On March 1, Russian President Vladimir Putin, in an address to the Federal Assembly, announced the creation of the latest strategic weapons systems, presented as a response to the construction of a missile defense system by the United States.
Putin listed the following:
- Missile system with a heavy intercontinental missile "Sarmat": there are "virtually no restrictions on range", "capable of attacking targets both through the North and South Pole."
- Cruise missile with nuclear power plant.
- Unmanned underwater vehicles with intercontinental range at speeds “multiple times faster than the most advanced torpedoes.”
- Hypersonic aircraft-missile complex "Dagger". The high-speed aircraft delivers the missile to the release point "in a matter of minutes." The rocket, which “exceeds the speed of sound ten times,” maneuvers throughout all phases of its flight. Range of more than two thousand kilometers, nuclear and conventional warheads. Since December 1 - on experimental combat duty in the Southern Military District.
- A promising strategic missile system with a gliding cruise unit "Avangard". “Goes to the target like a meteorite”: the temperature on the surface of the block reaches 1600–2000 degrees Celsius. The tests have been successfully completed. Serial production has begun.
- Laser weapons. “Since last year, the troops have already been receiving combat laser systems.”
In the United States, Putin's statements were met with skepticism, linking them with the upcoming presidential elections in Russia. NBC cited the opinions of experts and unnamed officials that the weapons named by Putin are not a surprise to American experts and that some of them are not ready for use on the battlefield, in particular, a nuclear underwater torpedo. The Pentagon assured the Americans that the US military is fully prepared [to repel such threats].
Unpredictable flight path
“In addition to modernizing the “legacy” of Soviet nuclear systems, Russia is developing and fielding new nuclear warheads and launch vehicles... Russia is also developing at least two new intercontinental systems, a hypersonic glide vehicle, a new intercontinental, nuclear and nuclear engine underwater autonomous torpedo."
That is, the review mentions at least three types of the six weapons listed by Putin. It is not entirely clear whether “Dagger” or “Vanguard” is meant by the name hypersonic glider - rather, “Vanguard”. Laser weapons are not strategic and therefore do not cause much debate. The underwater torpedo appears to be the same project "Status-6", pictures of which were allegedly shown on Russian television in a report on Putin's meeting with the military in 2015. Thus, the only real surprise could be a nuclear-powered cruise missile. And it was this missile that, of all those listed by Putin, became the subject of the greatest discussion.
This is how the project was described by Putin: a small-sized, ultra-powerful nuclear power plant has been created, which is housed in the body of a cruise missile like the latest Russian air-launched Kh-101 missile or the American Tomahawk and has a “virtually unlimited” flight range - because of this (and thanks to " unpredictable flight path,” as Putin put it) it is capable of bypassing any interception lines. At the end of 2017, its successful launch took place at the Central Test Site of the Russian Federation. During the flight, the power plant reached the specified power and provided the required level of thrust.
As illustrative material at Putin’s speech, a video was shown in which a missile goes around the interception zones in Atlantic Ocean, goes around the American continent from the south and goes north.
There is some ambiguity here: Putin is talking about installing a nuclear engine on missiles like the X-101, and this is an air-launched missile. In the video, the launch is made from the ground.
Attempts to create a nuclear-powered cruise missile date back to the middle of the last century, in the United States this is the Pluto/SLAM project. A compact nuclear reactor is installed on a rocket and during flight heats air taken from outside, which is then thrown out through a nozzle, creating thrust.
The advantages of such a project: there is no need for a supply of any fuel other than nuclear, that is, the combination “nuclear reactor + air as the working fluid of the engine” has an almost unlimited power reserve - and this coincides with the description of the Russian president.
In 1964 the project was finally closed
The disadvantages that forced the Americans to abandon the project: the reactor, in order to be compact enough for a rocket, lacks protection, is cooled directly by flowing air, which becomes radioactive and is thrown out. Testing such a missile is extremely problematic - it emits a huge amount of heat, makes a very loud sound and covers the area over which it flies with a plume of radioactive fallout. If something happens to the rocket, an unprotected nuclear reactor could fall in a populated area. (For example, it is difficult to imagine a nuclear-powered cruise missile strike similar to the Kalibr missile strikes launched by Russian ships from the Caspian Sea in 2015 against targets in Syria.)
And yet, the engines created as part of the project were tested on stands - they demonstrated high power in line with what was expected, and the radioactivity of the exhaust turned out to be lower than the engineers expected. However, in 1964, the project was finally closed: it required large expenses, any aerial test of the missile would be extremely dangerous, and most importantly, doubts arose about the feasibility of cruise missiles of this type - by this time it became clear that the basis of the strategic nuclear arsenal was destined to become intercontinental ballistic missiles. rockets. Nuclear-powered rockets were being developed in the USSR and Great Britain around the same years, but they did not even reach the bench testing stage.
How can a nuclear-powered rocket be constructed?
Let's start with the sizes. The President mentioned that its parameters are comparable to the Tomahawk and X-101 missiles. The Tomahawk has a diameter of 0.53 cm, and the X-101 (it is not round in shape) has a described diameter of 74 cm. For comparison, the diameter of the SLAM missile should have been more than three meters. Independent nuclear technology expert Valentin Gibalov believes that the parameters of the new Russian development may be somewhere in the middle, and that effectively fitting a design with a nuclear reactor into a diameter of 50–70 centimeters is very difficult and hardly makes sense. Based on the test video, taking into account the size of the launcher, one can estimate that the diameter of the new missile is about 1.5 meters.
What's inside this pipe? The simplest option is the so-called ramjet engine, when air entering through the air intake at the front passes through the reactor, heats up, expands, and higher speed comes out of the nozzle, creating jet thrust. The SLAM project was based on this principle, however, this scheme is far from the only one. The new development could use some version of a turbojet engine; the air could be heated indirectly, but through a heat exchanger - the reactor could generate electricity and power an electric motor that rotates the propeller.
Unmanned drone with long wings or corn husk
No matter how exotic this option sounds, it could work, only such a rocket would fly at a maximum speed of 500 km/h and would look more like an unmanned drone with very long wings or... like a corn husk. The fact is that a nuclear installation that additionally converts thermal energy into electrical energy will have a very large relative mass for a given power. “Let’s say there is a project that is now classified, but until 2016 was quite widely published - this is a project of a megawatt (megawatt is useful energy with 4 megawatts of thermal energy) RUGK reactor and a TEM (Transport Energy Module) installation on its base, it is everywhere called a space-based nuclear tug. In this project, the weight of the reactor plant plus the energy conversion system is almost seven tons with a power of 1 megawatt. It can be compared to the AN-2 aircraft: it has a maximum take-off weight of approximately seven tons and an engine power of approximately 1 megawatt. It turns out that if we have nothing but a reactor and turbogenerators, then something like the AN-2 will come out,” says Gibalov. Maximum speed AN-2 - 258 km/h, such a missile is unlikely to be needed by the Russian army.
Another exotic option mentioned in the comment Federal agency news, Professor of the Russian Academy of Military Sciences Sergei Sudakov: “We are now offering completely new technology- this is a very compact engine of a completely new generation... That's all that concerns cold reactions and cold nuclear fusion. These engines are completely different, and they have nothing to do with the installations that the United States developed in the 50s.” An expert, apparently unrelated to the project, explains that Russian engineers managed to create an engine using “low-enriched uranium” with high efficiency, and there will be nuclear “exhaust”, but it will be minimal. “We have made a rocket that flies at low temperatures and with virtually minimal pollution,” Sudakov said.
If the military suddenly has such an excellent source of energy
Cold thermonuclear fusion, that is, a thermonuclear reaction that occurs at relatively low starting energies (in a classical thermonuclear reaction, such as a thermonuclear explosion, the fuel must initially be heated to a very high temperature - for example, by a laser or explosion) is a fringe theory. The scientific consensus is that cold thermonuclear fusion is impossible in principle; a few adherents of this approach from time to time loudly declare that they have achieved success, but no one has yet been able to repeat their experiments. There is another argument against the cold thermonuclear in the new rocket - it could be used much more effectively for other military purposes: “What is the point of then numerous state-funded projects of autonomous nuclear power plants for the Arctic, if the military suddenly has such an excellent source of heat and energy, and then they wouldn’t carry fuel on airplanes, as is now happening for diesel engines,” notes Gibalov.
But other, more traditional approaches, according to Gibalov, are too complex for an engine that must operate for a very long time and under conditions of harsh radiation:
“For example, an air jet engine with a turbine requires extremely complex high-precision mechanics, which, if put into the conditions of a nuclear reactor, will not work for any long time. It is necessary to sort through all the components of such a combined engine and carry out extensive research on each component - what materials should be used to replace it, how to improve it. The further we delve into the details of such a possible more complex option, the clearer it will be that such a development is comparable, if not larger, in scale with the USSR's development of nuclear rocket engines for space rockets, and they required the construction of several nuclear centers with reactors, stands at Semipalatinsk test site, where hydrogen was blown through a nuclear reactor. All this dragged on for about 20 years, about 25 – working out. And it was very labor-intensive and very resource-intensive. I think that any other option except straight-through is about the same.
Oil is more likely to flow from a Formula 1 engine than from an Opel.
According to the expert, the new development is most likely a continuation of the ideas of the 1960s, primarily the ramjet engines of the SLAM project. Gibalov claims that modern materials and new technologies for the production of heat transfer elements make it possible to make such a rocket much cleaner than 60 years ago:
– All reactors are designed in such a way as to retain fission products, that is, radioactive dirt that is formed during operation. They are airtight in this regard. Here, of course, there is a certain difficulty: the higher the temperature, the more difficult it is to do this, that is, the walls begin to flow. But, it seems to me, in principle this problem can be solved. It can be assumed that in an accident-free version, such a direct-flow reactor is comparable in emissions into the air with a closed reactor with heat exchangers and a secondary circuit.
However, one can hardly expect that such complex and completely new equipment will always function properly, especially at the testing stage. “Oil is more likely to flow from a Formula 1 engine than from an ordinary Opel,” explains Gibalov.
Name
A name for the Russian nuclear-powered cruise missile has not been invented - and even a competition has been organized on what to call it. However, military observer Alexei Ramm in Izvestia puts forward the version that we are talking about the product 9M730 of the Novator Design Bureau, one of the developers of Russian cruise missiles. At the same time, the article itself mentions that Novator specializes in ground-based and sea-based missiles, and “air-launched products” are developed by Raduga. And the X-101 missile mentioned by Putin is precisely air-launched.
Novator products numbered 9M728 and 9M729 are really cruise missiles, one for the famous Iskanders, the other a ground-based analogue of the X-101 mentioned by Putin. And indeed, judging by the government procurement website, the product is in a state of active development. However, there is no evidence that this is indeed the missile announced by Putin.
The article provides a description of a rocket with a nuclear engine by military historian Dmitry Boltenkov: “On the sides of the rocket there are special compartments with powerful and compact heaters powered by a nuclear power plant.” This is somewhat different from the concept that air flows directly around the reactor, and assumes some kind of heat exchange system.
Eccentric types of nuclear weapons
American Russian weapons expert Michael Kofman, in his blog, agrees with Ramm’s assumption that the nuclear-powered missile is the 9M730. Kofman believes that we are talking about a reactor without protection, based on the size and weight of the rocket.
He also quotes former Secretary of Defense Ash Carter as saying in a 2017 article: "Russia is investing in new ballistic missile submarines, heavy bombers, new ICBMs... But they are also being combined with new concepts for the use of nuclear weapons and some new and even eccentric types of nuclear systems." weapons", which, according to Kofman, now played in a new light.
Another weapons expert, Jeffrey Lewis, writes in an article for Foreign Policy that all the systems unveiled by Putin were known to the Barack Obama administration: “Even the cruise missile, which, as I now understand in hindsight, had been hinted at for some time.” American officials at the time."
Were there any tests?
CNN and Foxnews reported, citing unnamed officials, that the missile announced by Putin is still in the development stage and that the United States recently witnessed an attempt to launch such a missile that ended up crashing in the Arctic (although it is not entirely clear how to distinguish a successful missile launch from launch, ending with its fall - and in any case, in real tests of the rocket at the end of the flight the nuclear reactor should crash into the surface of the Earth at high speed).
According to Putin, the tests took place at the Central Test Site. Ramm in Izvestia cites the opinion that this is a training ground in the village of Nenoksa, Arkhangelsk Region (State Central Marine Test Range of the Navy). At the same time, the Central Nuclear Test Site of the Russian Federation is located on the Novaya Zemlya archipelago. Kofman also suggests that the launch shown in the video took place on Novaya Zemlya.
In this regard, the authors of the Warzone project recall the mysterious release of the radioactive substance iodine-131 into the atmosphere in February last year, the source of which was the Kola Peninsula in northern Russia. The release of iodine-131, they say, was recorded - among dozens of other isotopes - during nuclear engine tests in Nevada in the 60s.
Four isotopes of iodine and two isotopes of ruthenium at once
True, the release of one isotope of iodine without other radionuclides can hardly be a consequence of testing a “dirty” nuclear-powered rocket.
“Most likely, there would be at least two isotopes and even more,” explains Gibalov. – When we have a flow, roughly speaking, from a working reactor, we immediately see four isotopes of iodine and two isotopes of ruthenium ( but this does not appear to apply to the ruthenium leak in the Urals last year.–RS). If we have a certain amount of iodine flow through the wall, then all these four isotopes travel together. And this is all very well monitored and determined, the method is widely used. My opinion: in the case of real flights, even on Novaya Zemlya with the nuclear engine turned on, namely flights, and not ground bench tests, monitoring stations will notice them - however, provided that the reactor is “flowing”.
During normal operation, the expert claims, it will be quite difficult to detect traces of its work: “Yes, air activation still occurs. Unfortunately, the longest-lived isotope that can be detected is argon-41, which has a complete decay period of approximately two hours. The USA has planes that are equipped with detectors of all kinds of activation products, decay products. But, I think, with such an aircraft it is possible to record the trail of a rocket, practically only by flying through it for not such a long time.” But the absence of leaks in a new nuclear engine, as mentioned above, is extremely unlikely.
Putin said in his speech that successful tests were carried out at the end of last year. Vedomosti made a strange addition to this information, reporting, citing a source close to the military-industrial complex, that radiation safety during rocket testing was ensured, since “the nuclear installation on board was represented by an electrical mock-up.”
From a technical point of view, a reactor is just a heater
Could it be possible to launch a prototype rocket that uses an electric plant instead of a nuclear engine? Gibalov says that this is not only possible, but also quite logical:
– From a technical point of view, a reactor is just a heater; it is very easy to replace it with fuel elements made of wire through which current flows, with conventional TEMs. This would be a very reasonable decision during the first flights of the rocket to understand how well the aerodynamics and control system are designed. We simply throw away, say, a future warhead, and replace it with half a ton of batteries, which provide the thermal equivalent of a reactor, perhaps of reduced power. They do this for a very short time, 10, 20, 30 seconds, no more than a minute, but they allow you to explore it all without fear of disaster right on the first flight.
In an interview with NBC journalist Megan Kelly, Putin said that the tests of new weapons went well, “some systems still need to be worked on, tweaked, and some have already entered the troops and are on combat duty.” When asked to answer on the record the question “do you have a working nuclear-powered intercontinental missile that has successfully passed testing,” Putin said: “They all passed it successfully. It’s just that.” different systems are at different stages of readiness."
Everything is 100% closed
Gibalov calls the creation of a cruise missile with a nuclear power plant a theoretically solvable task, given the current level of technology, but still extremely expensive and resource-intensive. He names indirect arguments indicating that in reality the missile that Vladimir Putin presented to the Federation Council may not exist:
“Unlike other new types of weapons announced by the president, there were no traces of this design. For example, the development of Sarmat has been known for a long time. Here and there, design elements, estimates, scientific articles, there was some kind of trail of indirect signs that such development was underway. One can, of course, explain the absence of this trail in the case of a cruise missile by the fact that the nuts were really tightened here. For example, it is impossible to find anything on the development of modern nuclear weapons, what weapons are being developed, what technical principles are used there - this is all absolutely 100% closed. But there is not only a nuclear part, there is also a missile and cruise part. And, as it seems to me and other colleagues, there would be some traces. I think at least this project is at a fairly early stage of development.
Strategic Balance
William Perry, US Secretary of Defense in the Bill Clinton administration and a disarmament expert, writes in Politico that the new weapons announced by Putin do not change anything in the balance of nuclear deterrence: Russia does not need to invent new means to overcome US defenses by “entering from the south.” ”, because it already has all the capabilities for this: the missile defense system, as Washington has repeatedly stated, is not able to withstand the massive launch of intercontinental missiles, its goal is individual salvos from pariah states like North Korea, and Russia and the United States are already have the ability to destroy each other. Perry is concerned that the US could be drawn into this newest race with Russia to see who has the bigger nuclear button.
And you are in the mud, and the pig is happy
Lewis says the same thing: “An arms race with the Russians is pointless. The Russians are taking it to themselves. A race with the Russian military-industrial complex is like a fight with a pig: both you are in the mud and the pig is happy.” Kofman does not believe that Russia needs new weapons to ensure a viable nuclear deterrent, nor that they fundamentally change the military balance with the United States. According to the expert, “Russia is not confident in its conventional [military] capabilities in the coming years or ever.”
The speech of the Russian president contained a clear message: “no one in the world has anything like this yet,” “no one really wanted to talk to us, no one listened to us. Listen now.” But it is interesting that Putin uses only the development of US missile defense as a justification for new Russian weapons, without discussing, for example, the improvement of US ballistic missiles, which, as experts argue in the article “How the modernization of US nuclear forces undermines strategic stability,” could change the balance of power containment, especially given the limited Russian system early warning.
In the same speech, Putin said that “the updated review of US nuclear strategy... lowers the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons” and that Russia can use nuclear weapons “only in response to the use against it or its allies... of weapons of mass destruction or case of aggression... when the very existence of the state is threatened.”
However, the United States sees Russia as “lowering the threshold” in the use of nuclear forces: “Russia’s confidence that by being the first to use nuclear weapons, including low-yield weapons, one can gain such an advantage is partly based on Moscow’s idea that the possession A greater number and variety of non-strategic nuclear weapons provides superiority in a crisis situation or in a more limited conflict. Russia's recent statements regarding this emerging doctrine of the use of nuclear weapons can be interpreted as Moscow lowering the "nuclear threshold", crossing which it is possible to be the first to use nuclear weapons... Forcing Russia to abandon such illusions is a strategic task of paramount importance... Increasing the flexibility and diversity of US nuclear capabilities, including allowing for the possibility of using low-yield nuclear weapons, is important for maintaining the ability to prevent aggression on a regional scale. This will raise the “nuclear threshold” and encourage potential adversaries to realize that they cannot gain an advantage through limited nuclear escalation, which in turn will reduce the likelihood of the use of nuclear weapons.”
In the fifties of the 20th century, humanity dreamed of nuclear engines for cars and airplanes. In numerous fantastic stories talked about the conquest of space with the help of photonic and nuclear missiles with an unlimited power reserve. And at this time, in the secret arsenals of rival countries of the USA and the USSR, nuclear reactors were being developed, which were supposed to propel airplanes and cruise missiles carrying atomic weapons. In America, development of an unmanned nuclear bomber (or missile) has begun that will be able to overcome air defenses at low altitude. The project was called SLAM (Supersonic Low-Altitude Missile) - a supersonic low-altitude rocket with a ramjet nuclear engine. The development was called "Pluto".
This is a rocket flying at ultra-low altitude at a supersonic speed of Mach 3 (Mach 3). In its arsenal there were thermonuclear charges (about 14 pieces), which were supposed to be fired upward at the desired point, and then move along a ballistic trajectory to the intended target. At the same time, it was not only nuclear charges that had a damaging effect. The missiles moving at supersonic speed created an air shock wave sufficient to hit people along the trajectory. In addition, there was the problem of radioactive fallout - the rocket exhaust contained radioactive fission products.
The need for long-term flight at M3 speed at ultra-low altitude required materials that would not melt or collapse under such conditions (according to calculations, the pressure on the rocket should have been 5 times greater than the pressure on the supersonic X-15).
To accelerate to the speed at which the ramjet engine would begin to operate, several conventional chemical accelerators were used, which were then undocked as if on space launches. After launch and leaving populated areas, the rocket had to turn on the nuclear engine and circle over the ocean (there was no need to worry about fuel), awaiting the order to accelerate to M3 and fly to the USSR.
Because the efficiency of a ramjet increases with temperature, the 500 MW reactor, called Tory, was designed to be very hot, with an operating temperature of 2500F (over 1600C). Porcelain maker Coors Porcelain Company was tasked with making about 500,000 pencil-like ceramic fuel cells that would withstand such temperatures and ensure even heat distribution inside the reactor. On May 14, 1961, the world's first nuclear propulsion engine mounted on a railway platform turned on. The Tory-IIA prototype worked for only a few seconds and developed only a fraction of its design power, but the experiment was considered a complete success. We were preparing to begin work on a new, improved project - Tory-III. However, updated data on radioactive contamination of the area during testing led to the closure of this project in 1964. The total cost was $260 million.
Estimated tactical and technical characteristics: length - 26.8 m, diameter - 3.05 m, weight - 28000 kg, speed: at an altitude of 300 m - 3M, at an altitude of 9000 m - 4.2M, ceiling - 10700 m, range: at an altitude of 300 m - 21,300 km, at an altitude of 9,000 m - more than 100,000 km, warhead - from 14 to 26 thermonuclear warheads. The rocket was to be launched from a ground launcher using solid propellant boosters, which were supposed to work until the rocket reached a speed sufficient to launch a nuclear ramjet engine. The design was wingless, with small keels and small horizontal tails arranged in a canard pattern. The missile was optimized for low altitude flight (25-300 m) and was equipped with a terrain following system.
Test data: 155 megawatts, about 300 kg/sec air flow, internal temperature 1300 C, exhaust temperature about 1000 C. The diameter of the reactor working area is 90 cm, length 120 cm. 100 thousand hexagonal fuel elements. Ceramic structure with molybdenum frame. Water cooling (since the reactor is test and stationary). The first power test took place in May 1961, the reactor reached 50 megawatts at a temperature of 1100 C.
The TORY-IIC reactor was intended for testing already in the conditions of an air-cooled rocket.
Tested in 1964 at full power, worked for 5 minutes. Radiation at 160 Megawatts is 1000 roentgens per hour. Residual radiation in the test area after 24 hours: inside the chamber (direct contact with the exhaust) - 200 r/hour
The dose to personnel three kilometers from the reactor is 20 milliroentgen/hour when operating at full power.
In the USSR, development of an atomic aircraft (an aircraft with a nuclear power plant) was carried out. On August 12, 1955, Resolution No. 1561-868 of the Council of Ministers of the USSR was issued, ordering aviation enterprises to begin designing a Soviet nuclear aircraft. The bureau of A. N. Tupolev and V. M. Myasishchev was supposed to develop aircraft capable of operating on nuclear power plants. And the bureau of N.D. Kuznetsov and A.M. Lyulka was commissioned to build those same power plants. These, like all other nuclear projects of the USSR, were supervised by the “father” of the Soviet atomic bomb Igor Kurchatov.
Several variants of supersonic bombers have been proposed. Myasishchev Design Bureau proposed a project for the M-60 supersonic bomber. In fact, the talk was about equipping the already existing M-50 with an open-type nuclear power plant, designed in the bureau of Arkhip Lyulka. However, the difficulty of operating a “dirty” engine, the need to “hitch” it to the aircraft right before the flight in automatic mode, and other technical difficulties forced us to abandon this project.
Development began new project- M-30 nuclear aircraft with a closed-type nuclear installation. The design of the reactor was much more complex, but the issue of radiation protection was not so acute. The plane was to be equipped with six turbojet engines, powered by a single nuclear reactor. If necessary, the power plant could also run on kerosene. The weight of the crew protection and engines was almost half that of the M-60, thanks to which the aircraft could carry a payload of 25 tons.
The design bureau of A. N. Tupolev was developing a third project - a subsonic bomber on a nuclear installation. The basis was taken on the existing Tu-95 aircraft, which had to be retrofitted with a nuclear reactor. The issue of protection from radioactive radiation arose urgently. The protective cover consisted of a coating of 5-centimeter-thick lead plates and a 20-centimeter layer of polyethylene and ceresin, a product obtained from petroleum raw materials and vaguely reminiscent of laundry soap.
In May 1961, the Tu-95M bomber No. 7800408, packed with sensors, took to the skies with a nuclear reactor on board and four turboprop engines with a capacity of 15,000 horsepower each. The nuclear power plant was not connected to the engines - the plane was flying on jet fuel, and the operating reactor was still needed in order to assess the behavior of the equipment and the level of radiation exposure of the pilots. In total, from May to August the bomber made 34 test flights.
It turned out that during the two-day flight the pilots received 5 rem of radiation. For comparison, today it is considered normal for nuclear power plant workers to be exposed to radiation of up to 2 rem, but not for two days, but for a year. It was assumed that the crew of the nuclear aircraft would include men over 40 years of age who already have children.
The radiation was also absorbed by the body of the bomber, which after the flight had to be isolated for “cleaning” for several days. In general, radiation protection was considered effective, but not fully developed. In addition, for a long time no one knew what to do with possible accidents of nuclear aircraft and the subsequent contamination of large spaces with nuclear components. Subsequently, it was proposed to equip the reactor with a parachute system, capable of, in an emergency, separating the nuclear installation from the aircraft body and landing it softly.
Ultimately this project was abandoned. The world's first nuclear aircraft was parked at an airfield near Semipalatinsk, and then was destroyed. Priority direction the creation of rockets was recognized.
But, apparently, the development of nuclear-powered cruise missiles continued. New materials that can withstand high temperatures - up to 2,000 degrees, new designs of closed reactors, a new design made it possible to overcome technical difficulties that could not be overcome in the 50s - 60s of the 20th century. Latest achievements modern technologies made it possible to realize cruise missiles with a nuclear power plant in metal.
Late last year, the Russian Strategic Missile Forces tested a completely new weapon, the existence of which was previously considered impossible. The nuclear-powered cruise missile, which military experts designate 9M730, is exactly the new weapon that President Putin spoke about in his Address to the Federal Assembly. The missile test was presumably carried out at the test site New land, approximately at the end of autumn 2017, but exact data will not be declassified soon. The rocket developer is also presumably the Novator Experimental Design Bureau (Ekaterinburg). According to competent sources, the missile hit the target in normal mode and the tests were considered completely successful. Further, alleged photographs of the launch (above) of a new rocket with a nuclear power plant and even indirect confirmation related to the presence at the expected time of testing in the immediate vicinity of the test site of the Il-976 LII Gromov “flying laboratory” with Rosatom marks appeared in the media. However, even more questions arose. Is the declared ability of the missile to fly with unlimited range realistic and how is it achieved?
Characteristics of a cruise missile with a nuclear power plant
The characteristics of a cruise missile with nuclear weapons, which appeared in the media immediately after Vladimir Putin’s speech, may differ from the real ones, which will be known later. To date, the following data on the size and performance characteristics of the rocket have become public:Length
- home page- at least 12 meters,
- marching- at least 9 meters,
Rocket body diameter- about 1 meter,
Case width- about 1.5 meters,
Tail height- 3.6 - 3.8 meters
The operating principle of a Russian nuclear-powered cruise missile
The development of nuclear-powered missiles was carried out by several countries at once, and development began back in the distant 1960s. The designs proposed by the engineers differed only in details; in a simplified manner, the principle of operation can be described as follows: a nuclear reactor heats a mixture entering special containers (various options, from ammonia to hydrogen) with subsequent release through nozzles under high pressure. However, the version of the cruise missile that he spoke about Russian President, does not fit any of the examples of designs developed previously.The fact is that, according to Putin, the missile has an almost unlimited flight range. This, of course, cannot be understood to mean that the missile can fly for years, but it can be regarded as a direct indication that its flight range is many times greater than the flight range of modern cruise missiles. The second point, which cannot be ignored, is also related to the declared unlimited flight range and, accordingly, the operation of the cruise missile’s power unit. For example, a heterogeneous thermal neutron reactor, tested in the RD-0410 engine, which was developed by Kurchatov, Keldysh and Korolev, had a testing life of only 1 hour, and in this case there cannot be an unlimited flight range of such a nuclear-powered cruise missile. speech.
All this suggests that Russian scientists have proposed a completely new, previously unconsidered concept of the structure, in which a substance that has a much economical resource of consumption over long distances is used for heating and subsequent ejection from the nozzle. As an example, this could be a nuclear air-breathing engine (NARE) of a completely new type, in which the working mass is atmospheric air, pumped into the working containers by compressors, heated by a nuclear installation and then ejected through the nozzles.
It is also worth noting that the cruise missile with a nuclear power unit announced by Vladimir Putin can fly around active zones of air defense and missile defense systems, as well as keep its path to the target at low and ultra-low altitudes. This is only possible by equipping the missile with terrain-following systems that are resistant to interference created by enemy electronic warfare systems.
Rosatom's space engine will allow you to fly to Mars in a month
Rosatom and Roscosmos are jointly developing a nuclear engine that will make it possible to fly to Mars in a month, said Rosatom General Director Sergei Kiriyenko, speaking in the Federation Council.
According to him, new engine will allow not only to fly to Mars in a month and a half, but also to return back, since it will retain the ability to both accelerate and maneuver the ship.
“Today’s space installations make it possible to fly to Mars in a year and a half without the possibility of returning back and without the ability to maneuver,” Kiriyenko clarified.
Source: regnum.ru
Original taken from marafonec V Nuclear power plant for rockets and underwater vehicles - how it worksYesterday, without any exaggeration, we witnessed an epoch-making event that opens up new, absolutely fantastic prospects for military equipment and (in the future) - energy and transport in general.
But first, I would like to understand how the nuclear power plant for missiles and underwater vehicles that Putin spoke about works. What exactly is the driving force in it? Where does the traction come from? Not due to the neutrons escaping from the nozzle... 
When I learned from a colleague’s words that we had created missiles with an almost unlimited flight range, I was stunned. It seemed that he was missing something, and the word "unlimited" was mentioned in some narrow sense.
But the information then obtained from the primary source did not raise any doubts. Let me remind you, it sounded like this:
“One of them is the creation of a small-sized, super-powerful nuclear power plant, which is placed in the body of a cruise missile such as our newest air-launched X-101 missile or the American Tomahawk, but at the same time provides tens of times - tens of times! - long flight range, which is practically unlimited.”
It was impossible to believe what he heard, but it was impossible not to believe - HE said it. I turned on my brain and immediately received an answer. Yes what!
Well, damn it! Well, geniuses! To a normal person This wouldn’t even occur to me!
So, until now we only knew about nuclear propulsion systems for space rockets. Space rockets necessarily contain a substance that, when heated or accelerated by an accelerator powered by a nuclear power plant, is forcefully ejected from the rocket nozzle and provides it with thrust.
In this case, the substance is consumed and the engine operating time is limited.
Such missiles have already existed and will continue to exist. But how does a new type of missile move if its range is “virtually unlimited”?
Nuclear power plant for rockets
Purely theoretically, in addition to the thrust from the substance available on the rocket, the rocket’s movement is possible due to the thrust of electric motors with “propellers” (screw engine). Electricity is produced by a generator powered by a nuclear power plant.
But such a mass cannot be kept in the air without a large propeller-driven wing, and even with small-diameter propellers - such thrust is too small. But this is a rocket, not a drone.
So, what remains is the most unexpected and, as it turns out, the most effective way providing the rocket with substance for thrust - taking it from the surrounding space.
That is, no matter how surprising it may sound, the new rocket works “in air”!
In the sense that it is precisely heated air that escapes from its nozzle and nothing more! And the air will not run out while the rocket is in the atmosphere. That is why this missile is a cruise missile, i.e. its flight takes place entirely in the atmosphere.
Classic long-range missile technologies tried to make the missile fly higher to reduce friction with the air and thereby increase their range. As always, we broke the mold and made a rocket that was not just large, but had an unlimited range in the air.
Unlimited flight range makes it possible for such missiles to operate in standby mode. The launched missile arrives at the patrol area and circles there, waiting for additional reconnaissance of data about the target or the target's arrival in the area. After which, unexpectedly for the target, it immediately attacks it.
Nuclear power plant for underwater vehicles
I think the nuclear power plant for the underwater vehicles that Putin spoke about is similar. With the exception that water is used instead of air.
Additionally, this is evidenced by the fact that these underwater vehicles have low noise. The famous Shkval torpedo, developed back in Soviet era, had a speed of about 300 km/h, but was very noisy. Essentially it was a rocket flying in an air bubble.
Behind the low noise is a new principle of movement. And it is the same as in the rocket, because it is universal. If only there was environment minimum required density.
The name “Squid” would be a good fit for this device, because in essence it is a water-jet engine in a “nuclear version” :)
As for speed, it is many times greater than the speed of the fastest surface ships. The most fast ships(namely ships, not boats) have speeds of up to 100-120 km/h. Therefore, with a minimum coefficient of 2 we get a speed of 200-250 km/h. Underwater. And not very noisy. And with a range of many thousands of kilometers... A nightmare for our enemies.
The relatively limited range compared to a missile is a temporary phenomenon and is explained by the fact that high-temperature sea water is a very aggressive environment and the materials of the combustion chamber, relatively speaking, have a limited resource. Over time, the range of these devices can be increased significantly only through the creation of new, more stable materials.
Nuclear power plant
A few words about the nuclear power plant itself.
1. Putin’s phrase is amazing:
“With a volume one hundred times smaller than that of modern nuclear power plants, submarines, has greater power and a 200 times shorter time to reach combat mode, that is, to maximum power.”
Again some questions.
How did they achieve this? What design solutions and technologies are used?
These are the thoughts.
1. A radical, two orders of magnitude, increase in power output per unit mass is possible only if the operating mode of a nuclear reactor approaches an explosive one. At the same time, the reactor is reliably controlled.
2. Since near-explosive operation is reliably ensured, most likely this is a fast neutron reactor. In my opinion, only they can safely use such a critical operating mode. By the way, for them the fuel on Earth lasts for centuries.
3. If over time we find out that this is a slow-neutron reactor, I take off my hat to our nuclear scientists, because without an official statement it is completely impossible to believe.
In any case, the courage and ingenuity of our nuclear scientists is amazing and worthy of the loudest words of admiration! It’s especially nice that our guys know how to work in silence. And then they hit you over the head with the news - either stand or fall! :)
How does this work
An approximate, semantic diagram of the operation of a rocket engine based on a nuclear power plant looks like this.
1. The inlet valve opens, relatively speaking. Oncoming air flow passes through it into the heating chamber, which is constantly heated by the operation of the reactor.
2. The inlet valve closes.
3. The air in the chamber heats up.
4. The exhaust valve opens and air escapes from the rocket nozzle at high speed.
5. The outlet valve closes.
The cycle repeats with high frequency. Hence the effect of continuous operation.
P.S. The mechanism described above, I repeat, is semantic. It is given at the request of readers for a better understanding of how this engine can generally work. In reality, it is possible that a ramjet engine was implemented. The main thing in this article is not determining the type of engine, but identifying the substance (incoming air) that is used as the only working fluid that provides thrust to the rocket.
Safety
The use of the discovery of Russian scientists in the civilian sector is closely related to the safety of the nuclear power plant. Not in the sense of its possible explosion - I think this issue has been resolved - but in the sense of the safety of its exhaust.
The protection of a small-sized nuclear engine is clearly less than that of a large one, so neutrons will certainly penetrate into the “combustion chamber,” or rather, the air heating chamber, thereby with some probability making everything radioactive that can be made radioactive in the air.
Nitrogen and oxygen have radioactive isotopes with a short half-life and are not dangerous. Radioactive carbon is a long-lived thing. But there is also good news.
Radioactive carbon is formed in the upper layers of the atmosphere under the influence of cosmic rays and so it will not be possible to blame everything on nuclear engines. But most importantly, the concentration of carbon dioxide in dry air is only 0.02÷0.04%.
Considering that the percentage of carbon that becomes radioactive is still several orders of magnitude smaller, we can tentatively assume that the exhaust from nuclear engines is no more dangerous than the exhaust from a coal-fired thermal power plant.
More accurate information will appear when it comes to the civilian use of these engines.
Prospects
Honestly, the prospects are breathtaking. Moreover, I’m not talking about military technologies, everything is clear here, but about the use of new technologies in the civilian sector.
Where can nuclear power plants be used? So far, offhand, purely theoretically, in the future 20-30-50 years.
1. Fleet, including civil and transport. Much will have to be converted to hydrofoils. But the speed can easily be doubled/tripled, and the cost of operation will only fall over the years.
2. Aviation, primarily transport. Although, if safety in terms of the risk of exposure turns out to be minimal, it may also be used for civil transport.
3. Aviation with vertical take-off and landing. Using compressed air tanks replenished during flight. Otherwise, at low speeds, the necessary traction cannot be provided.
4. Locomotives of high-speed electric trains. Using an intermediate electric generator.
5. Electric trucks. Also, of course, using an intermediate electric generator. This, I think, will happen in the distant future, when power plants can be reduced several times more. But I would not rule out such a possibility.
This is not to mention the land/mobile use of nuclear power plants. One problem is that the operation of such small-sized nuclear reactors requires not uranium/plutonium, but much more expensive radioactive elements, the production of which in nuclear reactors is still very, very expensive and takes time. But this problem can also be solved over time.
Friends, marked new era in the field of energy and transport. Apparently, Russia will become the leader in these areas for the coming decades.
Please accept my congratulations.
It won't be boring!
Konstantin Ivankov
METHOD FOR STARTING NUCLEAR ROCKET ENGINES BASED ON RESONANCE-DYNAMIC FISSION AND fusion REACTIONS
(57) Abstract:
The essence of the invention: a method for launching nuclear rocket engines based on resonant-dynamic fission and fusion reactions is that the gas of the initial fusion nuclei and steam or gas from the fissile substance are introduced into the core - the magnetic trap of the reactor - until a given density is achieved. Then, during the initiation of fission and fusion reactions, high-energy protons are introduced into the reactor core, which, rotating inside the reactor, generate neutrons from the nuclei of the fissile material. Due to the appropriate choice of energy - the relativistic mass of protons - electromagnetic and magnetoacoustic waves are excited, the frequency of which coincides with the rotation frequency of the original fusion nuclei located in the paraxial region, and thereby heat them to thermonuclear temperatures. In addition, high-energy protons ionize fission and fusion nuclei, as a result of which, under the influence of crossed electric and magnetic fields of a magnetic trap, they begin to rotate around the longitudinal axis of the reactor with a drift speed, ensuring the resonant fission of nuclei of fissile material upon their collision with thermal neutrons entering the active the reactor zone from the moderator, in which they were obtained from fast neutrons during their moderation. After ignition of joint fission and fusion reactions, the supply of high-energy protons is stopped. However, it can be continued if it is necessary to further reduce the critical density of fissile matter or obtain additional nuclear energy. The technical result consists in ensuring the possibility of the joint occurrence of reactions of resonant-dynamic fission and thermonuclear fusion through the use of high-energy protons accelerated to an energy of hundreds of MEVs. 2 tab., 1 ill.
But I personally think that everything is simpler: a cruise missile launches in the usual way, reaches altitude and speed, and then a ramjet engine of railgun architecture operates, where discharge pulses are powered by a small reactor and generate a stream of plasma - ionized air - in the air. This allows you to maintain the flight mode at a given speed (railgun accelerators allow you to create a fairly fast jet stream). The main task for the device is to fly at the required speed for as long as possible, the flow of plasma is not radioactive, and at the moment the rocket explodes, the nuclear installation is destroyed, adding radioactivity at the epicenter. This is the scheme, apparently, that is being implemented in this type weapons - this is how you get a cruise missile with a nuclear power plant.
Moscow. March 12. website - Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Yuri Borisov, in an interview published on Monday with the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper, spoke about the latest Russian weapons, which on March 1 became one of Vladimir Putin’s main topics at the Federal Assembly.
Nuclear powered cruise missile
Among other new products, the president has a nuclear-powered cruise missile. According to him, no other country in the world has anything like this yet.
“It can practically be detected on the very approach to the target, and its maneuver capabilities make the cruise missile also invulnerable. It can carry a load to any distance. It can fly for days,” the Deputy Minister of Defense told Krasnaya Zvezda.
“We probably managed to do this for the first time. Thank you very much to our nuclear scientists, who made this fairy tale a practical reality. Last year, comprehensive tests were carried out, they confirmed all the approaches that were incorporated into this cruise missile,” Borisov continued.
He clarified that during the tests, the capabilities of bringing a nuclear power plant to a given power level were confirmed. The Deputy Minister explained that the rocket is launched using conventional powder engines, and then the nuclear installation is launched, and the launch must occur in a short period of time.
“The uniqueness of this missile is that it may be slower compared to the hypersonic Kinzhal, but it flies along a given trajectory, skirting folds of terrain at low altitude, which makes it difficult to detect,” Borisov said.
Hypersonic complex "Avangard"
The representative of the military department also paid attention to the Avangard hypersonic complex. According to him, the system has been well tested and the Ministry of Defense has a contract for its mass production. “So this is not a bluff, but real things,” Borisov claims.
He noted that when creating the Avangard, Russian scientists had to overcome a number of difficulties related to the fact that the temperature on the surface of the warhead reaches 2 thousand degrees. “It really flies in plasma. Therefore, the problem of controlling this object and protection issues were very acute, but solutions were found,” Borisov noted.
ICBM "Sarmat"
The Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) should replace the Voevoda ICBM, the deputy minister continued.
“It is understood that, unlike its predecessors, it can also be equipped with hypersonic units, which increase the problem of its interception by anti-missile systems by an order of magnitude,” he said.
According to Borisov, all practical, scientific, technical and production problems have already been solved, and the necessary production capacities have been prepared.
“Last year, the throwing tests went well. They will certainly continue, because, as you know, rocket technology requires increased reliability. This is a very formidable weapon, and it is necessary to guarantee its 100% use. Therefore large number testing is, of course, normal practice,” Borisov said.
According to him, the launch weight of the Sarmat rocket will exceed 200 tons.
“It can fly through both the North and South Poles due to the fact that it has a significantly increased range of use in relation to the Voevoda. And the ability to launch a serious payload allows us to use various “stuffing” - warheads, which, together with heavy decoys quite effectively overcome all kinds of missile defense elements,” he said.
“The most attractive thing, of course, is to shoot down a ballistic missile at launch, when it is in the active phase of the flight. Our new Sarmat has this active phase much smaller than its progenitor Voyevoda. This is what makes the new ICBM less vulnerable,” - Borisov said.
Disposal of "Voevoda"
In the near future, the Russian military will begin dismantling the Voevoda ICBM (according to NATO classification - SS-18 Satan).
“Everyone has heard well about this strategic missile, and in our country it is nicknamed “Voevoda”, and in the West they call it “Satan”. It was developed back in the mid-1980s and is on combat duty, but time passes, technology moves forward, this system is becoming obsolete. It is already at the end of its life cycle..." Borisov explained.
Meanwhile, last December, the commander of the Strategic Missile Forces, Colonel-General Sergei Karakaev, stated that the Voevoda would remain in service with the Strategic Missile Forces (Strategic Missile Forces) until 2024. He said that the complexes could remain on combat duty after that, until 2025-2027.
Nuclear underwater drone
An underwater vehicle with a nuclear power plant, which the president described with the words “this is simply fantastic,” makes it possible to create on its basis a torpedo with record size and weight characteristics, Borisov said.
He clarified that the device can dive to a depth of over 1 thousand meters and maneuver while moving towards the intended target, moving almost autonomously.
“It does not require any correction, i.e. gyroscopy and guidance system allow it to approach the target with sufficiently high accuracy, quickly, “without evidence.” I don’t know today any means that can stop this weapon, because even the speed characteristics it is many times higher than that of existing surface and underwater weapons, including torpedo weapons,” Borisov said.
He called the new weapon unique, opening up completely different opportunities for the defense and security of the Russian Federation. According to him, unlike current nuclear submarines, it takes a matter of seconds, not several hours, to bring the new device to a given reactor power.
Hypersonic complexes "Dagger"
Finally, speaking about the Kinzhal hypersonic missile systems, Borisov noted that they can destroy both stationary and moving targets, including aircraft carriers and ships of the cruiser, destroyer, and frigate class.
In addition to hypersonic speed, the Kinzhal has the ability to bypass all dangerous air or missile defense zones. “It is the ability to maneuver in hypersonic flight that makes it possible to ensure the invulnerability of this product and a guaranteed hit on the target,” said the deputy minister.
He recalled that since December last year, the first “Daggers” were put into experimental combat operation and are already on duty.