The main purpose of the RC "Relief" is the solution of operational and strategic tasks to defeat continental targets at previously known coordinates. He ensured the fulfillment of the assigned tasks in any conditions, day and night, without restrictions on location when firing a salvo.
The development of the new ground-based complex was carried out in pursuit of the American analogue of the Gryphon RK with the Tomahawk missile. According to the assignment, the work on the creation of the RC "Relief" had to be completed in two years.
The development and design of the RK with sea-based (S-10 "Granat") and airborne (X-55, commissioning -1982) begins at the end of 1976. Unofficially, the development of a ground modification begins in 1983. Officially, the RC "Relief" is being developed by the resolution of the Council of Ministers and the Central Committee of the party dated 04.10.1984 №108-32. The development of the sea-going RK "Granat" and the CRBD 3M10 developed for it were taken as a basis. The complex gets the name "Relief" and for it develops KRBD KS-122. The development was entrusted to the Sverdlovsk design bureau "Novator", the leadership was carried out by the Deputy GK A. Usoltsev, the head of the design team of the GK L. Lyulyev. Deputy Minister M. Ilyin is appointed responsible for the creation of the new complex from the ministry.
The creation of a launcher, vehicles for transportation / loading and control, and a ground-based set of equipment was entrusted to the Sverdlovsk enterprise "Start". The equipment for prelaunch preparation, systems for processing and entering calculated data with onboard equipment of the rocket was created at the Moscow Research Institute-25.
The first prototypes of the machines used in the RC "Relief" were built at the "Start" enterprise in a very short time - in 1984 they began to undergo sea trials. All tests of the complex were carried out at the Akhtuba test site of the USSR Ministry of Defense No. 929. In total, during the tests in 1983 to 1986, 4 rocket dummies were launched and 6 fully equipped combat missiles were launched. State tests began in 1985, they took place at the same training ground.
The head of the state acceptance of the Republic of Kazakhstan "Relief" was the then Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet Air Force A. Efimov. In 1986, the complex successfully passed the stage of state tests and was put into service. Serial production was carried out at the Sverdlovsk machine-building plant named after Kalinin, where all the necessary documentation for the RK "Relief" was transferred.
The fate of the complex
The plant managed to release only one batch of the new RK-55 "Relief" with the KS-122 missile when the Soviet Union and the United States signed the INF Treaty in 1988. The complex was given for the implementation of this Agreement. Specialists were sent from the United States and the entire recently released batch was disposed of at an airbase near the city of Jelgava. The start of disposal is September 1988, 4 units of the KS-122 KRBD were immediately destroyed. The last destruction work was carried out in October 1988. The latter was destroyed by the rocket, on which the total weight was measured (they used the injection of conventional diesel fuel into the tanks) at the request of the Americans.
RK-55 device
The complex consisted of:
- autonomous SPU;
- vehicles for transportation and loading;
- MBU control machines;
- ground equipment complex.
The launcher was created on the basis of the MAZ-79111 / 543M chassis as an autonomous self-propelled launcher with the index 9V2413 under 6 KRBD. The composition of the equipment installed on the launcher: navigation, orientation and topographic referencing equipment, rocket launch automation and equipment for entering flight data. The positional area of work is half a thousand kilometers. In the course of the work, it turns out that the usual placement of six missiles will carry a danger in the form of overloading the chassis, which will lead to a decrease in the characteristics of mobility and missile launch. Therefore, a decision is made to make missiles with a swinging launching part in a single block. A special launch control system is being developed. The electrical connection was made at the rear of a single unit.
The main characteristics of the launcher:
- length - 12.8 meters;
- width - 3 meters;
- height - 3.8 meters;
- calculation - vehicle commander and driver-mechanic;
- power - diesel type D12AN-650;
- diesel power - 650 hp;
- wheel formula - 8X8;
- weight not equipped / equipped launcher - 29.1 / 56 tons;
- speed up to 65 km / h;
- march range up to 850 kilometers;
- transfer time combat / stowed position up to 15 minutes;
- missile launch time - about a minute;
- missile launch - single / salvo with an interval of about a second.
- obstacles to be overcome: slope up to 40 degrees, ditch up to 3.2 meters;
The KRBD KS-122 was created according to a normal aerodynamic configuration with a folding wing and an in-fuselage engine installation. Elevators and rudders are also folding type, all-turning. The installed guidance and control system is completely autonomous inertial execution with correction according to the relief data of the correlation extreme correction system, which includes: on-board computer, a system for storing digital data of maps of the matrices of correction areas and flight data, a radio altimeter. The onboard guidance system and the rest of the onboard equipment were created by the Moscow Research Institute of Instrumentation. It has a block design, in separate buildings.
The intra-fuselage propulsion system was developed at the Omsk Motor Design Bureau and at the Soyuz production association. First, the Omsk designers developed a small-sized mid-flight turbojet engine of the in-fuselage design. The latest development was called 36-01 / TRDD-50. He developed a thrust of 450 kilograms. The work has been in progress since 1976. Tests in 1980 for the Raduga complex were considered successful. Somewhat later, successful tests were carried out for the Relief complex. However, the R-95-300 engine developed by the Soyuz MNPO was chosen for the KS-122 rocket. The engine developed a thrust of 400 kilograms and was produced at a plant in Zaporozhye.
The main characteristics of the rocket:
- total length - 8.09 meters;
- container length - 8.39 meters;
- wing - 3.3 meters;
- rocket diameter - 51 centimeters;
- container diameter - 65 centimeters;
- starting weight - 1.7 tons;
- weight in TPK - 2.4 tons;
- the weight of the warhead did not exceed 200 kilograms;
- warhead power - 20 kilotons;
- maximum range in the region of 2600-2900 kilometers;
- average flight speed - 0.8 Mach;
- average flight altitude - 200 meters;
- used fuel - kerosene / decilin;
- starting engine - solid propellant rocket motor.
Data on RK-55 "Relief"
In 1988, 6 units of autonomous SPU with ammunition of 80 KRBD KS-122 were produced. All of them were in trial use near the city of Jelgava, Latvian SSR. At the end of 1988, missiles were disposed of at the same airbase. Most likely, slightly more missiles were produced, however, according to available data, only the missiles of the experimental complex were received for disposal. We are talking about 80-84 KRBD KS-122.
Brief information on the American analogue of the "Gryphon" complex
The rocket complex "Gryphon" called BGM-109G was a ground modification of the "Tomahawk" and had the following data:
- length 6.4 meters;
- weight - one ton;
- average speed of Mach 0.7;
- engine with a thrust of 270 kilograms;
The first missile launch was recognized as successful at the beginning of 1982. And in 1983, the first production samples began to enter service.
Complex composition:
- 4 TPU vehicles based on MAN AG with wheel arrangement 8 X 8;
- 16 BGM-109G cruise missiles;
- two control cars.
In total, about 560 cruise missiles were mass-produced to support the American missile system. Slightly less than 100 missiles remained in the United States, the rest were supposed to arrive for deployment in European countries.
The capabilities of the rocket were less effective compared to the Soviet counterpart:
- small ESR;
- range up to 2.5 thousand kilometers;
- average flight altitude 30-40 meters;
- warhead power up to 150 kilotons.
Combined guidance system. The Soviet KS-122 rocket here almost did not differ from the American BGM-109. It had an inertial system and correction for the contours of the terrain created by the TERCOM company. It also includes an on-board computer and a radio altimeter. The data stored in the on-board computer made it possible to determine the location during the flight with increased accuracy, the CEP was about 20-30 meters.
The main purpose was to disable enemy launchers with strategic missiles, military airfields, various bases and accumulations of manpower and equipment, strategic air defense facilities, destruction of large strategic objects such as power plants, bridges, dams.
In addition to the ground version, a modification of the rocket for the Air Force was being developed. In 1980, when studying the results of a competition in which the AGM-86B from Boeing and AGM-109 (modification BGM-109) from General Dynamics participated, the military chose a missile from the Boeing company.
In accordance with the Treaty signed with the Soviet Union, the United States has disposed of all the launching and cruise missiles of the Gryphon complex. The last BGM-109G missile was scrapped on 1991-31-05. The estimated cost of one BGM-109G is just over one million dollars (for 1991). Eight missiles were "disarmed" and sent to museums and exhibitions.
