60 years ago, at the Sary-Shagan training ground (Kazakhstan), the USSR for the first time in the world successfully tested an anti-missile designed to intercept the warheads of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).

An R-12 launched from the Kapustin Yar test site in the Astrakhan region was used as a target.

“The experiment was completely successful.

The target was intercepted at an altitude of 25 km at a speed of more than 3 km / s ... The head of the rocket (R-12. -

RT

) was selected from the hull of the last stage of the carrier and destroyed by the warhead of the anti-missile, ”the RF Ministry of Defense said.

The weapon that intercepted the R-12 warhead was named B-1000.

This anti-missile was developed within the walls of OKB-2 (now - MKB Fakel, Khimki) under the leadership of Academician Pyotr Grushin.

The V-1000 was one of the elements of the experimental missile defense test site.

In addition to these ammunition and launchers, the system included early warning radars, anti-missile precision guidance stations to the target, the B-1000 output and control command transmission complexes, and the main command and control center.

  • Wreckage of the R-12 ICBM warhead destroyed by the V-1000 missile at the Sary-Shagan training ground

  • © Ministry of Defense of Russia

The successful interception at Sary-Shagan allowed Soviet specialists to conclude that the program algorithms included in the missile defense system were correct.

She could detect ballistic targets at a distance of 1200 km and provide anti-missile guidance to them.

During 1961, during full-scale tests, the V-1000 hit the warheads of several more samples of ballistic missiles, including the liquid-propellant single-stage R-5.

The B-1000 was equipped with fragmentation and nuclear warheads, and one of the modifications was equipped with an infrared homing head.

According to experts, the creation of this anti-missile and other missile defense systems laid the scientific and technological foundation for the formation in the USSR of a defense system against ICBM attacks, which stood in service until the mid-1980s.

In an interview with RT, military expert Yuri Lyamin noted that a series of successful launches of the V-1000 in 1961 testified to the transformation of the Soviet Union into a world leader in the development of air defense and missile defense technologies.

“Our country has accumulated colossal resources to create a missile defense system, as it was under a very serious threat of US missile and bomb attacks.

The main target of the enemy, of course, was Moscow, where key strategic objects and decision-making centers were located, ”Lyamin explained.

The expert believes that Soviet designers did a great job on the V-1000 project, which resulted in the creation of an effective anti-missile for the 1960s.

Continuous improvement

The next stage in the development of domestic missile defense technologies was the emergence of long-range anti-missile missiles A-350Zh and A-350R, which entered the arsenal of the A-35 system with the Aldan and Yenisei firing systems.

In the period from 1968 to 1980, about 200 launches of samples of the A-350 family were carried out in Sary-Shagan.

The mass of one A-350Zh anti-missile in a fully equipped state was 33 tons.

It was equipped with a thermonuclear warhead with a yield of about two megatons.

The characteristics of the ammunition made it possible to destroy missiles at ranges of up to 400 km. 

In a commentary to RT, the founder of the Military Russia portal, Dmitry Kornev, emphasized that the Soviet missile defense system was constantly being improved in order to ensure the interception of the warheads of new ICBMs.

The next stage of its evolution was the A-135 project with a modern multifunctional firing radar and a high-speed anti-missile near-echelon interception PRS-1 or 53T6.

  • Launching a Soviet missile defense system

  • RIA News

The first throw-in launch of this ammunition took place in 1979.

In 1984, after a series of tests, he entered the A-135 arsenal.

Serial production of 53T6 was deployed in Yekaterinburg at plant No. 8.

On February 17, 1995, the new missile defense system was adopted by the RF Armed Forces.

According to open data, 53T6 received a solid-propellant launch and sustainer engine, shunting power plants and a radio command control system.

The mass of the PRS-1 is 9.7 tons, the weight of the warhead is 150-200 kg, the range is 20-100 km, the height of target destruction is 14-40 km, the missile speed is 3600 m / s.

With the creation of the 53T6, Soviet designers solved an extremely difficult task - intercepting ICBM warheads within the atmosphere, Lyamin notes.

According to him, such targets move at hypersonic speed, therefore extremely high requirements are imposed on the interceptor missile.

“The anti-missile also flies at great speed and at the same time must be controllable, adjust its trajectory.

To withstand overloads and thermal effects, special materials are used in the 53T6 structure, unique equipment is integrated, ”said the expert.

"Accumulated potential"

In recent years, a new, modernized anti-missile missile has been tested at the Sary-Shagan test site.

Its launches are regularly carried out by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.

According to Kornev, domestic experts have developed an improved short-range intercept ammunition based on the well-proven 53T6 antimissile.

“The 53T6 warranty period is coming to an end.

This rocket was assembled in cooperation with enterprises of the former USSR.

It is logical that the military set the task to create a new anti-missile missile with improved properties and exclusively by the forces of the domestic defense industry, "Kornev emphasized.

According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, in terms of tactical and technical characteristics, the new missile is noticeably superior to the current fire weapons.

We are talking about the interception range, increasing the accuracy of destruction and the terms of operation.

The military is confident that the modernized ammunition, together with other components of the missile defense system, is capable of performing all the necessary tasks.

The last anti-missile launch to date took place at the end of November 2020.

Commenting on the tests, the commander of the 1st Air Defense and Missile Defense Army of the Aerospace Forces, Lieutenant General Andrey Demin, said that the ammunition had confirmed the tactical and technical characteristics declared by the developer. 

Dmitry Kornev suggests that domestic designers have retained the dimensions of the 53T6, but have modernized its body, engines, and installed more modern control equipment.

Also, the ammunition received an improved transport-loading unit, the expert believes.

“The new missile is part of an extensive modernization program for the A-135, designed to counter a nuclear attack from all missile-hazardous directions.

It is known from the available data that equipment is being replaced at the facilities of the system in order to increase computing power and automate control processes, ”said Kornev.

In a conversation with RT, retired colonel Mikhail Khodarenok noted that the military is still keeping information about the new missile secret.

In his opinion, one of the main mysteries is whether the ammunition for the modernized missile defense system is capable of carrying out a kinetic intercept - to strike directly at the ICBM block (when using fragmentation or nuclear warheads, an explosion occurs near the target).

“Such a rocket should be equipped with an active homing head.

Here, in principle, completely different requirements for accuracy.

Whether such work was carried out or not, we do not know, but today we can safely say that in its geometric shapes the new rocket coincides with the previous model, and its components and all on-board equipment are new, ”said Khodarenok.

In turn, Yuri Lyamin believes that the lack of information about the new missile cannot serve as a reason for doubts about its ability to effectively intercept ICBM blocks.

According to him, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation is well aware of the importance of this product for ensuring the nuclear safety of the capital region.

“Russia is one of the few countries in the world that creates missile defense systems.

Progressive development in this area took place not only in the Soviet period.

The advancement of these technologies did not stop even in the difficult 1990s.

Now a new generation of developers continues to implement the glorious traditions of our school.

The accumulated potential and competencies allow Russia to successfully improve its interceptor missiles and the entire missile defense system, "Lyamin summed up.