In the 50s, the dream of an omnipotent atomic energy (atomic cars, airplanes, spaceships, atomic everything and everyone) was already shaken by the awareness of the danger of radiation, but it still hovered in the minds. After the launch of the satellite, the Americans worried that the Soviets could be ahead not only in missiles, but also in anti-missiles, and the Pentagon came to the conclusion that it was necessary to build an unmanned atomic bomber (or missile) that could overcome air defenses at low altitudes. What they came up with, they called SLAM (Supersonic Low-Altitude Missile) - a supersonic low-altitude missile, which was planned to be equipped with a ramjet nuclear engine. The project was named "Pluto".
The rocket, the size of a locomotive, was supposed to fly at an ultra-low altitude (just above the treetops) at 3 times the speed of sound, scattering hydrogen bombs along the way. Even the power of the shock wave from its passage should have been sufficient to kill people nearby. In addition, there was a small problem of radioactive fallout - the rocket exhaust, of course, contained fission products. One witty engineer suggested turning this obvious drawback in peacetime into an advantage in case of war - she had to continue flying over the Soviet Union after the exhaustion of ammunition (until self-destruction or extinction of the reaction, that is, almost unlimited time).
Work began on January 1, 1957 in Livermore, California. The project immediately ran into technological difficulties, which is not surprising. The idea itself was relatively simple: after acceleration, the air is sucked into the air intake in front by itself, heats up and is thrown out from behind by the exhaust stream, which gives traction. However, the use of a nuclear reactor instead of chemical fuel for heating was fundamentally new and required the development of a compact reactor, not surrounded, as usual, by hundreds of tons of concrete and capable of withstanding a flight of thousands of miles to targets in the USSR. To control the direction of flight, steering motors were needed that could operate in a red-hot state and in conditions of high radioactivity. The need for a long flight at an M3 speed at an ultra-low altitude required materials that would not melt or collapse under such conditions (according to calculations, the pressure on the rocket should have been 5 times more than the pressure on the supersonic X-15).
To accelerate to the speed at which the ramjet engine would begin to operate, several conventional chemical accelerators were used, which were then undocked, as in space launches. After starting and leaving the populated areas, the rocket had to turn on the nuclear engine and circle over the ocean (there was no need to worry about the fuel), waiting for an order to accelerate to M3 and fly to the USSR.
Like modern Tomahawks, it flew following the terrain. Thanks to this and the tremendous speed, it had to overcome air defense targets inaccessible to existing bombers and even ballistic missiles. The project manager called the rocket "flying crowbar", meaning its simplicity and high strength.
Because the efficiency of a ramjet engine increases with temperature, the 500-MW reactor called the Tory was designed to be very hot, with an operating temperature of 2500F (over 1600C). Porcelain company Coors Porcelain Company was tasked with making about 500,000 pencil-like ceramic fuel cells that would withstand this temperature and ensure an even heat distribution within the reactor.
Various materials were tried to cover the rear of the rocket, where temperatures were expected to be maximum. Design and manufacturing tolerances were so tight that the skin plates had a spontaneous combustion temperature of only 150 degrees above the maximum design temperature of the reactor.
There were many assumptions and it became clear that it was necessary to test a full-size reactor on a fixed platform. For this, a special 401 polygon was built on 8 square miles. Since the reactor was supposed to become highly radioactive after launch, a fully automated railway line brought it from the checkpoint to the dismantling workshop, where the radioactive reactor had to be remotely disassembled and examined. Scientists from Livermore watched the process on television from a barn located far from the landfill and equipped, just in case, with a shelter with a two-week supply of food and water.
Just to extract material to build a dismantling workshop, whose walls were between 6 and 8 feet thick, the US government bought the mine. A million pounds of compressed air (to simulate the reactor's flight at high speed and launch the PRJ) was accumulated in special tanks 25 miles long and pumped by giant compressors, which were temporarily taken from the submarine base in Groton, Connecticut. The 5-minute test at full power required a ton of air per second, which was heated to 1350F (732C) by passing through four steel tanks filled with 14 million steel balls, which were heated by burning oil. However, not all components of the project were colossal - the miniature secretary had to install the final measuring instruments inside the reactor during installation, since the technicians did not get through there.
During the first 4 years, the main obstacles were gradually overcome. After experimenting with different coatings to protect the housings of the electric motors of the handlebars from the heat of the exhaust jet, an advertisement in Hot Rod magazine found a suitable paint for the exhaust pipe. During the assembly of the reactor, spacers were used, which then had to evaporate when it was started. A method was developed to measure the temperature of the slabs by comparing their color with a calibrated scale.
On the evening of May 14, 1961, the world's first atomic PRD, mounted on a railway platform, turned on. The Tory-IIA prototype lasted only a few seconds and developed only part of the calculated power, but the experiment was considered completely successful. Most importantly, it did not catch fire or collapse, as many feared. Work began immediately on the second prototype, lighter and more powerful. The Tory-IIB didn't go beyond the drawing board, but three years later, the Tory-IIC ran for 5 minutes at full power of 513 megawatts and delivered 35,000 pounds of thrust; the radioactivity of the jet was less than expected. The launch was watched from a safe distance by dozens of Air Force officials and generals.
The success was celebrated by installing a piano from the female lab's dormitory onto a truck and driving to the nearest town, where there was a bar, singing songs. The project manager accompanied the piano on the way.
Later in the laboratory, work began on a fourth prototype, even more powerful, lighter and compact enough for a test flight. They even started talking about the Tory-III, which will reach four times the speed of sound.
At the same time, the Pentagon began to doubt the project. Since the missile was supposed to be launched from the territory of the United States and it had to fly through the territory of NATO members for maximum stealth before the attack began, it was understood that it was no less a threat to the allies than to the USSR. Even before the start of the attack, Pluto will stun, cripple and irradiate our friends (the volume of Pluto flying overhead was estimated at 150 dB, for comparison, the loudness of the Saturn V rocket, which launched Apollo to the Moon, was 200 dB at full power). Of course, ruptured eardrums will seem like just a minor inconvenience if you find yourself under such a flying missile that literally bakes chickens in the yard on the fly.
While the inhabitants of Livermore insisted on the speed and impossibility of intercepting the missile, military analysts began to doubt that such large, hot, noisy and radioactive weapons could go unnoticed for long. In addition, the new Atlas and Titan ballistic missiles will hit their target hours ahead of the $ 50 million flying reactor. The fleet, which was originally going to launch Pluto from submarines and ships, also began to lose interest in it after the introduction of the Polaris rocket.
But the last nail in Pluto's coffin was the simplest question that no one had thought of before - where to test a flying nuclear reactor? "How to convince the bosses that the rocket will not go off course and fly through Las Vegas or Los Angeles, like a flying Chernobyl?" - asks Jim Hadley, one of the physicists who worked in Livermore. One of the proposed solutions was a long leash, like a model airplane, in the Nevada desert. (“That would be that leash,” Hadley remarks dryly.) A more realistic proposal was to fly the Eights near Wake Island in the Pacific Ocean, and then sink the rocket 20,000 feet deep, but by then there was enough radiation. were afraid.
On July 1, 1964, seven and a half years after the start, the project was canceled. The total cost was $ 260 million of the not-yet-depreciated dollars at the time. At its peak, 350 people worked on it in the laboratory and another 100 at test site 401.
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Design tactical and technical characteristics: length-26.8 m, diameter-3.05 m, weight-28000 kg, speed: at an altitude of 300 m-3M, at an altitude of 9000 m-4, 2M, ceiling-10700 m, range: at an altitude of 300 m - 21,300 km, at an altitude of 9,000 m - more than 100,000 km, a warhead - from 14 to 26 thermonuclear warheads.
The rocket was to be launched from a ground launcher using solid-propellant boosters, which were supposed to work until the rocket reached a speed sufficient to launch an atomic ramjet engine. The design was wingless, with small keels and small horizontal fins arranged in a duck pattern. The rocket was optimized for low altitude flight (25-300 m) and was equipped with a terrain tracking system. After launch, the main flight profile was supposed to pass at an altitude of 10700 m at a speed of 4M. The effective range at high altitude was so large (of the order of 100,000 km) that the missile could make long patrols before being given the command to interrupt its mission or continue flying towards the target. Approaching the enemy's air defense area, the rocket dropped to 25-300 m and included a terrain tracking system. The warhead of the rocket was to be equipped with thermonuclear warheads in an amount from 14 to 26 and shoot them vertically upward when flying at specified targets. Along with the warheads, the missile itself was a formidable weapon. When flying at a speed of 3M at an altitude of 25 m, the strongest sonic boom can cause great destruction. In addition, the atomic PRD leaves a strong radioactive trail on the enemy's territory. Finally, when the warheads were used up, the missile itself could crash into the target and leave powerful radioactive contamination from the crashed reactor.
The first flight was to take place in 1967. But by 1964, the project began to raise serious doubts. In addition, ICBMs appeared that could perform the assigned task much more efficiently.
