"Trophyers" - this is how they call scouts in half-joking slang, who specialize in obtaining not even weapons, but their fragments, even if they have fallen into disrepair. Both Russia and its overseas "competitors" have these subdivisions. Some time ago, they frayed each other's nerves, putting the world on the brink of nuclear war.
In March 1999, Yugoslav air defenses shot down the latest American F-117 Nighthawk fighter. While the Pentagon was comprehending the situation, the Russian military appeared at the crash site and not only collected the fragments of the "invisibility", but also bought them, without skimping on money, from local residents. And ten years later, a domestic fifth-generation fighter T-50 took off …
Hunt for the "Bear"
But this operation was preceded by an unpleasant slap in the face received by our soldiers twenty years before the events described. In the mid-50s of the last century, strategic long-range bombers Tu-95 began to enter service with the Soviet Army Air Force, which the NATO command called "Bear" by its classification. Unfortunately, during the entire period of combat duty, according to official data, there were 28 accidents involving this aircraft. Here are the statistics from this martyrology for 1976: June - the "carcass" crashed at the Severomorsk-1 airfield during landing. August - during a reconnaissance flight off the coast of the United States, aircraft 2112 was wrecked, swallowed by the ocean along with the crew. October - a new disaster, another strategic bomber again made a hard landing at the airfield near Alma-Ata.
But about one of the catastrophes of the same year, official Russian sources are still silent.
On one of the spring days of 1976, an air defense radar station on the island of Hokkaido recorded the fall of the Tu-95 in the Sea of Okhotsk off the coast of Sakhalin. Naturally, the Japanese informed their allies, and analysts from the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) immediately began to calculate the situation. Imagine their surprise when, two weeks later, they realized that neither the command of the Pacific Fleet nor the Ministry of Defense of the USSR was going to search for the missing "Bear" at all! And this could only mean one thing - there were nuclear bombs on board the plane, and the Russians, in order to avoid an international scandal, decided not to voice the fact of the disaster. At a meeting of the US National Security Council with the participation of representatives of the DIA, the CIA, the State Department and the Navy discussed the option:why not try to steal warheads and at least some of the secret equipment? Of course, this was fraught with risk, because it was necessary to enter the territorial waters of the USSR! But the game was worth the candle, especially since within the framework of the special operations of the US Navy, the secret program "Sea Urchin" was already operating, providing for the collection of information about the Soviet naval forces. True, the main part provided for the support of submarines of a potential enemy with their submarines in order to remove the noise characteristics of the object. This issue was taken up by a squadron consisting of three nuclear submarines - "Day", "Lapon" and "Getou". But it was not forbidden, for example, to collect fragments of ballistic and anti-ship missiles at the bottom of the ocean, which were used during exercises by our Pacific Fleet. This task was handled by a special service of the US Navy under the direction of chief scientific expert on deep-sea systems, John Craven. The main task of such a search was entrusted to the nuclear submarine "Khalibat", the crew of which managed not only to find the place of the fall of Soviet missiles and even take out their metal fragments in containers attached to the sides, but in one case even to steal the surviving radio altimeter. A little later, two sea mines of the latest design, prepared for testing, disappeared from the water area of the Peter the Great Bay.but in one case, even to steal the surviving radio altimeter. A little later, two sea mines of the latest design, prepared for testing, disappeared from the water area of the Peter the Great Bay.but in one case, even to steal the surviving radio altimeter. A little later, two sea mines of the latest design, prepared for testing, disappeared from the water area of the Peter the Great Bay.
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Gray back
Still, it was decided to use a smaller and quieter diesel-battery submarine "Grayback" ("Gray Back") as a means of delivery for special forces divers. This submarine, together with its only "sister" under the project, "Growler", for a long time carried out combat duty in the Pacific region, having "Regulus" missiles on board. But after they began to be replaced with new, more advanced cruise missiles, the Growler was finally written off, and the Greyback, having removed the missile silos, was turned into a sabotage submarine capable of carrying on board not only combat swimmers, but also search equipment in the form spotlights, scooters and scuba gear. However, only three reconnaissance "seals" went on the first voyage within the framework of the developed Operation Blue Sun: group commander Michael Grant,his deputy lieutenant Andrew Wood and sergeant major David Pearson. It took "Greyback" a little more than two days to move from the Japanese naval base Yokosuka to the place where the plane was supposed to fall. To the surprise of the saboteurs, with the full connivance of the Soviet anti-submarine defense, the submarine managed to freely get to the crash site of the Tu-95, where, riding scooters, the scouts examined the underwater area. Here are the fragments of the plane, and here are the bombs with nuclear filling, as evidenced by the off-scale Geiger counter. After assessing the situation, the "seals" returned aboard the "Greyback", and the boat went back to its permanent base.with the full connivance of the Soviet anti-submarine defense, the submarine managed to easily reach the crash site of the Tu-95, where, riding scooters, the scouts examined the underwater area. Here are the fragments of the plane, and here are the bombs with nuclear filling, as evidenced by the off-scale Geiger counter. After assessing the situation, the "seals" returned aboard the "Greyback", and the boat went back to its permanent base.with the full connivance of the Soviet anti-submarine defense, the submarine managed to easily reach the crash site of the Tu-95, where, riding scooters, the scouts examined the underwater area. Here are the fragments of the plane, and here are the bombs with nuclear filling, as evidenced by the off-scale Geiger counter. After assessing the situation, the "seals" returned aboard the "Greyback", and the boat went back to its permanent base.to the place of its permanent base.to the place of its permanent base.
The results of the secret expedition were reported to Washington, causing confusion among the inhabitants of the White House. What to do? Secretly steal samples of Soviet nuclear weapons, which are of undoubted interest for the US military-industrial complex? And if the charges detonate during transportation? Then the atomic tragedy of Hiroshima and Nagasaki will seem nothing compared to the new nuclear apocalypse in the Pacific region. American scientists involved in the creation of weapons of mass destruction, after a long debate, came to the conclusion: the Russians, who at one time stole the secret of the atomic bomb from the United States, familiarized themselves with its safety and, most likely, also installed new explosion protection systems.
What fell from the cart?
Only after this conclusion was it decided to transfer Operation Blue Sun into a new phase. Now the Greyback was to set off on a new voyage along the same route to Prostor Bay. But now on board, in addition to the troika of scouts, there were 40 more combat swimmers. The increase in the number of members of the expedition was quite reasonable. Even the adopted radiation protection measures - lead shells in the form of shorts and T-shirts - did not guarantee the absence of the possibility of radiation sickness. By the way, indeed, some divers were later forced to undergo treatment for leukemia. In the meantime, once again freely penetrating into Soviet territorial waters, the Greyback lay down on the ground, and underwater spies emerged from its compartments. Lined up in a chainthey, on scooters with specially equipped mounts, alternately, under the supervision of a dosimetrist, sent two bombs aboard a waiting submarine. The evacuation was successful, and in addition, the block of the electronic identification system "friend or foe", with the help of which our pilots could navigate in air combat with the enemy, also became a trophy of the intruders.
This may seem like a legend. But it is only reliably known that all the participants of this campaign, including the combat swimmers and the crew of the Greyback, received military orders and medals. And the commander of the "seals" Michael Grant and the captain of the submarine Phil Beacon received from the hands of the President the highest award of the United States - the Gold Medal of the Congress.