Reusable launch vehicles. Russia is preparing a new breakthrough in space technology. Prospects for the development of Russian cosmonautics Prospects for the rocket and space industry

The MRKS-1 project is a partially reusable vertical take-off launch vehicle based on a reusable cruise first stage, booster blocks and disposable second stages. The first stage is performed according to the aircraft scheme and is reversible. It returns to the launch area in airplane mode and makes a horizontal landing at 1st class airfields. The winged reusable block of the 1st stage of the rocket system will be equipped with reusable cruise liquid propellant rocket engines (LPRE).

Currently, the State Research and Production Center named after Khrunichev, design and development and research work on the development and justification of the technical appearance is in full swing, as well as technical characteristics reusable rocket and space system... This system is being created as part of the federal space program in cooperation with many related enterprises.

However, let's talk a little about history. The first generation of reusable spacecraft includes 5 Space Shuttle-type spacecraft, as well as several domestic developments of the BOR and Buran series. In these projects, both the Americans and Soviet specialists tried to build a reusable spacecraft itself (the last stage, which is directly launched into space). The objectives of these programs were as follows: the return from space of a significant amount of payloads, reducing the cost of launching a payload into space, preserving expensive and complex spacecraft for reusable use, the ability to carry out frequent launches of a reusable stage.

However, the 1st generation of reusable space systems was not able to solve their problems with a sufficient level of efficiency. The unit cost of access to space turned out to be approximately 3 times higher than that of ordinary single-use rockets. At the same time, the return of payloads from space did not increase significantly. At the same time, the resource of using reusable stages turned out to be significantly lower than the calculated one, which did not allow the use of these ships in a tight schedule of space launches. As a result, these days, both satellites and astronauts are delivered to near-earth orbit using disposable rocket systems. And there is nothing at all to return expensive equipment and vehicles from near-earth orbit. Only the Americans made themselves a small automatic ship X-37B, which was designed for military needs and has a payload of less than 1 ton. It is obvious to everyone that modern reusable systems should be qualitatively different from the representatives of the 1st generation.

In Russia, work is being carried out on several reusable space systems at once. However, it is clear that the most promising will be the so-called aerospace system. Ideally, a spacecraft would take off from an airfield like an ordinary aircraft, enter low-earth orbit and return back, consuming only fuel. However, this is the most difficult option, which requires a large number of technical solutions and preliminary research. This option cannot be quickly implemented by any modern state. Although Russia has a fairly large scientific and technical reserve for projects of this kind. For example, the "aerospace plane" Tu-2000, which had a fairly detailed study. The implementation of this project at one time was hampered by a lack of funding after the collapse of the USSR in the 1990s, as well as the absence of a number of critical and complex components.

There is also an intermediate version, in which the space system consists of a reusable spacecraft and a reusable booster stage. Work on such systems was carried out back in the USSR, for example, the Spiral system. There are also much newer developments. But even this scheme of a reusable space system presupposes the presence of a rather long cycle of design and research works in numerous directions.

Therefore, the main focus in Russia is on the MRKS-1 program. This program stands for Stage 1 Reusable Rocket and Space System. Despite this "first stage", the created system will be very functional. Just within big enough general program for the creation of the latest space systems, this program has the closest deadlines for the final implementation.

The system proposed by the MRKS-1 project will be a two-stage one. Its main purpose is to launch into near-earth orbit absolutely any spacecraft (transport, manned, automatic) weighing up to 25–35 tons, both already existing and in the process of creation. The payload weight put into orbit is greater than that of the Protons. However, the fundamental difference from existing carrier rockets will be something else. The MRKS-1 system will not be disposable. Its 1st stage will not burn up in the atmosphere or fall to the ground in the form of a collection of debris. Having accelerated the 2nd stage (which is one-time) and the payload, the 1st stage will land, like the space shuttles of the 20th century. Today, this is the most promising way of developing space transport systems.

In practice, this project is a stage-by-stage modernization of the Angara single-use launch vehicle that is currently being created. Actually, the MRKS-1 project itself was born as a further development of the GKNPTs im. Khrunichev, where together with NPO Molniya a reusable 1st stage booster of the Angara launch vehicle was created, which received the designation Baikal (the first mock-up of Baikal was shown at MAKS-2001). Baikal used the same automatic system control, which allowed the Soviet space shuttle "Buran" to fly without a crew on board. This system provides support for the flight at all its stages - from the moment of launch to the landing of the vehicle at the airfield, this system will be adapted for the MRKS-1.

Unlike the Baikal project, the MRKS-1 will not have folding planes (wings), but rigidly installed ones. This technical solution will reduce the likelihood of emergency situations when the vehicle enters the landing trajectory. But the recently tested design of the reusable accelerator will still undergo changes. As Sergei Drozdov, head of the aerothermodynamics department of high-speed aircraft at TsAGI, noted, the specialists were surprised by the high heat fluxes in the wing center section, which will undoubtedly entail a change in the design of the aircraft. In September-October this year, the MRKS-1 models will undergo a series of tests in transonic and hypersonic wind tunnels.

At the second stage of the implementation of this program, it is planned to make the second stage reusable, and the mass of the payload launched into space will have to grow to 60 tons. But even the development of a reusable accelerator of only the 1st stage is already a real breakthrough in the development of modern space transport systems. And the most important thing is that Russia is moving towards this breakthrough, while maintaining its status as one of the world's leading space powers.

Today MRKS-1 is considered as a universal multipurpose vehicle designed to launch spacecraft and various payloads, manned and cargo ships into low-Earth orbit, under the programs of human exploration of near-earth space, exploration of the Moon and Mars, as well as other planets of our solar system. ...

The composition of the MRKS-1 includes a reusable rocket unit (VRB), which is a reusable stage I booster, a one-time stage II booster, as well as a space warhead (RGC). VRB and stage II accelerator dock with each other in a batch scheme. It is proposed to build modifications of the MRCS with different carrying capacity (the mass of the cargo delivered to the low reference orbit from 20 to 60 tons), taking into account the unified accelerators of the I and II stages using a single ground complex. In the long term, this will make it possible to ensure in practice a decrease in the labor intensity of work in a technical position, maximum serial production and the possibility of developing an economically effective family of space carriers based on basic modules.

Development and construction of the MRKS-1 family of different carrying capacities based on unified disposable and reusable stages, which will meet the requirements for advanced space transport systems, and are capable of solving the tasks of launching both unique expensive space objects and serial ones with very high efficiency and reliability. spacecraft can become a very serious alternative in a number of new generation launch vehicles that will be in operation for a long time in the 21st century.

At present, TsAGI specialists have already managed to assess the rational multiplicity of the use of the first stage of the MRKS-1, as well as the options for demonstrators of the returned missile units and the need for their implementation. The returned 1st stage MRKS-1 will provide a high level of safety and reliability and completely abandon the allocation of areas where detachable parts fall, which will significantly increase the efficiency of promising commercial programs. The aforementioned advantages for Russia seem to be extremely important, as for the only state in the world with a continental location of existing and promising cosmodromes.

TsAGI believes that the creation of the MRKS-1 project is a qualitatively new step in the design of promising reusable space vehicles for launching into orbit. Such systems fully meet the level of development of rocket and space technology of the XXI century and have significantly higher indicators of economic efficiency.

On the site.

State Space Research and Production Center. M.V. Khrunicheva, within the framework of the Angara program, is developing a number of launch vehicles, the key link of which is the creation of a heavy-class launch vehicle - the launch vehicle of the 21st century. how transport basis space program of Russia. R&D work on the creation of the Angara LV family is carried out on the basis of the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 14 of January 6, 1995 "On the creation of the Angara space rocket complex" and the Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 829 of August 26, 1995 "On measures to ensure the creation of a space missile complex "Angara".

In 1993, the Ministry of Defense and the Russian Aerospace Agency announced a competition for the development of a new heavy domestic carrier, in which, along with the GKNPTs im. M.V. Khrunichev was attended by RSC Energia, SRC "Design Bureau named after Academician V.P. Makeev" and GNPKRC "TsSKB - Progress". Proposed by GKNPTs them. M.V. Khrunichev, the project was based on many years of design and survey work on launch vehicles, their creation and operation, taking into account the predicted requirements and the real possibilities of their implementation.

The main condition for achieving efficiency was the use of oxygen-hydrogen fuel in the second stage, as well as an oxygen-hydrogen upper stage (KVRB). This makes it possible to reduce by about 40% the launch mass of the rocket and, accordingly, the mass of its structure and cost in comparison with the competitive options with kerosene-oxygen fuel at the second stage. Moreover, the cost of hydrogen is less than 1% of the launch cost. All this (taking into account the slightly increased cost of a hydrogen engine, tanks, refueling, storage systems, etc.) allows reducing the specific cost of launching by 30 ... 35%.

At the first stage of the "Angara" LV of a heavy class, it was proposed to use the RD-174 740 tf thrust engine developed by NPO Energomash, unique in its progressive solutions and repeatedly tested in flight on the first stages of the "Zenith" and "Energia" LVs. On the second stage - the RD-0120 hydrogen-oxygen engine developed in flight on the second stage of the Energia LV, developed by the Chemical Automation Design Bureau. In the production of the "Angara" launch vehicle, it was envisaged to use universal welding equipment and experience in the manufacture of large-sized tank compartments, mastered at the GKNPTs im. M.V. Khrunichev in relation to the "Proton" launch vehicle. The layout of the "Angara" LV, as in its time the "Proton" LV, obeyed the customer's requirement: transportation in parts by rail with the simplest assembly and control operations at the cosmodrome.

The location of the steps on the "Angara" LV is tandem. At the same time, at both stages, it was supposed to use the package principle of the layout of the fuel tanks. At the first stage, two side tanks of the oxidizer (liquid oxygen) are hung on the central fuel tank (kerosene). At the second stage, the central one is the oxidizer tank (liquid oxygen), and the side ones are two fuel tanks (liquid hydrogen). The stage separation scheme is "hot", the stages are interconnected by a truss (between the central tanks). Subsequently (at the second stage) the layout of the Angara LV provided for the installation of additional devices for returning the first stage to the area of ​​the cosmodrome without an intermediate landing in order to reuse and eliminate the fall fields of the spent first stage (the second stage enters a suborbital trajectory and falls from the first half-turn into remote regions of the World Ocean).

To low reference orbits (200 km altitude) with an inclination of 63 ° (latitude of the Plesetsk cosmodrome), such a variant of the Angara launch vehicle should launch up to 27 tons of payload (PG), and into a geostationary orbit using KVRB - up to 4.5 tons. with the KVRB, it was also envisaged to use the RB "Breeze-M". As a result of detailed discussions at the meetings of the Interdepartmental Commission, it was decided to further develop the "Angara" launch vehicle according to the project of the S. M.V. Khrunichev. In the course of further research, the concept of the "Angara" launch vehicle was significantly developed and refined. Taking into account the current situation in the country, GKNPTs im. M.V. Khrunicheva proposed a strategy for the phased creation of a heavy-class carrier using universal rocket modules. The new concept retains all the key ideas of the initial version of the Angara launch vehicle and develops new promising capabilities. At present, the Angara family of launch vehicles covers launch vehicles from light to super-heavy class. The main characteristics of the "Angara" launch vehicle are shown in Fig. and tab.

Booster rockets of the "Angara" family

This family of carriers is based on a universal rocket module (URM). It includes fuel oxidizer tanks and an RD-191 engine. URM is made according to the scheme with supporting tanks and the front location of the oxidizer tank. The RD-191 engine, created at NPO Energomash, runs on kerosene and liquid oxygen components. This single-chamber engine is being developed on the basis of the RD-170 and RD-171 four-chamber engines and the RD-180 two-chamber engine, created for the Atlas-2AR launch vehicle. The thrust of RD-191 near the Earth - up to 196 tf, in the void - up to 212 tf; specific thrust on Earth - 309.5 s, in vacuum - 337.5 s. To ensure control of the launch vehicle in flight, the engine is fixed in a gimbal. The length of the URM is 23 m, the diameter is 2.9 m. These dimensions were selected based on the technological equipment available at the Rocket and Space Plant. One such universal rocket module is the first stage of two light-class launch vehicles created under the Angara-1 program. The central part of the Briz-M upper stage and the Soyuz-2 rocket block of the I block type are used as the second stages on these two variants of the launch vehicle (Angara-1.1 and Angara-1.2).

The Angara-3 medium-class launch vehicle is formed by adding universal modules(as the first stage) to the LV of the light class "Angara-1.2". The "Angara-3" LV is made according to a tandem stage arrangement. Three URMs are used as the first stage. The second stage ("I" type block) is installed on the middle URM through the truss adapter. As the third stage, a small-sized upper stage or a central block - RB "Briz-M", which is designed to form a working orbit, is used. Its inclusion in the versions of the LV with a stage of the "I" block type is caused by the fact that the RD-0124 engine installed at this stage is designed for one-time switching only.

The "Angara-5" launch vehicle of a heavy class is being built by adding two more side modules to the "Angara-3" launch vehicle. The super-heavy launch vehicle is formed by replacing the second stage (I-block) of the heavy class "Angara-5" with an oxygen-hydrogen stage with four KVD1 engines. The energetic capabilities of the Angara-3 and Angara-5 launch vehicles ensure the launch into low orbit of a payload weighing 14 tons and 24.5 tons, respectively. RB "Briz-M" is used as booster blocks on medium-class launch vehicles, and Briz-M and KVRB are used on heavy and super-heavy launch vehicles.

The main launch site of the "Angara" family LV is the Plesetsk cosmodrome. During the construction of the launch complex of the "Angara" LV, the existing groundwork for the "Zenith" LV is used. Unique technical solutions will make it possible to launch all LV of the "Angara" family from one launcher. To reduce the size of the areas allotted for the fall fields of the separating parts of the launch vehicle, special measures are envisaged already during the creation of the Angara-1 missiles. Three sources of financing for the Angara project are expected: the Russian Aviation and Space Agency, the Ministry of Defense, and funds from the commercial activities of the GKNPTs im. M.V. Khrunichev.

At present, the design and technological development of a unified rocket module and a light-class launch vehicle based on it has already been completed. Preparations for production are coming to an end and the beginning of ground tests of real products is being prepared. The full-scale technological layout of the Angara-1.1 LV was demonstrated at the Le Bourget Air Show in 1999.

On the basis of the main variants of the "Angara" launch vehicle, it is possible to create other modifications. So, options are being considered for installing additional starting solid-propellant boosters on a light-class launch vehicle. This will allow you to select a carrier for a specific spacecraft, and not create spacecraft taking into account the available spacecraft.

Thus, GKNPTs them. M.V. Khrunicheva developed and proposed, within the Angara program, a whole strategy that would allow, in conditions of limited financial resources and in a short time, to create a number of promising launch vehicles of various classes. The time frame for the creation of the Angara LV family is very tough. Thus, the first launch of the "Angara-1.1" LV is planned for 2003. All types of "Angara" launch vehicles are planned to be launched from the Plesetsk cosmodrome. The first launch of the Angara-1.2 LV is to take place in 2004. The first launch of the Angara-5 LV is also planned for 2004.

Improving the characteristics of the launch vehicle, and, above all, reducing the cost of launching spacecraft, at the GKNPTs im. M.V. Khrunichev is associated not only with the unification of the first stages of the Angara launch vehicle and the introduction of promising, but already proven technologies, such as, for example, the use of highly efficient oxygen-kerosene engines, automated launch preparation, the use of the most modern upper stages and head fairings. The "Angara" family launch vehicles incorporate such new technologies as the use of reusable elements (accelerator stages) in the launch vehicle design. It is this technical solution that is one of the cardinal ways to improve economic indicators launch vehicles.

Rearmament of the navy and army is not only about supplying the troops with modern technology. V Russian Federation new types of weapons are constantly being created. They are also solved perspective development... Consider further the latest military developments in Russia in some areas.

Strategic intercontinental missiles

This type is an important weapon. The basis of the missile forces of the Russian Federation are liquid-propellant heavy ICBMs "Sotka" and "Voevoda". The service life has been extended three times. At present, a heavy complex "Sarmat" has been developed to replace them. It is a hundred-ton-class missile, which carries at least ten separable warheads in the head element. The main characteristics of the "Sarmat" have already been assigned. Serial production is planned to begin at the legendary Krasmash, for the reconstruction of which 7.5 billion rubles have been allocated from the Federation budget. Promising combat equipment is already being created, including individual reconnaissance units with promising means of overcoming missile defense (ROC "Inevitability" - "Breakthrough").

Installation "Avangard"

In 2013, the commanders of the Strategic Missile Forces conducted an experimental launch of this middle-class ballistic intercontinental missile. This was the fourth launch since 2011. Three previous launches were also successful. In this test, the rocket flew with a mock combat unit. It replaced the previously used ballast. Avangard is a fundamentally new rocket, which is not considered a continuation of the Topol family. The command of the Strategic Missile Forces calculated an important fact. It lies in the fact that Topol-M can hit 1 or 2 anti-missiles (for example, the American type SM-3), and one Avangard will need at least 50. That is, the effectiveness of a missile defense breakthrough has increased significantly.

In the installation of the "Avangard" type, the already familiar missile with a multiple head element of personal guidance has been replaced by the newest system, which has a controlled warhead (UBB). This is an important innovation. The blocks in the MIRV are located in 1 or 2 tiers (in the same way as in the Voevoda installation) around the engine of the dilution stages. By the command of the computer, the stage begins to unfold towards one of the targets. Then, with a small impulse of the engine, the warhead released from the mounts is sent to the target. Its flight is carried out along a ballistic curve (like a thrown stone), without maneuvering in height and course. In turn, the controlled unit, in contrast to the specified element, looks like an independent rocket with a personal guidance and control system, an engine and rudders resembling conical "skirts" in the lower part. It is an efficient device. The engine can allow him to maneuver in space, and in the atmosphere - "skirt". Due to this control, the warhead flies 16,000 km from a 250-kilometer height. In general, the range of the "Vanguard" can be more than 25,000 km.

Bottom missile systems

The latest military developments of Russia are also present in this area. There are also innovative implementations here. Back in the summer of 2013, tests were carried out in the White Sea of ​​such weapons as a new ballistic missile "Skif", which is capable, in a waiting mode on the ocean or seabed, at the right time to shoot and hit land and sea objects. She uses the ocean floor as the original mine plant. The location of these systems at the bottom of the water element will provide the necessary invulnerability to the weapon of retaliation.

The latest military developments in Russia - mobile missile systems

A lot of work has been invested in this direction. In 2013, the Russian Ministry of Defense began testing a new hypersonic missile. Its flight speed is approximately 6 thousand km / h. It is known that today in Russia hypersonic technology is being studied in several developing areas. Along with this, the Russian Federation also produces combat railroad and naval missile systems. This significantly modernizes the armament. In this direction, experimental design latest military developments in Russia are being actively pursued.

The so-called test launches of Kh-35UE missiles were also successful. They were released from installations housed in a cargo-type container of the Club-K complex. The X-35 anti-ship missile is distinguished by its flight to the target and stealth at an altitude not exceeding 15 meters, and at the final stage of its trajectory - 4 meters. The presence of a powerful warhead and a combined homing system allows one unit of this weapon to completely destroy a paramilitary ship with a displacement of 5 thousand tons. For the first time, a mock-up of this missile system was shown in Malaysia in 2009, in a military-technical show.

He immediately made a splash, since the Club-K is a typical cargo twenty and forty-foot containers. This military equipment of Russia is transported by rail, on sea vessels or trailers. Command posts and launchers with multipurpose missiles such as Kh-35UE 3M-54E and 3M-14E are placed in this container. They can hit both land and surface targets. Every container ship that Club-K carries is, in principle, a missile carrier with a devastating salvo.

This is an important weapon. Absolutely any echelon with these installations or a convoy, which includes large-capacity automobile container ships, is a powerful missile unit that can appear in any unexpected place. Successful tests have proven that Club-K is not a fiction, it is indeed a combat system. These new developments military equipment-confirmed fact. Similar tests are also being prepared with the 3M-14E and 3M-54E missiles. Incidentally, the 3M-54E missile can completely destroy an aircraft carrier.

Latest generation strategic bomber

Currently, the Tupolev company is developing and improving a promising airline complex (PAK DA). He is a Russian strategic missile bomber the latest generation... This aircraft is not an improvement of the TU-160, but will be an innovative device based on the latest solutions. In 2009, the RF Ministry of Defense and the Tupolev company signed a contract for R&D on the basis of PAK DA for a period of three years. In 2012, an announcement was made that the preliminary design of the PAK DA had already been completed and signed, and then the latest military development projects would begin.

In 2013, this was approved by the RF Air Force command. PAK DA is famous as modern nuclear missile carriers TU-160 and TU-95MS.
Of several options, we settled on a subsonic stealth aircraft with a "flying wing" scheme. This military equipment of Russia is not able to overcome the speed of sound due to the peculiarity of the design and the huge wingspan, but it can be invisible to radars.

Future missile defense

Work continues on the creation of the S-500 missile defense system. In this latest generation, it is proposed to use separate execution of tasks to neutralize aerodynamic and ballistic missiles. The S-500 differs from the S-400, designed for air defense, in that it is created as an anti-missile defense system.

She will also be able to fight against hypersonic weapons that are actively developing in the United States. These new Russian military developments are important. The S-500 is an aerospace defense system that they want to design in 2015. It will have to neutralize objects that fly at altitudes above 185 km and at a distance of more than 3500 km from the launch site. At the moment, the draft sketch has already been completed and promising military developments in Russia are being carried out in this direction. The main purpose of this complex will be the defeat of the latest air-type assault weapons, which are produced in the world today. It is assumed that this system will be able to perform tasks both in the stationary version and when moving into the combat zone. which Russia should start producing in 2016, will be equipped with a shipborne version of the S-500 anti-missile system.

Combat lasers

There are many interesting things in this direction. Russia, before the United States of America, began military development in this area and has in its arsenal prototypes high-precision chemical warfare lasers. The first such installation was tested by Russian developers back in 1972. Then, already with the help of a domestic mobile "laser cannon", it was possible to successfully hit a target in the air. So in 2013, the Russian Ministry of Defense demanded to continue work on the creation of combat lasers that are capable of striking satellites, aircraft and ballistic missiles.
This is important in modern weapons. New military developments of Russia in the field of lasers are carried out by the Almaz-Antey air defense organization, the Taganrog Aviation Scientific and Technical Concern named after Beriev and the company "Khimpromavtomatika". All this is controlled by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. began to modernize again the flying laboratories A-60 (based on the Il-76), which are used to test the latest laser technologies. They will be based at an airfield near Taganrog.

Perspectives

In the future, with successful development in this area, the Russian Federation will build one of the most powerful lasers in the world. This device in Sarov will occupy an area equal to two football fields, and at its highest point will reach the size of a 10-storey building. The facility will be equipped with 192 laser channels and a huge laser pulse energy. For the French and American counterparts, it is equal to 2 megajoules, while for Russia it is approximately 1.5-2 times higher. The superlaser will be able to create colossal temperatures and densities in matter, which are the same as on the Sun. This device will also simulate the processes observed during the testing of thermonuclear weapons in laboratory conditions. The creation of this project will be estimated at about 1.16 billion euros.

Armored vehicles

In this regard, the latest military developments were also not long in coming. In 2014, the Russian Ministry of Defense will start purchasing the main effective battle tanks based on a single platform for heavy armored vehicles "Armata". On the basis of a successful batch of these vehicles, they will conduct controlled military operation. The release of the first prototype of a tank based on the Armata platform, in accordance with the current schedule, took place in 2013. The specified military equipment of Russia is planned to be supplied to military units from 2015. The development of the tank will be carried out by Uralvagonzavod.

Another avenue of the Russian defense industry complex is the Terminator (Object - 199). This combat vehicle will be designed to neutralize air targets, manpower, armored vehicles, as well as various shelters and fortifications.

"Terminator" is capable of being created on the basis of the T-90 and T-72 tanks. Its standard equipment will consist of 2 30-mm cannons, ATGM "Attack" with laser guidance, Kalashnikov machine gun and 2 AGS-17 grenade launchers. These new developments in Russian military equipment are significant. The capabilities of the BMPT allow the implementation of fire of significant density at 4 targets at once.

Precision weapons

The Air Force of the Russian Federation will adopt missiles to carry out strikes against surface and ground targets with GLONASS guidance. At the test site in Akhtubinsk, the Chkalov GLITS tested the S-25 and S-24 missiles, which are equipped with special kits with seeker and control surfaces. This is an important improvement. GLONASS guidance kits began to arrive en masse at air bases in 2014, that is, Russian helicopter and front-line aviation completely switched to high-precision weapons.

Unguided rockets (NUR) S-25 and S-24 will remain the main weapon of the bomber and attack aircraft of the Russian Federation. However, they hit squares, which is an expensive and ineffective pleasure. The GLONASS homing heads will transfer the S-25 and S-24 into a high-precision weapon capable of hitting small targets with an accuracy of 1 meter.

Robotics

The main priorities in the organization of promising types of military equipment and weapons have almost been determined. Emphasis is placed on the production of the most robotic combat systems, where a safe operator function will be assigned to a person.

In this direction, a set of programs is planned:

• Organization of power armor, familiar as exoskeletons.
• Work on the development of underwater robots for a wide variety of purposes.
• Designing a series of unmanned aerial vehicles.
• It is planned to establish technologies for They will allow the implementation of the ideas of Nikolai Tesla on an industrial scale.

Russian experts relatively recently (2011-2012) carried out the creation of the SAR-400 robot. It is 163 cm high and looks like a torso with two "manipulator arms" equipped with special sensors. They allow the operator to feel the object being touched.

SAR-400 is capable of performing several functions. For example, fly into space or perform remote surgery. And in military conditions, it is generally irreplaceable. He can be a scout, a sapper, and a repairman. In terms of its working capabilities and performance characteristics, the SAR-400 android surpasses (for example, in terms of squeezing the brush) foreign counterparts, and American ones too.

Weapon

The latest military developments in Russia are currently also being actively pursued in this direction. This is a confirmed fact. Izhevsk gunsmiths began developing the latest generation of small arms. It differs from the Kalashnikov system, which is popular all over the world. This implies a new platform that allows you to compete with analogues of the latest models of small arms in the world. This is important in this area. As a result, the law enforcement agencies can be provided with fundamentally the latest combat systems that correspond to the rearmament program of the Russian army until 2020. Therefore, at the moment, significant developments are underway in this regard. Future riflemen will be of a modular type. This will simplify subsequent upgrades and production. In this case, a scheme will be used more often in which the weapon magazine and the percussion mechanism will be located in the butt behind the trigger. Ammunition with innovative ballistic solutions will also be used to develop the latest small arms systems. For example, increased accuracy, significant effective range, more powerful penetration ability. The gunsmiths were tasked with creating a new system from scratch, not based on obsolete principles. To achieve this goal, the latest technologies are involved. At the same time, Izhmash will not renounce work on the modernization of the 200-series AK, since the Russian special services are already interested in the supply of this type of weapon. Further military developments in this direction are currently being carried out.

Outcome

All of the above emphasizes the successful modernization of the weapons of the Russian Federation. The main thing is to keep up with the times and not be satisfied with what has already been achieved, implementing the latest improvements in this area. Along with the above, there are also secret military developments of Russia, but their publication is limited.

The reusable first stage booster "Baikal" as part of the launch vehicle / Photo: www.gazeta.ru

Roskosmos is ready to start creating a flight prototype of the recoverable first stage of the launch vehicle. For this, the Khrunichev Center has assembled a team of specialists who have developed the Energia-Buran system, Izvestia writes with reference to Alexander Medvedev, general designer of Roskosmos for missile systems.

Alexander Medvedev / Photo: so-l.ru

As the newspaper notes, Russian engineers were not inspired by the experience of Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX, who lands the first stages of a Falcon 9 rocket on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean. Khrunichev is designing a "winged" first stage that can return to the cosmodrome like an airplane and land on the runway.

“I am convinced that for Russian conditions the recoverable first stage with protruding wings is the best option,” noted A. Medvedev. “The scheme used by SpaceX to land the first stage is not suitable for us, since rockets from our cosmodromes do not fly over the sea and here there is no way to fit the barge to the right place. Even if there was such an opportunity, it is not a fact that this is the optimal way: at sea, the side wind and rolling almost always interfere with it. "

Energia - Buran is a Soviet reusable transport space system. The "Buran" spacecraft made its first and only space flight in unmanned mode on November 15, 1988. The program was launched in 1976, in 1992 it was decided to terminate it, reports TASS.

Technical reference

"Baikal" was designed by JSC "NPO" Molniya "" by order of GKNPTs im. M.V. Khrunicheva. In an interview with the correspondent of the Military News Agency, the head of the sector of international programs and projects of the State Research and Development Space Center, Oleg Alekseevich Sokolov, said that work on similar accelerators is being carried out in the United States, European countries and, according to some reports, China, but in metal a full-size model has been created only in Russia.

Russian reusable accelerator (MRU) "Baikal" / Photo: www.objectiv-x.ru

NK spoke in detail about the MRU project two years ago, when a small model of "Baikal" was exhibited at the 43rd Le Bourget showroom. Since then, the project has undergone a number of changes; There also appeared new data both on the accelerator itself and on the Angara-V all-azimuth launch vehicle family based on it.

According to the developers, the concept of a two-stage launch vehicle with a reusable "atmospheric" first stage makes it possible to provide flexibility in the use of various upper stages, among which there can and should be reusable spacecraft.

Photo: www.objectiv-x.ru

Such a system will have significantly smaller dimensions and weight than a single-stage reusable system, which has similar mass indices for payloads (PN) launched into orbit and delivered to Earth, and, consequently, higher technical indicators. With regard to the total cost of development and operation, the development of the system "in parts" can be cheaper than bringing a larger and more complex single-stage carrier to work. From the point of view of the designers, the operation of separating a two-stage system is a well-established procedure in the world practice and should not require significant costs.

The use of a reusable "atmospheric" stage for removing disposable PN can be carried out not only within the framework of the concept of a two-stage carrier. The load for the reusable first stage can also be a combination of the final (target) launch vehicle with disposable upper stages and upper stages, which should be included in the launch vehicle of any class. It is possible to combine reusable modules with disposable steps starting from the Earth's surface (modularity principle).

This concept of reusable module stages is the basis for promising developments carried out by the State Research and Production Center together with the NPO Molniya within the framework of the Baikal project. The use of module stages with a rocket engine for launch and acceleration and an air-jet engine (VRM), a rotary wing, aerodynamic controls and a landing gear for return and landing is envisaged both in the form of the first stages of light launch vehicles, and in the form of bundles or attachments. accelerators in medium and heavy rockets.

Three projections of MRU "Baikal" / Image: www.buran.ru

The peculiarity of "Baikal": not only landing the MRU on the ground, but also returning it to the launch point by means of the return flight means, including the WFD and the control system worked out on the Buran orbital spacecraft. According to the developers' calculations, the use of "Baikal" on the launch vehicle of the "Angara" family will allow 2-3 times to reduce the cost of launching the launch vehicle into orbit.

The product, shown in Paris, was equipped with mock-ups of the RD-191M rocket engine and the RD-33 turbojet bypass engine with an afterburner (TRDDF) used on the MiG-29 fighter.

RD-191M with a thrust at the ground of 196 tons, a specific impulse at the ground for 309 sec and in a vacuum of 337.5 sec, was developed at NPO Energomash named after V.P. Glushko. The rocket engine weighing 2.2 t runs on kerosene and liquid oxygen and is mounted in the tail section of the MRU in a gimbal with a swing angle of plus / minus 8º for pitch and yaw control. TRDDF RD-33 was developed by the St. V.Ya. Klimov, has a thrust of 8.3 tf and a mass of 1050 kg. Its dimensions: length 4.3 m, width 2.0 m, height 1.1 m. When operating in cruise mode (height 11 km and flight speed 0.8 M), the specific fuel (kerosene) consumption is 0.961 kg / tf. Hour. RD-33 is equipped with protection systems and early detection of malfunctions.

In addition, the project considers the possibility of installing the RD-35 engine developed for the Yak-130 on the MRU.

The accelerator landing gear was taken from the Yak-42 and Su-17 aircraft. According to Oleg Sokolov, the Baikal MRU is designed for 25 launches, but in the future it is planned to increase their number to two hundred.

The model, shown at Le Bourget, will later be used for static strength and other ground tests. According to some representatives of GKNPTs, at present there are several "Baikals" in production, which are intended for flight tests. However, according to unofficial statements of others, it is still far from the manufacture of flight products, and the model presented at the exhibition was made in a "hurry" and is far from outward appearance and designs from the real "Baikal", which will be launched from the Plesetsk cosmodrome.

Flight tests of the MRU will be carried out in several stages.

On the first- "Baikal" is installed on the fuselage of a specialized carrier aircraft VM-T "Atlant". After takeoff and climb, the MRU is separated from the carrier and lands in autonomous mode.

On the second stage "Baikal" without the second stage is launched from the launch complex of the "Angara" LV.

Third the LCI stage provides for the launches of Angara A1-V in the standard configuration: MRU plus the second stage Briz-KM.

Launch vehicle "Angara A1-B" using MRU "Baikal" / Image: www.buran.ru

Characteristics of the Baikal reusable accelerator

Characteristics of the "Angara A1-V" LV with the use of the "Baikal" MRU

Oleg Sokolov emphasized that the unified Baikal accelerator can be used on launch vehicles of various classes, incl. American shuttles, French Ariane 5 and other carriers. On the "Angara" LV of the light class "Baikal" will be the first stage. However, the market for lightweight carriers is currently not wide enough to cover the cost of creating such an expensive reusable stage.

In the first half of the 90s, the world talked about the brilliant prospects of light-class missiles in connection with the predicted sharp increase in the number of small spacecraft designed to operate in low orbits and the deployment of a whole series of low- and medium-orbit global satellite communications systems.

However, the number of small spacecraft projects financed and underway for last years decreased. Communication systems based on "non-stationary" groups of small spacecraft have not yet confirmed their economic return, and therefore have not become widespread. In this regard, a lot of launches of the light class LV were not actually required; the resource of 200 flights in the version of a light rocket, laid in "Baikal", may simply not be developed by the time of the moral "aging" of the carrier and the end of the service life of systems and assemblies. The creation of an MRU can, perhaps, pay off only when it is used in the carriers of the medium and, above all, heavy classes, which are more in demand on the market.

Layout diagrams of missiles / Image: www.buran.ru

All-azimuth launch vehicles "Angara-V" of medium and heavy classes are obtained by replacing lateral universal rocket modules (URM) with "Baikal" boosters. Thus, it is planned to install two MRUs on the "Angara-A3" of the middle class (the "Angara A3-B" version), and from the launch vehicle of the heavy class "Angara-A5" by replacing the four lateral URMs with four MRUs, "Angara A5-B" is obtained. The option of using accelerators on the heavy "Angara-A4" with an oxygen-hydrogen second stage ("Angara A4-B") is also being worked out. However, the use of 2-4 MRUs on one launch vehicle can create a number of problems. The layout of the "Angara A5-B" and "Angara A4-B" variants has already required folding horizontal tail fins in two of the four boosters. In addition, serious difficulties may arise with the simultaneous return to the airfield of four MRUs, separated from the launch vehicle, at once.

The Khrunichev Center and NPO Molniya are also exploring the option of launching the Angara LV with the Baikal MRU from the An-124 Ruslan carrier aircraft, which, as mentioned above, is also a development of the concept of reusable "atmospheric" stages.

In addition, within the framework of promising studies of the State Research and Development Center, fully reusable systems are being studied, consisting of "Baikal" and a reusable second stage. However, their implementation is a matter of the more distant future and is not currently in the foreground of the Center's work.

According to the staff of the State Research and Production Space Center, the consistent development of "atmospheric" stages should inevitably lead to the creation of hypersonic aircraft-carriers of "space" stages. Before reaching the level of a single-stage aerospace reusable launch vehicle, such aircraft will only have to go through the stage of equipping with a highly efficient combined propulsion system. For their creation, obviously, more advanced technologies will be required than those currently available not only at the Khrunichev Center, but in the world in general.

Separation of shanks of the "Angara3-V" LV / Image: www.buran.ru

Characteristics of the Angara-V LV family with the use of the Baikal MRU

Based on the materials of the prospectuses of the State Research and Production Center named after MV Khrunicheva, NGO Molniya, reports from Interfax and the Military News Agency.

Unlike Baikal, the MRKS-1 will not have folding planes (wings), but rigidly installed. This will reduce the likelihood of emergency situations when entering the landing trajectory. However, the recently tested design of the reusable accelerator will still change. Sergei Drozdov, head of the aerothermodynamics department of TsAGI high-speed aircraft, said that "a surprise was the high heat fluxes in the wing center section - this will undoubtedly entail a change in the design of the apparatus." In September-October 2013, the MRKS-1 models were tested in hypersonic (T-116 wind tunnel) and transonic (T-128 wind tunnel) wind tunnels.
At the second stage of the program, the second stage will also be made reusable, and the payload mass should increase to 60 tons. Nevertheless, the creation of a reusable accelerator, even of only the first stage, is a real breakthrough in the development of space transport systems. And most importantly, we are moving towards this breakthrough while maintaining our status as a leading space power.
Currently at the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute. prof. NOT. Zhukovsky completed the first stage integrated research reusable launch vehicles (MRKN). Earlier, the TsAGI press center published an image of the MRKS-1 model.

Its appearance resembles reusable spacecraft, such as our "Buran" or the American Space Shuttle. But the outward resemblance should not be deceiving. MKRS-1 is a completely different system. It has a fundamentally different ideology, which is qualitatively different from the previous projects.
Research Center named after M.V. Keldysh set about creating a new generation reusable rocket engine for Roscosmos. According to terms of reference, the engines will be used for flights of promising rockets, including in the reusable rocket and space system of the first stage MRKS-1 "Rossiyanka", which is being developed by the Khrunichev Center. The unit should be ready for firing tests as part of the launch vehicle by November 2015.