On December 17, the day of the Strategic Missile Forces, the commander-in-chief of this branch of the armed forces, Colonel-General S. Karakaev, spoke about the plans of the Ministry of Defense for the near future. The commander-in-chief made several statements concerning both the development of the strategic missile forces in general and the development of new projects. In particular, Colonel General Karakaev said that supplies of new Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missiles will begin in 2018.
One of the most interesting topics raised by the commander-in-chief of the Strategic Missile Forces was the creation of a new combat railway missile system (BZHRK). A similar system RT-23UTTH "Molodets" was already in service with the Russian missile forces, but its operation ceased several years ago in accordance with existing international agreements. Now the Ministry of Defense intends to create a new rail-based missile system.
According to Karakaev, the project of the new BZHRK will be implemented by the end of this decade. During the first half of next year, the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering (MIT) is to complete the preliminary design. The timing of the start of construction of serial missiles has not yet been announced. Perhaps the new railway missile system will be put into service by 2020.
As the commander-in-chief of the Strategic Missile Forces said, the rocket of the new railway complex is being created on the basis of the existing ICBM RS-24 "Yars". The characteristics of this product are quite high and make it possible to create a missile for the BZHRK. The launch weight of the rocket will not exceed 47 tons, and the total length of the rocket and its transport and launch container should not exceed the dimensions of a standard railroad car. Thus, the new BZHRK in general terms of its appearance will be similar to the old RT-23UTTKh "Molodets" complex, but the rocket and other technical means will be made using new technologies.
Such dimensions and weight of the rocket will not lead to an increase in the load on the railway tracks, thanks to which the promising BZHRK will be able to move along any routes without any restrictions. For comparison, it is worth recalling the characteristics of the 15Zh62 missile of the Molodets complex. The ammunition weighing more than 100 tons required the creation of special means designed to distribute the load from the launcher car to neighboring cars. Thus, the project of the new BZHRK will be spared some of the shortcomings of the previous one.
The beginning of the development of a new combat railway missile system became known in December last year. Such military equipment was recognized as an advantageous and convenient component of the armament of strategic missile forces. The start of the new project was preceded by a discussion in the highest circles of the Ministry of Defense and the country's leadership. Some time ago, the country's leadership instructed the military to consider the capabilities of the armed forces to counter promising foreign systems of the so-called. a quick global strike. As part of the analysis of the capabilities of the strategic missile forces, the military considered the prospects for BZHRK-class equipment. The analysis showed that such complexes have high survivability and are able to cope with deterring a potential enemy with promising strike systems.
Information on the development of a new BZHRK project with extensive use of developments on the RS-24 Yars intercontinental missile allows us to make some assumptions. ICBM "Yars" has dimensions and weight, approximately corresponding to the declared commander-in-chief of the Strategic Missile Forces. Thus, the creation of a rocket for a new railway complex can follow the path of minor modifications to the equipment without making major adjustments to the design of the product. Because of this, the most difficult task within the project is the creation of the ground part of the complex, designed for transporting and launching missiles.
With a high degree of unification of the new missile with the RS-24 ICBM, the firing range can exceed 10-11 thousand kilometers. Taking into account the possibility of launching from almost anywhere in the country, such characteristics will allow attacking targets on the territory of all possible opponents. According to various sources, the Yars missile delivers from three to ten warheads to targets, which determines its combat capabilities and can speak of the prospects for ammunition for the new BZHRK.
As the experience of creating the latest intercontinental ballistic missiles RT-2PM Topol, RT-2PM2 Topol-M and RS-24 Yars shows, the domestic defense industry is capable of developing and building weapons with high performance. So, all of the above developments of the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering have a starting weight of no more than 45-50 tons and are capable of delivering warheads to a range of at least 10 thousand kilometers. This means that, on the basis of the existing developments, in the coming years it is possible to create a new combat railway missile system, the characteristics of which will be similar to the capabilities of the RS-24 Yars missile.
