How commercial ballistic missile launches strengthen the combat readiness of North Sea submariners

At the beginning of July 1998, a ballistic missile was launched from the Novomoskovsk strategic missile submarine (SSBN), commanded by Captain of the 2nd rank Alexander Moiseev, which launched the German research microsatellite Tubsat - N into low-Earth orbit. Its purpose is purely peaceful: providing mobile ground communications, studying magnetic anomalies on Earth, and much more. The main participants of the project were the State Rocket Center (SRC) "Makeev Design Bureau", whose staff is allowed by a special decree of the Russian Government to organize and conduct commercial satellite launches in order to maintain the scientific and production base of the Russian Space Agency, the Ministry of Economy and the Navy. The German side of the project was represented by the Berlin Technical University, which produced a unique microsatellite.

This was the second launch of a commercial satellite for Russian sailors. In 1993, Severomorsk successfully launched a German module with research equipment for studying the Earth's biosphere.

Forty-four years ago, on September 16, 1955, a sea-launched ballistic missile was launched in the Soviet Union for the first time in the world. This event marked the beginning of a new stage in the development of the submarine ship and rocket industry, and the Navy as a whole. Thanks to the experience of creating and operating the R-11FM ballistic missile system and the V-611 and AV-611 submarines, the subsequent effective deployment of the naval strategic nuclear forces (MSNF), the creation and commissioning of many projects of strategic submarine cruisers, which formed the basis of the combat power of the Soviet Navy, and subsequently and the Russian Navy.

In 1995, an event occurred whose significance significantly exceeded his modest estimates expressed in the comments and media reports. The Volna launch vehicle was launched from the strategic submarine of Captain 1st Rank Vladimir Bazhenov, which was on the surface. For the first time, on the basis of an international contract for conducting a scientific experiment (the"TCM - Volna Project"), the German Space Agency and Russian defense enterprises NPO Kompozit and GRC" Makeyev Design Bureau "organized and ensured joint work of Russian rocket specialists with German scientists and mechanics in the GRC laboratories and at the technical base positions of one of the Northern Fleet bases.

Among the military successes of the rocket scientists can be attributed to the exercises held in the summer of 1996 in the Northern Fleet as part of testing the combat readiness of the naval component of the strategic nuclear forces. Again, for the first time, two SSBNs under the command of Captain 1st Rank Sergey Gudkov and Captain 2nd Rank Nikolay Mastyaev performed a group firing of ballistic missiles at objects in the territory of a simulated enemy. Its uniqueness lay in the fact that it was carried out according to the same plan and signal for two boats. In the Barents Sea, the deployment of the Northern Fleet forces in the event of a nuclear missile attack on the country and the application of a retaliatory strike in accordance with the Russian defense doctrine were simulated. Therefore, despite the difficult weather conditions and the enhanced counteraction of electronic warfare provided for in the exercise plan, the submarines, known in the West as Delta-1 and Delta-4, successfully launched RSM-40 and RSM-54 missiles with the shortest possible launch interval...

From the Orientir dossier

The first Dolphin-class submarine of Project 667 BDRM was laid down in Severodvinsk in 1984. The latter entered service in February 1992. In total, 7 nuclear-powered ships of this class left the slipways. Today, these boats form the main striking force of the naval component of the Russian strategic deterrent forces. All SSBNs of this class are based in the Northern Fleet.

The Dolphin has a total displacement of 12,600 tons, a hull length of 166 meters, and a diameter of 9 meters. The nuclear-powered missile cruiser is armed with 16 RSM-54 ballistic missiles, and four 533-millimeter torpedo tubes with 12 torpedoes are installed in the bow. The ship has 2 nuclear reactors and 2 steam turbines with a total capacity of 60,000 hp. The power plant allows the nuclear-powered ship to reach a speed of 24 knots (approximately 50 km / h), the crew is 130 people.

...Novomoskovsk has been very lucky in its life. It is the latest submarine cruiser of its project in the Russian Navy. It was this ship that in 1991 for the first time in the world carried out a unique shooting: the underwater launch of sixteen ballistic missiles. Judge for yourself how difficult it was for the crew, who had not yet been shot, because the simultaneous launch of so many missiles is a problem to keep the submarine within the strict limits of the firing mode, and first of all at a given depth in the "launch corridor", because the impulses that shake the boat hull at the time of launch are huge. But the crew brilliantly completed the task.

"If you walk around the missile deck of the Novomoskovsk," says Captain of the 2nd rank Alexander Moiseev, " you will see that there is no mine that does not have stars drawn on it for successful missile launches. Eight mines have two apiece. And on the "fifth", happy for the crew, after the launch of the satellite, there are already three of them...

To match the "famous" nuclear-powered ship and its commander. In 1994, Alexander Andreevich went to the North Pole in the crew of Hero of Russia Captain 1st Rank Yuri Yurchenko. He was on the missile carrier as a senior assistant to the submarine commander for combat control. Then Moiseyev and another submariner were lucky enough to land on an ice floe in the polar region and plant the St. Andrew's and Russian State Flags on the " top " of the Earth on the Day of the Navy. For this, without exaggeration, feat, captain of the 2nd rank Alexander Moiseev was awarded the Order of Courage.

As for the crew of the Novomoskovsk submarine, according to Alexander Andreevich, for him as a commander, he is the best.

"And this is not an unsubstantiated statement," the officer says. - Submariners themselves strive to be such. After all, the crew is floating. And, accordingly, the tasks before it are the most serious...

The fact that the launch of a satellite from a Russian submarine pursues not only scientific but also purely commercial purposes, no one has hidden from submariners. Experts from the State Rocket Center "Makeev Design Bureau "told" Novo-Moskovtsy " frankly that, they say, if it breaks down now, then everything: we can assume that the GRC has come to an end. There is no funding. And if successful cooperation with foreign partners is achieved, then the money received for completed orders will be used not only to survive the center itself, but also to further advance the domestic rocket science.

Therefore, for the sake of a successful outcome of the experimental launch, according to the commander of the warhead-2 nuclear-powered ship, Captain 3rd rank Vadim Omelchenko, submariners at all stages acted with the utmost sense of responsibility to the GRC employees, who came to Novomoskovsk headed by Deputy General Designer of the GRC Lev Nikolayevich Rolin.

Lev Rolin brought the GRC advertising avenue to the nuclear-powered ship so that submariners could see what the center lives on today. And their developments are unique.

From the Orientir dossier

The RSM-54 missile was put into service in 1986. It was the latest development of the domestic military-industrial complex for the needs of the fleet. The RSM-54 liquid-fueled, three-stage ballistic missile has a launch weight of 40 tons and a range of 8,300 kilometers. The missile is equipped with four separable individual guidance nuclear units. The development uses a high-precision inertial guidance system with an astrocorrection device. The launch is underwater.

A large stock of RSM-54s in storage warehouses, a high degree of reliability, and the ability to use them regardless of weather conditions make commercial satellite launches with ALL the most promising and cost-effective for foreign partners.

...For a month, the crew of the Novomoskovsk worked out the coastal elements of the upcoming task in the base, and prepared the missile system for firing. In the onboard equipment of the rocket, the North Sea crew, together with the Ma-keevs, introduced another flight task, which in many respects differs from the normal mode. After all, it was necessary to take the RSM-54 as high as possible, to the peak point of the orbit, while there was enough fuel. We installed several additional blocks to allow the flight to take place in satellite output mode. When they were under loading the "product" with a satellite in the head part, they carried out "combat mode" three times on the current rocket layout, and each time the equipment worked flawlessly. In short, at the time of the rocket firing, everything had already been worked out repeatedly. Failure of the material part, failure of the task due to the fault of the crew was completely excluded...

The requirements for the starting point in the "starting corridor" were very strict. The nuclear-powered ship was assigned a "point", with the exit to which the crew of Novomoskovsk was supposed to start pre-launch training. The entire crew worked on the launch. The commander of the warhead-1, Captain 3rd rank Sergey Kuznetsov, gave the location of the nuclear-powered ship with an error of only thirty meters. Signalmen of the captain of the 3rd rank Valery Sokolov promptly received signals of combat control from the Northern Fleet command post: first-to unlock the complex, and then - to launch the rocket. A heavy chunk of the loaf of fire went to the commander of the warhead-5, Captain 2nd rank Alexander Gutsal and his subordinates. After all, if the speed of the submarine turns out to be more than the prescribed speed, then the rocket will simply fill up under water and it will not come to the surface. But experienced mechanics clearly worked both on the speed of the submarine, and on its differentiation.

A few minutes before the launch, the commander of the missile warhead, Captain 3rd Rank Vadim Omelchenko, was calm. And not only because next to him was an experienced rocketman of the SSBN compound, Captain 2 rank Vladimir Bochkov. Vadim believed that neither the missile attack nor his people would fail. Look at the amount of work we've done on the beach. The division commander is Captain 3rd rank Sergey Bezberda, for example. The commander of the launch group, Lieutenant Commander Sergey Zakharov, with his "startmen" efficiently and on time prepared the "happy" mine for launch. By the way, in the warhead-2, this is the hardest, one might say, dirty work. And the commander of the computing group, Lieutenant Eduard Ognev , is a great fellow: together with representatives of the" industry", he made such a refinement of the ship's digital computing system that the mosquito will not undermine the nose. Now the floor is up to him, the commander of the combat unit...

It skipped a beat in my chest only once: after turning with the commander of the Novomoskovsk after launch, during prelaunch training, when the process of irreversible operations began. Rocket firing can no longer be canceled - there is a readiness to launch the propulsion system... Five seconds... Ten seconds... Nothing depends on the crew, Omelchenko. "Well, come on, my dear, take it out, don't let it down," he mentally addressed the rocket. "The whole country, the whole world is watching us..." And she seemed to hear the commander of the combat unit. The engines started working. The boat rocked. The rocket is gone. Very gently. Rocket scientists have such an expression. After all, each rocket starts differently. There is, for example, a hard start: hit, and left. Sharply, with a squeal. And this one left very gently. Like a car: it started up, leaned up a little. And "left"...

This happened in the morning. Seven-fifteen. The crew did their job. But the specialists from the GRC, led by Rolin, who went to the Novomoskovsk shooting, were very worried. They were waiting for the first message with an air of doom. Was the satellite put into orbit or not? And when the radio reported that everything was in order:" Tubsat-N " in near-Earth space, giving signals, the strong hull of the submarine finally came genuine relief and joy. Everyone was happy: both Severomorsk residents and Makeyev residents. Right, like children.

Lev Nikolayevich Rolin and his colleagues thanked the crew from the bottom of their hearts. They even joked: "They say, guys, of course, conditionally, but we accept you into the cosmonaut squad. You can even draw a satellite on the wheelhouse of a nuclear-powered ship." Then "Novomoskovsk" will really be like an underwater "cosmodrome". The most distinguished sailors, such as the BCH-2 electrician Matros Alexey Konnikov, the electrical operator matros Vladimir Tkachenko and many others, were awarded commemorative badges from the GRC "Makeev Design Bureau". And the sailors were very proud that it was their crew who had the honor of being the first to discover a unique route that connected two worlds: underwater and space.

After the launch of the satellite, two hundred thousand German marks were transferred to the main participant of the unique experiment from the Navy - the Northern Fleet. They went to maintain the technical readiness of ships, improve the combat training of SF personnel. The Novomoskovsk submariners have gained invaluable experience in using ballistic missiles in near-Earth space. The SSBN documentation system records all parameters of rocket inspections, prelaunch preparation, and launch. A very large amount of information was obtained on the" behavior "of the rocket in flight, the results of firing, which will help not only the specialists of the GRC "Makeev Design Bureau" in their further rocket development. Being in the service as if between the god of war Mars and the god of commerce Mercury, the North Sea people wrote another golden line in the glorious history of their fleet, significantly expanding the possibilities of using domestic weapons. So far, unfortunately, on someone else's money...

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