Absolute threat - Instant death from the dark depths - Impossible to protect against Sineva, Bulava missiles

From the dark depths of the oceans, where the sunlight does not reach and the sound of death travels silently, emerges the absolute threat. Missiles launched from under the water trace trajectories that can annihilate cities before they are even detected. Sixty-five years after the first "underwater threat" of the Cold War, the battle for dominance beneath the sea's surface continues—more silent, more deadly, more invisible than ever.

The idea

Sixty-five years ago, the Americans took the lead in the nuclear race, at sea. On November 10, 1960, the US Navy commissioned the Polaris A1 sea-launched ballistic missile—the world's first designed for launch from submarines. Nuclear submarines could now attack the USSR while remaining completely invisible. However, the Soviet Union very quickly balanced the situation. The idea of placing ballistic missiles on submarine carriers was born among Soviet weapons designers in the mid-1950s.

The Soviet Union and the US were hastily developing new means of transporting nuclear weapons to enemy territory. At that time, serial intercontinental missiles did not yet exist, but both sides had gained significant experience with medium-range missiles. The new idea envisioned placing them on submarines, which would secretly approach the enemy's coasts and launch devastating missiles.

The first missiles

In the autumn of 1954, the first sea-launched missile, the R-11FM—a modification of the land-based R-11—was launched from the Kapustin Yar test site. A year later, the first complete submarine ballistic missile was launched for the first time in history from the submarine B-67. It covered a distance of only 250 kilometers, but that was enough to realize that nuclear weapons on submarines had a great future. The Soviet Union gained new capabilities to strike Western Europe and the US.

The disadvantage

The first complete submarine ballistic missiles, both Soviet and American, had a serious drawback: submarines could only launch them from the water's surface. Furthermore, preparation for launch required a long time, making strategic submarines easy prey for air forces and surface vessels.

The first Soviet missile with a submerged launch was the R-21, adopted in 1963. For its time, it was a real innovation. Its range was 1,300 kilometers with a one-megaton warhead and 1,600 kilometers with 800 kilotons. The improved inertial guidance system ensured a deviation of just 2.8 kilometers. The main advantage, however, was the ability to launch from a depth of 40 meters.

The wet launch

Despite its respectable characteristics, the R-21 was significantly inferior to the American Polaris A1 (2,200 kilometers) and Polaris A2 (2,800 kilometers) missiles. To close the gap, a new carrier was needed. A few years later, the Soviet Union tested the R-27, capable of launching a one-megaton nuclear warhead over a distance of 3,000 kilometers.
The launch was performed using the technique called "wet launch". At the bottom of the R-27, there was a special adapter for connection to the launcher. The tanks were filled with air, the missile column was flooded with water, and the pressure was equalized with the surrounding environment. The cover was then opened, and the engine was activated. All domestic liquid submarine ballistic missiles used the same technique.

Pursuit

However, the drawback was the noise and the time required to fill the missile silos with water. If the submarine was under pursuit by an anti-submarine warfare vessel, the vessel could detect and destroy it.
Solid-fuel missiles have an advantage: they can be launched “dry”. The missile is ejected from the silo by a pyrotechnic charge, and the engine is activated only after it emerges above the sea surface. This method is quieter and faster, increasing the chances of a successful launch. Solid-fuel missiles include the Soviet R-31 (up to 4,200 km), R-39 (8,250 km), and the newer R-30 “Bulava” (9,300 km).

The underwater component

Today, Russian nuclear-powered submarines have several types of ballistic missiles.
First, the liquid two-stage R-29R, which equips the last submarine of the type 667BDR “Kalmar” - K-44 “Ryazan”. These missiles can launch three 200-kiloton warheads over a distance of 6,500 kilometers.

Secondly, the Navy possesses the family of three-stage liquid missiles R-29RM. Six “strategic” submarines of the type 667BDRM “Delfin” carry these missiles: K-51 “Verkhoturye”, K-84 “Yekaterinburg”, K-114 “Tula”, K-18 “Karelia”, K-407 “Novomoskovsk”, and the under-repair K-117 “Bryansk”. Each submarine has 16 silos.

The Sineva and Bulava missiles

The R-29RM was introduced over 30 years ago and has been upgraded several times. The latest variant, “Sineva”, reaches 11,550 kilometers. The warhead can carry up to ten independently targetable warheads of 100 kilotons each, or four 500-kiloton warheads with anti-missile defense countermeasures systems.
Finally, the most modern strategic submarines of project 955 “Borei” are equipped with solid-fuel ballistic missiles R-30 “Bulava”.

The “Bulava” can carry six independently targetable warheads of 150 kilotons each. The deviation does not exceed 350 meters. Among the advantages of the new submarine ballistic missile is the short duration of the active acceleration phase, during which missiles are most vulnerable to anti-missile systems. Furthermore, the “Bulava” can maneuver during acceleration, protecting it from kinetic interceptors that rely on a normal ballistic trajectory.

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