The MAKS International Aviation Show, which is annually held in the city of Zhukovsky, has repeatedly become a platform for the demonstration of unusual airborne weapons systems. The MAKS-2007 air show was no exception. Its main exhibit was the Meteorite-A aviation supersonic cruise missile (SKR). The rocket, which was developed under the index 3M-25 at NPO Mashinostroeniya under the leadership of Academician V. N. Chelomeya more than 25 years ago, today got a new life. "Meteorite-A", despite its full technical readiness, was never put into mass production, however, according to a number of military experts, given the growing progress in the field of electronics, this project should be revived. Rocket "Meteorite-A" conceptually differs from many other strategic cruise missiles, created in the 70s and 80s, flying to the target at extremely low altitudes with a subsonic cruising speed. The missile weighing more than 6 tons was supposed to overcome the enemy's air defense systems at a maximum altitude of 22-25 kilometers at a speed of 2700-3240 km / h. The designers of the unusual missile laid down the possibility of hitting the specified target at a distance of up to 3-5 thousand kilometers from the launch point. It was also assumed that special equipment would form a trail of significantly ionized air behind the TFR, which prevents ground anti-aircraft missiles from accurately targeting it.
The history of the creation of the rocket is as follows. In response to the deployment by the United States of fourth-generation cruise missiles, NPO Mashinostroyenia was tasked with developing a long-range TFR as one of the main means of maintaining the balance of the strategic nuclear forces available at that time. Equipped with a unique "intelligence" that allows you to perform all kinds of maneuvers on a trajectory with an extremely accurate exit to the specified target, this missile would become practically invulnerable to enemy air defense systems.
Faced with new technical issues, including the declared requirement for a long flight in the atmosphere at supersonic speed, NPO specialists found new solutions when choosing an aerodynamic structure, a power plant, structural materials, and ensuring a thermal regime. The leading scientific and design teams of the country were involved in the development of control systems based on completely new principles. The complex was created under the vigilant control of the Council of Chief Engineers under the chairmanship of Professor V. N. Chelomeya. The defense of the first draft design of the water-based complex took place in mid-December 1978, and the air-based one a month later, in January 1979.
A huge volume of ground bench tests was carried out in an extremely short time. During these tests, it was experimentally proven that all technical solutions were correct. On May 20, 1980, the first launch of the SKR from a ground test stand was carried out, and at the end of January 1982, the first launch from a submerged launch pad from a submerged position. A converted submarine of Project 667A was chosen as a submerged platform. The launch from the aircraft-based site was carried out from a special Tu-95MA carrier aircraft.
During the flight tests of the Meteorite-A rocket, 70 launches were carried out - 50 from the ground stand, submarine and PSK, and 20 from the Tu-95MA aircraft. The first tests of an ultra-long-range rocket set a number of new tasks for the technical leadership. First of all, as it turned out, the range of the Kapustin Yar combat range was not enough to test a missile of such a range. In order to compensate for the lack of distance on the flight path from Balkhash to the Volga, it was necessary to carry out a 180 ° turn maneuver, unique for a rocket flying at such a speed. The launches were also carried out in the interests of assessing the degree of protection of the missile from air defense systems, for which two modern anti-aircraft missile systems were used. But, despite the fact that the flight trajectory and the launch time were known, with the onboard protection systems and maneuvering programs turned off, the released anti-aircraft missiles were able to destroy the TFR only from the second launch.
In terms of its tactical, technical and combat characteristics, the Meteorite-A missile significantly surpassed all the strategic sea- and air-based cruise missiles available at that time. When creating the complex, a number of unique systems were developed. However, "Meteorite-A" was not destined to be put into service. The reason for this was the decision taken in the early 80s to equip the existing strategic bombers with another missile of this type - the Kh-55 missile, created in 1982 at the Raduga Design Bureau, which was put into service at the end of 1983 for installation on strategic aviation complexes. Tu-95MS, and then the modernized Tu-160. The formidable "Meteorite" has remained at the level of the prototype, but, perhaps, the situation will change in the near future.
