On April 8, 1958, the Presidium of the Central Committee of the CPSU adopted a resolution "Missile Defense Issues", which provided for the creation of a combat missile defense system. The project was named A-35. Grigory Vasilyevich Kisunko was appointed its general designer.
The reason for the start of work was the mass production by the United States of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) capable of delivering nuclear strikes on objects located on the territory of the USSR.
As the founder of the Military Russia portal, Dmitry Kornev, explained in an interview with RT, in the 1950s, the Pentagon had all the necessary resources for a successful nuclear war. At the same time, the Soviet Union could not mirror the aggression, since it was just beginning to deploy mass production of nuclear weapons and their means of delivery.
"The USSR was in dire need of covering at least the most important cities and large industrial areas. At the very least, it was necessary to protect Moscow, where the key bodies of military-political management are located," Kornev said.
According to the expert, the leadership of the USSR set a very difficult scientific and technical task for Soviet engineers, which required the concentration of colossal intellectual and material resources.
"It was necessary to create means of detecting American ICBMs, means of intercepting them and very serious computing power. At the same time, at that time there was no clear understanding of whether it was possible to do this in principle, some issues had to be solved for the first time in the world, "said Kornev.
Continuous improvement
It was decided to deploy the missile defense system over Moscow, and build a test site for an anti-missile in the steppes of the Kazakh SSR. Hundreds of institutes, enterprises and military units were involved in the creation of the A-35.
Within a few years after the decree of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the CPSU was issued, Soviet specialists managed to solve a number of important tasks.
- Launch of the B-1000 anti-missile
- © Ministry of Defense of Russia
The first serious practical achievement is the successful interception by the B-1000 anti-missile of the warhead of the P-12 ICBM, which took place on March 4, 1961. The anti-missile was launched from the Sary-Shagan test site, and the target was launched from the Kapustin Yar test site in the Astrakhan region.
It was the world's first successful test of an anti-missile weapon. The warhead of the R-12 was shot down by the rupture of the high-explosive fragmentation warhead of the B-1000 at an altitude of 25 km at a speed of 3 km / s.
"All links of the experimental missile defense system automatically worked in accordance with the logic and software algorithms embedded in them. The warhead of the missile was selected from the body of the last stage of the carrier and destroyed by the warhead of the anti-missile, "the materials of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, devoted to the history of the creation and development of the missile defense system, say.
The successful test of the B-1000 made it possible to complete the design of the A-1961 system by June 35. In addition to firing complexes, it was planned to include a long-range detection radar based on the Danube-3 radars and a command and computer center. Construction and installation work was launched in 1962.
True, the experimental B-1000 with an aerodynamic control principle was unsuitable for the A-35, so the system was eventually equipped with A-350 anti-missiles. The missile defense system was supposed to provide simultaneous interception of up to six paired targets attacking Moscow from one or more directions. Two anti-missiles were supposed to be used to hit each paired object.
On June 10, 1971, the A-35 was put into trial operation. The system consisted of an infrastructure for launching anti-ballistic missiles, a command and computing station (for the automatic implementation of all combat cycle operations) and broadband data transmission equipment, which was complemented by an external information exchange system.
The system was constantly improved and in the late 1970s was adopted by the 9th Separate Corps under the command of Major General Nikolai Rodionov, who was one of the participants in the A-35 tests.
As explained by experts interviewed by RT, the process of constant modernization of the missile defense system was the norm for the Era of the Cold War due to the emergence of new types of nuclear weapons in a potential adversary.
- Radar system A-135
- © Ministry of Defense of Russia
In particular, the system had to be adapted to intercept American ICBMs with separable warheads carrying from three to 14 individually guided warheads with a set of means of overcoming missile defense.
To confront the new challenges in the USSR, an expert group of specialists was formed under the leadership of one of the leading developers of KB-1 Anatoly Basistov.
The result of the group's activities is the development of a unified scientific and technical policy in the field of rocket and space defense. Within its framework, the country's first central research and production association "Vympel" was created. This form of organization of the enterprise became the standard for the defense sector of the Soviet Union.
In the 1970s, Basistov himself became the author of the modernized A-35M system, the command of which was given to Rodionov. The system received a more advanced algorithmic base, which provided the ability to defeat complex ballistic targets and the implementation of bilateral information interaction with spRN (missile attack warning system).
In an article for Krasnaya Zvezda, the commander of the 9th Division, which now operates the facilities of the current missile defense system, Major General Sergei Grabchuk, said that the crown of Basistov's work was the creation of a layered strategic missile defense system for the city of Moscow of the second generation. According to him, it is a decade and a half ahead of similar developments in the United States.
According to Grabchuk, autonomous tests of the new system, called the A-135, began in the Kazakh SSR in 1979, and in the vicinity of Sofrin near Moscow, the construction of a command and computing station and a multifunctional centimeter-range radar "Don-2N" began. Work continued until the mid-1980s.
State tests of the A-135 took place from 1989 to 1990, in December 1990 the system was taken into trial joint operation. On December 1, 1995, the missile defense system officially took up combat duty.
Required Update
It should be noted that the A-135 was created in accordance with the Treaty on the Limitation of Missile Defense between the USSR and the United States of 1972. The agreement stipulated that the Soviet Union had the right to cover Moscow, and the United States - the grand forks military base in North Dakota.
However, in 2002, Washington withdrew from the treaty, starting to deploy a global missile defense system at sea and individual elements on land, primarily in Eastern Europe. Moscow perceived such actions of the United States as a threat to the strategic balance and began to improve the means of nuclear missile arsenal, including through the creation of hypersonic weapons.
- Tests of a new anti-missile for the upgraded A-135
Despite this, the development of missile defense has not left the agenda for Russia. In particular, Moscow continues to improve the A-135. According to Sergey Grabchuk, the improvement consists in the transition to a modern element base, as well as high-performance specialized electronic computing facilities.
In addition, the upgraded A-135 will receive a new anti-missile - its tests in recent years have been held at the Sary-Shagan test site.
The main element of the A-135 remains a unique radar integrated into a single system for warning of a missile attack and control of outer space of the Russian Federation. The main developer of "Don-2N" is JSC "RTI named after A.L. Mints". The range of the station reaches 600-1000 km.
"Technical capabilities (Dona-2N). — RT) allow you to detect small-sized warheads of ballistic missiles at long ranges, determine their trajectories, track them with great accuracy, highlight (select) warheads against the background of the entire complex of means of overcoming missile defense, including heavy and light false targets, dipole reflectors, active jamming stations, etc., "the Russian Defense Ministry explains.
According to retired military expert Colonel Viktor Litovkin, after modernization, the A-135 will be able to meet all modern requirements for radar control and interception of ICBM warheads. In his opinion, the improvement is aimed mainly at increasing automation, which will shorten the cycle of combat control.
"During the tests, the A-135 showed itself well and, together with strategic missiles, has the effect of both psychological and geopolitical deterrence," Litovkin said.
Along with the stationary A-135, the Ministry of Defense and Russian industry are developing the direction of mobile anti-aircraft missile systems capable of intercepting ICBM warheads. For example, such a weapon is the S-500 "Prometheus" developed by the concern "Almaz-Antey". Deliveries of it to the troops began in 2022.
"Prometheus" is able to intercept all types of targets at a range of up to 600 km and at an altitude of up to 200 km. The closest foreign analogue of the S-500 is the American missile defense system THAAD. However, the domestic air defense system is superior to the overseas sample in range, the number of monitored and hit targets and other key tactical and technical characteristics.
According to Dmitry Kornev, in the context of growing geopolitical tensions and an inactive ABM treaty, the deployment of the S-500 will allow Russia to cover cities, strategically important industrial facilities and military infrastructure.
"The issues of missile defense development have not left the agenda, rather, on the contrary, they are becoming increasingly relevant. Therefore, we are witnessing another stage in the improvement of missile defence systems. As before, this is necessary to protect and deter a potential enemy," Kornev concluded.