If the Strategic Rocket Forces can have their own anthem, and you can drink to Russian gas, why not get out your guitar for the SS-N-23 Sineva?
Showing posts with label SS-N-23. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SS-N-23. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Independent Military Review Editorial: Bulava vs. Sineva
The Bulava in the Background of the Sineva
Russian Federation President Dmitriy Medvedev was present at the Sineva launch from the SSBN Tula on 11 October. With satisfaction, he noted that, "As a result of the successful launch the range was fixed at 11,547km". He underlined that the Sineva had "good prospects".
Experts were divided. They say that the Sineva is a modernized version of the long obsolescent RSM-54 sea-based missile and that there is no point to the record since the strategic submarines it is for attacks at a range of 3-4,000 km. The acceptance into service of the Bulava is planned for 2009 and the era of the Sineva will be done.
Meanwhile, even the hardest core skeptics agree that the Sineva is the best missile in the world with regards to the balance between energy and mass. The relationship of its mass to throw weight and range is 25-30 percent more than the American Trident I and II. It can carry 10 100kg warheads, it has more protection against electro-magnetic pulse and carries more missile defense penetration aids. The combined Malakhit-3 astro- and satellite navigation system allows it to destroy a target with an accuracy of 500 meters.
The maximum range of the Sineva is 8300km with a front section weight of 2.8 tons. The range increases as the front section weight decreases. Obviously the 11,500km range was acheived by carrying a front section mock-up of minimal weight. The President didn't mention this, but it is known that the 100kt small warhead weighs 100kg.
The coast of the United States, which has long been our potential enemy, is covered by a powerful system of sonars and ASW patrol aircraft. This allows the detection of submarines at a distance of several thousand kilometers. But if Sineva has an 11,000km range then it is invisible. The American anti-missile system covers the United States from the directions of the Russian Far East, the North Pole and Europe, but from the direction of Latin America, there is no protection. And even a small warhead could potentially deal unacceptable damage. In this way the Sineva poses an assymetric answer to the American anti-missile system in Europe.
The next day after the launch of the Sineva from the Tula, two missile were launched in opposite directions from two Project 667 BDRM class SSBNs (Delta IVs): the Zelenograd launched from the Sea of Okhotsk and destroyed a target at the Chiza range in the north of Arkhangel'sk Oblast' while the Ekaterinburg successfully hit the Kura range on the Kamchatka Peninsula from the Barents Sea. This confirms that the Sineva remains the main Russian Navy nuclear deterrent. Meanwhile, six Project 667 BDRM (Delta IV) SSBNs should be stricken by 2015.
(Russian Navy Blog note: Zelenograd is not a 667 BDRM Delta IV armed with the SS-N-23/Sineva, but a 667 BDR Delta III armed with the SS-N-18.)
As far as the Bulava goes, six unsuccessful launches in a row is all it has to show for 10 years of development. By the way, the President of the Russian Federation didn't say anything about the Bulava which leads to fears for the worst - that suddenly the Commander in Chief will decide to leave the Sineva in service and all the people working on and lobbying for the Bulava lose their generous budget allocations....
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Stability-2008: Red Star TV Roundup
Lots of cool footage of the month-long, nationwide strategic exercise Stability-2008.
Strategic Aviation:
Twelve combat aircraft, TU-95 and TU-160 missile carriers took off from Saratov Oblast' this morning. Thirty more aircraft joined them in the air. Their mission was to practice joint operations with interceptors and bombers in simulated battle and to conduct aerial refueling. But the main task will take place in a few hours: cruise missile launches over neutral waters.
A-50s deploy to Komi (probably Vorkuta) to support "War in the Far North", a reflection of the interest the Russians show in the Arctic theater:
Gist: Stability-2008 continues in the polar regions. Airmen complete their tasks in especially harsh conditions. Not every army can wage war in the far north. Here's the report.
The airfield easily handles the maneuvers of the Il-76s and An-12s. This airfield is uniquely huge. There aren't any bigger airfields in the polar region. Its big enough to handle any size aircraft including the Buran space shuttle (Note: that's a little OBE, don't you think?). This 200 ton piece of equipment is an A-50, a modified Il-76. This radar system operating in the one centimeter wavelength range is able to detect fighter sized targets and maritime targets at ranges of up to 200-400 km. The mission of the A-50 during the exercise is to conduct radar reconnaissance, relaying information to the central command post on targets in the area. The commander of the aircraft says that operating in the far north is not easy.
Landing among the MiGs is an An-12 which has already completed its mission. It took off this morning and spent six hours in the air. It has the airplane's symbol painted on the fuselage: a black mammoth. It was deployed to Tiksi, much further north than Vorkuta. The commander reports that the training was outstanding.
All crews have completed their training missions. Today is the last day of exercises and tomorrow they all return to their home airfields.
Medved'ev also visited the space launch center at Plesetsk, where he observed the successful launch of an SS-25 Topol' mobile ICBM, hitting the target at the Kura test range on Kamchatka and inspected the new Angara launch system, consisting entirely of Russian made components (vice the Ukrainian made missiles the Russians previously used).
But before watching the Topol' launch, Medved'ev and Minister of Defense Serdyukov embarked aboard the aircraft carrying cruiser Admiral of the Soviet Fleet Kuznetsov to watch maritime portions of Stability-2008, culminating in a SS-N-23 Sineva launch from Delta IV SSBN Tula, descibed as "record setting", traveling 11,547km and hitting a notional target in the Pacific Ocean.
Gist starting at story footage: The President and the Minister of Defense arrived on board the carrier by helicopter and considering the class of the ship, it was full of symbolism. Despite the strong winds, Medved'ev and Anatoliy Serdyukov walked the entire flight deck and then went down to the hanger deck. The President greeted the sailors, inspected the aircraft and even sat in the cockpits of an Su-33 and a Ka-27. President Medved'ev visited the Combat Information Center before heading up to the flag bridge to watch the progress of training.
Stability-2008 is continuing for a month and of course the ship has been to sea several times already during the exercises. But today was the most spectacular with the full might of the Northern Fleet on display. DM even went to the flag bridge a couple of times to watch missile launches and flight ops. The exercise script calls for the repulsion of an attack by a fleet of enemy submarines, but the highlight of the exercise was an SS-N-23 Sineva launch from a submurged position. For the first time in the history of the Russian Navy, an SLBM traveled more than 11,500km and destroyed a notional target in the Pacific Ocean.
(Cut to reporter with a little spiel about the capabilities of the Kuznetsov).
(Cut to DM on the mess decks): After completion of the main task, DM went to the mess decks to meet with the crew. The crew had the opportunity to ask any question they wanted of the Commander in Chief and the old Russian saying, "Sailors have no questions" (TR Note: its a cute rhyme in Russian) didn't apply. The questions were wide ranging and included questions about the future of the armed forces.
The sailors gave DM a hat and a striped sailor's shirt and DM signed the ship's guest book. The President gave Saturday's training an "Outstanding". Training continues for another month.
Strategic Aviation:
Twelve combat aircraft, TU-95 and TU-160 missile carriers took off from Saratov Oblast' this morning. Thirty more aircraft joined them in the air. Their mission was to practice joint operations with interceptors and bombers in simulated battle and to conduct aerial refueling. But the main task will take place in a few hours: cruise missile launches over neutral waters.
A-50s deploy to Komi (probably Vorkuta) to support "War in the Far North", a reflection of the interest the Russians show in the Arctic theater:
Gist: Stability-2008 continues in the polar regions. Airmen complete their tasks in especially harsh conditions. Not every army can wage war in the far north. Here's the report.
The airfield easily handles the maneuvers of the Il-76s and An-12s. This airfield is uniquely huge. There aren't any bigger airfields in the polar region. Its big enough to handle any size aircraft including the Buran space shuttle (Note: that's a little OBE, don't you think?). This 200 ton piece of equipment is an A-50, a modified Il-76. This radar system operating in the one centimeter wavelength range is able to detect fighter sized targets and maritime targets at ranges of up to 200-400 km. The mission of the A-50 during the exercise is to conduct radar reconnaissance, relaying information to the central command post on targets in the area. The commander of the aircraft says that operating in the far north is not easy.
Flight time is limited because of short daylight hours and there is poor visibility at night and the the weather changes quickly and weather forecasts up here are only right about half the time.
Landing among the MiGs is an An-12 which has already completed its mission. It took off this morning and spent six hours in the air. It has the airplane's symbol painted on the fuselage: a black mammoth. It was deployed to Tiksi, much further north than Vorkuta. The commander reports that the training was outstanding.
Our crew performed littoral weather reconnaissance, and the flight was okay. We completed the mission.
All crews have completed their training missions. Today is the last day of exercises and tomorrow they all return to their home airfields.
Medved'ev also visited the space launch center at Plesetsk, where he observed the successful launch of an SS-25 Topol' mobile ICBM, hitting the target at the Kura test range on Kamchatka and inspected the new Angara launch system, consisting entirely of Russian made components (vice the Ukrainian made missiles the Russians previously used).
But before watching the Topol' launch, Medved'ev and Minister of Defense Serdyukov embarked aboard the aircraft carrying cruiser Admiral of the Soviet Fleet Kuznetsov to watch maritime portions of Stability-2008, culminating in a SS-N-23 Sineva launch from Delta IV SSBN Tula, descibed as "record setting", traveling 11,547km and hitting a notional target in the Pacific Ocean.
Gist starting at story footage: The President and the Minister of Defense arrived on board the carrier by helicopter and considering the class of the ship, it was full of symbolism. Despite the strong winds, Medved'ev and Anatoliy Serdyukov walked the entire flight deck and then went down to the hanger deck. The President greeted the sailors, inspected the aircraft and even sat in the cockpits of an Su-33 and a Ka-27. President Medved'ev visited the Combat Information Center before heading up to the flag bridge to watch the progress of training.
1MC: Next evolution - attack on enemy ground targets with ballistic missiles.
Stability-2008 is continuing for a month and of course the ship has been to sea several times already during the exercises. But today was the most spectacular with the full might of the Northern Fleet on display. DM even went to the flag bridge a couple of times to watch missile launches and flight ops. The exercise script calls for the repulsion of an attack by a fleet of enemy submarines, but the highlight of the exercise was an SS-N-23 Sineva launch from a submurged position. For the first time in the history of the Russian Navy, an SLBM traveled more than 11,500km and destroyed a notional target in the Pacific Ocean.
(Cut to reporter with a little spiel about the capabilities of the Kuznetsov).
(Cut to DM on the mess decks): After completion of the main task, DM went to the mess decks to meet with the crew. The crew had the opportunity to ask any question they wanted of the Commander in Chief and the old Russian saying, "Sailors have no questions" (TR Note: its a cute rhyme in Russian) didn't apply. The questions were wide ranging and included questions about the future of the armed forces.
DM: We have to build new aircraft carrying cruisers. It is completely obvious that it is the most important issue for the Navy. Across the world, all the great powers have great armed forces and powerful navies and I think we should do the same.
The sailors gave DM a hat and a striped sailor's shirt and DM signed the ship's guest book. The President gave Saturday's training an "Outstanding". Training continues for another month.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Soviet Era Documentary on SLBM Trials and Testing
This Soviet Era film (and it is a film, not video) documents the trials and acceptance testing of the SS-N-23 "Skiff". It was probably made sometime in the mid- to late 80s. There are shots of the missile undergoing pop-up testing from an underwater test stand as well as shore-based test firings.
It is interesting to compare the amount of test launches of the SS-N-23, a Soviet era missile, with the Bulava test history. The Russian government has committed to deploying the Bulava, despite the limited testing. According to Strategicforces.org, there have been only nine test launches, at least four of them failures. With the sea trials of the Borey expected to begin this year, the Russians need a missile for it fairly soon or the Yuri Dolgarukiy and her sisters will be nothing but money pits.
Compare the Bulava testing with the testing of the SS-N-23: according to this film, there were nine sea-based tests, 16 firings from a land based test stand and multiple firings in different configurations from the lead boat of the Delta IV class. In other words there were probably at least three dozen test launches before acceptance into the fleet. What wasn't mentioned in the film was how many of those tests were failures.
00:33 - With the nine launches of the missile, submerged test launches by the design bureau were complete. The calculated and actual parameters of the ignition process were confirmed as well as the parameters of the movement of the missile in the underwater and transition phase of the trajectory.
01:08 - The completion of design bureau flight testing allowed transition to the next step of the natural development of the system.
01:35 – Two phases of flight testing of the D-9RM missile at the northern test range were performed jointly – from a shore based launch facility and from the first nuclear submarine built of its class. The purpose of simultaneous testing is to completely finish the development of the missile system and to confirm its tactical-technical characteristics.
02:15 – ((Sentence fragment because of poor editing)).
02:22 - The missile was tested from a shore based test stand 16 times. Unlike operational missiles, these missiles had telemetry gear that sent back information about the launch and the flight of the missile.
03:10 – The final phase is launching the D-9RM from a project 667BRDM (Delta IV class) SSBN.
03:33 – The main goal of the testing is to test the capabilities and technical characteristics in as close to combat conditions as possible.
03:55 – The missile firings were carried out at minimum, intermediate and maximum range in salvos of one, two and four missiles.
04:36 – Missiles away! Maximum range and accuracy of the firing, with multiple independently targeted warheads. (TR Note: I'm guessing here. The circular error probability). The astronavigation mode and also the tactical-technical characteristics and conditions for combat use of the missile. .
05:10 – Congratulations to the Chief Designer Academic Viktor Petrovich Makeyev. By proclamation of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and Soviet Government, the strategic missile system D-9RM with the D-29RM missile is accepted into service with the Navy.
It is interesting to compare the amount of test launches of the SS-N-23, a Soviet era missile, with the Bulava test history. The Russian government has committed to deploying the Bulava, despite the limited testing. According to Strategicforces.org, there have been only nine test launches, at least four of them failures. With the sea trials of the Borey expected to begin this year, the Russians need a missile for it fairly soon or the Yuri Dolgarukiy and her sisters will be nothing but money pits.
Compare the Bulava testing with the testing of the SS-N-23: according to this film, there were nine sea-based tests, 16 firings from a land based test stand and multiple firings in different configurations from the lead boat of the Delta IV class. In other words there were probably at least three dozen test launches before acceptance into the fleet. What wasn't mentioned in the film was how many of those tests were failures.
00:33 - With the nine launches of the missile, submerged test launches by the design bureau were complete. The calculated and actual parameters of the ignition process were confirmed as well as the parameters of the movement of the missile in the underwater and transition phase of the trajectory.
01:08 - The completion of design bureau flight testing allowed transition to the next step of the natural development of the system.
01:35 – Two phases of flight testing of the D-9RM missile at the northern test range were performed jointly – from a shore based launch facility and from the first nuclear submarine built of its class. The purpose of simultaneous testing is to completely finish the development of the missile system and to confirm its tactical-technical characteristics.
02:15 – ((Sentence fragment because of poor editing)).
02:22 - The missile was tested from a shore based test stand 16 times. Unlike operational missiles, these missiles had telemetry gear that sent back information about the launch and the flight of the missile.
03:10 – The final phase is launching the D-9RM from a project 667BRDM (Delta IV class) SSBN.
03:33 – The main goal of the testing is to test the capabilities and technical characteristics in as close to combat conditions as possible.
03:55 – The missile firings were carried out at minimum, intermediate and maximum range in salvos of one, two and four missiles.
04:36 – Missiles away! Maximum range and accuracy of the firing, with multiple independently targeted warheads. (TR Note: I'm guessing here. The circular error probability). The astronavigation mode and also the tactical-technical characteristics and conditions for combat use of the missile. .
05:10 – Congratulations to the Chief Designer Academic Viktor Petrovich Makeyev. By proclamation of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and Soviet Government, the strategic missile system D-9RM with the D-29RM missile is accepted into service with the Navy.
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