Russian special military operation in Ukraine #49

Belisarius wrote:

Well boo hoo, Russia ran out of rockets in March 2022 and has been using washing machines and laen mowers and other appliances ever since. They are now in negative numbers in terms of drones and have been using various types of potted plants like geraniums ever since. Tulips or a particularly devastating sort have replaced artillery. So come on lame Brittney, stop making excuses and man up. . . .

This way the engine only runs for a certain time. Iskander, like any other ballistic missile, flies for a long period without propulsion

You are not getting it are you.

Look at the image I posted... you can see tiny fixed fins and inside the engine exhaust you can see four thrust deflectors that are used to deflect the rocket thrust to manouver and steer the missile from launch to impact.

Think about it for a minute... if the rocket burns for only seconds or a minute to climb and accelerate the missile then why bother with thrust deflecting control surfaces in the rocket motor exhaust... surely if the fins moved and could steer the missile they would make more sense to use at launch and in cruise than when falling on the target... why accept a 10-15% loss of thrust when redirecting the rocket exhaust plume in flight with TVC if you can just use an external flight control?

It flies along a ballistic path only on a very low, flat trajectory, it can also perform maneuvers, but at the end it performs maneuvers with aerodynamic controls.

So what you are saying is that it flys along a ballistic path and that it doesn't. A low flat trajectory is NOT a ballistic path.

So what you are saying is that it launches from the launcher and turns over at low altitude and flys towards the target... that would be a low and flat trajectory... the rocket motor burns out on the way and it manouvers and falls on the target while unpowered and it uses the tiny fixed fins to steer evading enemy SAMs and hitting the target precisely.

So those thrust vectoring devices in the rocket motor are only used just after launch to turn the missile into the direction of the target and then when the rocket fuel runs out they do nothing at all?

This missile is supposed to evade enemy SAMs and other air defences with those tiny little fins...? which don't move by the way.

That's not what it does without an engine. Each maneuver reduces the bullet's energy, unfortunately. Only the Tsirkon can keep its engine on for extended periods of flight

The Iskander is almost 4 tons with a half ton payload with a flight range of 500km... how useless do you think the Russians are to need probably 3 tons of rocket fuel to get a 500kg payload 500km range?

The Old Smerch rocket was 800kgs and it could carry a 100kg payload 70km... it was replaced by an 815kg rocket with a 90km flight range and the same payload. Not sure how heavy the new rockets are but they have a range of 150km and they wont be a lot heavier...

Why do you think they need 3 tons of rocket fuel to accelerate the Iskander to a low altitude flight path that burns out well before the rocket gets to its target area and why would it need thrust vectoring rocket flight controls just to roll over in the direction of the target it is being fired at... could the fins, if they moved, do that?

like the ROKS 3 Soviet Flame thrower

Largely replaced in Russian service by rocket delivered thermobaric warheads via the RPO and RPG launchers. (RPO has thermobaric, incendiary, and smoke rockets, and there are MRO and LRO medium and small launchers respectively... and currently a multipurpose weapon called BUR which is a 62mm light weapon that can fire HE (thermobaric) and HE Frag rockets.)

If you hit a bunker like that with TOS-1 at regular intervals, say 1 rocket every 2 min, wouldn't everyone suffocate from lack of oxygen pretty quickly?

Most bunkers have ventilation systems but those systems can be closed during an attack and then reopened after the attack is over.

The key is finding ventilation shafts and entrances and exits, but if you know roughly where they are then a very large weapon punching deep into the ground and then exploding with a big boom can collapse tunnels and break walls... wouldn't be a quick process but Russia is not in any hurry.

Food and water stocks could last a long time but they are likely burning through ammo much faster than they expected so it is likely they will run out of that first.