Rocket complex "Caliber". The cruise missile Caliber. Combat missile system

In the spring of 2009, at the exhibition of defense systems in Asia, Novator Novator presented for the first time a missile system with a cruise missile Caliber-K. It includes four such sea-launched missiles. The rocket complex "Caliber" looks like a regular 12-meter cargo container, which is used for transportation. Such camouflage helps the complex to be undetected until activated.

"Available strategic missile systems" - so the developers called the new missile system, because its price was only less than fifteen million dollars.

Compact rockets

With Western military experts, the emergence of such disguise caused panic, because thanks to it, all the rules of warfare have completely changed since that time. Such a container can be invisibly anywhere: on a sea ship, in a train, and be an automobile trailer, and fly in an airplane. Therefore, the enemy has since had to conduct the most thorough reconnaissance before deciding to attack.

But in any port and railway station in developed countries such containers are a huge number. They serve as warehouses, they can accommodate a technician or workers can be located. In addition, they can be installed in various types of power plants and much more. And it is practically impossible to determine which of the hundreds of thousands of containers the "Caliber" rocket has inside.

Transportation for civilian needs is great for such cargo. Among the myriad of ships and trains with the same, no different containers, finding that one is unrealistic. And to track them from satellites without interruption is also not possible.

Panic of the West

According to the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph, experts believe that if Iraq had such missile systems, it is unlikely that the US would invade the Persian Gulf, since absolutely any cargo ship in the Gulf could have on its board such a missile system "Caliber" ".

The Pentagon expressed serious concern over the fact that Russia began to offer missile systems to all those who might be attacked by the United States. They believe that the situation in the world will be destabilized if such weapons fall, for example, to Venezuela or Iran.

In the US, and before that, they were worried about the fact that Russia intended to sell to Iran the S-300 missile systems, which had the ability to repel missile strikes by the US or Israel. Needless to say, the "Caliber" missile system is not an air defense, but a strike weapon.

Characteristics of the "Caliber". Why is the West so scared?

Previously, missile systems were intended for their installation only on ships and submarines. But Novator's breakthrough is that new cruise missiles are installed in a conventional container and can be launched autonomously. Thus, the use of missiles radically changes.

"Caliber-K" has no formal limitations in the application. The range of cruise missiles Caliber-K is from two hundred and fifty to three hundred kilometers, they are not ballistic. Previously, the Americans withdrew for any restrictions the export of their cruise missiles Tomahawk. As a consequence, Russia does not have any export restrictions on cruise missiles, especially such a short range.

What is so alerted the military Pentagon missile system "Caliber"? The characteristics of the complex are not distinguished by anything new and super-technological. It does not have a long target range and is not super-fast.

However, the danger of the complex for the enemy lies in the fact that it is in a quite compact container and is virtually invisible for any reconnaissance - technical or aerial. It can be safely installed almost anywhere, for example, for coastal defense. After all, these are only cruise missiles. But! Thanks to them, suddenly breaking the coast defense will not work, as it will require to hit too many targets, most of which will prove to be false.

Therefore, aircraft carriers do not dare to fly close to the shore, and amphibious ships can not get very bad when trying to land an assault.

Opinions are expressed that if the air defense facilities were also hidden in the same containers, then certainly no one would dare to maritime borders.

How are container missiles

Russian-made missile complexes of container type were manufactured in JSC Concern Morinformsystem-Agat. In one container there is an installation for the launch of four missiles. But, in addition, we need two more similar containers. In one of the bottoms there should be a Control Module, and in the other - the Life Support and Supply Module. Through them, daily maintenance and inspections, reception of commands for shooting, calculation of target data, preparation for the start, flight assignment and launch of missiles are carried out.

In order to realize all this, we need an established communication, satellite navigation, command post and combat calculation. Therefore, terrorists are unlikely to be able to use such technology, since they do not have satellites, and "Caliber" takes the link through the Russian space group.

Container missiles - a reflection of an attack during a threat period

The purpose of the container complex is the arming of civil ships during the period of external threats. Located near the shore, they will cover the coast from landing ships. In the presence of roads and railways, they become mobile anti-ship complexes that can stop the enemy at a distance of not less than one hundred and fifty or more kilometers. Therefore, for defense these complexes are highly efficient.

Caliber alone is enough to replace the naval aviation and navy. The modest price of the complex is very competitive in comparison with expensive equipment from Western Europe. The complex is perfect for German submarines, Spanish frigates, Italian helicopters and other weapons. Even the United Arab Emirates also actively look at the complexes.

Missile systems of Russia

The family "Caliber" (or "Club" - in its export version) includes five missiles of different purpose, power and range. The photo "Caliber" is presented below.

Anti-ship winged 3M54E is developed on the basis of "Granat", which serves for strikes on aircraft carriers. The range of this rocket is three hundred kilometers. The speed of the missile's flight is 0.8 times the speed of sound. When approaching the target, its speed increases and exceeds one kilometer per second. However, to sink an aircraft carrier in one blow this missile can not exactly and therefore is a tactical weapon.

The Alpha rocket

But the first component of the missile system was the Alfa missile, which was first seen in 1993 at the exhibition in Abu Dhabi and the international aerospace show in Zhukovsky. Since the same year it was adopted.

The western designation of the missile is SS-N-27 Sizzler. It is also called "Club", "Turquoise" and "Alpha". But the Russian cipher of the rocket is Caliber.

India was the first to purchase this strike missile system "Caliber". They were installed on frigates and submarines of the Indian Navy, who built Russian enterprises. On those submarines, which have already been purchased, have carried out repair and modernization work. Also these missile systems were decided to deliver to China and a number of other countries.

"Caliber-N" and "Caliber-C"

In the 1990s, the Club-N and Club-S missile complexes for submarines and surface ships were also offered for export. Initially, they served to destroy submarines. Thus, the 91RE1 rocket is launched from a torpedo tube at fifty-three millimeters. Using a solid-propellant engine, it passes the area under the water and gains altitude. Then the second-stage engine turns on and the cruise missile "Caliber" continues to move to the point of attack. She finds the submarine herself. A little later, besides the missiles that hit submarines, the complex was equipped with anti-ship missiles. Famous Varshavyanka submarines of Project 636.3 are armed with Club-S complexes. They are exported to India and China, Vietnam and Algeria.

Winged missile 3M14E

This missile has similar characteristics with 3M54E1. However, it is designed to destroy ground targets, not submarine targets ("Caliber PL") and surface ("Caliber NK"). A rocket complex of this kind is managed in a slightly different way. The elements of its control are the bar-altimeter, which provides for the secrecy of the flight due to the necessary precise holding of the altitude during the bending of the relief terrain, and a satellite navigation system that facilitates high-precision guidance.

3M54E and 3M54E1. Similarities and differences

3М54Э and 3М54Э1 also have a similar configuration. They are made in a standard aerodynamic scheme with a trapezoidal wing, but differ in the number of steps.

The rocket 3M54E has three stages: solid fuel at start, march with liquid reagent and the third solid fuel.

The start begins at the expense of the first stage, after which it separates and the propulsion engine with wing opening opens. The speed at this stage reaches two hundred and forty meters per second. After finding the target, the second stage is also separated and the third one begins to work. The speed thus develops to thousands of meters per second.

The main difference between the 3M54E1 missile from 3M54E is the absence of the third stage. Therefore, the 3M54E1 missile has only subsonic speed. It is shorter by two meters. But its combat part is almost twice as large as the 3M54E missile. Flies 3M54E1 as well as the model being compared, but not accelerating at the end.

The latest weapons of Russia

On September 23, 2014, the commander of the Black Sea Navy reported to the President that in Novorossiysk submarines would be based on which long-range cruise missiles were installed. When the president asked me to specify exactly which range was involved, the fleet commander replied that the range of the missiles was one thousand five hundred kilometers. Experts believe that Russia's new cruise missiles were 3M14 rockets of the Caliber family.

The fact is that diesel-electric submarines in the Black Sea Fleet are launching torpedoes with a diameter of five hundred and thirty-three millimeters. It is precisely these characteristics that the above-mentioned cruise missile Caliber has. Such a missile is launched from vertical installations or from torpedo tubes of submarines. According to some sources, it consists of two types of combat units: special and conventional. Thanks to a special part, the range of the missile could be greatly increased.

This newest weaponry in Russia makes it possible for the Black Sea Fleet to hit targets outside the Black Sea without leaving the point of permanent deployment.

So the general public was provided with information on the range of missiles in a fifteen hundred kilometers. However, experts have long known about this and even greater range of missiles. In 2012, the commander of the Caspian Flotilla already stated that the Caliber missiles that were installed on his ships could strike strikes of two thousand six hundred kilometers.

Thus, Russian cruise missiles caught up with and overtook US Tomahawk missiles with a range of two and a half thousand kilometers with a nuclear warhead and one thousand six hundred with high-explosive CU.

Military experts on a long-range missile

Experts agreed that the use of a long-range cruise missile does not violate the Treaty on the Elimination of Small and Medium-Range Missiles, because they simply do not fall within the jurisdiction of this document, and others, thanks to the United States, are not and were not expected.

Conducting exhibitions

International experts knew about the development of such missiles and earlier exhibitions in 2009. Exhibitions of military equipment with the participation of "Caliber" were held earlier. In 2006, in Nizhny Tagil, the Alfa missile was demonstrated for the first time at the exhibition. And they started talking about this rocket long before that, back in the 90s.

In 2010, at the international military exhibition in Qatar, the "Caliber" missile system was also presented. This is a coastal complex Club-M mobile type, a modular complex Club-U and a container complex, already represented a year earlier in Malaysia, Club-K.