The X-90 hypersonic missile is Russia's new superweapon in response to the Washington missile defense program. Apparently, the appearance and technical data of the rocket were a military secret. According to some sources, such missiles were supposed to be adopted by 2010.
The President of Russia stated that the X-90 Koala hypersonic missile is capable of overcoming any of the known missile defense systems and accurately hit targets both on its own continent and on other continents.
Rocket History
The global missile project was created in the Soviet Union back in the sixties. The idea was to bring the warhead out of the atmosphere into Earth orbit so that it would turn into an artificial satellite there, and after turning on the braking engine, it would be sent to the target set for destruction.
In 1971, having in their hands a prepared draft of small strategic cruise missiles, Soviet developers turned to the government to implement this project. There was no response that year. But with the start of the development of strategic cruise missiles in 1975 by the United States, designers forgotten in 1971 were ordered to begin the project in 1976 and complete it in 1982. By the end of 1983, it was planned to take the “newly made” missile into service. The rocket requirements were the highest. And one of the main things was to achieve her supersonic speed. In the eighties, the speed reached four Machs.
At the MAKS-1997 air show in the pavilion of the Raduga NPO (it was this organization that was involved in the development of the rocket), visitors could already see the hypersonic GLA aircraft, which in the future would become the prototype of the new cruise missile.
For those who want to understand what the X-90 rocket looks like, the photo is given above.
Rocket characteristics
GLA must carry two warheads, capable of hitting targets independently at a distance of one hundred kilometers. Initially, the length of the rocket was twelve meters. However, later it was possible to reduce it to a length of eight to nine meters. After separation from the carrier aircraft in the rocket, the triangular wings with a wingspan of not more than seven meters, as well as the tail unit, are revealed. After that, the solid-fuel type accelerator turns on, due to which the rocket reaches supersonic speed. Then the marching engine begins to operate, developing a speed of four to five Machs. The range of such a missile reaches three thousand five hundred kilometers.
Rocket launcher
The TU-160 bomber is a supersonic strategic missile carrier with a wing with variable sweep. It was developed in the eighties at the Tupolev Design Bureau and has been in service since 1987.
Initially, one hundred vehicles were planned to be put into service, but due to the insistence of the Americans, who insisted that the bombers be included in the SRV treaty, they had to stop at thirty-three vehicles.
After the USSR collapsed, the bombers were divided between the republics.
By 2013, there were sixteen such aircraft in the Russian Armed Forces. All of them are based on the Volga in Engels.
"White Swan"
It is the largest supersonic and heaviest combat aircraft in the world, which has the largest take-off mass among bombers. Pilots among themselves fondly called him the "white swan" because of the graceful and harmonious shape.
But it has other names: “a sword with twelve blades”, “a deterrent”, “weapon of the nation”, “Russian flying miracle”. But in NATO he was nicknamed Blackjack for some reason.
TU-160M is a modernized TU-160, which installed new radio-electronic equipment and weapons with X-90 missiles. It can carry standard weapons, for example, 90 OFAB-500U, but serves as a carrier for the X-90 hyper-speed maneuvering missile.
Each car has its own name, for example: “Ilya Muromets”, “Alexander the Younger”, “Mikhail Gromov” and others.
Rocket fuel and engine to achieve hypersound
Hypersound is a speed that is higher than 5 speeds of light or five Machs. In a very short time, many missiles with their usual engines are capable of achieving such speed. But flying at such a high speed for a long time is possible only if the rocket is equipped with a hypersonic ramjet engine. It is also called scramjet.
The main feature and advantage of such an engine is that it does not need to carry an oxidizing agent. This engine uses atmospheric oxygen. The fuel for the scramjet engine is mainly hydrogen or kerosene.
To develop such an engine began in the fifties of the last century. And the first projects of aircraft with such engines appeared in the sixties. The designers developed the space system - the reusable "Spiral", which consisted of a hypersonic accelerating aircraft and an orbital military aircraft with a rocket accelerator. The hypersonic accelerating aircraft was supposed to accelerate to six Machs on hydrogen fuel and to four and a half on kerosene. But in the end, it was decided to equip the apparatus with turbojet engines.
Hypersonic ramjets began to be developed in the seventies, using them on anti-aircraft missile systems.
NASP and TU-2000
In 1986, in response to the American Appolo program, the NASP project in the USSR decided to create the domestic equivalent of NASP, a reusable single-stage VKS. The TU-2000 bomber project was approved with a declared launch weight of three hundred and sixty tons, a speed of six Machs, and a range of ten thousand kilometers at an altitude of thirty kilometers.
Work was carried out, but in connection with the collapse of the Soviet Union, they began to have a sluggish character. Project participants went international and began to collaborate with French developers. However, collaboration, as shown by unsuccessful experiments, was unsuccessful.
At the same time, the NASP project was also not very successful and closed in the nineties.
However, in fact, neither Russia nor the United States was going to completely abandon hypersound.
"Security 2004"
In 2004, the exercises "Safety-2004" were held. They were attended by TU-160 bombers with weapons called the X-90 Koala missile.
In the same year, President of Russia V.V. Putin said that the Russian Armed Forces will soon receive such combat systems that will be able to operate at distances of more than one continent with high accuracy at hypersonic speed and greater maneuver when moving towards the target.
Experts suggest that the President in his speech had in mind precisely this missile.
Missile called X-90
Russia decided to demonstrate its new capabilities to America. That was the answer to the Washington missile defense program with the X-90 missile (which is the Koala).
It is launched through strategic bombers TU-160M - the pride and military power of Russia today.
After separation from this launch vehicle, the X-90 rocket at an altitude of seven thousand to twenty thousand meters reveals its triangular wings and tail. Acceleration to supersonic speed occurs through the solid-fuel accelerator turned on by this time. Then comes the operating time of the marching engine, thanks to which the X-90 cruise missile reaches the speed of five Machs. The radius of the missile is three and a half thousand kilometers.
Test missiles X-90
The leadership of our country is confident that not a single state is the owner of hypersonic missiles other than Russia. In the USA, they once abandoned their development, limiting themselves to subsonic missiles. But in Russia, such work continued, although there were various temporary interruptions. In 2001, the launch of the Topol rocket was reported. Experts noted that her warhead was notable for unusual behavior. During the commemorative exercises in 2004, two ballistic missiles were launched: Topol-M and RS-18. Then they said that an experimental apparatus was released from the rocket system, which after launch went into space, and then returned to the atmosphere. This seemed impossible, because upon entering the atmosphere the rocket speed was five thousand meters per second, or about eighteen thousand kilometers per hour, and the warhead had to have special protection against overheating and overloads. This device had such a speed, in addition, it could easily change the direction of flight and was not destroyed. Experts agreed that it was the X-90 - a strategic cruise missile, the appearance of which remains a mystery.
The uniqueness of the apparatus was that the RS-18 had a device that changed the altitude and direction of flight. Thus, any missile defense, including the US, could be overcome by them.
Strategic Missile Forces
The Strategic Missile Forces of Russia include three missile armies and sixteen missile divisions. Their armaments include seven hundred thirty-five ballistic missiles with 3159 nuclear warheads, including mine-based Voivods, Molodets with 360 warheads, mobile Topolis, Topoli-M and others.
According to experts, even if a small part is equipped with cruise missiles, missile troops will remain unsurpassed and unattainable for any missile defense for a long time. Moreover, according to Russian experts, there are other programs, such as Cold and Needle, in addition to developing a hypersonic warhead.
Attacks are pointless and dangerous
Due to its characteristics, the X-90 Koala missile and other modern military developments made the American missile defense senseless. Therefore, the United States began to deploy radar systems near the borders of Russia to detect and destroy such missiles as soon as the launch took place and the warhead did not have time to separate.
But in this direction, Russia has a number of countermeasures, known and classified. If the X-90 Koala missile detaches a warhead, it becomes completely invulnerable.
