文/白夜
As for what kind of weapon can be called a "national artifact", we must all have a general view, such as aircraft carriers, strategic nuclear submarines, intercontinental ballistic missiles and other weapons. Now, the world's top military forces, including China, the United States, and Russia, have their own land-based and submarine-launched intercontinental ballistic missiles in service. At present, my country's most advanced land-based intercontinental ballistic missile is nothing more than Dongfeng 41, which first appeared last year. In fact, the big killer of the intercontinental missile is not cheap at all to use. It can cost 2.5 billion yuan for a single launch. The TNT explosive equivalent of its nuclear warhead warhead is 140 times the power of the "Fatty" atomic bomb in World War II.
In fact, Dongfeng 41 is not the most powerful road-based intercontinental missile in the world. Taking the newly developed "Salmat" intercontinental ballistic missile developed by the Russian army as an example, its status can naturally surpass the existence of Dongfeng 41. The strength that Russia's intercontinental ballistic missiles should have. At present, the RS28 "Salmat" intercontinental ballistic missiles and RS-26M "Satan" land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles in the Russian Strategic Rocket Force have entered service, and even the US military cannot match them.
Earlier this year, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced publicly that the Russian Armed Forces is expected to complete the final test of the RS28 "Salmat" intercontinental ballistic missile this year, that is, in 2020, and formally mass production next year. The RS28 "Salmat" intercontinental ballistic missile has strong performance. Compared with the previous generation of "Satan" intercontinental ballistic missiles, the RS28 "Salmat" intercontinental ballistic missile has a stronger and longer range, and adopts more accurate Gao's self-made missile guidance system has been upgraded and connected to the "GLONASS" satellite positioning and navigation system currently in use by the Russian military. The maximum range of the Salmat Continent using liquid fuel is more than 18,000 kilometers. This data has undoubtedly reached the top of the world.
The United States, which claims to have the most powerful military force in the world, is currently in service with the older "Minuteman 3" land-based intercontinental ballistic missile. Among the three major powers representing the highest military forces in the world, China, the United States and Russia, the United States is currently the only country that has not upgraded its land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles. Its long-established improved militia 3 has an estimated maximum range of only 13,000 kilometers. Moreover, its launch preparation time and accuracy are far behind that of China and Russia's latest land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles. But in a strict sense, the center of gravity of the US nuclear strike strategy is the strategic nuclear submarines that shuttle around the world and the "Trident" submarine-launched intercontinental ballistic missiles it carries. From this point of view, the position of the "Minuteman 3" intercontinental ballistic missile is not so important.
According to the information disclosed by the Russian Ministry of Defense, the cost of the Russian "Satan" intercontinental ballistic missile, a missile body and engine, is 25 million U.S. dollars, and the most critical warhead cost is 55 million U.S. dollars. Including the cost of fuel injection and maintenance during launch, and other ground equipment and systems supporting the missile, it costs 350 million U.S. dollars to launch one, which is equivalent to more than 2.5 billion yuan. In fact, my country's Dongfeng 41 is the latest type of intercontinental missile within the scope of China, Russia and the United States, with the most advanced level. Therefore, the launch of a Dongfeng 41 must be the same sky-high price.
