domestic weapons air-to-surface class - the X-47M2 Kinzhal hypersonic missile, designed to destroy ground and water targets. According to reputable media, the Kinzhal missile system is an aircraft modification of the Iskander family. The range of a device with a 500-kg warhead is determined by the properties of the bomber and ranges from 2,000 to 3,000 kilometers.

MiG-31 aircraft with Kh-47M2 "Dagger" missile

New developments of Russian missiles

Today, the Russian army is being re-equipped with new missiles:

• RS-24 "Yars", which are gradually replacing the RS-18 and RS-20 ICBMs (as their service life ends);
• RS-26 "Rubezh" - high-precision ICBMs;
• RS-28 "Sarmat" - heavy ICBM, effectively bypasses American missile defense systems, especially due to launches through the South Pole;
• Kh-50 - a new operational-tactical air-to-ground missile, virtually invisible to air defense systems;
• S-500 "Prometheus" - the latest air defense and missile defense system.

The latest Zircon-S rocket launcher is also being developed with a next-generation strategic hypersonic missile.

In addition, in the light of the appearance of hypersonic air-to-surface missiles X-47M2 ("Daggers"), experts predict the successful completion of the development of hypersonic air-to-air weapons.

Where are different types of missiles used?

Missile means of warfare are designed for the use of:

• in the underwater, air and space environment;
• for various purposes - ground, surface, buried, underwater, air;
• at tactical (up to 300 km), operational-tactical (300-1000 km), medium (1001-5500 km) and long (over 5500 km) ranges.

The most striking example of the use of missiles in real combat conditions by Russian military personnel is the Russian military operation in Syria, including the infliction of missile strikes by an aviation group of the Russian Aerospace Forces on objects of anti-government forces.

If you have something to add from yourself or have questions, we are waiting for your comments.

we discussed the most important component of deep space flight - the gravitational maneuver. But because of its complexity, a project like space flight can always be decomposed into a wide range of technologies and inventions that make it possible. The periodic table, linear algebra, Tsiolkovsky's calculations, strength of materials and other areas of science contributed to the first, and all subsequent manned space flights. In today's article, we will tell you how and who came up with the idea of ​​a space rocket, what it consists of, and how rockets turned from drawings and calculations into a means of delivering people and goods into space.

A Brief History of Rockets

The general principle of jet flight, which formed the basis of all rockets, is simple - some part is separated from the body, setting everything else in motion.

Who was the first to implement this principle is unknown, but various conjectures and conjectures bring the genealogy of rocket science right up to Archimedes. It is known for certain about the first such inventions that they were actively used by the Chinese, who charged them with gunpowder and launched them into the sky due to the explosion. Thus they created the first solid fuel rockets. Great interest in missiles appeared among European governments at the beginning

Second rocket boom

Rockets waited in the wings and waited: in the 1920s, the second rocket boom began, and it is associated primarily with two names.

Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky, a self-taught scientist from the Ryazan province, despite the difficulties and obstacles, he himself reached many discoveries, without which it would be impossible even to talk about space. Idea of ​​use liquid fuel, the Tsiolkovsky formula, which calculates the speed necessary for flight, based on the ratio of the final and initial masses, a multi-stage rocket - all this is his merit. In many respects, under the influence of his works, domestic rocket science was created and formalized. Societies and circles for the study of jet propulsion began to spontaneously arise in the Soviet Union, including the GIRD - a group for the study of jet propulsion, and in 1933, under the patronage of the authorities, the Jet Institute appeared.

Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky.
Source: wikimedia.org

The second hero of the rocket race is the German physicist Wernher von Braun. Brown had an excellent education and a lively mind, and after meeting another luminary of world rocket science, Heinrich Oberth, he decided to put all his efforts into the creation and improvement of rockets. During the Second World War, von Braun actually became the father of the "retribution weapon" of the Reich - the V-2 rocket, which the Germans began to use on the battlefield in 1944. The "winged horror", as it was called in the press, brought destruction to many English cities, but, fortunately, at that time the collapse of Nazism was already a matter of time. Wernher von Braun, together with his brother, decided to surrender to the Americans, and, as history has shown, this was a lucky ticket not only and not so much for scientists, but for the Americans themselves. Since 1955, Brown has been working for the US government, and his inventions form the basis of the US space program.

But back to the 1930s. The Soviet government appreciated the zeal of enthusiasts on the path to outer space and decided to use it in their own interests. During the war years, Katyusha showed itself perfectly - a multiple launch rocket system that fired rockets. It was in many ways an innovative weapon: the Katyusha, based on the Studebaker light truck, arrived, turned around, fired at the sector and left, not letting the Germans come to their senses.

The end of the war gave our leadership a new task: the Americans demonstrated to the world the full power of a nuclear bomb, and it became quite obvious that only those who have something similar can claim the status of a superpower. But here was the problem. The fact is that, in addition to the bomb itself, we needed delivery vehicles that could bypass US air defenses. Planes were not suitable for this. And the USSR decided to bet on missiles.

Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky died in 1935, but he was replaced by a whole generation of young scientists who sent a man into space. Among these scientists was Sergei Pavlovich Korolev, who was destined to become the "trump card" of the Soviets in the space race.

The USSR set about creating its own intercontinental missile with all diligence: institutes were organized, the best scientists were gathered, a research institute for missile weapons and work is in full swing.

Only a colossal strain of forces, means and minds allowed Soviet Union V as soon as possible build their own rocket, which they called R-7. It was her modifications that launched Sputnik and Yuri Gagarin into space, it was Sergei Korolev and his associates who launched space age humanity. But what does a space rocket consist of?