The protection of silo launchers for ICBMs is receiving increased attention. In this case, it is possible to combine both passive (means of fortification protection) and active means of protection (for example, air defense and missile defense systems). In the last years of the existence of the Soviet Union, a complex of active protection of silo launchers (silos) of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) under the code designation "Mozyr" was tested in the country. It should be noted here that in many respects all information about experimental design work on this topic is still unconfirmed and probabilistically hypothetical.
Historically, two main methods have been used to protect silo launchers of ICBMs. The first was a means of countering the technical reconnaissance of the enemy (a special case - the classic camouflage of objects), the second - means of fortification protection - no less classic reinforced concrete and armor. In connection with the development of science and technology and, as a consequence, the widespread use of space reconnaissance satellites, the first method became ineffective by the end of the 1970s, when it was believed that all ICBM locations were already known to the enemy. The most important factor was that it was no longer possible to hide the exact coordinates of the silo launchers. However, it was still possible to solve some particular problems, for example, to distort or hide from the enemy some of the performance characteristics of the object: the degree of protection of the mine from various weapons, the type of missiles deployed.
The fortification method made it possible to protect ICBMs from a nuclear strike even when the enemy detected targets, but only in the initial period of the development of the Strategic Missile Forces. The first missiles did not differ in high accuracy and a miss made it possible to protect the mines from the consequences and damaging factors of even fairly close nuclear explosions. However, the technology does not stand still, the accuracy of aiming warheads at the target constantly increased, which caused a reciprocal strengthening of the fortification protection of the missile silo - the shaft of the silo was strengthened, the head was especially protected (the upper part of the silo that goes to the earth's surface), the thickness of the protective cover of the silo and the adjacent to it a reinforced concrete slab (in the fortification terminology "mattress").
Silo launcher ICBM
However, any defense cannot be built up indefinitely, everything has a limit. This limit occurs at the moment when the protective structure is located within the funnel of a nuclear explosion. In this case, no matter how strong the mine is, even if it is not destroyed, it can be thrown by an explosion onto the surface along with the soil. At the same time, already at the end of the 1970s, silos had a new enemy - a rapidly developing precision weapon. Here we are no longer talking about misses of hundreds and tens of meters, but about misses of meters and even centimeters. With the development of military technology, it has become apparent that ICBM silos are vulnerable to precision weapons in conventional combat gear. Adjustable bombs and missiles appeared, equipped with high-precision guidance systems, capable of effectively hitting individual, even small objects on the ground.
One of the ways to protect silo launchers was to become a complex of active protection against attacks by warheads of ballistic missiles (including ICBMs), the development of which was carried out at the Mechanical Engineering Design Bureau in Kolomna under the general guidance of the general designer of the enterprise S. P. years of the last century. According to the Internet resource militaryrussia.ru, the chief designer of the KAZ was N. I. Gushchin. The creation of such a complex was directly supervised by the Minister of Defense of the Soviet Union D. F. Ustinov. It is believed that the KAZ was created to protect the silos of the new R-36M2 Voyevoda intercontinental ballistic missiles. This material, which appeared on the militaryrussia resource, was also paid attention to by a specialized military blog bmpd in LiveJournal. Firing full-scale tests of a prototype of a complex for active protection of silo launchers of ICBMs, created as part of the Mozyr ROC, presumably took place at the Kura training ground in Kamchatka in 1989 (possibly carried out in the early 1990s).
It is believed that the creation of the necessary infrastructure for carrying out a complex of tests began in 1980-1981, but the decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR on the development and testing of an experimental KAZ in real conditions at the test site appeared only in 1984. Within the framework of the ROC "Mozyr", 250 different enterprises, representing 22 ministries, were involved. For testing at the Kamchatka test site, an imitation of an ICBM silo launcher was built, around which the elements of a prototype of the active protection complex were located. During the tests carried out in the late 1980s at low altitude, a successful interception of an ICBM warhead simulator was carried out for the first time, the missile was launched from the Plesetsk test site, according to other sources it could have been a launch from Baikonur. According to some sources, several such interceptions of warhead simulators could have been carried out. Financing of work within the framework of the ROC on the "Mozyr" theme was terminated in August 1991. It is believed that the reason for the termination of work was the lack of necessary financial resources and the general unfavorable situation in the country, the collapse of the Soviet Union and a general decrease in tension in the world. The decision to stop the work could have been a purely political step.
Schematic diagram of the active protection complex of silos of ICBMs, photo: militaryrussia.ru
The place where KAZ "Mozyr" was tested has not been precisely established. There is a possibility that this could be the DIP-1 (Additional Measuring Point) facility located at the Strategic Missile Forces Kura test site on the Kamchatka Peninsula. Presumably, it was here that the multi-barreled automated systems were located, designed to destroy the warheads of ICBMs. After the first successful experiment with the defeat of the head of an intercontinental ballistic missile in the descending segment of the trajectory, several more tests could be carried out. As Academician Yu. B. Kharitonov noted, the defeat of the nuclear multiple ICBM warhead by the KAZ rod elements should have, with a high degree of probability, prevented the initiation of a nuclear charge.
The fundamental structure of the complex of active protection of mine launchers could be as follows: several hundred barrels with various propelling charges made of high-strength steel alloys. The speed of the meeting of the warhead of an ICBM with many projectiles flying towards it reached about 6 km / s. Destruction of the target's warhead was mechanical. A salvo synchronized by the complex's automatics threw charges towards the target in a volumetric cloud of a certain density. The system was equipped with an electronic target detection, guidance and salvo system. At the same time, the control system of the KAZ, created within the framework of the ROC on the "Mozyr" theme, was fully automatic and, most likely, could work without the participation of an operator.
Information about this project of the post-Soviet weapons system practically did not appear in open sources of information, until at the end of 2012 this project was mentioned in the Izvestia newspaper and other Russian media, which reported on the possible resumption of work on the creation of KAZ silo launchers of ICBMs. Izvestia reported this with reference to a high-ranking source in the Russian military department.
Structures at the DIP-1 facility in Kamchatka, where they may have been tested as part of the Mozyr ROC, photo: militaryrussia.ru
The article also presented some of the features of the KAZ. In particular, it was indicated that the destruction of various air objects occurs with metal projectiles in the form of dart arrows and balls with a diameter of up to 30 mm at an altitude of up to 6 kilometers. These projectiles are fired towards the target with an initial speed of 1.8 km / s, which is comparable to the flight speed of shells of the most long-range modern guns. The projectiles fired to the target form a real "iron cloud", while in one salvo there can be up to 40 thousand different damaging elements.
According to Izvestia journalists, the KAZ is intended to cover point targets from air strikes, which, in addition to silo launchers, also include communication centers and command posts. The Russian military hopes that in the future the complex will be able to effectively destroy not only the warheads of ballistic missiles, but also other types of air targets, first of all, samples of modern high-precision weapons, including GPS-guided bombs and cruise missiles of a potential enemy. The newspaper's source noted that cruise missiles and precision bombs are more difficult to detect, as they are actively maneuvering and can hide in the folds of the terrain. With intercontinental ballistic missiles, everything is simpler, it is easier to detect them and calculate the trajectory, despite the significantly higher flight speed.
A representative of the Russian military-industrial complex, familiar with such projects, told the newspaper that the first complexes, which were tested in the early 1990s, could not hit different types of air targets with the same effectiveness. However, the current level of development of radio electronics and computer technology makes the destruction of cruise missiles and guided aerial bombs attainable. He explained that the KAZ "Mozyr" being tested in Kamchatka was already capable of hitting the warheads of ballistic missiles, the project at one time was curtailed not for technical reasons.
Structures at the DIP-1 facility in Kamchatka, where they may have been tested as part of the Mozyr ROC, photo: militaryrussia.ru
Explaining the shape of the striking elements that can be used in KAZ, the representative of the Russian defense industry, explained that balls are more effective at lower altitudes, and arrows at higher altitudes. “Arrows fly higher, and ball-shaped striking elements have a denser volley. Due to the very high oncoming speeds, there is a possibility of simply riddling the air target, but it is necessary to destroy it or provoke a detonation. Therefore, the combined types of elements increase the damaging capabilities of the complex,”the specialist noted. Recently, the Russian press has not recently mentioned the current state of the project and any work in the field of creating a KAZ to protect silos for intercontinental ballistic missiles.
