Russia must quickly establish a reliable system of protection against hypersonic weapons. This was discussed at traditional meetings with President Putin on the defense industry in Sochi. The Supreme Commander-in-Chief recalled that so far no one except Russia has this weapon. However, “sooner or later, such weapons will appear in the leading countries of the world. And it will be better for you and me if it is too late for them. What does it mean - it's too late for them? This means that the means of protection against such types of weapons should appear before us before their hypersonic weapons are put on alert."
In fact, the president set the task of strengthening control over the airspace, linking it with the development of the potential enemy's technology. An expert in the field of aerospace defense, head of the anti-aircraft missile forces of the Special Forces Command (former Moscow Air Defense District, 2007-2009), reserve colonel Sergei KHATYLEV, told MK about what needs to be done to complete this task.
Why is there such attention to the topic of strengthening control of the aerospace space, if in the field of Aerospace Defense (VKO) we are already “ahead of the rest of the planet”? The world knows that our air defense systems are the best. Our aviation received a new hypersonic weapon - the "Dagger" complex, he took up combat duty in the Southern Military District
- Right. "Dagger" - one of the combat systems, which actually solves tasks on hypersound. The speed of the warheads of the "Dagger" missile is Mach 10, that is, ten times faster than sound. The range is 2000 kilometers. Such a missile is capable of destroying all types of targets - land and sea. I would like to note that, in general, in the Aerospace Defense (VKO) units, the level of modern weapons has reached 74%. But the president sets a task: to bring it to 82% by 2030. This is because in the long term we need to create such weapons systems that should qualitatively surpass the combat capabilities of a potential adversary. This is necessary so that during the conduct of hostilities we can impose on the enemy forms of armed confrontation that will be beneficial exclusively to us.
That is, to go from new technology to new strategies and tactics?
- Yes. For example, the Americans under the Falcon program are working on the creation of the X-37B aerospace aircraft. In 2010, it made its first flight and is currently being tested. This device has spent more than 200 days in orbit. The altitude of the Kh-37 is from 200 to 750 kilometers, the speed is 20-25 maw. The aircraft can operate on air and space targets. He will be able to strike with hypersonic weapons. This is a superweapon scheduled for release in 2025. So, according to our experts, we still have a head start of 6-7 years.
“But this means that our response must be prepared today. So?
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- And he's getting ready. This is exactly what our president spoke about at the meetings on the defense industry complex. The development and testing of air-launched hypersonic missiles is underway that can combat this American novelty. Laser weapons are being developed, for example, the Peresvet complex, which has already taken up combat duty. He is also able to effectively combat such targets. Work is underway on attack unmanned aerial vehicles of the "Hunter" and "Status" types. Their completion is planned in 2020. The Kh-50 and Kh-101 long-range cruise missiles have been developed and tested. And, finally, the missiles of our Dagger hypersonic complex.
It turns out that our response to promising means of aerospace attack has already been formed?
- Yes, it already exists. And not only on the X-37V spaceship. But work continues constantly, without stopping for a day. And after the commissioning of new types of weapons, their refinement immediately begins.
What for? Are there any disadvantages?
- Not. The foreign policy environment and technologies are changing. We used to make missiles for years, and then, after a few years, we calmly proceeded to modernize them. We don't have time for this now. We need to get ahead of the Americans by making our weapons as quickly as possible that are superior to their means in terms of characteristics. In this regard, the work is being carried out at an accelerated pace: they have made weapons, tested them, adopted them - and immediately we modify them, bring them to better characteristics, and increase combat capabilities. This is the peculiarity of today.
At the same time, opportunities are still being sought for creating weapons based on new physical principles.
What do you have in mind?
- In particular, microwave weapons. It can be used against missiles of various classes. Microwave weapons affect the control systems of air, cruise and other missiles. Microwave radiation affects equipment built into a rocket or aircraft. As a result, navigation systems and guidance systems stop working - all electronics are burned out. The missile completely loses its combat properties: it ceases to “see”, “hear”, turns into an ordinary blank that simply falls to the ground …
We are also working on plasma weapons. The date of putting it into operation is not indicated, but experts say about the coming years.
Plasma weapons - is it something from the field of horror stories about climate weapons and experiments with the atmosphere of Nikola Tesla? The Americans seem to have carried out similar experiments in Alaska under the HAARP program, placing a network of antenna emitters near Anchorage. In some areas, they heated the ionosphere up to the formation of high-temperature plasma. Much has been written about this. But what does VKO have to do with it?
- Very much even to do with it. Such weapons can be deployed either in ground complexes or on an aircraft. The principle of operation of this weapon is as follows: in the areas of aviation and missile flights, powerful electrical discharges in the form of ball lightning are created in the air. Plasma formation is, firstly, a high frequency, secondly, a large energy released in a short period of time, and thirdly, a huge temperature, which almost completely burns airplanes or rockets.
That is, something like a plasma cannon will be installed on fighters and bombers. As a result, without any guided missile launches, plasma weapons will be able to operate at a certain range instead of other weapons.
And you want to say that this is not science fiction, but something close to reality?
“We were the first in the world to develop a plasma generator 20-30 years ago. And now we are talking about its use in the version of plasma weapons. That is, about the radiation and transmission over a distance of a charge of powerful energy, which is capable of disabling enemy aircraft.
It turns out that the VKO concept stimulates the creation of weapons based on new physical principles?
- Quite right. Moreover, I am now talking only about the weapons of the Aerospace Forces, without touching on other types and arms of the troops, which have their own novelties. For example, maneuvering hypersonic warheads "Avangard", missile "Sarmat" and others.
Yes, but still, let's return to the task that the president set in Sochi at the last meetings on the defense industry - the creation of a system of protection against hypersonic weapons. What is the main difficulty in countering such weapons?
- I think this is the organization of very careful control over the air and outer space, to which Vladimir Putin paid special attention. And this presupposes the development and improvement of an automated control system for all forces and means of aerospace defense operating in a single information space.
Do you understand what this is about? So that, figuratively speaking, information from all radars - ground, ship, aircraft - was brought together into a single center, where it would be processed by high-speed supercomputers.
Reconnaissance from space is very important. Moreover, the data should come instantly, since hypersonic targets will be in the affected area for not even seconds, but fractions of seconds. To respond quickly and destroy them in a timely manner, you need to know exactly the location of all the blocks that will be used against us. Moreover, the entire range of their possible applications must be covered many times.
This is possible only due to the fact that new anti-aircraft missile systems are now in service.
Are they really worth it?
- Sure. Their number is constantly growing. For example, next year, four more regiments will be re-equipped with S-400 complexes. And the S-500 is not far off. Then we will be able to create a multi-layered, overlapping area of destruction.
What is the overlapping of affected areas?
- Look: the order of battle is built in such a way that the affected areas, for example, of neighboring S-400 complexes are in contact with each other. And overlap is when they overlap. Thus, a continuous zone of anti-aircraft missile fire is created, through which it is no longer possible for any enemy combat unit to fly. As a result, not only an object, but a whole direction is covered with a protective "umbrella".
And the leadership of these forces is carried out through an automated control system that exists in a single information space?
- Sure. And she is constantly improving. It is already a fact: 130 radar stations of the latest class have been adopted. Recently in Mordovia the "Container" radar station was put on alert. That is, we have practically closed the cycle of radar reconnaissance in the control loop of the missile defense-air defense system. If earlier it ended only in the Moscow zone, now we are already talking about the creation of a non-strategic missile defense system throughout the country.
Such a solid field of overlap will be created along all boundaries and cover the most important objects. That is, an all-altitude layered anti-aircraft missile fire system will be created to cover the entire country from aerospace strikes.
Do the Americans have something like that? Are they working on that too?
- Their air defense-missile defense system is not in the best shape. In January this year, Donald Trump announced that the effectiveness of their missile defense system on tests is "50-50". And in real combat conditions, the military add, even less.
Former commander of the US Northern Command Howard Thompson said that the new Russian hypersonic weapon at one point made all American missile defense systems obsolete. Therefore, the United States recently adopted a new ABM development strategy. Within its framework, Trump is going to place an additional 20 interceptor missiles in Alaska, new radars and focus on the topic of space satellites. But this is a "drop in the bucket" if the goal is to change the situation in the field of US missile defense.
The Pentagon is now actively trying to modernize their missile defense-air defense system. They constantly spur themselves on with statements that they will soon catch up and overtake us. But so far these are just words. According to our experts, the Americans will need another 5-7 years to implement their current developments, and for some projects - at least 20 years.
They are now trying to return even to some of the ideas from the former "Star Wars" program of President Reagan's time, which at one time were not implemented. For example, the Americans then planned to place platforms in space from which they could launch rockets. In this case, it is not necessary to overcome the gravity of the earth, as it happens now, when the rocket starts from the Earth. The launch takes place in a rarefied space, without any atmospheric resistance. The result is fuel economy, increased payload and a host of other advantages. But such a decision was never implemented by the Americans: there are no platforms, nor are there missiles for them.
Further, the Americans said: we will make satellite fighters that will destroy all your space systems. Run as much as you want - we will shoot everything down. But again, they did not.
We seem to have such devices?
- But we have the IS-1, IS-2, IS-3 - satellite fighters. True, after Reagan adopted his Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) in March 1983, the Soviet leadership then responded with a strange decision: it declared a moratorium on testing its anti-satellite systems. It continues to this day. Although these space systems have continued to improve over the years without space launches. Today, if necessary, they will be able to destroy enemy targets both by ramming and with the help of weapons placed directly in space. That is, here too we are ahead of the Americans.
Recently, the German media have raised a fuss about the testing of the modernized Russian PRS-1M anti-missile missile, calling it a "doomsday weapon." She is in service with the anti-missile defense system of the Moscow zone A-135 "Amur". The Germans claim that the PRS-1M is the fastest in the world, it can reach speeds of up to 14.5 thousand kilometers per hour and intercept ballistic missile units at a range of over 1000 km and altitudes from 5 to 50 km
- Yes, this guided anti-missile missile of the Nudol complex is also entering service with Moscow's new missile defense system - A-235. It is equipped with an improved engine and onboard equipment. PRS-1M is capable of carrying overloads of 200-300 g. The height of its application has increased: now it can destroy blocks of enemy ballistic intercontinental missiles practically in space.
But the main thing is that if earlier the complexes of the A-135 "Amur" system in the Moscow region were stationary, mine-type, then the anti-missile complex "Nudol" is mobile. That is, the PRS-1M missiles are placed on mobile complexes.
Why is it important?
- Because Nudol, together with the S-500 missile defense system and the S-350 Vityaz air defense system, with 12 9M96 missiles on the launcher (it was put into service in April), can now cover not only Moscow. The combination of complexes of three types will make it possible to work on the destruction of all hypersonic targets, creating a missile defense system, for example, around naval bases or various industrial centers important from the point of view of defense. In the future, this will lead to the creation of a missile defense system throughout the country.
You remembered about the S-500. At what stage is the work on this complex today?
- The S-500 radar systems are already ready. They have completed the stage of development work, have been tested and put into service. Now the developers are engaged in missile, automatic launching and missile launch combat programs. Running-in, testing, adjustment are in progress. This is not easy, since the altitude of the complexes is 186 km, the range is 400–600 km. This is a new type of missile, new programs. But by 2020, it is planned to adopt the S-500 launch automatics, the missile itself and the entire control complex, after which serial production will immediately begin.
And starting from 2023, elements of the missile defense system of the entire country will gradually be deployed. First - the Moscow region, then - the central economic, and so on. And by 2030, this system should be fully established.