The hypersonic aircraft missile, code-named "Gremlin", will take off in two years: tests are scheduled for 2023. In some documents, the product is called GZUR-hypersonic guided missile. In terms of its dimensions, the Gremlin will be smaller than the previously adopted X-47M2 Dagger. Due to the small size of the GZUR, it will be possible to use it not only from the board of heavy bombers and MiG-31 interceptors. Its carriers can be the long-range supersonic missile carrier Tu-22M, as well as the Su-57, Su-30SM and Su-35 fighters. In fact, the Russian Air Force will receive a superweapon. After all, according to experts, it is almost impossible to repel the blow of such a complex with modern air defense systems.
The hypersonic aircraft missile, code-named "Gremlin", will take off in two years: tests are scheduled for 2023. In some documents, the product is called GZUR-hypersonic guided missile. In terms of its dimensions, the Gremlin will be smaller than the previously adopted X-47M2 Dagger. Due to the small size of the GZUR, it will be possible to use it not only from the board of heavy bombers and MiG-31 interceptors. Its carriers can be the long-range supersonic missile carrier Tu-22M, as well as the Su-57, Su-30SM and Su-35 fighters. In fact, the Russian Air Force will receive a superweapon. After all, according to experts, it is almost impossible to repel the blow of such a complex with modern air defense systems.
"The product is 70»
At the operational mobilization meeting on February 9 this year, the head of the Defense Ministry, Sergei Shoigu, said that it was precisely high-precision hypersonic complexes of various bases that would be used to strengthen the potential of Russia's non-nuclear deterrence. The day before, he held a meeting at which he reported on the decision of the General Staff on additional orders for such weapons.
According to the schedule of work (available to Izvestia), the GZUR should enter state joint tests in 2023. According to the documents, the development work (ROC) "Gremlin" started in November 2018. Then the Ministry of Defense signed a contract for the execution of the order with the corporation "Tactical Missile Weapons" (KTRV).
In the near future, tests of the propulsion system of the complex will begin. In February, JSC "Turaevsky Machine-Building Design Bureau "Soyuz" (TMKB "Soyuz") posted a notice (available to "Izvestia") about conducting bench fire tests as part of the development work "Gremlin" of the latest engine for hypersonic missiles, which received the designation "product 70".
Also in February, there were reports of tests on the fifth-generation Su-57 fighter of functional weight and size models of an unnamed GZUR. The size of the missile allows you to place it in the internal compartment of the Russian "stealth fighter". Earlier it was reported about plans to use such ammunition on long-range bombers Tu-22M3, as well as aircraft of operational and tactical aviation.
"Apparently, the model of the Gremlin was tested on the Su-57," military expert Dmitry Kornev told Izvestia. — Such development at KTRV has been known for a long time, but almost no details about the characteristics and purpose have previously appeared. Its special feature is its small size, which makes it possible to use these missiles from conventional fighters and non-strategic bombers.
The development of technology has made it possible to equip front-line aviation with such ammunition. Hypersonic missiles are now extremely difficult to intercept and shoot down. The Su-57 equipped with them, taking into account the range, will be able to deliver point-to-point irresistible strikes on important enemy targets — headquarters, radars, ships, Dmitry Kornev explained.
In the case of successful tests, nothing prevents the use of GZUR on other aircraft. For sure, the upgraded Tu-22M3M bombers, and possibly updated versions of the Tu-95 and Tu-160 missile carriers, will be equipped with ammunition, the expert believes.
Nimble " Gremlin»
As part of the "Gremlin" ROC, the contracts mention the creation and testing of "Product 70". Under this designation is known ramjet rocket engine, designed in the TMKB "Soyuz" for hypersonic missiles. This design was invented for the fastest ammunition, which must be many times faster than the speed of sound.
In 2020, the "product 70" passed fire tests at the C-12 stand. It is designed for hours-long testing of rocket engines with simulated flight at high speeds and altitudes of up to 25 km and was created for testing Soviet intercontinental cruise missiles "Storm". Then it was used in numerous subsequent domestic developments of advanced weapons.
The official characteristics of the promising rocket were not reported. Presumably, the GZUR will have a range of up to 1.5 thousand km and a hypersonic speed of Mach 6. The same characteristics of an unnamed munition under development were stated in 2013 by the former commander-in-chief of the Air Force, Colonel-General Alexander Zelin.
In the sub-contracts concluded by KTRV under the contract for the Gremlin ROC, the homing head (GOS) "Gran K-02" developed by JSC "UPKB "Detail"is also mentioned. It is known that a variant of this active-passive GOS is used on upgraded anti-ship missiles. It is able to provide the GZUR with the ability to defeat not only land, but also surface targets.
It is not yet disclosed whether the missile will have a variant with a nuclear warhead. Modern ammunition for long-range and strategic aviation is most often developed simultaneously with both conventional and special warheads. An example is the X-101/X-102 family, non-nuclear variants of which were actively used in Syria.
Near-field hypersound
In Russia, several models of long-range hypersonic land-based, air-based and sea-based missiles are currently being tested or are already entering service.
The Ministry of Defense announced the successful launches of the world's first hypersonic missiles "Zircon" to equip warships. They were tested several times on board the Project 22350 frigate Admiral Gorshkov. In the future, other new and modernized ships and submarines of the Russian Navy will also be equipped with such ammunition.
In December last year, two more intercontinental ballistic missiles with hypersonic gliding blocks "Avangard"were put on combat duty. They re-equipped the mine launchers of two regiments of the 13th Division of the Strategic Missile Forces in the Orenburg region.
At the end of 2018, a squadron of upgraded MiG-31K interceptors with Dagger missiles took up experimental combat duty in the Southern Military District. Their range reaches 2 thousand km. The large dimensions of this munition do not allow it to be placed in the internal compartments of the Su-57 and used on conventional tactical aircraft.
Their developments in the field of hypersonic weapons are also conducted abroad, including in China and the EU countries. To reduce its lag behind Russia, investment in this area has increased dramatically in the United States. There, the AGM-183A non-nuclear air-launched missile program for equipping B-52 strategic bombers has progressed the most.
