X-90 (according to the classification of the US Ministry of Defense - AS-X-21 ) is the estimated index of the hypersonic cruise missile being developed by the ICB "Rainbow" . A prototype rocket created under the development program has the designation GELA ( hypersonic experimental aircraft) [3] . In a number of Russian-language sources, it is believed that the NATO code designation “Koala” has been transferred to it from the aviation version of the Meteorite rocket [2] . However, in Western sources, such a code transfer does not take place and only the name Gela [4] [5] [6] is assigned to AS-X-21.
| X-90 | |
|---|---|
| US Department of Defense classification: AS-X-21 | |
| Type of | Hypersonic cruise missile |
| Status | the project is closed [1] |
| Developer |  ICD "Rainbow" |
| Manufacturer | |
| Key Specifications | |
Weight = 15 t Speed, cruising = 4-5 M Wingspan = 6.8-7 m Length = 8-9 m Launch range = 3000–3500 km (RMD-2) BB number / power, pcs / ct = 2/200 [2] | |
The GELA itself was demonstrated at MAKS-95 [7] , but there are no clear and consistent data on the state of the program and the characteristics of the X-90 rocket in the sources. GELA was developed at the initiative of the Rainbow Design Bureau itself and is essentially a laboratory model. There is no official information on the interest of the Russian Ministry of Defense in the development of this missile. According to the developer, the work was suspended in 1992 [8] . In a number of sources it is mentioned that the development of the Rainbow Design Bureau on this topic began even during the USSR. Norman Friedman mentions the program for creating a hypersonic missile as the “1980-1985 program” [9] , according to which work was stopped in connection with perestroika and treaties on the reduction of offensive weapons [10] .
Content
Design and specifications
It was a cruise missile with a folding triangular wing and a fuselage, almost completely given over to a ramjet engine. The missile, according to the descriptions, was supposed to be equipped with a starting solid propellant rocket propulsion system and a marching engine air- propelled rocket or scramjet on kerosene. According to various sources, the marching Mach number of the X-90 rocket should be from 2 to 4.5. The estimated launch height is 7000-20000 m, range - 3000 km with a starting weight of 15 tons [11] .
Creation History
Soviet designers began working on the topic of supersonic missiles in the 1970s. According to Yuri Zaitsev [12] in 1980, the prototype X-90 reached a record speed of Mach 3-4 [13] . It was supposed to take the missile into service in 1983.
According to some reports, in the late 1980s. A successful launch of the X-90 was made from the carrier aircraft, and the rocket reached its design speed [11] .
Currently
On December 13, 2012, the representative of the ICD "Rainbow" in an interview [1] with the newspaper Izvestia stated the following:
GELA has been “out of date for 10 years” and “no prototypes have been produced there.” The design bureau does not know about any experimental flights.
- Perhaps, colleagues from TsAGI are talking about a formal decision, because the closure of the project is already a fait accompli. We have not been working with him for 10 years.
See also
- X-45
- Project 4202
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 Alexei Mikhailov. In Russia, suspended work on a hypersonic aircraft . Izvestia (December 13, 2012). Date of treatment February 21, 2013. Archived February 27, 2013.
- ↑ 1 2 X-90 / GELA (AS-19 "Koala") . site testpilot.ru . Date of treatment October 2, 2011. Archived March 18, 2012.
- ↑ News archive (05-14-2012). - Data from the website of Tactical Missile Corporation Corporation OJSC. Date of treatment July 13, 2012. Archived on August 7, 2012.
- ↑ Designations of Soviet and Russian Military Aircraft and Missiles . www.designation-systems.net . - Codes for Soviet and Russian missiles .. Date of treatment October 2, 2011. Archived February 19, 2012.
- ↑ 3M-25 Meteorit-A (Kh-80, AS-X-19 "Koala") and GELA (Kh-90) (Russian Federation), Air-to-surface missiles - Stand-off and cruise . janes.com website . - Annotation to the article about the X-80 and X-90. Date of treatment October 2, 2011. Archived March 18, 2012.
- ↑ Moreover, the name Gela itself is most likely a transliteration of the Russian GELA, as in NATO codes the designation of air-to-surface missiles always starts with "K". And the use of the AS-19 index is a clear mistake, since the abbreviation X is removed from the rocket index when it becomes serial from the experimental one. The very binding of the Koala code to the X-90 GEL is most likely due to the fact that for Meteorite-A (AS-X-19 “Koala”), in some sources, the designation X-90 ( AS-19 Koala / SS-N-24 SCORPION / Kh-90 Meteorit-A on warfare.ru)
- ↑ Vladimir Ilyin, Yuri Ponomarev. All colors of the Rainbow . Herald of the air fleet. Date of treatment July 12, 2012. Archived on August 7, 2012.
- ↑ History of the ICD Rainbow on the website of the Corporation Tactical Missile Weapons Corporation (Inaccessible link) . Date of treatment July 13, 2012. Archived on August 6, 2014.
- ↑ The result of the "program 1973-1978" he calls the creation of a supersonic anti-ship missile system " Mosquito "
- ↑ * Norman Friedman. The Naval Institute Guide to World Naval Weapon System, 1997-1998 . - Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1997 .-- P. 238. - 808 p. - ISBN 1-55750-268-4 .
- ↑ 1 2 S. Ptichkin. Fatal hypersound . "RG" (07/09/2015). Date of treatment July 13, 2015.
- ↑ Guests of the press center: Zaitsev Yuri . RIA News . Date of treatment January 5, 2014.
- ↑ The expert remembered the Soviet response to US hypersonic weapons - foreigners called the Koala apparatus