So soft and pliable, this time she was harder than concrete walls. But the “Pike” was even stronger: tearing off, like skin, bits of the fuselage, it rushed under the water at a speed of 200 meters per second. Unable to withstand such a fierce pressure, the incompressible medium parted, allowing the super-ammunition to reach its target.
Water seethed terribly behind the cavitation belt, returning the "Pike" to a combat course. Diving for a moment into the depths of the sea, she soared again to the surface. The impact ripped off the paint from the warhead, returning it to its original metallic luster, under which 320 kg of death were hidden. And in front of us stood the bulk of the enemy ship …
The aim of the RAMT-1400 "Pike" project was to create a guided aviation ammunition that could hit ships in the underwater part of the hull. Soviet designers seriously feared that the power of the warhead of an ordinary KSSH or "Kometa" would be insufficient to defeat heavy cruisers and battleships of the "potential enemy". And the “probable enemy” had a lot of such ships at that time. It was 1949. The Soviet Navy needed a reliable means of destroying highly protected sea objects.
The underwater explosion idea seemed like the most obvious solution. The destructive power of such an explosion is an order of magnitude greater than an explosion of similar power in the air. Water is an incompressible medium. The energy is not dissipated in space, but is directed strictly towards the side (or under the keel) of the enemy ship. The consequences are tough. If the target does not break in half, it will be incapacitated for years.
The problem is in the delivery of the charge under the bottom. Water is 800 times denser than air. There was no point in throwing a rocket into the water just like that: it would be smashed to smithereens, and the ricocheted debris would only scratch the paint aboard Des Moines or Iowa.
It is necessary to “splash down” a particularly strong streamlined warhead. In theory, it was not difficult. In the old days, artillery shells fell when undershot, but, continuing to move in the aquatic environment, they often hit the side below the waterline. The whole question is in the coefficient of filling (mechanical strength) of the ammunition. For "Pike" it was equal to ~ 0, 5. Half of the warhead mass fell on an array of hardened steel!
The rocket will fall apart, but its warhead will remain on impact on the water. What's next? If you just "stick" the warhead at a certain angle - it, unlike a refracted light beam, will follow at the same angle directly to the bottom. The whole effect is lost. Warships are highly resistant to powerful hydrodynamic shocks.
Shock test of the landing craft "San Antonio" (explosion power 4.5 tons of TNT)
Direct hit required.
Any rudders, propellers or conventional control surfaces are excluded. When they hit the water, they will inevitably be torn off to hell. Only a smooth, high-strength cone-shaped warhead. How to solve the problem with control in water?
Soviet engineers proposed an ingenious method with a cavitation belt on the warhead's torso. With high-speed movement in water (200 m / h ~ 700 km / h), he forced the warhead to move along a curved trajectory towards the surface. Where, according to calculations, the enemy ship was.
For the warhead "Pike" the calculated parameters were as follows: the distance from the point of "splashdown" to the target - 60 meters. The angle of entry into the water is 12 degrees. The slightest deviation threatened an inevitable blunder.
We can say that a method was found, although for the creators of "Pike" the problems were just beginning. The tube electronics and radar equipment of that period were too imperfect.
The scheme with a "diving" warhead turned out to be extremely complex, while the armored giants were gradually disappearing from the NATO fleets. They were replaced by armored "cans", for the sinking of which the power of conventional anti-ship missiles KSShch or the promising P-15 "Termit" was enough (all have a launch weight of over 2 tons!).
The project of the RAMT-1400 jet aircraft naval torpedo was gradually put on the shelf.
It is worth noting that the evolution of computer technology did not help solve the main problem of the Pike. For obvious reasons, after entering the water, it was not possible to make any changes to the trajectory of the warhead. The last corrective impulse was set in the air. As a result, any random wave, at the moment the warhead meets the surface, irreversibly deviates the warhead from the calculated trajectory. One could forget about the use of "Pike" in stormy conditions.
An important point is mass. 600 kg warhead, half of which went to ensure the strength of its shell. Another couple of tons - a cruise missile (after separation from the carrier aircraft, the ammunition had to fly some more distance to the target). If we add here supersonic speed, an accelerator for launching from the surface and a launch range of several hundred kilometers, we get an ammunition corresponding to the mass of the famous Granite. The use of tactical aviation is excluded. The number of carriers can be counted on one hand.
Finally, the very method with a “conical warhead” and a “cavitation belt” does not solve the problem associated with the combat stability of anti-ship missiles at the terminal stage of their flight. Having risen above the horizon, they become a target for all shipborne air defense systems. And the way the missile aimed at the superstructure or splashed down 60 meters from the side - from the point of view of the combat stability of the anti-ship missile system, it no longer matters.
The last torpedo bomber
May 22, 1982 About 40 miles east of Puerto Belgrano.
… A lone attack aircraft IA-58 Pukara (w / n AX-04) rushes over the ocean on the suspension of which an outdated American torpedo Mk.13 is fixed (through the standard attachment point Aero 20A-1).
Dump at 20 degree dive, speed 300 knots, altitude less than 100 meters. The warped ammunition ricochets off the water and, having flown a couple of tens of meters, buries itself in the waves.
Discouraged pilots return to base, the evening is spent watching old newsreels. How did the WWII aces manage to drive a dozen of these torpedoes into the bodies of the Yamato and Musashi?
New tests follow. Drop in a 40-degree dive from a height of 200 meters. The speed at the time of the drop is 250 knots. The wreckage of a broken torpedo immediately sinks to the bottom.
The Argentines are in complete despair. A squadron of 80 ships and vessels of the Royal Navy is rushing towards them. Old American torpedoes are the last of the remaining ways to stop the British armada and turn the tide of the war.
On May 24, the first successful torpedo bombing was carried out in the Gulf of São José. Strictly horizontal flight 15 meters above the crests of the waves. The speed at the time of the drop is no more than 200 knots.
Unfortunately, and perhaps fortunately for themselves, the pilots of the Argentine torpedo bombers did not have to demonstrate their skills in combat conditions. To fly point-blank to missile destroyers at speeds less than 400 km / h would mean guaranteed death for the brave. Modern air defense systems do not forgive such mistakes.
The Argentines were convinced on their own skin how difficult torpedo throwing is and how fragile a torpedo is, whose discharge imposes severe restrictions on the speed and altitude of the carrier.
Placing torpedo weapons on jet aircraft was out of the question. The only one who was capable of dropping torpedoes without slowing down was the IA-58 Pukara anti-guerrilla attack aircraft. While his chances to fly in and out to attack a modern shipwere slightly less than zero.
Japanese torpedo bomber in attack
Epilogue
What do we end up with?
Option number 1. Impact-resistant "diving" warhead. The mass and dimensions of such a rocket torpedo will exceed all permissible limits. To launch exotic 7-ton ammunition, you will need to build a ship the size of the Peter the Great TARKR. Due to the number of such missiles and their carriers, the chance of meeting them in a real battle will tend to zero.
A lot of questions are raised by the mass and dimensions (and as a consequence - the radio contrast) of such a "wunderwaffe", which will greatly facilitate the life of the anti-aircraft gunners of an enemy ship. Moreover, the speed at the most critical, final section of the trajectory will be subsonic, which will further reduce the combat resistance of the system.
Finally, the above problem with the impossibility of correcting the warhead trajectory under water. Application in stormy conditions is excluded.
Option number 2. With deceleration when entering the water. Dropping a conventional 21-inch homing torpedo by parachute. A real example is the PAT-52 rocket torpedo from the early 1950s. biennium
20 … 25 miles - this is the range of the best modern homing torpedoes (for example, the Russian UGST). Alas, this method does not work in modern combat. To get 20 miles to a missile destroyer, even at extremely low altitude, means death to the aircraft and the pilot. And slowly the torpedo descending from the sky will be riddled with "Dirks" and "Phalanxes", as an option - "Calm" and ESSM.
Strongest episode at 2:07 am. Do you want to compete in the speed of reaction with "Kashtan"?
Finally, the mass of the torpedo itself. The aforementioned UGST (universal deep-sea homing torpedo) has a mass of over 2 tons (hypothetical aviation option: the weight of a parachute and a shock-resistant body / canister are added). Many of today's combat aircraft will be able to lift such ammunition? Around the B-52?
While modern ships have echeloned anti-torpedo protection systems - from towed torpedo traps (AN / SLQ-25 Nixie) to sonar systems, working in tandem with jet bomb launchers (RBU-12000 “Boa”).
So it turns out that modern aircraft torpedoes exist only in the form of small-sized anti-submarine torpedoes designed exclusively for combating submarines (which a priori lack air defense). Having separated from the carrier aircraft over the area of the alleged location of the submarine, the torpedoes slowly descend by parachute and begin to search for the target in autonomous mode.
Discharge of 12, 75 'torpedoes Mk.50 (caliber 324 mm) from Poseidon anti-submarine aircraft
The use of these ammunition against surface warships is completely out of the question.
Torpedoes with a caliber of 533 mm or more are the pure prerogative of the submarine fleet. Alas, the number of combat-ready submarines around the world two orders of magnitude less the number of combat aircraft and other common carriers of compact anti-ship weapons. And the boats themselves are shackled in maneuver and suffer from a lack of information about the enemy.
Air attack weapons remain the main weapon in modern naval combat. While an attempt to "drive" a warhead under water at the current stage of technical development looks completely unpromising, as does the construction of a flying submarine or a hypersonic low-altitude missile.
The title illustration to the article shows the attachment of the RAT-52 rocket torpedo on the Il-28T, Khabarovo airfield, 1970.
