Rocket X-90 "Koala": technical specifications

Hypersonic missile X-90 is a new superweapon of Russia in response to the Washington missile defense program. The appearance and technical specifications of the missile were understandably military secrets. According to some sources, such missiles had to be adopted by 2010.

The Russian president stated that the Khala Kh-90 hypersonic missile "Koala" is capable of overcoming any of the known missile defense systems and accurately hitting targets both on its continent and on other continents.

History of the appearance of the rocket

The project of a global missile was created in the Soviet Union in the sixties. The idea was to remove the warhead from the atmosphere to the near-earth orbit, so that it turned into an artificial satellite, and after turning on the braking motor was directed to the goal set for destruction.

In 1971, having a prepared project of small strategic cruise missiles on hand, the Soviet developers appealed to the government to implement this project. That year, there was no response. But with the beginning of the development of strategic cruise missiles in 1975 by the United States, the designers, forgotten since 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-minted" missile into service. The requirements for the rocket were the highest. And one of the main things was to achieve supersonic speed. In the eighties, the speed was already four Makhov.

In the MAKS-1997 airshow in the pavilion of the NGO "Raduga" (this organization was engaged in the development of the missile) visitors could already see the hypersonic aircraft GLA, which in the future became the prototype of a new cruise missile.

For those who want to understand what the X-90 rocket looks like, the photo is given above.

Characteristics of the rocket

A GLA must carry two combat heads capable of hitting targets independently at a distance of up to a hundred kilometers. Initially the length of the rocket was equal to twelve meters. However, later it was reduced to a length of eight to nine meters. After separation from the carrier aircraft, the rocket opens triangular wings with a span of no more than seven meters, as well as tail empennage. After this, the solid-fuel type accelerator is turned on, so that the rocket reaches supersonic speed. Then the march engine, which develops speed from four to five Machs, begins to operate. The range of action of such a rocket reaches three thousand five hundred kilometers.

The launch vehicle

The TU-160 bomber is a supersonic, strategic missile carrier with a wing with a variable sweep. It was developed in the eighties in the Tupolev Design Bureau and has been in service since 1987.

Initially, the armament was going to put a hundred cars, but because of the persistence of the Americans, who insisted that the bombers include in the treaty SRV, had to stop at thirty-three machines.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the bombers were divided between the republics.

By 2013, there were sixteen such aircraft in the Armed Forces of Russia. All of them are based on the Volga in Engels.

"White Swan"

This is the largest supersonic and heaviest combat aircraft in the world, which has the largest take-off mass among bombers. The pilots among themselves affectionately called it the "white swan" because of the graceful and slender form.

But he has other names: "sword with twelve blades", "restraining factor", "nation's weapons", "Russian flying miracle". And in NATO he was nicknamed for some reason Blackjack.

TU-160M is a modernized TU-160, in which new radio-electronic equipment and armament with X-90 missiles are installed. It can carry standard armament, for example, 90 OFAB-500U, but serves as a carrier for a hyper-speed maneuvering missile X-90.

Each car has its own name, for example: "Ilya Muromets", "Alexander the Young", "Mikhail Gromov" and others.

Rocket fuel and engine for achieving hypersound

Hypersonic is a speed that is above 5 light speeds or five Machs. In a very short time such a speed can reach many missiles with their usual engines. But flying at such a high speed for a long time is possible only if the missile is equipped with a hypersonic direct-flow air-jet engine. It is also called scramjet.

The main feature and advantage of such an engine is that it does not need to carry an oxidizer with it. This engine uses atmospheric oxygen. The fuel for HLDPV 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 already in the sixties. The designers developed a space system - a reusable "Spiral", which consisted of a hypersonic accelerating aircraft and an orbital military aircraft with a rocket accelerator. Hypersonic accelerating aircraft should be accelerated to six Makhov on hydrogen fuel and up to four and a half on kerosene. But in the end it was decided to equip the apparatus with turbojet engines.

Hypersonic squatters began to develop in the seventies, using them on aircraft anti-aircraft missiles.

NASP and TU-2000

In 1986, responding to the American program Appolo, the NASP project in the USSR decided to create a domestic equivalent of NASP, a reusable single-stage VCS. The TU-2000 bomber project was approved with a declared launch weight of three hundred and sixty tons, a speed of six Machs, a flight range of ten thousand kilometers at an altitude of thirty kilometers.

The work was carried out, but in connection with the collapse of the Soviet Union, they began to have a sluggish character. The project participants came to the international level and began to cooperate with the French developers. However, joint work, 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 US was going to give up completely of hypersound.

"Security-2004"

In 2004, the Security-2004 exercises were held. Bombers TU-160 with armament under the name of rocket X-90 "Koala" took part in them.

In the same year, Russian President V.V. Putin said that the Armed Forces of Russia will soon receive such combat complexes that will be able to accurately with hypersonic speed and great maneuver when moving towards the goal to operate at distances more than one continent.

Specialists suggest that the President in his speech had in mind exactly this rocket.

The missile is called X-90

Russia has decided to demonstrate its new capabilities to America. This was the response to the Washington missile defense program by the Kh-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 missile carrier, the X-90 rocket at an altitude of seven thousand to twenty thousand meters reveals its triangular wings and tail fins. The acceleration to supersonic speed occurs through the solid fuel accelerator, which was activated by this time. Then comes the time of the march engine, thanks to which the cruise missile X-90 reaches the speed of five Machos. The range of the missile is three and a half thousand kilometers.

Tests of the X-90 missile

The leadership of our country is confident that no state is the owner of hypersonic missiles other than Russia. In the United States they once refused to develop them, limiting themselves to subsonic missiles. But in Russia, such work continued, although there were various temporary breaks. In 2001, the launch of the Topol missile was reported. Specialists noted that its warhead was characterized by unusual behavior. During the commemorative exercise in 2004, two ballistic missiles were launched: Topol-M and RS-18. Then they said that from the missile system was released an experimental apparatus, which, after launching, went into space, and then again returned to the atmosphere. This seemed impossible, because when entering the atmosphere the speed of the missile was five thousand meters per second, or about eighteen thousand kilometers per hour, and the combat head should have a special protection against overheating and overload. This device had such a speed, besides this, 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 device was that on the PC-18 there was a device that changed the altitude and direction of the flight. Thus, any missile defense, including the American one, could overcome them.

Strategic Missile Forces

The Strategic Missile Force of Russia includes three missile armies and sixteen missile divisions. Seven hundred and thirty-five ballistic missiles with 3159 nuclear warheads are among their weapons, including the Voevoda mine-based, the Molodets with 360 warheads, mobile Topoli, Topoli-M and others.

According to experts, even if a small part is equipped with cruise missiles, the missile forces will long be unbeatable and unattainable for any missile defense. Moreover, according to Russian experts, there are other programs, such as "Cold" and "Needle", in addition to developing a hypersonic warhead.

Attacks are meaningless and dangerous

Due to their characteristics, the X-90 "Koala" rocket and other modern military developments made the American missile defense senseless. Therefore, the United States began deploying radar systems near the borders of Russia to detect and destroy such missiles as soon as the launch began and the warhead did not have time to separate.

But in this direction Russia also has a number of countermeasures, known and secret. If the Kh-90 "Koala" missile separates the warhead, it becomes completely invulnerable.

Disarmament is possible?

In the Soviet Union, when the arms race between the two superpowers was in full swing, attempts were made to go the other way. Agreements were signed, ratified, but the arms race continued and continued, and during the aggravation of relations between the USSR and the United States the whole world froze and prayed for their discharge.

In the eighties, MS came to power in the USSR. Gorbachev, who actually stopped this, probably, senseless arms race. Sadly, at the cost of this termination was the disintegration of the country, at the head of which he stood. According to the agreements signed by him, a huge amount of weapons were eliminated in the USSR. The United States also had obligations to liquidate its weapons, but as a result of the implementation of the treaties the USSR practically lost its superpower status and soon disintegrated, and the United States became the world's only superpower without losing its military potential.

Soviet development of weapons, including cruise missiles, curtailed, created innovations were destroyed, and production was reduced or even stopped completely.

Nevertheless, all the lawlessness that the United States and its allies in the world were repairing, having already done away with the Soviet Union, leads to the belief that if mutual disarmament is to happen in the future, then it must be truly mutual and adequate.

And while society has not approached such a stage of its development, and the state has an external threat, it must always be ready to repel any attack.