On April 8, 2010 in Prague, the presidents of Russia and the United States signed the Treaty on Measures to Further Reduce and Limit Strategic Offensive Arms (START-3). By putting under control the means of delivery of nuclear weapons, it, however, does not affect strategic missile defense and space weapons.
Meanwhile, the threats emanating from near-earth space pose no less danger to our country than the American nuclear triad. This is eloquently indicated by the almost half-century history of the development of domestic anti-space defense systems.
SATELLITE Fighters
In the early 60s, the United States made a powerful leap into space. It was then that military satellites were developed. No wonder President L. Johnson said: "Who owns the space, he owns the world."
In response, the Soviet leadership decided to create a system called the Satellite Fighter (IS). Its customer in 1961 was the country's Air Defense Forces.
Spacecraft Polet-1
The world's first maneuvering spacecraft (SC) Polet-1 was launched into orbit on November 1, 1963, and on April 12, 1964, another SC, Polet-2, went into near-earth space. He had such a supply of fuel that allowed him to fly to the moon. Thanks to this, the device could change the orbital plane and altitude, making wide maneuvers in space. These were the first Soviet anti-satellites developed at the VN Chelomey Design Bureau.
He aimed the interceptor spacecraft at the artificial Earth satellite, which was the target (AES-target), the command and measurement point (KIP). It included a radio engineering complex and the main command and computer center. The information necessary for the operation of the instrumentation came from two nodes called satellite detectors (OS). They had in their composition early warning radars "Dniester", and then - "Dnepr", which formed a radar barrier in outer space with a length of 5000 km and an altitude of at first 1500, and later 3000 km.
Successful tests of interceptor spacecraft, development of instrumentation and early warning radars made it possible to start creating special units to combat the rocket and space enemy.
On March 30, 1967, the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces issued a directive that determined the procedure for the formation of anti-missile and anti-space defense forces (ABM and PKO) as part of the country's Air Defense Forces. They were entrusted with the task of destroying single strategic ballistic missiles and spacecraft in flight.
In 1969, the first stage of the Outer Space Control Center (KKP) and several optical observation points were put into operation. In August 1970, the IS system for target designation of the KKP center for the first time in the world successfully intercepted a spacecraft target using a two-turn method. The high accuracy in determining the coordinates made it possible to use a fragmentation-cumulative warhead on the anti-satellite, rather than a nuclear one. The Soviet Union demonstrated to the whole world the ability not only to inspect, but also to intercept enemy reconnaissance and navigation spacecraft at altitudes ranging from 250 to 1000 km.
In February 1973, the IS system and the auxiliary complex for launching SC targets "Lira" were accepted by the PKO units into trial operation. From 1973 to 1978, a single-turn interception method was introduced on the IS system and the range of heights at which the satellites were hit was doubled. The anti-satellite began to be equipped with not only a radar, but also an infrared homing head, which significantly increased its protection against radio suppression. To increase the survivability of the Cyclone launch vehicles at the Baikonur cosmodrome, they were placed in silo launchers.
KA I2P
After modernization, the anti-satellite system was named IS-M. She was put into service in November 1978, and from June 1, 1979 took up combat duty. In total, from 1963 to 1982, 41 spacecraft - 20 interceptor spacecraft and 21 target spacecraft (including 18 spacecraft interceptors - with the help of Cyclone launch vehicles) were brought into near-earth space in the interests of the spacecraft. In addition, 3 Lira spacecraft targets were launched (thanks to the armor, each of them could be fired upon up to three times).
It must be said that in 1963 a similar anti-satellite "Program 437" began to be implemented in the United States. It used a Thor ballistic missile with a nuclear warhead as an interceptor. However, in 1975, due to technical imperfections, the program was closed.
By the beginning of the 80s, the main task of the Air Defense Forces (renamed in 1980) was to repel and disrupt an aerospace operation of a potential enemy. In addition to fighter aircraft, anti-aircraft missile and radio-technical troops, and electronic warfare units, the Air Defense Forces include (as they are formed) formations of the missile attack warning system (EWS) and space control systems, as well as missile defense and anti-missile defense troops. Thanks to the reform, the Air Defense Forces are actually being transformed into the aerospace defense forces (VKO) of the Soviet Union.
Since the 80s of the XX century, the armed confrontation between the two superpowers has spread to the lower boundary of space. In this struggle, the United States has relied on reusable transport spacecraft (MTKK). The American Space Shuttle program was demonstratively launched on the day of the 20th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's space flight. On April 12, 1981, the Columbia orbiter was launched from Cape Canaveral with astronauts on board. Since then, shuttle flights have continued regularly, with the exception of two breaks associated with the Challenger STS-51L disasters in 1986 and Columbia STS-107 in 2003.
LAST FLIGHT OF "BURAN"
In the Soviet Union, these "shuttles" have always been viewed as an element of the American PKO system. The shuttles could change the plane and altitude of the orbit. American astronauts, using a manipulator arm located in the cargo hold, took their satellites in space and, placing them inside the ship, transported them to Earth for subsequent repair.
In addition, the shuttles have repeatedly launched military and civilian satellites. All this confirmed the fears of Soviet specialists about the possibility of using shuttles to drop foreign spacecraft from orbit or capture them for subsequent delivery to the American cosmodrome.
Initially, the USSR responded to the Space Shuttle program with a military demonstration. On June 18, 1982, the Soviet army is conducting a major strategic exercise, which in the West was called a seven-hour nuclear war. On that day, in addition to missiles of various classes and purposes, an interceptor spacecraft was launched to destroy the spacecraft target. Taking advantage of the Soviet exercises as a pretext, US President R. Reagan on March 22, 1983 outlined in his speech the main provisions of the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), or the "Star Wars" program, as it was also called in the media.
It provided for the deployment in space of laser, beam, electromagnetic, ultra-high-frequency weapons, as well as a new generation of space-to-space rockets. The possibility of using nuclear weapons also remained.
Taking the American plans literally, the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee, headed by Yu. Andropov, developed a set of retaliatory measures. An attempt is being made to stop the implementation of SDI by political means. To this end, in August 1983, the USSR unilaterally announced a moratorium on testing anti-satellite weapons.
Washington reacted to Moscow's positive actions with new military developments. One of them is the ASAT (Anti-Satellite) complex. It consisted of the F-15 Eagle fighter, as well as the SRAM-Altair two-stage solid-propellant rocket, which was launched directly from the aircraft into the direct launch trajectory, and the MHIV anti-satellite interceptor with an infrared homing head (Miniature Homing Intercept Vehicle).
ASAT could hit spacecraft by their thermal radiation at altitudes up to 800-1000 km. The tests of the complex were completed in 1986. But Congress did not finance its deployment, given the remaining moratorium on anti-satellite launches in the USSR.
In order to maintain parity with the United States in the Soviet Union in 1982-1984, research is being carried out to create a pre-orbital aviation missile system. It was supposed to hit an AES target by a direct hit from a small-sized interceptor launched from a MiG-31D high-altitude fighter. The complex had a high efficiency in suppressing enemy spacecraft. However, its tests with the real interception of the SC target in space in order to maintain a moratorium on the use of the PKO system were not carried out at that time.
In parallel with the development of the ASAT system in the United States, work continued to expand the combat capabilities of the shuttles. From 12 to 18 January 1986, the flight of the Columbia STS-61-C orbiter took place. The shuttle route was located to the south of Moscow by almost 2500 km. During the flight, the behavior of the orbital's heat-shielding layer in the dense layers of the atmosphere was studied. This is evidenced by the emblem of the STS-61-C mission, on which the shuttle is depicted at the time of its entry into the Earth's atmosphere.
The Columbia spacecraft was equipped with a thermal control system with a capillary coolant supply. There was a materials science laboratory on board. The tail unit had a special design. An infrared camera was located in the vertical stabilizer in a special gondola, which was intended to take pictures of the upper part of the fuselage and wings in the atmospheric section of the descent, which provided a more detailed study of the state of the ship under heating conditions. The improvements made allowed the Columbia STS-61-C shuttle to carry out one experimental descent to the mesosphere, followed by ascent into orbit.
The CIA arranged for Soviet intelligence to leak information about the shuttle's ability to "dive" into the Earth's atmosphere. On the basis of intelligence information, a number of domestic specialists have come up with a version: the "shuttle" can suddenly drop to 80 km and, like a hypersonic aircraft, make a side maneuver of 2500 km. Having flown up to Moscow, he will destroy the Kremlin with one blow with the help of a nuclear bomb, deciding the outcome of the war. Moreover, there will be no chances to prevent such an attack from domestic anti-missile defense, missile defense or anti-aircraft missile systems …
Alas, CIA disinformation has found fertile ground.
Almost six months before the flight of the Columbia STS-61-C shuttle, the Challenger STS-51-B orbital spacecraft flew over the territory of the USSR on May 1, 1985, but did not dive into the Earth's atmosphere. However, it was the Challenger STS-51-B mission in the apparatus of the Central Committee of the CPSU that was credited with imitating an atomic bomb drop on Moscow, and even on the Day of Workers' Solidarity and the 25th anniversary of the destruction of the U-2 spy plane near Sverdlovsk.
Challenger STS-51-B
No one in the Soviet leadership wanted to listen to the sensible arguments of some scientists about the shuttle's lack of technical and energy capabilities to drop to 80 km, drop an atomic bomb, and then go back into space. Then they did not take into account the information of the Air Defense Forces (from the early warning systems, KKP and missile defense systems), which did not confirm the fact of the "dive" over Moscow.
The myth of American intelligence about the almost fantastic combat capabilities of the shuttles received support in the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU. Work on the creation of the Energia-Buran rocket and space system has accelerated significantly. At the same time, five reusable spacecraft were being built at once, capable of solving, among other things, the tasks of the PKO. Each of them had to be able to "dive" to an altitude of 80 km and carry up to 15 unmanned orbital rocket planes (BOR - unmanned planning nuclear bombs designed to destroy space, land and sea targets).
The first of the "Burans" was launched on November 15, 1988. His flight was successful, but … Instead of the one dollar that Washington actually spent on the SDI program, Moscow began to spend two, which drained the economy of the USSR. And when a breakthrough was outlined in this sector, at the request of US President R. Reagan, Soviet President M. Gorbachev in 1990 closed the Energy-Buran program.
LASER RESPONSE
In order to catch up with the United States in the field of laser technology, the Soviet Union in the 80s stepped up research on the creation of anti-missile and anti-space optical quantum generators or lasers. (The word laser is an abbreviation of the English phrase Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission Radiation - amplification of light as a result of stimulated radiation).
Initially, it was planned to place ground-based combat lasers near large power plants, primarily nuclear ones. Such a neighborhood made it possible to provide optical quantum generators with a powerful source of energy and at the same time protect important enterprises from a missile strike.
However, the experiments carried out showed that the laser beam was strongly scattered by the Earth's atmosphere. At a distance of 100 km, the laser spot had a diameter of at least 20 m. At the same time, in the course of research, Soviet scientists revealed one interesting feature of laser radiation - the ability to suppress optoelectronic reconnaissance equipment on space satellites and orbital ships of a potential enemy. Good prospects for the use of combat lasers in space were also confirmed, but subject to the availability of powerful and compact energy sources on board the spacecraft.
The most famous was the Soviet scientific and experimental complex "Terra-3", located at the Sary-Shagan research testing ground (Kazakhstan). Academician N. Ustinov, who supervised the creation of a quantum locator capable of determining the range to the target, its size, shape and trajectory, was directly supervising the work.
For the purposes of the experiment, it was decided to try to escort the Challenger STS-41-G shuttle. Regular reconnaissance flights of American spy satellites and "shuttles" over Sary-Shagan forced the Soviet "defense workers" to interrupt their work. This broke the test schedule and caused many other inconveniences.
In terms of weather conditions, a favorable situation arose on October 10, 1984. On that day, Challenger STS-41-G flew over the training ground once again. In the detection mode, it was accompanied (a similar experiment with a US reconnaissance satellite in September 2006 was carried out by China).
The results obtained for the Terra-3 project helped to create the Krona radio-optical complex for recognizing space objects with a radio and laser-optical locator capable of forming an image of a tracked target.
In 1985, the development of the first Soviet chemical laser was completed, which had the dimensions that allowed it to be installed on board the Il-76 aircraft. The Soviet aviation complex received the designation A-60 (flying laboratory 1A1). In fact, it was an analogue of a space laser for a combat laser orbital platform of the Skif-DM project. (Under President Yeltsin, the technology for producing a chemical laser was transferred to the United States. It was used overseas in the development of the ABL airborne laser, designed to destroy ballistic missiles from Boeing 747-400F aircraft.)
It must be said that the world's most powerful carrier rocket Energia was supposed to be used not only for launching Buran, but also for launching combat platforms with space-to-space missiles (Cascade complex) into orbit, and in the future. "Space-earth". One of such platforms, the Polyus spacecraft (Mir-2), was an 80-ton mock-up of the Skif-DM laser combat orbital station. Its launch with the help of the Energia launch vehicle took place on May 15, 1987. Due to a malfunction in the control teams, the model of the station with a research laser on board never went into orbit, falling in the Pacific Ocean (the launch of the Energia launch vehicle was recognized as successful).
In addition to the development of laser technologies, despite the unilateral moratorium on the use of the IS system in space, work on the ground-based modernization of the PKO complex continued. This made it possible in April 1991 to put into operation an improved version of the IS-MU system. To the single-turn and multi-turn interception methods, a direct pre-turn was added.
Within the energy capabilities of the spacecraft, the interception of an AES target on intersecting courses, as well as a maneuvering shuttle-type target, was implemented. With multi-turn interception, it became possible to repeatedly approach the target and destroy several objects with one interceptor carrying four space-to-space missiles. Soon, the modernization of the PKO system to the IS-MD level began with the ability to intercept satellites in geostationary orbit (altitude - 40,000 km).
The events of August 1991 had a negative impact on the fate of the country's aerospace defense. By the decree of the President of the USSR on November 12, 1991, the ABM and PKO troops, parts of the PRI and KKP systems were transferred to the Strategic Deterrence Forces (the decree was canceled in 1995).
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the improvement of the aerospace defense system continues for some time by inertia. The interfacing of the computing systems is being completed, and the program-algorithmic interfacing of the missile defense, missile defense, PRN and KKP parts is being carried out. This made it possible to form in October 1992, as part of the Air Defense Forces, a single branch of the armed forces - the Rocket and Space Defense Troops (RKO). They included the PRN formation, the missile defense formation and the KKP formation.
However, a significant part of the facilities of the Space Defense Forces, including the Baikonur cosmodrome with launch units of the space defense missile defense, ended up outside the territory of Russia and became the property of other states. The orbital spacecraft "Buran" that flew into space also departed to Kazakhstan (on May 12, 2002, it was crushed by fragments of the collapsed roof of the assembly and test building). The Yuzhnoye design bureau, the manufacturer of the Cyclone launch vehicle and the Lira target spacecraft, ended up on the territory of Ukraine.
Based on the current situation, President Yeltsin in 1993, by his decree, ceases combat duty on the IS-MU system, and the anti-satellite complex itself is removed from service. On January 14, 1994, another decree is issued. It provided for the creation of a system of reconnaissance and control of outer space, the leadership of which was entrusted to the commander-in-chief of the Air Defense Forces. But on July 16, 1997, a document was signed, which still raises many questions.
By decree of the President of the Russian Federation, the Missile Defense Forces are transferred to the Strategic Missile Forces, and the Air Defense Forces are included in the Air Force. Thus, a bold cross is put on the plans for the restoration of the EKO. It is safe to say that this decision, which is fateful for the security of Russia, was not made without the "friendly" prompting of high-ranking officials close to Washington at that time in Yeltsin's entourage …
