These atomic trains are the object of constant envy and fear of the Amerinians. Combat railroad missile systems have been shrouded in secrecy since their inception in the Strategic Missile Forces. No one, except a limited circle of people, saw them. And if he did, he did not know that such a complex is equipped with three intercontinental missiles with 48 nuclear warheads. Quite enough to wipe half a continent off the face of the earth.
Taxi conversation
I was extremely lucky: I met with the former commander of the launch of the railway missile system, Colonel Vladimir Nikolaevich Linkov. who spent his vacation in his native Volgograd. We met in a taxi - he was traveling with a friend, also, apparently, a rocket officer.
- How is your railroad rocket doing? an acquaintance asked the colonel.
I pricked up my ears. I have long wanted to know about the complex - only scarce information leaked into the press.
- Remains in combat formation.
The taxi stopped at the request of the colonel, and I made up my mind. Having introduced himself, he said that. pier I have long been interested in the topic of ghost trains. At first, the colonel flatly refused to talk about it, but I did not lag behind:
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- You can read about railway complexes now in any military publication, but as a journalist, it is always more interesting to me firsthand. And then, under the treaty on the limitation of strategic offensive weapons, atomic trains were removed from combat duty.
- All of you, journalists, you know, - the interlocutor softened. - Okay, just an agreement: I will not touch on the moments that are not subject to publication, and you will change my name. And then, not on the street to talk about it, let's go into the house.
Everything in the cozy apartment reminded of Linkov's profession: a model of a complex with a rocket, photographs of colleagues, piles of military magazines …
- Another day - and return to the unit. It's a miracle that you found me. Sit in a chair. - suggested the owner, removing from the table a stack of typed pages. - I am writing a book … So what did you want to know about the complex?
- All! - I answered impudently.
Combat duty on the agenda
The lieutenant colonel laughed:
- Do you want to take me under the monastery? Anyway. Imagine a typical passenger train with seven to eight carriages. Only it is armored and without windows, they are skillfully imitated. The train is pulled by two powerful locomotives. The train runs non-stop at a speed of 120 kilometers per hour. There are no barriers for him - no traffic lights, no barriers. This is already the concern of the railway authorities. Until the mid-1990s, several of these rocket trains traveled across our country from east to west, from south to north.
The combat complex has everything for autonomous living for two months: ventilation, a supply of food, medicine, a team of doctors, including a psychologist, security from three dozen armed special forces, a reserve of rails and sleepers to repair the track in case of a landslide or sabotage.
Combat railway missile system with deployed missile
I learned from my interlocutor that the train has circular defense loopholes with large-caliber machine guns. Carriages with missiles are specially protected. I'll add something here. what Linkov did not say: in terms of power, each missile is equivalent to hundreds of Hiroshims and is capable of hitting a target 10,000 kilometers away with an accuracy of three meters. Therefore, during the years of the collapse of the Union, the Americans achieved the removal of trains from combat duty, citing the START Treaty. But after more than ten years they themselves violated it. having started the creation of a missile defense system in Poland and Hungary. Our President then said that Russia would take adequate measures. The US and NATO backed down, but now they are again deploying a missile defense system in Romania. So the question of putting the complex on alert, as the commander-in-chief of the Strategic Missile Forces recently announced, is again on the agenda.
Special services games
- And when did such trains appear in the missile forces?
- In the late 1980s. The Americans then tried to create an analogue of our military railway complexes, but they could not and began to hunt for Russian secrets. The spy satellites failed to detect the progress of the rocket trains, and the CIA went for a trick. Under the guise of commercial cargo, containers with ultrasensitive equipment were installed on two trains running along the Trans-Siberian from Vladivostok to the western border and from Murmansk to Stavropol. But our special services, having learned about this, launched old complexes along the same routes, where instead of nuclear missiles there were dummies with a small amount of radioisotopes. Their radiation was recorded by spy equipment. She immediately transmitted signals to satellites.
The CIA chief joyfully reported on the extraordinary success of the president. The best agents were thrown on the trail of the "rocket train". But they were unlucky: at one of the stations, thieves coveted a container and opened it, hoping for prey. And there was an incomprehensible contraption. The militia twisted the hapless burglars, the counterintelligence officers intervened in the matter. The "Interception" plan was announced, during which the second spy container was discovered and the CIA agents were spotted. The US government was protesting, and some of the American embassy staff were expelled from the country.
Abnormal situations
- Did any emergency situations happen at the complex?
- It was like that at the dawn of my career. After graduating from a military institute and serving at a mine installation, I was appointed launch commander. Received a combat order: to launch a rocket into the mine of the landfill on Novaya Zemlya. Excitedly, he gave the command to stop the train, extend the hydraulic jacks near the car with the rocket, and throw off the removable roof of the car. And I forgot to press the button to release the lead lid from the container, and the rocket had already taken a vertical position. If there was a thermal explosion, there would be no chips left from the train.
The operator shouted to me that the light on the remote control was blinking for some reason. I was covered in sweat. Having corrected the error, I feverishly make corrections for the wind, for the Earth's rotation, gravity, and determine the trajectory of the rocket. I give the order: “Start key ready! Start! From the side of the battle car, a growing roar was heard. The starting engines of the rocket turned on, the jet stream hit from the nozzle. The rocket moved from its place and began to rise slowly. In a moment, she disappeared into the sky.
Minutes of agonizing wait dragged on. Will the rocket reach the target, will it fall exactly into the mine? Otherwise, a nuclear explosion will blow up not only the test site, but the entire Novaya Zemlya! And, finally, we get the answer from the authorities: “Well done, they did a great job! It has already been reported to the Commander-in-Chief of the Missile Forces, the Minister of Defense, the President. The staff car was shocked by the joyful cry of the operators, and for a long time I could not come to my senses.
Then there were other launches, successful and not quite. Chechen fighters attacked the train. One of the operators had appendicitis, had to operate on the train, the other from overvoltage - the roof went off -. I am writing a book about all this.
Combat alert
- Vladimir Nikolayevich. I pleaded. - tell us about the militants' attack!
- Yes, it was. It is not known how the martyrs learned about the train route. Most likely, their agent was among the railway workers.
It happened on a sunny September morning in the middle of the endless steppe. Somewhere ahead, a powerful explosion suddenly rang out, the earth heaved, rails and fragments of sleepers threw up. The driver turned on the emergency braking, operators and commandos flew to the floor with abuse.
"Battle alarm!" - the voice of the head of the train boomed in the compartments. And then thousands of woodpeckers with steel beaks were hammered on the skin. Obviously they were firing from grenade launchers and large-caliber machine guns. To top it all off, the on-duty observer of the guard shift saw through the upper periscope a mustachioed face with bulging eyes. How did the attacker get onto the roof? The ensign mechanically pressed the trigger. A short burst tore his face in half, splattering the periscope lens with red. The attendant's finger pressed the Attack button. A siren sounded, red lights blinked in all compartments.
In the heat of battle
"Change of protection, to fight!" Thick hatches opened automatically, from which special forces sprinkled with peas, watering everything around from machine guns. The fighters met with a hurricane of fire. That. that these are Chechen martyrs. we understood by the cries of "Allah ak-bar!" bearded faces twisted with hatred and green bandages. In support of the special forces, who had taken up a perimeter defense, mortars and grenade launchers howled from the embrasures. Stunned by such a rebuff, the militants rushed into the forest belt. But mines, grenades, bullets cut them down like grass. The guttural shout of the field commander summoned the miserable remnants of the army to the dusty Niva.
In the heat of the battle, we completely forgot about the strictest instructions: in case of an attack, immediately report to the Center: to the headquarters of the Strategic Missile Forces, to the Ministry of Defense, to the missile division. The restoration of the track section took a lot of time. Only the next morning we hit the road …
Source: Secrets of the XX century