Storm (rocket)

In 1954, the USSR Council of Ministers decided to create unmanned intercontinental means for delivering nuclear charges with a range of at least 8,000 km. This decision provided for research and development in parallel in two competing areas: intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and intercontinental cruise missiles (MKR).

The work in the first direction was entrusted to OKB-1 under the leadership of S.P. Korolev .

The “Storm” rocket was the implementation of the second direction, the designator of which was OKB-301 (now “S. A. Lavochkin NPO” ), and the chief designer was N. S. Chernyakova .

The propulsion system ( LRE ) of the first stage was developed at OKB-2 under the guidance of the chief designer A. M. Isaev .

The ramjet direct -flow engine was designed at OKB-670 under the guidance of M. M. Bondaryuk .

The design of the rocket was designed for flights at intercontinental ranges (up to 8000 km), at altitudes up to 25 km, with a marching speed of 3.2-3.3 Mach , with anti-aircraft maneuvers at given points in time. The launch mass of the rocket is 95 tons, the mass of the march stage is 33 tons, the mass of the payload (warhead) is 2.35 tons.

A draft design was prepared in August 1954 . The flight design tests of the first prototype began in July 1957 at the Kapustin Yar training ground. The first launch from the Vladimirovka training ground in the Astrakhan region was an emergency.

In parallel with the prototype at the factory number 1 in Kuibyshev in 1958, the first series for flight tests (19 missiles) was released. ^[2]

The first successful flight took place on May 22, 1958 (the fifth missile launch). Later, test flights were also made from the Vladimirovka training ground in the Astrakhan region . The last (18th) launch, during which the rocket flew 6,500 km, took place on December 16, 1960 at the Kapustin Yar training ground. The ramjet engine worked fine, but the fuel consumption was much higher than the calculated one.

Actually obtained KVO - 4-7 km.

Meanwhile, back in 1957, it successfully passed state tests and was adopted by the ICBM R-7 , developed at OKB-1 under the leadership of S.P. Korolev. This cast doubt on the appropriateness of continuing work on the Borax, which was inferior to the P-7 in tactical and technical data : ICBM warheads were invulnerable to air defense systems of the time, while a cruise missile could be intercepted by these systems. In 1960, it was decided to cease work on the Storm MKR.

Regarding this decision, a group of chief designers sent a letter to Khrushchev asking for permission to continue the work. This request was supported by the academic supervisor of the topics “The Tempest” and “Buran”, Academician Keldysh and Minister of Defense Malinovsky. Khrushchev said that this work was useless and instructed the Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, Frol Kozlov, the second person in the party hierarchy after himself, to gather all those interested and explain the fallacy of their position.

At this meeting, Deputy Lavochkina Chernyakov tried to report on the results of the launches. Kozlov interrupted him: “Well, you boast that you have reached a speed of 3700 kilometers per hour. Our rockets now have speeds of more than 20,000 kilometers per hour. " Chernyakov realized that technical arguments were useless. When Malinovsky appeared, Kozlov sharply remarked to him why he supported the request to continue the work: “After all, Nikita Sergeyevich said that it was useless.” The Minister of Defense did not find anything better for the defense, except for the phrase: "This is me who got the designer confused."

It was at such a high governmental and low scientific and military-technical level that the fate of intercontinental cruise missiles was decided.

- B. E. Chertok , “Rockets and People”

When developing the “Storm” rocket, for the first time in the USSR, a number of technical and technological innovations were mastered:

• supersonic ramjet engine (SPVRD);
• automatic astronautical flight control system;
• machining and welding of titanium alloys .

The layout is a two-stage rocket with a longitudinal separation of steps.
The first stage (accelerator) - 2 missile blocks with LRE .
The second (marching) stage is a cruise missile with a ramjet engine .

According to the flight program, the rocket on the engines of the first stage starts vertically from the launcher, gradually turns into horizontal flight, and at a height of 17,500 m it accelerates to a speed of M ≈ 3 when the marching stage engine is switched on and the stages are separated. Then the cruise missile goes to the target at an altitude of 17-18 km according to the commands of the astronautical control system , when approaching the target it gains a height of 25 km (anti-aircraft maneuver) and dives at the target. The flight to the maximum range with the rise and acceleration lasts about 2.5 hours.

The sensors of the astronautical control system were located in the upper coke of heat-resistant quartz glass.
The warhead was supposed to be placed in the central body of the mid-flight ramjet entry device.

• Rocket
• M-40 (Buran)

• Evstafiev M. D. The Long Way to the "Borax" . - M .: University Book, 1999. - 112 p. - 1000 copies.

• Product "350" "Storm"
• Description of the design of the rocket "Storm"
• Video: Secrets of forgotten victories. "Storm".
• Work on ramjet and long-range cruise missiles with ramjet in the USSR (1947-1960)