55 years ago, in June 1955, the S-25 system, one of the world's first air defense systems, was put on alert. Its characteristics were such that there was nothing to compare them with at that time.
The missile for the S-25, designated B-300, was developed at the S. A. Lavochkin's group by P. D. Grushin, the engine - at NII-88 under the leadership of A. M. Isaeva.
A single-stage rocket with cruciform rudders and a wing is made according to the aerodynamic "duck" scheme - the tail is in front, and the wing is in the back. Hull diameter - 0.71 m, length - 11, 43, launch weight - 3405 kg. The rocket engine thrust is adjustable, ranging from 2, 5 to 9 tons. The warhead on different modifications was different - both in type and in weight: from 235 to 390 kg. On 207A - the first modification adopted for service - a warhead weighing 318 kg was mounted, containing radially oriented shaped charges. When detonated, they formed a striking field in the form of a triangular disc with a divergence angle of 6 °. The maximum rocket speed reached 3670 km / h. This was quite enough to defeat the intended targets - transonic heavy bombers. The characteristics of the S-25 missiles cannot be called unique, but for the USSR they were milestone due to their novelty.
The radar, indexed B-200, had two antennas that form wide flat beams. They were called "spade-like", as their thickness was only about 1 °, and width - 57 °. "Shovels" were located in mutually perpendicular planes and oscillated up and down and from right to left (or vice versa)
Anti-aircraft missile system "Berkut"
The post-war transition in aviation to the use of jet engines led to qualitative changes in the confrontation between air attack and air defense means. A sharp increase in the speed and maximum flight altitude of reconnaissance aircraft and bombers reduced the effectiveness of medium-caliber anti-aircraft artillery to almost zero. The release by the domestic industry of anti-aircraft artillery systems consisting of 100- and 130-mm caliber anti-aircraft guns and gun aiming radar systems could not guarantee reliable protection of protected objects. The situation was significantly aggravated by the presence of a potential enemy of nuclear weapons, even a single use of which could lead to large losses. In this situation, along with jet fighter-interceptors, guided anti-aircraft missiles could become a promising air defense tool. Some experience in the development and use of guided anti-aircraft missiles was available in a number of organizations of the USSR, which from 1945-1946 were engaged in the development of German captured rocket technology and the creation of domestic analogues on its basis. The development of a fundamentally new technology for the country's Air Defense Forces was accelerated by the situation of the Cold War. The plans developed by the United States to deliver nuclear strikes against industrial and administrative facilities of the USSR were reinforced by the buildup of the B-36, B-50 strategic bombers and other carriers of nuclear weapons. The first object of anti-aircraft missile defense, which required the provision of reliable defense, was determined by the country's leadership as the capital of the state - Moscow.
The resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR on the development of the first domestic stationary anti-aircraft missile system for the country's Air Defense Forces, signed on August 9, 1950, was supplemented by the resolution of J. V. Stalin: "We must receive a missile for air defense within a year." The decree determined the composition of the system, the head organization - SB-1, developers and co-executors of several industries. The developed anti-aircraft missile system was given the code name "Berkut".
According to the initial project, the Berkut system located around Moscow was supposed to consist of the following subsystems and objects:
two rings of a radar detection system (the short one is 25-30 km from Moscow and the long-range one is 200-250 km) based on the Kama all-round radar. The 10-centimeter Kama radar complex for the A-100 stationary radar units was developed by NII-244, chief designer L. V. Leonov.
two rings (near and far) of the anti-aircraft missile guidance radar. The missile guidance radar code is "product B-200". The developer is SB-1, the leading designer of the radar is V. E. Magdesiev.
anti-aircraft guided missiles V-300, located at launch positions in the immediate vicinity of the guidance radar. The developer of the OKB-301 rocket, the General Designer is S. A. Lavochkin. The launch equipment was instructed to develop GSKB MMP Chief Designer V. P. Barmin.
interceptor aircraft, code "G-400" - Tu-4 aircraft with G-300 air-to-air missiles. The development of the air interception complex was carried out under the leadership of A. I. Korchmar. The development of the interceptor was discontinued at an early stage. The G-300 missiles (factory code "210", developed by OKB-301) are a smaller version of the B-300 missile with an air launch from a carrier aircraft.
Apparently, the D-500 long-range radar detection aircraft, developed on the basis of the Tu-4 long-range bomber, were supposed to be used as an element of the system.
The system included a grouping of anti-aircraft missile systems (regiments) with means of detection, control, support, a missile weapons storage base, residential towns and barracks for officers and personnel. The interaction of all elements was to be carried out through the central command post of the System through special communication channels.
Organization of work on the Moscow air defense system "Berkut", carried out to the strictest degree
secrecy, was entrusted to the specially created Third Main Directorate (TSU) under the Council of Ministers of the USSR. KB-1, the reorganized SB-1, was the head organization responsible for the principles of the System's construction and its functioning; P. N. Kuksenko and S. L. Beria were appointed chief designers of the System. For the successful completion of the work in a short time, the necessary employees of other design bureaus were transferred to KB-1. German specialists brought to the USSR after the end of the war were also involved in the work on the system. Working in various design bureaus, they were collected in department 38 of KB-1.
As a result of the hard work of many scientific and labor teams, a prototype of an anti-aircraft missile system, projects and samples of some of the main components of the system were created in an extremely short time.
Field tests of an experimental version of an anti-aircraft missile system, carried out in January 1952, made it possible to draw up a comprehensive technical design of the Berkut system, which included only ground detection equipment, anti-aircraft missiles and their guidance means to intercept air targets from the originally planned composition of means.
From 1953 to 1955, at 50- and 90-kilometer lines around Moscow, the forces of the "special contingent" of the GULAG were building combat positions of anti-aircraft missile divisions, ring roads to ensure the delivery of missiles to fire battalions and storage bases (total length of roads up to 2000 km) … At the same time, the construction of residential towns and barracks was carried out. All engineering structures of the Berkut system were designed by the Moscow branch of Lengiprostroy, headed by V. I. Rechkin.
After the death of I. V Stalin and the arrest of L. P. Beria in June 1953, KB-1 was reorganized and its leadership changed. By a government decree, the name of the Moscow air defense system "Berkut" was replaced by "System S-25", Raspletin was appointed the chief designer of the system. TSU under the name Glavspetsmash is included in the Ministry of Medium Machine Building.
The deliveries of combat elements of the System-25 to the troops began in 1954, in March, at most facilities, the equipment was tuned, the components and assemblies of the complexes were fine-tuned. At the beginning of 1955, acceptance tests of all complexes near Moscow ended and the System was put into service. In accordance with the Decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR of May 7, 1955, the first formation of anti-aircraft missile forces began a phased implementation of the combat mission: the protection of Moscow and the Moscow industrial region from a possible attack by an air enemy. The system was put on permanent combat duty in June 1956 after an experimental duty with the placement of missiles in positions without refueling with fuel components and with weight dummies of warheads. With the use of all missile subdivisions of the system, it was in principle possible to simultaneously fire about 1000 air targets when guiding up to 3 missiles at each target.
After the adoption of the S-25 air defense system, created in four and a half years, into service with the main board of Glavspetsmash: Glavspetsmontazh, which was responsible for putting into operation the standard facilities of the system, and Glavspetsmash, which oversaw the development organizations, were eliminated; KB-1 was transferred to the Ministry of Defense Industry.
To operate the S-25 system in the Moscow Air Defense District in the spring of 1955, and
A separate special forces army of the country's Air Defense Forces was deployed under the command of Colonel-General K. Kazakov.
The training of officers for work on the System-25 was carried out at the Gorky Air Defense School, personnel - in a specially created training center - UTTs-2.
During the operation, the System was improved with the replacement of its individual elements with qualitatively new ones. The S-25 system (its modernized version - the S-25M) was removed from combat duty in 1982, with the replacement of anti-aircraft missile systems with an average
range of S-ZOOP.
Anti-aircraft missile system S-25
Work on the creation of a functionally closed anti-aircraft missile system of the S-25 system was carried out in parallel for all its components. In October (June) 1950, the B-200 was presented for testing in an experimental prototype SNR (Missile Guidance Station) B-200, and on July 25, 1951, the first B-300 rocket was launched at the test site.
To test the complex with a full range of products at the Kapustin Yar test site, the following were created: Site No. 30 - technical position for preparing S-25 missiles for launches; site No. 31 - a residential complex of the maintenance personnel of the experimental system S-25; site number 32 - the starting position of the V-300 anti-aircraft missiles; site No. 33 - the site of the prototype CRN (Central Guidance Radar) C-25 (18 km from site No. 30).
The first tests of a prototype of an anti-aircraft missile system in a closed control loop (a polygon version of the complex in its entirety) were carried out on November 2, 1952, when firing at an electronic imitation of a stationary target. A series of tests were carried out in November-December. Shooting at real targets - parachute targets was carried out after replacing the CPR antennas at the beginning of 1953. From April 26 to May 18, launches were carried out on Tu-4 target aircraft. In total, 81 launches were made during the tests from September 18, 1952 to May 18, 1953. In September-October, at the request of the Air Force command, control range tests were carried out when firing at the Il-28 and Tu-4 target aircraft.
The decision to build a full-scale anti-aircraft missile system at the test site for re-conducting State tests was made by the Government in January 1954 on the basis of a decision of the State Commission. The complex was presented for State tests on June 25, 1954, during which from October 1 to April 1, 1955, 69 launches were made on Tu-4 and Il-28 target aircraft. The shooting was carried out at radio-controlled target aircraft, including the producers of passive jamming. At the final stage, a salvo of 20 missiles was fired at 20 targets.
Before the completion of field tests, about 50 factories were connected to the production of components for air defense systems and missiles. From 1953 to 1955, combat positions of anti-aircraft missile systems were built on 50- and 90-kilometer lines around Moscow. In order to speed up the work, one of the complexes was made the master standard, it was put into operation by representatives of the development enterprises.
At the positions of the complexes, the B-200 - (TsRN) station, functionally connected with the missile launchers, was located in a semi-buried reinforced concrete structure designed to survive a direct hit of a 1000-kg high-explosive bomb, heaped with earth and camouflaged with grass cover. Separate rooms were provided for the high-frequency equipment, the multichannel part of the locator, the command post of the complex, the operator's workplaces and the places of rest of the duty combat shifts. Two target sighting antennas and four command transmission antennas were located in the immediate vicinity of the structure on a concrete site. The search, detection, tracking of air targets and the guidance of missiles at them by each complex of the System were carried out in a fixed sector of 60 x 60 degrees.
The complex made it possible to track up to 20 targets along 20 firing channels with automatic (manual) tracking of the target and the missile aimed at it, while simultaneously guiding 1-2 missiles at each target. For each target firing channel at the launch site, there were 3 missiles on the launch pad. The time for transferring the complex to combat readiness was determined by 5 minutes, during this time at least 18 firing channels had to be synchronized.
Launching positions with launch pads of six (four) in a row with access roads to them were located at a distance of 1, 2 to 4 km from the CPR with a relocation towards the division's responsibility sector. Depending on local conditions, due to the limited area of the positions, the number of missiles could be slightly less than the planned 60 missiles.
At the position of each complex were facilities for storing missiles, sites for the preparation and refueling of missiles, vehicle fleets, office and living quarters of personnel.
During the operation, the system was improved. In particular, the equipment for the selection of moving targets, developed in 1954, was introduced at regular facilities after field tests in 1957.
A total of 56 serial S-25 complexes (NATO code: SA-1 Guild) were manufactured, deployed and put into service in the Moscow air defense system, one serial and one experimental complex were used for field testing of hardware, missiles and equipment. One set of CPRs was used to test radio-electronic equipment in Kratovo.
B-200 missile guidance station
At the initial design stage, the possibility of using narrow-beam locators for precise tracking of a target and a rocket with a parabolic antenna, which created two beams for tracking the target and the missile aimed at it, was investigated (head of work at KB-1 - V. M. Taranovsky). At the same time, a variant of a rocket equipped with a homing head was being worked out, which was switched on near the meeting point (head of work N. A. Viktorov). The work was discontinued at an early stage of design.
The scheme for constructing antennas of a sector radar with linear scanning was proposed by M. B. Zakson, the construction of a multichannel part of the radar and its tracking systems for targets and missiles was proposed by K. S. Alperovich. The final decision on the development of sector guidance radars was made in January 1952. An angle antenna 9 m high and an azimuth antenna 8 m wide were located on different bases. Scanning was carried out with continuous rotation of antennas, each consisting of six (two triangular) beamformer. The antenna scanning sector is 60 degrees, the beam width is about 1 degree. The wavelength is about 10 cm. In the early stages of the project, it was proposed to complement the full-circle beamformer with non-metallic radiotransparent segment overlays.
When implementing the missile guidance station to determine the coordinates of targets and missiles, the "C" method and the "AZ" radio-electronic scheme, proposed by German designers, were adopted using quartz frequency stabilizers. The "A" system on electromechanical elements and the "BZh" system - an alternative to the "German" one, proposed by KB-1 employees, were not implemented.
In order to ensure the automatic tracking of 20 targets and 20 missiles aimed at them, the formation of guidance control commands in the CRN, 20 firing channels were created with separate tracking systems for targets and missiles for each coordinate and a separate analog calculating device for each channel (developed by KB "Almaz", leading designer N. V. Semakov). Shooting channels were combined into four five-channel groups.
To control the missiles of each group, command transmission antennas were introduced (in the initial version of the CPR, a single command transmission station was assumed).
An experimental prototype of the CPR was tested in the fall of 1951 in Khimki, in the winter of 1951 and in the spring of 1952 on the territory of the LII (Zhukovsky). A prototype of the serial CPR was also built in Zhukovsky. In August 1952, the prototype CPR was fully completed. Control tests were carried out from June 2 to September 20. To control the passage of the "combined" signals of the missile and the target, the onboard transponder of the missile was placed on the tower of the BU-40 drilling rig remote from the CPR (in the serial version of the complex, it was replaced by a telescopic structure with a radiating horn at the top). The fast scanning (scanning frequency of about 20 Hz) antennas A-11 and A-12 for the prototype of the B-200 station were manufactured at plant No. 701 (Podolsk mechanical plant), the transmitters were manufactured in the A. L. Mints radio engineering laboratory. After the control tests were carried out in September, the prototype of the CPR was disassembled and sent by rail to continue testing at the test site. In the fall of 1952, at the Kapustin Yar test site, a prototype of the CRN was built with the placement of the equipment part in a one-story stone building at 33 sites.
In parallel with the tests of the CPR in Zhukovsky, the missile guidance control loop on the target was worked out at the integrated modeling stand in KB-1.
The complex stand included simulators of target and missile signals, systems for their automatic tracking, a calculating device for generating missile control commands, on-board missile equipment and an analog computing device - a model of a missile. In the fall of 1952, the stand was relocated to the Kapustin Yar test site.
Serial production of CRN equipment was carried out at plant No. 304 (Kuntsevsky radar plant), antennas of a prototype of the complex were produced at plant No. 701, then for serial complexes at plant No. 92 (Gorky machine-building plant). The stations for transmitting control commands to missiles were produced at the Leningrad Printing Machines Plant (production later spun off into the Leningrad Radio Engineering Equipment Plant), the calculating devices for generating commands were at the Zagorsk plant, the electronic lamps were supplied by the Tashkent plant. The equipment for the S-25 complex was manufactured by the Moscow Radio Engineering Plant (MRTZ, before the war - the piston plant, later the cartridge plant - produced cartridges for heavy machine guns).
The CPRs adopted for service differed from the prototype in the presence of control devices, additional indicator devices. Since 1957, the equipment for the selection of moving targets, developed at KB-1 under the leadership of Gapeev, has been installed. For firing at planes, jammers were introduced to the "three-point" guidance mode.
Anti-aircraft missile B-300 and its modifications
The design of the V-300 rocket (factory designation "205", lead designer N. Chernyakov) was started at OKB-301 in September 1950. The variant of the guided missile was submitted for consideration at the TSU on March 1, 1951, the preliminary design of the missile was defended in mid-March.
The vertical launch rocket, functionally divided into seven compartments, was equipped with radio command equipment of the control system and was made according to the "canard" scheme with the placement of rudders for pitch and yaw control on one of the head compartments. Ailerons, located on the wings in one plane, were used for roll control. In the tail part of the hull, discharged gas rudders were attached, which were used to deflect the rocket after launch towards the target, stabilize and control the rocket at the initial stage of flight at low speeds. Radar tracking of the rocket was carried out by the signal of the onboard radio responder. The development of the autopilot of the rocket and the onboard missile sighting equipment - the receiver of the CRN sounding signals and the onboard radio responder with the generator of response signals - was carried out in KB-1 under the leadership of V. E. Chernomordik.
Checking the onboard radio equipment of the rocket for the stability of receiving commands from the CPR was carried out using an aircraft that patrolled in the radar view zone and had on board the rocket radio units and control equipment. The onboard equipment of serial missiles was produced at the Moscow Bicycle Plant (Mospribor plant).
Testing of the engine of the "205" rocket was carried out at the firing stand in Zagorsk (now Sergiev Posad). The operability of the engine and radio-technical systems of the rocket was checked in the conditions of flight simulation.
The first missile was launched on July 25, 1951. The stage of field tests for testing the launch and stabilization system of the rocket (autopilot) took place in November-December 1951 during launches from site No. 5 of the Kapustin Yar test site (site for launching ballistic missiles). At the second stage, from March to September 1952, autonomous missile launches were carried out. Controlled flight modes were tested when control commands were given from the programmed onboard mechanism, and later from equipment similar to the standard equipment of the CPR. During the first and second stages of testing, 30 launches were carried out. From October 18 to October 30, five missile launches were carried out with the implementation of their capture and accompaniment by the equipment of a prototype test range of the TsRN.
After the modifications of the onboard equipment, on November 2, 1952, the first successful launch of a rocket in a closed control loop (as part of an experimental range version of the complex) took place when firing at an electronic imitation of a stationary target. On May 25, 1953, a Tu-4 target aircraft was first shot down by a B-300 missile.
In view of the need to organize in a short time mass production and delivery of a large number of missiles for field tests and to the troops, the release of their experimental and serial versions for the S-25 system was made by 41, 82 (Tushinsky machine-building) and 586 (Dnepropetrovsk machine-building) plants.
The order on the preparation of serial production of the B-303 anti-aircraft missiles (a variant of the B-300 missile) at the DMZ was signed on August 31, 1952. On March 2, 1953, a four-chamber (two-mode) sustainer LPRE C09-29 (with a thrust of 9000 kg with a displacement
system for supplying hydrocarbon fuel and oxidizer - nitric acid) designed by OKB-2 NII-88 Chief Designer A. M. Isaev. Fire tests of the engines were carried out on the basis of the NII-88 branch in Zagorsk - NII-229. Initially, the manufacture of C09.29 engines was carried out by a pilot production of SKB-385 (Zlatoust) - now KBM im. Makeeva. The DMZ launched serial production of missiles in 1954.
Onboard power supplies for the rocket were developed at the State Planning Research Institute under the leadership of N. Lidorenko. The warheads of the E-600 (various types) of the B-300 missiles were developed at the NII-6 MSKhM design bureau in teams led by N. S. Zhidkikh, V. A. Sukhikh and K. I. Kozorezov; radio fuses - in the design bureau, led by Rastorguev. A high-explosive fragmentation warhead with a radius of destruction of 75 meters was adopted for serial production. At the end of 1954, State tests of the missile with a cumulative warhead were carried out. In some sources, a variant of the missile warhead is given, according to the principle of action, resembling a 76-mm antiaircraft projectile of the 1925 model: during an explosion, the warhead was divided into segments connected by cables that cut the elements of the target's glider upon meeting.
In the course of many years of operation, missiles "205", "207", "217", "219" of various variants developed by OKB-301 and MKB "Burevestnik" were created and used in the S-25 system and its modifications.
The development of the 217 rocket with the S3.42A LPRE (with a thrust of 17,000 kg, with a turbo-pump fuel supply system) designed by OKB-3 NII-88 Chief Designer D. Sevruk began in 1954. Flight tests of the rocket have been carried out since 1958. A modified version of the 217M rocket with the C.5.1 engine developed by OKB-2 (with a thrust of 17,000 kg, with a turbo-pump fuel supply system) was adopted as part of the C-25M complex.
Rockets of modifications 207T and 217T were intended to repel massive attacks by enemy strike aircraft. The 217T missile was tested at the Sary-Shagan test site.
To practice the skills of transporting and installing missiles on launching tables, the industry produced dimensional and weight models of missiles of various options and special missile options for testing refueling.
Transport and launch equipment was developed at GSKB MMP under the leadership of V. P. Barmin. The launch pad was a metal frame with a conical flame diffuser and a leveling device, installed on a concrete base. The rocket was mounted in an upright position on the launch pad using four clips located on the bottom cut around the liquid-propellant engine nozzle. Power supply to the rocket board during inspections and prelaunch preparation was supplied through a cable through a quick-release onboard connector. The transport vehicle-installer was located in a combat position at the launch pad. To transport missiles on the installers, ZIL-157 truck tractors were used, later - ZIL-131.
For the first time, the B-300 missile defense system was openly shown at a military parade on November 7, 1960, and for two and a half decades it opened the passage of parade crews of anti-aircraft guided missiles of the country's Air Defense Forces.
In KB-1, department 32, under the leadership of D. L. Tomashevich, for the S-25 air defense system, a 32B rocket equipped with a solid-propellant booster with an oblique launch was created and tested. The onboard equipment and the rocket autopilot were also developed at KB-1. The first prototypes of the rocket were delivered to the "A" test site at the end of 1952. Throwing tests of missiles were carried out while they were accompanied by a CPR using a signal reflected from the hull. To speed up the work on the rocket and provide comprehensive tests of the rocket as part of the experimental complex of the "Berkut" KB-1 system, the plant No. 293 in Khimki is attached. After the tests of the rocket (when it was accompanied by the TsRN at the signal of the defendant) in 1953, work on the use of 32B as part of the S-25 complex was discontinued. The possibility of using the rocket for mobile air defense systems was considered. At the end of 1953, department number 32 was transferred to plant number 293 and became an independent organization - OKB-2 of Glavspetsmash. The head of the new design bureau was appointed P. D. Grushin - deputy S. A. Lavochkin.
S-25M system
In the middle (60-x guides, the Moscow air defense system S-25 was modernized in the P.1C part, missiles and received the designation S-25M.
The equipment for guiding missiles at targets and calculating devices of the modified version of the B-200 station were performed purely electronic without the use of electromechanical elements.
Rockets 217M (tested in 1961); 217MA; 217МВ for the modernized version of the system were developed by the "Burevestnik" design bureau. In order to ensure the reliability of the launch position during multiple launches from each launch pad of the NII-2 GKAT in 1961, studies were carried out on the impact of the launch jet of the 217M rocket on the launch pad and the foundation of the launch pad of the system.
Complexes of the C-25M system were removed from combat duty in 1982 with the replacement of the complexes of the C-300P system.
Variants of development and use of the S-25 System
On the basis of the C-25 "Berkut" system, a prototype of the complex with a simplified composition of equipment was developed. The antennas of the complex were located on the KZU-16 anti-aircraft artillery trolley, the cabins: radio path "R", equipment "A", computing facilities "B" - were placed in vans. The development and refinement of the prototype led to the creation of the mobile SAM SA-75 "Dvina".
On the basis of missiles and launching equipment of the S-25 System in the early 70s, a target complex was created (with control over the flight of the SNR SAM S-75M target) for conducting combat missile firing at air defense ranges. Target missiles (RM): "208" (V-300K3, a modernized version of the "207" missile without a warhead) and "218" (a modernized version of the 5Y25M missile of the "217" family) were equipped with an autopilot and flew with a constant azimuth with altitude variation according to the program Depending on the task, RM imitated targets with different reflective surface area, speed and flight altitude. If necessary, maneuvering targets and jammers were simulated. For exercises "Belka-1" - "Belka-4", the ranges of flight altitudes of the RM were: 80-100 m; 6-11 km; 18-20 km; flight around the terrain. For exercises "Zvezda-5" - a target rocket - a simulator of strategic cruise missiles and aircraft of attack multipurpose aviation. The flight duration of the target missile is up to 80 seconds, after which it self-destructs. The operation of the target complex was carried out by the ITB - a test technical battalion. RM were produced by the Tushino MZ.
