"Tempest" weighing 100 tons: The Drive recalled the heaviest cruise missile in the world

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The growing arms race between the leading world powers goes back to the last century, when the post-war USSR and the USA divided spheres of influence on the planet and created weapons that amaze the imagination of their contemporaries. In this regard, the American edition of The Drive recalled the Soviet development of the 50-60s called "The Tempest", which became the heaviest cruise missile in the world - its mass was about 100 tons.

In 1956, the Soviet military adopted the first in the Soviet Union liquid-propellant single-stage medium-range ballistic missile with a nuclear warhead R-5M, known in NATO as the SS-3 Shyster. However, even with the direct deployment of these missiles in satellite countries, the R-5M with a range of about 1200 km could not hit many important targets, including the US Air Force bombers in the UK or in the Pacific. The Soviet industry was tasked with developing a missile system that would have an intercontinental range.



By August 1, 1957, several prototypes of the B-350 "Tempest" cruise missile were made, one of which on that day passed the first flight tests, which ended in failure. From 1957 to 1960, 19 test launches were carried out, 14 of which were successful. In a test conducted in March 1960, the Tempest covered a distance of about 6,5 thousand km before hitting a target with an accuracy of 10 km thanks to its astronavigation guidance system. Given the power of the nuclear charge carried by the rocket, the hit accuracy achieved was quite acceptable.


By 1960, however, Soviet intercontinental ballistic missiles had become a reality, and the mighty "Tempest" with ramjet engines became an anachronism. Despite all its technical power, it was potentially vulnerable to American air defenses due to its relatively low final speed. In a modified form, the Tempest was used to launch experimental satellites into orbit.
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    2. +3
      16 December 2020 16: 35
      The storm today is interesting only as part of history, but it would not be bad to revive the N-1 rocket on a new technological base
      1. 0
        16 December 2020 17: 41
        Well, not really "history". Onyx became the heir to the Tempest. And now also Zircon.
        1. +5
          16 December 2020 21: 56
          Well, then you made a blunder. Onyx can be called the heir of the Termit anti-ship missile system, a late modification, the wings of which opened after leaving the launch container, and if you look even further, you can call one of the first Soviet anti-ship missiles of the Pike type ... The storm was originally developed for space flight, as a launch vehicle, or a strategic missile, not as an anti-ship missile. The rival of the Tempest was the royal P-7, which they could bring to mind before the Tempest. The designer of the Buri was the famous Soviet aircraft designer Lavochkin.