The Pentagon has officially acknowledged that a fundamentally new type of deterrent is being developed in Russia, which significantly exceeds the capabilities of traditional intercontinental nuclear missiles both in terms of power and in the secrecy of preparing to strike. We are talking about a nuclear torpedo with a range of 10,000 km and a charge capacity of up to 100 megatons.

This was reported by Defense News magazine, citing a preliminary draft of the new Nuclear Posture Review, a document defining the role of nuclear weapons in the US national security strategy. At the moment he is preparing for the President Donald Trump. The review contains a diagram that illustrates the development of the Status-6 intercontinental unmanned nuclear torpedo, which was named Kanyon in the United States.

The reality of the existence of this development, American intelligence was convinced back in November 2016, when, with the participation of a submarine special purpose B-90 "Sarov" were tested "Status-6".

It is understandable that this news was stormily responded. American media. The overwhelming majority of them took the prospect of a fundamentally new nuclear weapon in Russia more than seriously. And this is quite understandable and understandable.

True, there were also “optimistic” statements. So, senior researcher at the American James Martin Center for the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons Nikolay Sokov on the pages The National Interest expressed doubts about the effectiveness of "Status-6", calling it "a relic Soviet era».

“This concept is very old, going back to the days when ICBMs and submarine-launched ballistic missiles were few, unreliable and vulnerable,” Sokov said. “It's hard to see much value in a 100-megaton slow-moving rocket these days. vehicle».

It would be impossible not to agree with this, if we consider "Status-6" a torpedo. Yes, indeed, if you launch it at the hour "H", then it will come to the shores of America when everything is already finished. However, functionally, this weapon is a mine.

"Status-6" is sent in advance to autonomous navigation. And he, having a certain artificial intelligence, approaches the mainland at the distance necessary for effective operation. Then it goes into standby mode, which can last as long as you like. At hour "H" "Status-6" will work almost instantly - with a delay for the passage of the radio signal from Europe to America.

This weapon became known in November 2015, when during a meeting in Sochi on development issues defense industry held by the president Vladimir Putin, two federal TV channels, as if by mistake, showed a slide labeled "Top Secret". It contained the concept of the Status-6 ocean multipurpose strike system. "Lit" and the developer - TsKB "Rubin", and the purpose of the system being developed. The purpose is: "the defeat of important objects of the enemy's economy in the coastal area and the infliction of guaranteed unacceptable damage to the country's territory by creating zones of extensive radioactive contamination, unsuitable for military, economic and other activities in these zones for a long time."

It must be said that Nikolai Sokov, who declared the "antiquity" of the "Status-6" concept, is absolutely right. In the early 60s, the T-15 torpedo was developed in the Soviet Union, which had the same purpose. It was not difficult to place a 100-megaton warhead in a case that had a length of 24 meters. It was much more difficult to achieve a long range, since at that time there were no compact nuclear reactors for the power plant. And engines on other energy sources could provide a torpedo with a mass of 40 tons of travel no more than 50 kilometers.

Half a century later, the problem with a compact reactor was solved, in connection with which Russian designers remembered the "ancient" concept. At the same time, a significant technological breakthrough has occurred not only in nuclear energy, but also in electronic components, and in control systems, and in materials. "Status-6" is a completely different development, it has only the concept and the power of a nuclear charge in common with the T-15.

Enough is known about Status-6 to assess its real capabilities to deter an attempt to use weapons against Russia mass destruction. Its probable characteristics were the result of deciphering a slide by the Ministry of Defense that hit the TV screens. Experts, both domestic and foreign, conducted an analysis of this weapon, taking into account the scientific, technical and technological potential of the Russian military-industrial complex.

Most experts agreed that the reactor could have a capacity of 8 MW. It has a liquid metal coolant, thanks to which it is possible to significantly reduce noise, that is, increase the secrecy of the torpedo. The combination of such a powerful power system with a jet propulsion allows speeds in the range from 100 km / h to 185 km / h.

When analyzing the strength of the torpedo body, it was found that its working depth can reach 1000 meters. And this further increases its secrecy, since NATO submarines operate at a depth of 200-300 meters. It is extremely difficult to detect even at maximum speed. However, the speed of "Status-6" may vary depending on the situation. Since, as mentioned above, the autonomous execution of a combat mission is entrusted to a computer system that makes a torpedo an underwater robot, then "smart electronics" takes optimal solutions on how to overcome anti-submarine defense zones. And in particular the global SOSUS system, which controls the coast of the United States. "Status-6" is much harder to detect than the world's quietest submarine "Varshavyanka". According to the calculations, at a speed of a promising torpedo of 50 km / h, it is impossible to “see” it at a distance of less than 3 kilometers.

It is quite clear that in order to perform spatial and high-speed maneuvers when overcoming anti-submarine defense zones, Status-6 must have "sense organs", that is, an effective sonar.

However, even in the event of detection and a torpedo attack on Status-6, its interception is practically impossible. The fastest US torpedo Mark 54 has a speed of 74 km / h, that is, according to minimum estimates, less than 26 km / h. The deepest European torpedo with the formidable name MU90 Hard Kill, launched in pursuit, at top speed at 90 km / h is able to travel no more than 10 km.

It is quite understandable that a deterrent weapon, if used, should cause maximum harm to an adversary who has decided to bring the conflict into a nuclear phase. Based on these considerations, the Status-6 warhead should have a cobalt section, which should lead to maximum radioactive contamination of vast territories. It is estimated that when using a warhead of such power as a promising Russian torpedo, and with such features, with a wind speed of 25 km / h, a rectangle measuring 1700 × 300 km will be subject to long-term infection.

In conclusion, it must be said that the unmanned underwater robot is a multi-purpose weapon. It can also be used for other tasks. For example, with a non-nuclear warhead, it is capable of destroying the largest enemy ships, which primarily include aircraft carriers. Or conduct reconnaissance operations and return to the base submarine with the information collected. With his participation, it is also possible to disrupt enemy naval communications.

On Monday, November 9, during a meeting on the development of the military-industrial complex with the participation of Russian President Vladimir Putin television journalists filmed documents about the classified "Ocean multi-purpose system" Status-6 ". Press Secretary of the President Dmitry Peskov confirmed that the cameras of the federal channels really got materials that were not intended for wide publicity.

“Indeed, some secret data got into the camera lens, so they were subsequently deleted. We hope that this will not happen again,” the presidential press secretary said.

Peskov said he was not yet aware of anyone being punished for the incident, but promised that preventive measures would be taken to ensure that such leaks would not happen again.

What is "Status-6"?

Status-6 is an ocean-going multi-purpose system, which is being developed by the design bureau for the design of submarines of all classes of OAO TsKB MT Rubin. The materials filmed by journalists allow us to conclude that the main component of the system is a torpedo (designated as a "self-propelled underwater vehicle") equipped with a nuclear reactor. It carries a nuclear warhead with a capacity of 100 Mgt (the power of the Tsar Bomba, for comparison, is 57 Mgt). Travel speed - 185 km / h, torpedo range - 10 thousand km, travel depth - up to 1000 m. Military experts note that these characteristics are capable of providing a breakthrough for the US anti-submarine coastal system.

The purpose of the system is “to destroy important objects of the enemy’s economy in the coastal area and inflict guaranteed unacceptable damage to the country’s territory by creating zones of extensive radioactive contamination unsuitable for military, economic and other activities in these zones for a long time.”

Special nuclear submarines of projects 09852 "Belgorod" * and 09851 "Khabarovsk" ** are indicated as carriers of the torpedo. The Status-6 multi-purpose system is due to undergo military acceptance in 2020.

Why is "Status-6" called "Sakharov's torpedo"?

Most military experts call the Status-6 project a legacy of developments Academician Andrey Sakharov. His project T-15, nicknamed "Sakharov's torpedo", was an underwater self-propelled vehicle that was supposed to carry a thermonuclear charge to the shores of the enemy.

In his memoirs, Sakharov wrote about the T-15: “One of the first people with whom I discussed this project was Rear Admiral Fomin... He was shocked by the "cannibalistic nature" of the project and remarked to me that naval sailors were accustomed to fighting an armed enemy in open battle and that the very thought of such a massacre was disgusting to him.

Sakharov suggested using Project 627 nuclear submarines developed in the 1950s as a “delivery vehicle” for a powerful nuclear charge (100 megatons). According to his calculations, the explosion of such a bomb would form a giant tsunami wave that would destroy everything on the coast. The T-15 project remained at the level of drawings and sketches, since at that time submarine fleet The USSR did not have the ability to carry ballistic missiles.

What is the Central Design Bureau MT "Rubin"?

JSC "TsKB MT" Rubin "is the central design bureau of marine equipment, one of the world leaders in the design of submarines and the leading design bureau of underwater shipbuilding in Russia. “For more than 110 years of activity, we have accumulated vast experience in creating submarines of various classes. This experience is successfully used in the creation of not only military, but also civilian equipment. Central Design Bureau MT Rubin has become a recognized partner of oil and gas companies in terms of developing equipment for the development of oil and gas fields on the continental shelf.

Project 949AM multi-purpose nuclear submarine (NPS) "Belgorod" is an unfinished Russian nuclear submarine of the Antey class. It was laid down at the Sevmash Production Association on July 24, 1992 under serial number 664. On April 6, 1993, it was renamed Belgorod. The construction of the nuclear submarine was frozen after the sinking of the Kursk submarine of the same type in 2000.

The nuclear submarine (NPS) "Khabarovsk" of project 09851 was laid down on July 27, 2014 at OJSC PO "Northern Machine-Building Enterprise" in Severodvinsk. This is one of the most secret submarine cruisers of the Russian Navy, there is no information about the completion of the construction of the nuclear submarine in the public domain.

Status 6 weapon: 2015 photo, video, description. Secret weapon Russia. Status-6- oceanic multi-purpose weapon system. On November 11, 2015, the Status-6 nuclear torpedo project was "accidentally" shown on federal TV channels. To be more precise, a slide was shown for a few seconds, which depicts the project of an oceanic multi-purpose weapon system, if you take the recording from the First HD channel, you can make out some parts of the text.

“Indeed, some secret data got into the camera lens, so they were subsequently deleted. We hope that this will not happen again in the future,” said Dmitry Peskov, press secretary of the president.

Ocean multi-purpose system "Status-6"

Lead contractor - OJSC "TsKB MT "Rubin"

Purpose: defeating important objects of the enemy's economy in the coastal area and inflicting guaranteed unacceptable damage to the country's territory by creating zones of extensive radioactive contamination unsuitable for military, economic and other activities in these zones for a long time.

After showing the material to the newspaper, the WBF and Russian Forces transcribed the slide, laying out the following results:
The torpedo is intended primarily for radioactive contamination of coastal cities in the United States (comments note that arming with a warhead of tens of megatons is also possible);
Diving depth 3200 feet (1000m);
Torpedo speed 56 knots (103 km/h);
Range 6,200 miles (10,000 km);
Project 09852 and 09851 nuclear submarine torpedo carriers;
The torpedo is equipped with a nuclear reactor (for the T-15 Academician Sakharov assumed the use of a direct-flow water-steam nuclear reactor);
The torpedo is controlled from special command ships;
Auxiliary vessels are created to service the torpedo;
The torpedo can also be transported by the Sarov submarine and a "special vessel", according to Pavel Podvig from the RussianForces portal who was the first to notice the "leak", a special vessel is used in case of torpedo accidents;
The torpedo should be ready by 2019 and pass military acceptance in 2020.

From which it follows that the photo and video material about "Status-6" simply cannot be, because. based on the WBF and Russian Forces transcripts, the torpedo (with a high degree of probability) will only go into service after 2020.

Photo and video Status-6

Video plot of the TV channel First HD, shown on TV channels on November 11, 2015:

(slide shown at 1:39).

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Putin showed "Kuzkin's mother"

"Status-6": the General Staff scares the West with the apocalypse

The media "accidentally" filmed new development, capable of eliminating America from the depths.

Without exaggeration, the stunning document hit the lenses of the TV channels of two federal media at a meeting on development of the defense industry in Sochi, which was held on November 9, 2015 by Vladimir Putin. Recall that then the president said that Russia would develop percussion systems capable of overcoming any system missile defense.

NTV and Channel One showed stories (now deleted), where, allegedly by chance, through the back, presumably, the head of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces, Colonel-General Andrei Kartapolov, the concept and timing of the implementation of the development, which, in theory, is stamped "Top Secret", namely, the ocean multi-purpose system "Status-6".

As you can see from the screenshot, its developer is Rubin Central Design Bureau MT. This is one of the leading Soviet and Russian enterprises in the design of submarines, both diesel-electric and nuclear, for example, the Borey SSBN.

The purpose of the system is “to defeat important objects of the enemy’s economy in the coastal area and inflict guaranteed unacceptable damage to the country’s territory by creating zones of extensive radioactive contamination unsuitable for military, economic and other activities in these zones for a long time.”

Two nuclear submarines are depicted as intended carriers: the Belgorod special-purpose nuclear submarine under construction - an unfinished Antey-class cruiser, which was relaid on December 20, 2012 according to a special project 09852, and also a special-purpose submarine laid down on July 27, 2014 at Sevmash "Khabarovsk" project 09851.

First, it should be said about special purpose submarines. On August 1, in Severodvinsk, a ceremony was held to withdraw workshop No. 15 of the special-purpose nuclear submarine BS-64 Podmoskovye from the boathouse. The submarine was converted from a Project 667BDRM K-64 missile carrier into a boat designed to work with nuclear deep-sea stations (AGS) and uninhabited underwater vehicles in the interests of the top-secret Main Directorate for Deep-Sea Research (GUGI) of the Russian Defense Ministry. This boat has yet to undergo mooring and then factory sea trials, after which the BS-64 "Podmoskovye" in the fleet will replace the boat "Orenburg", in 1996-2002 also converted from a project 667BDR missile carrier.

During sea trials, the BS-64 will presumably interact with the AGS of the Kashalot, Halibut and Losharik projects. Or rather, to be the carrier (womb boat) of one or another “baby”, as the AGS is also called. The carrier secretly delivers a mini-submarine (AGS), which has a low speed, to the desired area, after which it disconnects it for autonomous operation.

"Orenburg" and AGS are part of the mysterious 29th separate brigade submarines of the Northern Fleet, which performs tasks in the interests of the GUGI. For reference: until 1986, the "kids" were not included in the Navy, but were part of the General Staff unit associated with the GRU. We also note that the former commander of the 29th OBR submarine of the Northern Fleet, Rear Admiral Vladimir Dronov, and more than ten officers bear the title of Heroes Russian Federation(For information on what tasks can be performed by special-purpose nuclear submarines and AGS, see the material - Nuclear Submarine "Podmoskovye": an underwater reconnaissance aircraft is preparing for hunting).

Now with regard to the Status-6 system. In early September of this year, the American edition of The Washington Free Beacon reported that Russia was allegedly creating an "underwater drone" codenamed "Canyon", capable of carrying nuclear weapon with a capacity of tens of megatons and threaten US ports and coastal cities.

Then the naval analyst Norman Polmar suggested that the Canyon system was based on the Soviet T-15 straight-line nuclear torpedo with a capacity of 100 megatons (the idea of ​​Academician Sakharov), which was designed in the 50s just for striking coastal targets in the territory USA.

In his memoirs, Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov said the following about this: “One of the first with whom I discussed this project was Rear Admiral Fomin ... He was shocked by the“ cannibalistic nature ”of the project and noted in a conversation with me that military sailors were used to fighting an armed enemy in open battle and that the very thought of such a massacre is disgusting to him.

Interestingly, for security reasons, as well as taking into account other factors, the T-15 torpedo was developed without the participation of Navy. The Navy learned about it only through the project of the first nuclear submarine.

Note that at one time it was for such a large torpedo that the first Soviet nuclear submarine of project 627 was specially created, which was supposed to have not eight torpedo tubes, but one - with a caliber of 1.55 meters and a length of up to 23.5 meters. It was assumed that the T-15 would be able to approach the American naval base and, with a super-powerful charge of several tens of megatons, demolish all life. But then this idea was abandoned in favor of a submarine with eight torpedoes, which could solve a whole range of tasks. And as a result, nuclear submarines of project 627A were created.

Military historians claim that the Soviet admirals, having familiarized themselves with the project in 1954, declared with confidence that the submarine would certainly be destroyed on the way to the American base. Moreover, the entrances to all American bases for many kilometers close the winding shores of bays, islands, shoals, as well as booms, steel nets. Like, such obstacles on the way to the object of the T-15 torpedo cannot be overcome.

However, as military expert and historian Alexander Shirokorad said, in 1961 the idea of ​​the T-15 was revived again at the suggestion of Academician Andrei Sakharov.

- The fact is that in fact the tactics of using such a super-torpedo could be completely different. The nuclear submarine was supposed to secretly launch a torpedo at a distance from the coast much more than 40 km. Having used up all the energy of the batteries, the T-15 would lay down on the ground, that is, it would become an intelligent bottom mine. The torpedo fuse could be in standby mode for a long time for a signal from an aircraft or ship, which could be used to detonate a charge. The bottom line is that damage to naval bases, ports and other coastal facilities, including cities, would be inflicted by powerful shock wave- tsunami caused nuclear explosion…

That is, based on a document leaked to the media, Russia decided to revive the idea of ​​Academician Sakharov?

Alexander Khramchikhin, deputy director of the Institute for Political and Military Analysis, is convinced that such a scenario of an unplanned leak of information about developments labeled “Top Secret” in the media cannot exist in principle.

“There can be no doubt that this is a deliberate stuffing. The goal is to make a known adversary think about their actions. But, to be honest, I strongly doubt that the development under discussion will be implemented in hardware. That is, this leak is most likely pure water disinformation. If only because the creation of "zones of extensive radioactive contamination" does not require any additional development. Existing intercontinental missiles can do this anyway, the expert concludes.

Thus, the purpose of demonstrating the document in front of the lens of cameras with a top-secret system is to frighten and puzzle Western "partners".

However, if we assume that the development of such a system is really carried out by the Central Design Bureau MT Rubin? What does this mean?

Corresponding member of the RARAN, captain 1st rank of the reserve Konstantin Sivkov, commenting on this "leak" in the media, suggests that, apparently, we can talk about the fact that special-purpose submarines will solve combat missions in the future.

- If the Status-6 ocean multi-purpose system is really being developed, then this, in my opinion, can only indicate one thing - our leadership is aware of the likelihood of a military clash with the West and is taking measures to counter the American threat of a military-technical nature - the concept of "Fast global strike”, etc. And, apparently, the threat is quite serious, since we are talking about such a variant of guaranteed containment.

At one time, I put forward the idea (I also voiced it at the international military-technical forum "Army-2015") that Russia needs to develop an asymmetric mega-weapon that will eliminate any threat of a large-scale war against Russia, even in conditions of absolute superiority of the enemy in traditional systems defeat. Apparently, this development is in the same paradigm.

The fact is that from a geophysical point of view, the United States is a very vulnerable country. A guaranteed source of catastrophic geophysical processes there can be, first of all, an impact on the Yellowstone supervolcano to initiate a powerful eruption, as well as the explosion of a powerful munition in the area of ​​the San Andreas, San Gabriel or San Jocinto faults.

The impact of a sufficiently powerful nuclear weapon can provoke catastrophic events that can completely destroy the US infrastructure on the Pacific coast with large-scale tsunamis. The initiation of giant tsunamis is the idea of ​​Academician Sakharov. When several munitions are detonated at calculated points along the Atlantic and Pacific transform faults, according to scientists, a wave will form that will reach a height of 400-500 meters or more off the coast of the United States ...

It is quite realistic to initiate such large-scale geophysical processes. Since today it is possible to “fit” high-power ammunition into the weight and size characteristics, for example, of the same ICBM.

To strike targets on the coast of the United States: the ocean multi-purpose system "Status-6"

Press Secretary of the President Dmitry Peskov confirmed that in the plots of a number of Russian TV channels dedicated to the meeting held the day before with the President on defense topics, weapons systems that were still classified were demonstrated. “We hope that this will not happen again,” Peskov said, Interfax reports. The TV report of the NTV channel on the meeting chaired by Russian President Vladimir Putin on the development of the defense industry showed visual materials on the ocean multi-purpose system "Status-6".

Purpose - "the defeat of important objects of the enemy's economy in the coastal area and the infliction of guaranteed unacceptable damage to the country's territory by creating zones of extensive radioactive contamination, unsuitable for military, economic and other activities in these zones for a long time." The project 09852 Belgorod special-purpose nuclear submarine under construction is shown at the top left as the intended carriers, and the Khabarovsk special-purpose nuclear submarine of project 09851 under construction is shown on the right.

Recall that in the structure of the Ministry of Defense there is a top-secret Main Directorate for Deep Sea Research (GUGI). It is engaged in the training of specialists in the field of deep-sea activities, conducting scientific research in the field of scuba diving, monitoring of the World Ocean, search and rescue of sunken objects. These submarines are under his control.

The editor-in-chief of the National Defense magazine, Igor Korotchenko, in an interview with the VZGLYAD newspaper, refused to discuss whether the information was declassified on purpose. This assumption was made by many Russian publications on Wednesday evening.

“It is important that the United States received an absolutely clear signal that Russia is developing new strike weapons that make the American concept of missile defense meaningless. The Russian military-industrial complex will find military-technical solutions to neutralize any potentially dangerous American military programs for our country,” Korotchenko told the VZGLYAD newspaper. He recalled that there had been leaks about the creation of such weapons systems by Russia in the Western press before, but they were not specific. In particular, some time ago, the American press reported on the development in Russia of a top-secret underwater drone.

“The fact that such a system is being created is, to a certain extent, news to all of us, since it is, as it were, legalized. We proceed from the fact that there are opportunities for a potential aggressor to get hit even if he uses the concept of the so-called global lightning strike,” the expert is sure.

Korotchenko is sure that the published information was immediately reported to the US leadership and "American intelligence agencies now they will carefully analyze and predict the further development of events.” "Russia has shown that America's attempts to cover itself with a missile defense umbrella are absolutely pointless, there are opportunities for other non-traditional solutions for strategic parity between our countries," he said.

“In this regard, Russia is a self-sufficient military power, which once again demonstrates to the whole world that attempts to dictate by force, attempts to implement plans for a surprise strike on our country with the hope of depriving it of its nuclear status, is an absolutely senseless undertaking,” summed up Igor Korotchenko.

Tsunami of Academician Sakharov

In the light of yesterday's ummm... the leak, it would be useful to remember how it all began in the USSR and how it could end for the USA...

In the 1950s, the USSR planned to bring down a giant tsunami on America

Few people know that in the 1950s, the Soviet Union planned to flood the coastal cities of America - with the help of an artificial tsunami.

A giant wave with a height of more than 300 m comes from the Atlantic and falls on New York, Philadelphia, Washington, Annapolis. The wave reaches the roofs of skyscrapers. It is much higher than in the movie "The Day After Tomorrow". Another wave covers West Coast in the Charleston area. Two more waves hit San Francisco and Los Angeles. Just one wave is enough to wash away low-lying Houston on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, New Orleans, Pensacola.

All these giant tsunamis should have been caused not by an underwater earthquake and not by the fall of huge meteorites, but by a series of deep-sea thermonuclear explosions with a capacity of 100 Mt each. In 1952, Lavrenty Pavlovich Beria was offered to wash America off the face of the earth by a 30-year-old doctor of sciences Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov. It was the same humanist academician who was exiled to Gorky after speaking out against the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan. And in 1953 he received the title of academician, not least for this project.

Transport for a nuclear bomb

In August 1949, the first Soviet atomic bomb RDS-1. A few months later, the Soviet military produced several dozen bombs, which received the name "Tatiana" from the developers, since the product index began with the letter "T". At the same time, only the Tupolev Tu-4 bomber could deliver Tatyana to the territory of a potential enemy - almost exact copy obsolete American flying fortress B-29.

However, in 1952, this slow-moving, piston-engined Tu-4 was easy prey for American F-86 jet fighters. And most importantly, the Tu-4 could fly to the United States only by making an intermediate landing at an ice airfield at one of northern islands, and even on the ice floe North Pole. At the same time, the bomber crew did not have a return ticket. If there was enough fuel, then they were supposed to fly to the border with Mexico and jump out with a parachute.

True, Tupolev and Myasishchev worked on the creation of high-speed jet bombers Tu-16 and MZ, but they could only reach the target in the same way as the Tu-4. The ultra-long-range strategic bomber Tu-95 Tupolev has not yet dreamed of. It turned out that the nuclear bomb was invented and successfully tested, but how to use it if necessary, was poorly represented.

And in the meantime" cold war“was in full swing. American newspapers regularly published plans for the destruction of dozens and hundreds of Soviet cities by nuclear bombs. The war could start at any moment. Hundreds of American B-36, B-50 and B-29 strategic bombers were stationed at air bases in countries Western Europe, in Turkey, Pakistan and Japan. Dozens of them patrolled around the borders of the Union around the clock with nuclear bombs on board.

And here is a young physicist, a participant in the creation of nuclear and thermonuclear bomb, offers a super-original way to deliver a thermonuclear charge to the territory of a potential enemy.

city ​​killer

Andrei Sakharov proposed arming the first Soviet nuclear submarine (NPS) of project 627 with a huge 1550 mm caliber apparatus for the T-15 super torpedo with a thermonuclear charge. And for self-defense, equip it also with two torpedo tubes of a "normal" caliber of 533 mm. According to the plan, the super torpedo was supposed to carry a thermonuclear warhead with a power of up to 100 Mt! The explosion of such a bomb would lead to the formation of a giant tsunami and instantly destroy not only the coastal naval bases of the enemy, but also everything that was not far from the coast.

The project of this formidable weapon, apparently, was born in Sakharov's head shortly after July 14, 1952. On this day, the President of the United States Harry Truman took part in a grandiose show - the ceremonial laying of the world's first nuclear submarine "Nautilus". Externally, the "Nautilus" repeated the contours of conventional diesel-battery American submarines of the Second World War. Its armament consisted of six 533-mm torpedo tubes.

Seven weeks after the laying of the Nautilus, on September 9, 1952, Stalin signed the Decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR on the start of work on the "object 627". An interesting moment: the work was carried out in secret from the command of our Navy! The fact is that after the war, Stalin had a very low opinion of the moral character of our military leaders, he knew about their talkativeness, inclination to Bacchus. But unlike in 1937-1938, the leader did not imprison them, but simply blocked their access to development newest species weapons. So, our military learned about the creation of atomic and hydrogen bombs, ballistic missiles R-1, R-2 and R-5, the Kometa cruise missile, the Moscow Berkut air defense system only a few years after the start of work on them.

In June 1954, the construction of the first nuclear submarine began at plant number 402 in the city of Molotovsk (since 1957 - Severodvinsk). The construction of the ship under the terms of the secrecy regime was carried out at a specially created autonomous shipyard, which occupied the premises of a workshop that was built before the war to assemble tower installations for Project 23 battleships. At the same time, a ground-based prototype of a ship's nuclear power plant was created in Obninsk.

At the same time, a 1550 mm torpedo tube was designed and even manufactured. The mass of the warhead of the torpedo (not to be confused with the power of the bomb) was 4 tons, and the length reached 8 meters. The whole torpedo was 40-ton and 24-meter, occupying a quarter (!) Of the length of the created submarine. Powerful batteries provided the torpedo with a speed of up to 29 knots and a range of up to 40 kilometers. At the same time, the electric engine of the torpedo, in contrast to the conventional combined cycle, provided significantly less noise.

Torpedo turned mine

Information about this most secret development was divulged at the dawn of perestroika by Sakharov himself. However, speaking about the tactics of using supertorpedoes, the academician was cunning. According to him, the submarine was supposed to approach the enemy naval base 40 km and fire a torpedo at it, which was supposed to enter the inner bay of the base and explode. But, after talking with the admirals, the project leaders realized that with such tactics, the submarine, most likely, would have been deliberately destroyed on the way to the American base. The anti-submarine defense of the US Navy in the mid-late 1950s would hardly have let an enemy submarine into the 50-kilometer zone around its base. In addition, the entrances to most American naval bases covered the winding shores of bays, islands, and shallows for many kilometers. Even in Peaceful time the entrance to the base is covered by booms. So even without the enemy’s PLO system, the torpedo had no chance of getting into the pier.

In fact, the tactics of using supertorpedoes should have been completely different. The submarine was supposed to secretly launch a torpedo at a distance from the coast much more than 40 km. And not at the entrance to the base, but preferably away from it. The supertorpedo had to use up all the energy of the batteries and lie down on the ground. IN war time then the hour fuse was turned on, which worked only when the boat could be guaranteed to go to a safe distance. And in the pre-war period, the torpedo fuse could for a long time (days, weeks) be in the standby mode of the radio-silt and hydroacoustic signal, according to which the charge was detonated.

Thus, the super torpedo, having reached a predetermined point, became a bottom mine. Thanks to this system, several nuclear submarines of project 627 could covertly place thermonuclear charges in neutral waters near the most important enemy targets in the pre-war period.

The brutality that struck the military

In July 1954, military sailors were allowed to familiarize themselves with the T-15 torpedo project for the first time - a group of specialists led by Rear Admiral A.E. Eagle. Having learned about the essence of the undertaking, the sailors reared up. Many arguments have been put forward against the T-15 torpedo. And, in the end, they managed to convince N.S. Khrushchev to refuse to continue work on such a fantastic weapon. The main argument was the opinion of hydrographers and oceanologists. They concluded that the bottom topography off the east coast of the United States would significantly weaken the energy of the wave. The coast of the Gulf of Mexico, as well as the Pacific coast, was not considered at all.

The tragedy in New Orleans showed that our scientists made a big mistake or, most likely, succumbed to the pressure of the Navy command. After all, in Soviet time both hydrographers and oceanographers were very financially dependent on military sailors. Not the last role in making the final decision was apparently played by the "humanity" of the Soviet military. They remarked to Academician Sakharov that they were accustomed to fighting the enemy in open combat and that the idea of ​​such a massacre was itself disgusting to them. Indeed, in addition to the military, many civilians would inevitably suffer from a bomb explosion of such power. So, the T-15 torpedo of monstrous size, stored on the site of one of the workshops of the plant in Molotovsk, was forgotten for a long time.

And instead of equipping the submarine with this colossus, two alternative projects were proposed. According to the first, the Project 627 nuclear submarine was to be re-equipped with eight bow torpedo tubes of 533 mm caliber, but a T-5 combined-cycle torpedo with a nuclear warhead should be created for it. And later, submarines of all other projects could be equipped with T-5 torpedoes.

According to the second project (NPS P-627A based on project 627), the boat was to be equipped with one powerful cruise missile P-20, which was designed in OKB-240 under the direction of SV. Ilyushin. The P-20 flew three times faster than sound and could deliver the special unit "Product 46" to a range of 3,000 km. How the work on the P-20 went, and why it was not put into service is a topic for a separate discussion.

As for the T-5 nuclear torpedo, its warhead was first blown up on September 21, 1955 on Novaya Zemlya. On October 10, 1957, at the same range, the S-144 submarine (project 613) fired a T-5 torpedo at a group of target ships from a distance of 10 km. The boat immediately went over the stone cape for reinsurance. The explosion occurred at a depth of 35 m, the deviation from the aiming point was 130 m. However, six target ships were sunk by a nuclear explosion: two destroyers, two minesweepers and two submarines.

final fireworks

In conclusion, it is worth mentioning the fate of the 100-megaton warhead for the T-15 torpedo. This warhead, which later received the code "product 202", was manufactured in the second half of the 1950s. At first, an attempt was made to use the Tu-95 turbojet bomber as a means of delivery. But, alas, nothing came of it. As a result, the bomb lay peacefully in a warehouse in Arzamas-16, and the T-95 bomber adapted to carry it was written off as unnecessary and stood at the back of the airfield in the city of Engels, awaiting disposal.

But here the indefatigable N.S. intervened. Khrushchev, who was impatient to make a gift to the XXII Congress and at the same time show "Kuzkin's mother" to a potential enemy. As a result, the bomb was taken out of the warehouse, modernized, reducing its power from 100 to 50 megatons (the power of a bomb is a rather arbitrary thing, it all depends on the method of calculation). And on October 30, 1961, a Tu-95 bomber dropped a 50-megaton bomb from a height of 11.5 km in the area of ​​​​the Matochkin Shar Strait on Novaya Zemlya. The famous "Kuzkina's mother" became the most powerful explosion in the history of mankind and at the same time the last chord of the failed tsunami project of Academician Sakharov.

Alexander Shirokorad

Pentagon sources have confirmed that Russia is testing a new type of weapon - a giant torpedo with a terrifyingly powerful thermonuclear warhead, known as "Status-6", writes Popular Mechanics. "This is very bad news", the US military said.

According to US intelligence, the tests took place on November 27. The torpedo was fired from a special-purpose submarine B-90 Sarov, details are unknown. The author of a material published in The Washington Free Beacon on this topic calls the Russian underwater vehicle revolutionary: a torpedo with a nuclear power plant capable of moving at a speed of 90 knots at a depth of up to a kilometer. The range of the "Status" is 10 thousand kilometers, the size of the warhead is 6.5 meters. There, according to the Americans, a thermonuclear charge with a capacity of up to 100 megatons can be placed. Exploded off the coast of the United States, it will cause a giant tsunami that will wipe out coastal states along with naval bases, airfields and military factories.

According to experts, Status-6 is Russia's new asymmetric response to the US deployment of a global missile defense system. For the first time, the creation of a giant torpedo became a year ago, when a tablet with a description of a new weapon hit the lenses of television cameras at a government meeting on military issues. The Kremlin called the exposure of classified information an "accident". However, a number of political scientists consider it a deliberate "leak" and misinformation: according to the deadlines indicated in the tablet, it was planned to create the "Tsar Torpedo" in 2019.

Special-purpose submarines will be used as the carrier of the "Status" - in addition to the "Sarov" these are the "Belgorod" of the project 09852 "Antey" and the "Khabarovsk" of the project 09851, which are under modernization. the burden cannot be detected either from land or from a satellite.

The description of the system says that it is also designed to inflict guaranteed unacceptable damage to the enemy by creating zones of extensive radioactive contamination on the coast, unsuitable for human life for a long time. This description fits the cobalt bomb - a thermonuclear weapon described by one of the creators of the American atomic weapons Leo Szilard. The outer shell of such ammunition consists of cobalt-59, and its explosion guarantees the destruction of all life.

Tests of a cobalt bomb have never been carried out due to the unsuitability of the affected territories for development and the risk of destroying the entire biosphere of the Earth - according to calculations, this will require only 510 tons of cobalt. However, such a bomb giant torpedo as a means of delivery, they can be used as a deterrent weapon - together with a system on alert that guarantees a retaliatory strike with the entire power of Russia's nuclear forces even if command posts and personnel of the Strategic Missile Forces.