Product 4202 is also 15 yu 71. Project “4202”: hypersonic mystery. How it works

“Object 4202” is the symbol of the newest Russian project in the field of modern military hypersonic (LA). According to authoritative foreign analytical centers, its successful implementation may neutralize the advantages in the field of strategic weapons that the United States intends to gain over Russia as a result of the deployment of a global missile defense system.

How are aircraft classified by flight speed?

According to their speed characteristics, aircraft are divided into subsonic, supersonic and hypersonic. In this case, their flight speeds are usually expressed in the form of dimensionless quantities, a multiple of the so-called. The Mach number, named after the Austrian physicist Ernst Mach, and denoted by the Latin letter M. is a dimensionless quantity and can be simply defined as the ratio of the aircraft speed to at a given altitude. Therefore, an aircraft speed of 1 M (or M = 1) means that it flies at the speed of sound. It should be remembered that the speed of sound decreases with height, so the value of 1 M at different altitudes will correspond to different values, expressed in km/h. So, at the ground the speed of 1 M corresponds to 1224 km/h, and at an altitude of 11 km - 1062 km/h.

The speeds of supersonic aircraft cannot exceed 5 Mach (or M = 5), and hypersonic aircraft fly at speeds above 5 Mach. At the same time, they can also maneuver, using the aerodynamic forces generated during flight in the air, and also glide over distances much greater than at sub-hypersonic speeds.

Physical basis for the selection of hypersonic aircraft

The 5 M boundary between supersonic and hypersonic aircraft was not chosen by chance. The fact is that when this speed is reached, the nature of the aerodynamic and gas-dynamic processes, respectively, near the aircraft body and inside its jet engine changes significantly. Firstly, the boundary layer of air flowing around the aircraft, at a speed of 5 M, heats up to a temperature of several thousand degrees (especially in front of the frontal part of the aircraft), and the molecules of the gases that make up the air begin to disintegrate into ions (dissociate). The physicochemical properties of such ionized gas differ significantly from the properties of ordinary air; it tends to enter into chemical reactions with the surface of the aircraft, and intense convection and radiation heat exchange occurs between it and the flow around it. Therefore, the thermal protection of the aircraft should be no worse than that of the American space shuttles or the Soviet Buran.

In addition, hypersonic aircraft require a very special jet engine design, which is unlike any other known type. The fact is that in known aircraft engines, the flow speed of the air taken from the atmosphere during the formation of the fuel-air mixture inevitably decreases to subsonic (otherwise it is impossible to have time to introduce the required amount of fuel into the air). In a hypersonic aircraft, such a reduction in air flow speed is unacceptable - due to the law of energy conversion, this will cause such overheating of engine structural elements that no known material can cope with.

Design Features

The engine of a hypersonic aircraft (in its simplest version) is similar to two articulated funnels, one of which serves as an air intake (the narrow part is a kind of compressor combined with a fuel injector, and also acts as a combustion chamber), and the second funnel is a nozzle for the exit of burnt gases that create cravings Such an engine can only be placed under the fuselage of the aircraft, which creates a certain appearance of hypersonic vehicles.

However, such an engine cannot operate at speeds lower than 5-6 M, since the compressed flow simply does not warm up to the temperatures required for complete combustion of the fuel. Therefore, most in a real way Accelerating a hypersonic aircraft to the required engine launch speed (at least at the present stage) is the use of a separable booster rocket as the first stage, sometimes in combination with an accelerator aircraft. The photo below shows the American X-52 hypersonic aircraft mounted under the wing of a B-52 strategic bomber.

State of work on hypersonic aircraft in the USA

The United States has long begun developing new types of offensive weapons. First of all, these are hypersonic aircraft. Thus, within the framework of the DARPA Falcon Project, a rocket glider, designated HTV-2, is being developed, as well as Boeing Corporation hypersonic vehicle projects (X-43, X-51) are equipped with ramjet engines like the one shown in the photo above. They are capable of carrying warheads weighing up to 450 kg, which can be both nuclear weapons and volumetric explosion bombs, adjacent to them in power, capable of destroying protected enemy command posts.

The Boeing X-51 project will be capable of speeds of up to 6,400 km/h. This device was first flown in May 2010. There were only two unsuccessful starts, which ended in the destruction of the glider. After separation from the carrier aircraft, the device is accelerated by an additional booster made on the basis of a military-tactical missile. Only after reaching a speed of 5400 km/h is the jet engine of the aircraft itself turned on, which accelerates it to cruising speed.

Of course, Russia had to fend off such a threat. Today, the corresponding Soviet developments are being brought to fruition. In the 80s of the last century we had advanced developments in this area and even ready product- X-90 rocket plane of the Gala project. According to experts, the X-90 was successfully launched from an aircraft specially adapted for this purpose and accelerated to 5,400 km/h, which is the limit of hypersound. But then the “90s, blessed by the liberals” came, and the project was closed.

Russian response to Washington

Recently, the well-known British military research center Janes Information Group published information that in February last year, flight tests of a hypersonic aircraft under the symbol Yu-71 (Yu-71) were carried out in Russia at the Dombarovsky training ground (Orenburg region). Object 4202, which, according to the same center, is a generalized symbol for all Russian hypersonic developments, is part of our missile program.

But formally it is ordered from industry not by the military department, but by the Federal Space Agency of the Russian Federation, which in modern conditions is not a superfluous “cover” for this work. The main executor of the R&D work on the topic “Object 4202” is NPO Mashinostroyeniye from Reutov near Moscow (the former missile design bureau of general designer Vladimir Chelomey, which was the main developer of cruise missiles and medium-range ballistic missiles in the USSR).

By the way, on the website of this enterprise there is information that back in the late 50s of the last century, the design bureau created the MP-1 aircraft, capable of maneuvering in the atmosphere using aerodynamic control surfaces at hypersonic speeds. It was successfully launched back in 1961! So the topic “Object 4202” has a long history.

Prospects for Russian “hypersonics”

It is known from a number of sources that since the beginning of the 2000s, Russia has begun work on “military hypersound” and is going to install the Yu-71 product on the promising Sarmat ballistic missile. The new Russian hypersonic object 4202 is capable of accelerating to speeds of 11,000 km/h and can carry a conventional or nuclear warhead. At such gigantic speeds, the device can maneuver while in the atmosphere at altitudes of 40 to 50 km. Therefore, it cannot be intercepted by any of the latest missile defense systems.

And although the warheads of modern intercontinental aircraft also reach hypersonic speeds in flight, their trajectories are amenable to calculation, and therefore possible interception by missile defense systems. The Yu-71 product (object 4202), unlike them, is capable of maneuvering along a complex unpredictable trajectory, changing course and altitude, so that it is almost impossible to intercept it.

At the same time, there is reason to believe that the first tests of object 4202 took place back in 2004. It was then that Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Baluevsky reported at a press conference about the testing of a hypersonic aircraft maneuvering along the course and altitude.

“Object 4202”: to the shores of America on hypersonic

The American press reacted to the tests of the Russian hypersonic glider. Many newspapers openly talked about the fact that the American strategy of a lightning-fast global strike has a serious competitor. If work on the Object 4202 project is successfully completed, then in 10 years Russia will receive a serious “trump card” in negotiations with the United States. The fact is that with hypersonic aircraft, it will be guaranteed to hit any target on US territory with just one missile. For example, the same “Sarmat”, on which the aircraft created under the “Object 4202” project will be installed. Hypersonic flight speed plus the maneuverability of a new type of aircraft - these are the new qualities of this weapon that may make the colossal expenditure of resources on the creation of American missile defense systems pointless.

On October 25, a hypersonic aircraft, known under the designation “product 4202” (also 15Yu71), was successfully tested during firing from the Dombarovsky launch area in the Orenburg region at the Kamchatka Kura training ground. This is the first completely successful test of a weapon capable of reaching a speed of about 15 Max, or 7 km/sec, at maximum altitude. To organize it, the manufacturer of 15YU71, the Reutov Scientific and Production Association of Mechanical Engineering (NPO Mashinostroyeniye), had to implement an extensive import substitution program.

The hypersonic aircraft (GZLA) 4202 is designed for installation instead of traditional warheads on promising intercontinental ballistic missiles. The product begins to operate at an altitude of about 100 km and flies to the target at a speed of 5–7 km/s. Before entering the dense layers of the atmosphere directly above the target, the GZLA performs a complex maneuver, making it difficult to intercept it by missile defense systems.

Reports of the successful launch of product 4202 from the Dombarovsky launch area at the Kura test site in Kamchatka appeared on October 25: eyewitnesses published photographs on the Internet depicting a characteristic trace of the rocket in the sky.

NGO Mash refrained from commenting.

The project of hypersonic warheads called “Albatross” appeared in the USSR in the mid-1980s. This was a response to the United States' attempt to create missile defense within the framework of the Star Wars concept. However, a few years later the project was closed due to technical difficulties. But already in the mid-1990s, NPO Mash resumed the project, but under the designation 4202.

As an informed source in the Roscosmos state corporation told Izvestia, successful flight tests of “product 4202” were preceded by a large-scale import substitution program: the task was to get rid of the control system previously manufactured by the Kharkov enterprise Khartron, and some other components. The program was successfully implemented, which made it possible to resume testing.

On-board equipment, electronic systems, as well as the control system now consist entirely of Russian components, noted a source in Roscosmos. - The product no longer contains foreign components. A report on this will soon be submitted to the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the government.

As Izvestia’s interlocutor explained, the task of complete import substitution of GZLA filling was set by NPO Mash back in 2014, the completion date was set for the end of 2016.

At the beginning of October, NPO Mashinostroyenia sent official letters to all enterprises participating in cooperation on Project 4202 demanding as soon as possible report on the work done within the framework of the import substitution program. The fact that the document was received by Izvestia was confirmed at several enterprises.

Initially, the 4202 did not have many foreign components, but the key element of the product - the control system that controls the flight of the GZLA, its performance of hypersonic maneuvers and guidance on the target - was manufactured by a Ukrainian enterprise, he told Izvestia. Chief Editor Internet project Militaryrussia Dmitry Kornev. - According to available information, NPO Mash began developing a new control system back in 2014. In all likelihood, it began to be tested last year, but both launches of 4202 in 2015 were unsuccessful. But on October 25 this year the launch was a success, which indicates successful work NPO Mash on import substitution.

The Khartron holding (one of the leading enterprises in the USSR developing control systems for rockets and spacecraft) began developing a control system for GZLA in the mid-1990s. Several times, references to successful tests of the system as part of Russian GZLAs even appeared on the official website of the enterprise. But after the events in Crimea in the summer of 2014, by decision of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, cooperation with Russia on military programs was frozen. In particular, the joint work of Khartron and NPO mash was one of the first to be curtailed.

The Object 4202 aeroballistic hypersonic unit was successfully tested using the RS-18 intercontinental missile, life.ru reports.

October 25, 2016 from base missile forces The RS-18 intercontinental ballistic missile was successfully launched for strategic purposes in the Orenburg region. “Combat equipment” was delivered to the area of ​​the Kura training ground, located on the Kamchatka Peninsula. Most likely, we are talking about aeroballistic hypersonic combat equipment, that is, the AGBO “object 4202,” reports bmpd.livejournal.com.

The RS-18 missile has been in service for quite a long time (since 1975). Therefore, specialists are much more interested in the payload of this rocket than the launch itself. The fact is that “object 4202” is a guided hypersonic warhead, which, according to some information, is being developed for the Sarmat missile. It is assumed that Sarmat will be able to carry at least three such blocks.

After being accelerated by an intercontinental ballistic missile and placed on a ballistic trajectory, the hypersonic combat unit can maintain a speed of several machs and a low-flying trajectory that is as difficult as possible for its interception. At the same time, the hypersonic unit can maneuver during flight, which greatly complicates its interception by an anti-missile missile.

OKR "4202", product 15Yu71, complex 15P771

Aeroballistic hypersonic combat equipment (AGBO, source) / controlled hypersonic warhead of ICBMs. The development of the device on the topic "4202" began before 2009 and is being successfully carried out by NPO Mashinostroeniya (Reutov). Since March 18, 2011, chief designer and deputy general director Pavel Aleksandrovich Sudyukov was appointed "NPO Mashinostroeniya" on the topic "4202". The customer of R&D "4202" is the Russian Federal Space Agency. In the New Year's message of NPO Mashinostroeniya dated December 28, 2012, the topic “4202” was named one of the most important for the corporation for the next few years.

Probably, the 15YU71 warhead was created on the basis of the 15YU70 guided warhead developed by NPO Mashinostroyenia, which, according to Western data, was tested from 1990 to 2004.

All data on the complex is speculative and taken from open sources and the media. A list of sources is attached.

Launch of the RS-18 ICBM with the Condor-E satellite from a silo launcher from the Baikonur test site, 12/19/2014.

Pilot production. In 2009, by order of NPO Mashinostroeniya on the topic "4202", he performed work at the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center (source). At the end of 2009 - beginning of 2010 At the pilot production of NPO Mashinostroeniya, as part of the reconstruction and technical re-equipment on the topic "4202", equipment for heat treatment of metals and alloys was updated. Probably, the assembly of the first prototypes of the device was carried out as of 2010 by the pilot production of NPO Mashinostroeniya. At least in 2011, the Strela software company (Orenburg) joined the work on the topic “4202” - according to the results of 2011, the topic “4202 with AGBO” occupied 2% of total volume produced by Strela software. In 2011-2012 At PA "Strela" (Orenburg), production was reconstructed for serial production of products "4202" (source). FSUE "VIAM" was also reconstructed and technically re-equipped to prepare for mass production of high-temperature insulation materials for the product "4202" (source). In 2012, reconstruction and technical re-equipment of the production and test bench base of NPO Mashinostroyenia was carried out to organize serial production of order 42-02 (source). Previously, in the late 1980s - early 1990s, production of 15F178 guided warheads for the 15A18M ICBM was carried out at the Strela Production Association in Orenburg; testing of these units was stopped in the first half of the 1990s.

Tests. Probably, the prototype of object "4202" made the first test flight in the launch of the RS-18B / 15A35 / UR-100NUTTH ICBM, which took place from a silo launcher from the Baikonur test site as part of the "Safety-2004" exercise on February 18, 2004 (at 12-00 p.m. Moscow time). The launch was carried out at the Kura training ground. On February 19, 2004, at a press conference, First Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Yuri Baluevsky said: “During the training, a spacecraft was tested that is capable of flying with hypersonic speed, while performing maneuvers both in heading and altitude." According to Western data, the 15YU70 / product 102 device was tested during the launch.

Launch of the RS-18 ICBM with the Condor-E satellite from a silo, probably from the Baikonur test site, 12/19/2014 (NPO Mashinostroyenia Annual Report for 2014).

To carry out tests on the topic "4202" in 2009, it was planned to begin converting the launch complex 15P718 at site No. 109 at the Baikonur test site into the launch complex 15P771. Apparently, this conversion was not carried out. At the same time, probably at the ICBM base in Yasny, one of the silos was converted for testing the complex (see information about the launch below).

It is possible that tests of the "4202" product were also carried out at the end of December 2013 or in early January 2014 - in a series of tests of strategic missile systems.

It is believed that on February 26, 2015, a test launch of the UR-100NUTTH ICBM with object “4202” was carried out from a silo from the ICBM base in Yasny (Orenburg region). The launch took place at 13:00 local time. There is no information on the results of the test launch, just as there is no official information about this test.

On July 15, 2016, the media announced that starting in 2017, tests of object 4202 will be carried out as part of tests of the Sarmat ICBM.

Presumably launch of the UR-100NUTTKh ICBM with payload on December 27, 2011, Baikonur test site.

Deployment and adoption. Plans for the adoption or deployment of "4202" objects have not been announced as of March 2015. We can assume the use of 15YU71 ICBMs - missiles of the UT-100NUTTH type and, in the future, RS-28 Sarmat - as carriers. According to Western data published in June 2015 (source), 24 such combat aircraft(combat units) can be deployed in the Dombarovsky regiment of the Strategic Missile Forces (Yasny settlement) in the period from 2020 to 2025.

Launch and ground equipment:
- silo 15P771 - by 2011, SKTB-16 developed documentation for the conversion of the launch facility 15P716 ICBM R-36MUTTH. The re-equipment is supposed to be carried out by SKTB-16 (source). As of 2013, SKTB-16 is developing installation and technological documentation for combat missile complex 15P771 for theme "4202".

Serial production of parts for the silo complex is planned to be carried out at the Barrikady Production Association (Volgograd) in 2011-2012. For work on this project, reconstruction and technical re-equipment of production was carried out (source). Ground equipment on the topic "4202" within the framework of the 2013 State Defense Order was also planned to be produced at the Vympel MMZ (Moscow, source).

Transport and launch container for the product according to design and development work "4202" - 15Ya54-4202.

By 2011, Design Bureau "Motor" created a set of transport and technological equipment for the "4202" complex.

Installation of the “space” warhead on the 15A35 / UR-100UNTTH launch vehicle, refueling of the launch vehicle, launch vehicle before launch into the silo.

Object "4202":

Design- presumably, the structure of the object has complex profiles and includes compartments F1, F2 and F3. Special thermal protective and radio-absorbing coatings are applied to the object’s body (source). The body frame of compartment F1 has a complex contour-forming shape (source).

R&D work to develop the design and manufacturing technology of the outer body of the "4202" product for bench and flight tests was planned to be carried out at UNIIKM (Perm) in 2012.

Materials- non-metals are used in the design of compartments F1, F2 and F3.

Object "4202" is equipped with a thermoregulation system "7301" developed by NPO "Nauka". Working design documentation for STR "7301" was released in 2007.

Control system: probably autonomous inertial using an on-board computer. The controls are presumably aerodynamic.

Object performance characteristics:
Length - estimated 5.4 - 7 m

Warhead type:
- nuclear or conventional high power (presumably source).

Modifications:
Object "4202", product 15Yu71, complex 15P771 - the basic version of the complex with the 15A35 / UR-100UNTTH launch vehicle.

Launch vehicle "Strela" based on the 15A35 / UR-100UNTTH ICBM.

Object "4202", RS-28 "Sarmat" ICBM - a proposed variant of the complex with the RS-28 "Sarmat" launch vehicle. It is likely that the Sarmat ICBM will be able to carry several (at least three) 4202 objects. The placement of warheads of this type on the promising Sarmat ICBM is confirmed by Western data from June 2015

Russia is testing a new hypersonic glide vehicle, the Yu-71 (Yu-71), which is capable of carrying nuclear warheads. The Washington Free Beacon reported this on June 28, citing a publication by the famous British military analytical center Janes Information Group.

According to WFB, Russia has been developing the device for several years, but its first tests were carried out in February of this year. The device is allegedly part of the Russian secret project "4202" associated with the missile program. According to the authors of the publication, this will give Russia the opportunity to be guaranteed to hit a target with only one missile. According to the Washington Times, Russia intends to use the hypersonic military project as a tool of pressure during arms control negotiations with the United States.

Hypersonic vehicles like the one created by Russia are extremely difficult to track and shoot down, since they move along an unpredictable trajectory, and their speed reaches 11,200 km/h, experts from the British center note. According to them, up to 24 of these hypersonic aircraft (combat units) can be deployed in the Dombarovsky regiment of the Strategic Missile Forces in the period from 2020 to 2025. Previously, this designation - Yu-71 - did not appear in open sources.

It is worth noting that even retired generals of the Strategic Missile Forces prefer to refrain from commenting on object “4202”, citing the confidentiality of the topic and possible consequences discussion of this topic.

Plans for adopting “4202” objects into service were indeed not announced. But it is known that the development of the devices is being carried out by NPO Mashinostroeniya (Reutov), ​​and it began before 2009. The formal customer of the R&D “4202” is the Russian Federal Space Agency, which, according to some experts, can serve as a kind of “cover.” In the New Year's greeting from NPO Mashinostroyenia in 2012, facility 4202 was named one of the most important for the corporation for the next few years.

Most likely, the first test of the device from object “4202” was carried out not in February 2015, as British experts claim, but as part of the “Safety-2004” exercises at the Baikonur training ground, because at a press conference the then First Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces Russia Yuri Baluevsky stated that during the training, a spacecraft was “tested that is capable of flying at hypersonic speeds, while performing maneuvers both in course and in altitude.”

Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Missile and Artillery Sciences (RARAN), Doctor of Military Sciences Konstantin Sivkov says that the current warheads of intercontinental ballistic missiles in the passive phase also develop hypersound. However, the difference between a promising hypersonic warhead most likely lies in the fact that it does not simply act as a ballistic warhead, but follows a rather complex trajectory, that is, it maneuvers like an aircraft at enormous flight speed.

It is possible that specialists on the topic “4202” use Soviet technologies, which were worked on by one of the leading developers of Soviet aerospace technology, Gleb Lozino-Lozinsky. Let me remind you that he was the project manager for the aerospace fighter-bomber “Spiral”, the leading developer of the Buran spacecraft, and supervised the project for the reusable aerospace system “MAKS” and a number of other programs where work was carried out, including on hypersound.

You need to understand that hypersonic warheads are quite heavy - 1.5-2 tons. Therefore, it can probably become a light warhead (after all, the latest tests were carried out on the UR-100N UTTH), but the ICBM, which should be put into service by the end of the decade, will be able to throw several such warheads at once, which will follow complex trajectories, which will make them virtually invulnerable to enemy missile defense systems. For example, even in intercepting old ballistic missiles whose warheads do not maneuver, ground-based transatmospheric American GBI interceptors provide a very low probability of destruction - 15-20%.

If our Strategic Missile Forces actually adopt missiles with hypersonic warheads by 2025, then this will be a rather serious application. It is logical that in the West, ICBMs with hypersonic warheads are called Moscow’s new possible trump card in negotiations with Washington. As practice shows, the United States can be brought to the negotiating table with only one the only way- put into service systems that will make Americans truly afraid.

In addition, Russia is also developing hypersonic cruise missiles that can fly at low altitudes. Accordingly, their defeat by promising missile defense systems is problematic, because these are, in fact, aerodynamic targets. In addition, modern missile defense systems have limits on the speed of hitting targets within 1000 m/s: as a rule, the speed of an interceptor is 700-800 m/s. The problem is that when firing at a high-speed target, the interceptor missile must be able to maneuver with overloads measured in tens and even hundreds of g. Such missile defenses do not yet exist.

Editor-in-chief of the Arsenal of the Fatherland magazine, member of the Expert Council under the Chairman of the Military-Industrial Commission under the Government of the Russian Federation Victor Murakhovsky notes: it is no secret that the combat equipment and payload of our ICBMs are constantly being improved.

And when President V. Putin, speaking on June 16 at the Army-2015 forum, said that this year the nuclear forces would be replenished with more than 40 new intercontinental missiles, all the media paid attention to this figure, but somehow missed the continuation of the phrase - " which will be able to overcome any, even the most technically advanced missile defense systems».

In the program to improve combat equipment, work is underway, including the creation of hypersonic maneuvering warheads precisely on the maneuver trajectory - after disengagement of the payload, which will make it possible to really ignore any conceivable promising missile defense system. Yes, the intercontinental ballistic missiles in service with the Strategic Missile Forces still have units that deploy at a speed of 5-7 kilometers per second. But it’s a completely different matter to carry out a maneuver, and a controlled one, at such speeds.

It is quite possible that these warheads can be installed on the new Sarmat heavy missile, which will replace the legendary Soviet R-36M2 Voevoda in the army. I think that in the future similar warheads will be installed on missiles entering service with the Strategic Missile Forces.

According to information from open sources, on February 26, the launch of “object 4202” was carried out by the UR-100N UTTH missile system, whose serial production continued until 1985. This missile is a modification of the Stiletto (UR-100N, according to NATO classification - SS-19 mod.1 Stiletto)…

The service life of this missile system seems to have been extended until 2031, and it is used only for testing. Naturally, this missile is examined before each launch, but it has always demonstrated reliability. So, our payload is launched into orbit by Dnepr launch vehicles - the launch vehicles, to put it mildly, are no longer young, but also reliable, during the operation of which, as far as I remember, no major accidents occurred.

- The media have repeatedly reported that the Chinese, in addition to the WU-14, are developing a hypersonic cruise missile.

Hypersonic missiles are, of course, a completely different direction. To be honest, I don’t really believe in the emergence of such weapons, even in the long term, since I can’t imagine how a cruise missile can be accelerated to hypersound in dense layers of the atmosphere. Of course, you can build something gigantic, but in relation to the payload it will be an absolutely irrational use of funds.

In the United States, hypersonic projects within the framework of the implementation of the “Prompt Global Strike” concept are being developed by various departments: the X-43A aircraft - NASA, the X-51A rocket - the Air Force, the AHW vehicle - the Ground Forces, the ArcLight rocket - DARPA and the Navy, the Falcon HTV-2 glider - DARPA and the Air Force. Moreover, the timing of their appearance is different: missiles - by 2018-2020, reconnaissance aircraft - by 2030.

All these are promising developments, it’s not for nothing that there are so many of them. For example, the AHW project, according to various sources, is also a combined weapon consisting of a three-stage launch vehicle and a hypersonic warhead itself. But it is difficult to say how far the Americans have progressed in development of this project (the tests were considered either successful or unsuccessful).

As you know, the Americans did not particularly bother about equipping their missiles with missile defense penetration systems, meaning, for example, the creation of a “cloud” of false targets around a real warhead.

In the middle of the summer of this year, with the light hand of American journalists, the foreign press began to discuss the promising Russian project of a hypersonic aircraft. Foreign journalists managed to find out that this development is designated “4202” and Yu-71, and also established some speculative facts about the progress of the project. However, the bulk of information about the Russian project is classified, which is why the discussion of few facts gradually turned to making assumptions and assessments, as well as real speculation.

It should be noted that the “4202” project really exists and work on it has been going on at least since the beginning of the current decade. However, despite the great interest from the public, basic information about this development still remains classified. However, some fragmentary data about the promising project have already been announced in various open sources. They do not provide a complete picture, but they do provide an opportunity to get a general idea of ​​the latest project.

The first known mention of the topic “4202” refers to the report on the activities of the NPO Mashinostroeniya corporation for 2009. This document mentioned certain works that were carried out by the State Research and Production Space Center named after GKNPTs at the request of the corporation. Khrunicheva. At the same time, the project was mentioned in the context of a trial: NPO Mashinostroeniya owed a related organization more than half a million rubles. The report indicated that by January 1, 2010, the court made a decision to partially satisfy the claim of the State Research and Production Space Center named after. Khrunichev, however, for obvious reasons, details of the project itself were missing.

Launch of the UR-100N UTTH ICBM in launch vehicle configuration. Baikonur, December 14, 2014

The newspaper "Tribuna VPK" (corporate publication of NPO Mashinostroeniya) in its 13th issue for 2010 briefly mentioned a promising project. The article “Highest class of low zone” mentions that when organizing the production of “a complex water-forming body frame for compartment F1 on topic 4202,” the company’s specialists had to use several original solutions to produce a part of complex shape on a CNC milling machine. As a result, all the assigned tasks were successfully solved, resulting in the creation of a very complex contour part of the frame.

The next time the “4202” project is mentioned in the article “Non-metals workshop. Today and Tomorrow” in the 21st issue of the newspaper for the same year. According to this material, the workshop is actively involved in the implementation of a promising project and is engaged in the manufacture of non-metallic parts for compartments F1, F2 and F3 of the new product, supplied by related enterprises. Naturally, no details regarding the products were mentioned.

Later, information appeared about another related organization participating in the project. So, in 2011-12, the Orenburg production company Strela, preparing to participate in the 4202 project, carried out some modernization of production facilities. According to available data, after completing the reconstruction of its workshops, the organization was supposed to take part in the serial production of promising products.

It can be assumed that at the same time, the production facilities of the project’s parent enterprise, NPO Mashinostroeniya, also underwent modernization.

In the 47th issue of the newspaper "Tribuna VPK" for 2012, a New Year's greeting was published from the general director and general designer of NPO Mashinostroeniya, Alexander Leonov. In his address to his colleagues, the head of the enterprise noted that the President of Russia had identified tasks for the near future on the promising topic “4202”. As before, the company representative avoided unnecessary details that should not be published in the press.

Confirmed data on the appearance of the product “4202” or Yu-71, as it is called in some sources, is not yet available. For now, we can only try to guess what the hypersonic aircraft being created looks like. Russian industry. Some assumptions in this regard can be made based on data on other hypersonic programs, including foreign ones. The version about the relatively complex external contours of the device is to a certain extent confirmed by an old article in the newspaper “Tribune VPK”.

It is known that the new product contains at least three separate compartments with different equipment. In addition, there is reason to believe that both metal and non-metallic units are used in the design of the device. For obvious reasons, specific materials remain unknown.

Information about the use of the “4202” product as a promising combat equipment for intercontinental ballistic missiles suggests that it has the ability to carry a warhead, and is also equipped with a guidance system and certain controls.

All available data on the progress of the 4202 project suggests that the promising hypersonic product entered testing no earlier than 2010-12. However, there are other assumptions. For example, in February 2004, an ICBM of the UR-100N UTTH type was launched at the Baikonur test site for a training purpose at the Kura test site. Soon, First Deputy Chief of the General Staff Yuri Baluevsky said that during this training, a certain spacecraft was tested that is capable of flying at hypersonic speed, as well as maneuvering in course and altitude. Thus, it can be assumed that the 2004 launch had something to do with the current "4202" theme.

At the very end of 2011, the Interfax news agency, citing a high-ranking source in the General Staff, reported that in 2010, the Strategic Missile Forces conducted the first successful test launch of a missile with advanced combat equipment. At the same time, it was reported that a test launch of the UR-100N UTTH missile was planned for December 27, carrying new combat equipment with the ability to overcome existing and future missile defense systems. It was not specified which warheads were tested in 2010 and 2011.

According to unconfirmed reports, two more test launches of the UR-100N UTTH ICBM with advanced combat equipment took place in 2013 and 2014. The Russian Ministry of Defense or the defense industry did not comment on this information. Thus, information from foreign sources about two missile launches with “4202” products on board may not correspond to reality.

The reason for mass discussions this summer was information about the tests of the hypersonic vehicle “4202” at the end of February. According to some foreign publications and specialized portals, on February 26, the next test launch of the “4202” product took place, the carrier of which was again the UR-100N UTTH rocket. As before, the military did not refute or confirm the version of testing hypersonic technology.

If the available fragmentary information is true, then at present the prototypes of the “4202”/Yu-71 product are carried by UR-100N UTTH ballistic missiles. However, these missiles can hardly be considered as carriers of advanced combat equipment used on combat duty. Products of this type have long been discontinued and are gradually being phased out.

Thus, one of the promising ICBMs currently being developed could become the real carrier of new combat equipment. The analytical center Jane's Information Group believes that the most likely carrier of warheads of the 4202 type is the promising RS-28 Sarmat missile. There are also assumptions made about the composition of the combat equipment of such missiles. Known information about the two projects suggests that the Sarmat missile will be able to carry up to three 4202 products.

The current lack of information allows us to speak with confidence only about the very existence of the “4202” project and that Russian specialists It was possible to achieve certain successes, bringing it at least to the stage of building prototypes of promising technology. Other information is still fragmentary or generally inaccessible to the press, specialists and the general public.

According to various estimates, the use of hypersonic aircraft as warheads for ICBMs will significantly increase the strike potential of strategic missile forces. Due to the ability to maneuver, such delivery vehicles will be able to effectively break through existing and future anti-missile systems. Modern warheads flying towards the target along a ballistic trajectory at high speed, are quite a difficult target to intercept. A hypersonic vehicle capable of changing its flight path, in turn, will become an even more difficult target. Moreover, there is a right to exist the opinion that intercepting such targets is simply impossible at the moment.

If existing assumptions about the purpose of the “4202” products correspond to reality, then in the foreseeable future the Russian Strategic Missile Forces will be able to obtain a unique weapon that can significantly increase their combat potential. This means that ICBMs, already leading in a kind of race against missile defense, will receive an additional advantage that will make it extremely difficult to catch up with them.

Based on materials from sites:
http://ria.ru/
http://interfax.ru/
http://tass.ru/
http://freebeacon.com/
http://npomash.ru/
http://janes.com/
http://russianforces.org/
http://militaryrussia.ru/blog/topic-807.html