Page 31 - january

PROFESSIONAL ADVICE

The BZHRK includes a train of a
standard configuration for the complex,
consisting of modules:
• three three-car launch modules with RT-
23UTTKh ICBMs;
• command module consisting of 7 carriages;
• tank car with stocks of fuel and lubricants;
• two diesel locomotives DM-62.
The advantages of this railway complex
were obvious: it was impossible to track its
movements across the vast territory of the
USSR. Externally, the railway complex looks
like an ordinary train of refrigerated, postal-
baggage and passenger cars.
Fig. 2. Launcher with RT-23UTKh ICBMs.
When moving along the country's
railway network, the BZHRK made it possible to quickly change the deployment of the starting
position up to 1000 kilometers per day. With increased survivability, and a high probability of
surviving in the event of a strike, the BZHRK was supposed to form the basis of the retaliatory
strike grouping.
The Yuzhnoye design bureau is the lead developer. Academicians Vladimir and Alexey
Utkin are the chief designers of the BZHRK. V.F. Utkin, a specialist in solid fuel topics, designed
the launch vehicle. A.F. Utkin designed the launch complex, as well as the cars for the missile
carrier train. The rolling stock for the BZHRK was manufactured at the Kalinin Carriage Works.
Fourteen cars have eight wheelsets, and three have four. Three cars are disguised as cars
of the passenger fleet, the rest, eight-axle - "refrigerators". Thanks to the available supplies on
board, the complex could operate autonomously for up to 28 days.
The launcher car is equipped with an opening roof and a device for tapping the contact
network. The weight of the rocket was about 104 tons, with a launch container 126 tons.
The firing range is 10100 km, the length of the missile is 23.0 m, the length of the launch
container is 21 m, the maximum diameter of the rocket body is 2.4 m. To solve the problem
of overloading the launch car, special unloading devices were used, redistributing part of the
weight to neighboring cars.
Missiles can be launched from any point on the route. The launch car is almost identical
to a regular refrigerator, only it has eight wheelsets. The rest of the cars have four wheelsets;
these cars house the command post, systems that ensure combat readiness and missile launch.
The launcher car is equipped with an opening roof and a device for tapping the contact
network. The rocket weighs about 100 tons. To solve the problem of overloading the starting
car, special unloading devices were used, redistributing part of the weight to neighboring cars.

Stanochniy park 31