It’s one thing when an ordinary plane, even one designed for a couple of hundred passengers, takes off into the air, and quite another thing when a creation of the human mind tens of meters long, capable of transporting hundreds of tons of cargo over thousands of kilometers, appears in the sky.

At different times, the honorary title of the largest aircraft in the world was borne by different winged aircraft. For example, among them in the 1930s was the unique 8-engine propaganda aircraft ANT-20 “Maxim Gorky”. Today there are other leaders in this field, although the records they set many decades ago still hold. Around the World invites you to meet some of these record-breakers.

The very best: AN-225 “Mriya”

This is the aircraft with the world's largest payload capacity (can carry cargo with a total weight of 250 tons) and the largest take-off weight (more than 640 tons), as well as the largest in length and wing span that entered service. First, let’s look at the dimensions: the length of “Mriya” (in Ukrainian “Dream”) is 84 meters, and its wingspan is 88.4 meters. As an example, we point out here that a football field that complies with FIFA recommendations has dimensions of 105x68 meters, and Red Square in Moscow has dimensions of 330x75 meters.

The cargo compartment of the Mriya is a sealed space 43 meters long, 6.4 meters wide and 4.4 meters high (that is, approximately the size of a two-story house); for example, 50 cars can fit into it. The aircraft was invented and built in 1984–1988 at the Kiev Mechanical Plant to transport parts of the Buran spacecraft and launch vehicle from the production site to the launch site, as well as, if necessary, the entire Buran - it was supposed to be placed on the “back” of the “ Mriya."

AN-225 at the Swedish airport Stockholm-Arlanda

However, this giant did not perform its main duties for long: by 1990, all work within the framework of the Energia-Buran program was curtailed, and the AN-225 stood half-disassembled from 1994 to 2001. It was restored by 2001 and has since been regularly used to transport heavy loads, including record-breaking transport operations.

"Mriya" has already made flights with the longest (42.1-meter wind turbine blades) and heaviest monocargo (a generator weighing 174 tons), as well as with cargo with the largest total weight - 253.8 tons. In total, Mriya has more than 200 world records of this kind. The plane exists in a single copy, it is operated by a Ukrainian airline Antonov Airlines, however, it is possible that in a year or two, with the help of the Kyiv Antonov Design Bureau and the Chinese company AICC a second one will be completed.

Giant flying boat: Hughes H-4 Hercules

In the previous part, we mentioned that the AN-225 Mriya is an aircraft with the largest wingspan among all those that entered service. This reservation is not accidental: in the history of aviation there was an even larger aircraft, but it made only one test flight at an altitude of 21 meters and a length of about 1.5 km. It's about Hughes H-4 Hercules, a giant flying boat built by 1947 by the brilliant (and crazy) American aviator and businessman Howard Hughes.

Created by Hughes, the 8-engine monster, 66.6 meters long with a wingspan of 97.5 meters, was conceived as a means of transporting cargo, military equipment (with a total weight of about 70 tons) and up to 750 soldiers across the Atlantic from the United States to Europe. The project started in 1942 with money from the American government, but its implementation dragged on for five long years. Now the Second World War is over, but the megaboat still won’t take off.

In the end, this alerted the American government and Congress, under whose pressure Howard Hughes nevertheless made a test flight on November 2, 1947, near the Californian city of San Pedro. First and last flight. Until Hughes' death in 1976, the Hercules was maintained in flying condition, and then passed from hand to hand until it finally ended up in the aviation museum in McMinnville, Oregon, where it remains to this day - you'll be in Oregon , be sure to check it out.

Hughes H-4 Hercules during testing

The most remarkable thing about this plane is not even the largest wingspan of any aircraft ever flown, but the fact that the machine was built from birch, or rather, from birch plywood: the shortage of aluminum during the war had an impact. Despite this, the plane received the nickname "spruce goose" (Spruce Goose)- it has become synonymous with the expression “white elephant”. Let us also add that Hughes H-4 Hercules- also the largest seaplane in the history of aviation.

Largest passenger: Airbus A380

First place in this category Airbus A380 in modification 800. This is generally the largest production airliner in the world: height - 24.1 meters, length - 72.8 meters, wingspan - 79.8 meters, on its two decks it can carry a total of up to 853 people (in a one-class configuration ) over a distance of 15,700 km.

It is on this aircraft that the second and third longest commercial flights are operated today - from Auckland, New Zealand to Dubai (about 17 hours) and from Dallas, Texas, to Sydney, Australia (about 16 hours). During this time, aircraft cover approximately a third of the length of the equator (first place in the length of a commercial flight since February 2017). Qatar Airways from Oakland to Doha by Boeing 777-200LR).

A380 towed to the runway

In the plans Airbus creating larger versions of this airliner - even more spacious A380-900 for 900 passengers (all in economy class), as well as a cargo version A380F, which will be second after Mriya in terms of carrying capacity. And both of them, presumably, will be even larger in length and wingspan. So far, however, not a single such aircraft has been built: there are no required number of orders for them.

Longest passenger: Boeing 747-8

Interestingly, the gigantic size and record capacity Airbus A380- not the longest passenger aircraft in the world. This title is held by the former number one among airliners. Boeing 747 in version 8. Boeing 747-8 is the third generation of the double-deck 747, which made its first flight back in 1969 and entered commercial service about a year later.

The record for this aircraft in terms of size, weight and capacity among passenger airliners lasted 36 years - just before the advent of Airbus A380. At the same time, some of his records have not yet been broken. Yes, exactly Boeing 747-400 in 1989, made the longest non-stop flight for a commercial airliner, covering a distance of more than 18,000 km from London to Sydney in 20 hours 9 minutes. There was no cargo or passengers on board.

Boeing 747-8I German airline Lufthansa

Boeing 747-8 It is produced in two versions - passenger (747-8I) and cargo (747 -8F). And in the near future, another highly specialized one will probably appear: the US Air Force is eyeing the 747-8 as the future “Air Force One” - for the President of the United States. Now this role is played by the 747-200, which was heavily redesigned in comparison with the production version, and was put into operation in the late 1980s. It is noteworthy that a Russian trace appears here: they are going to convert it into a presidential aircraft. Boeing 747-8I, ordered by the bankrupt Russian company Transaero and now in storage in the Mojave Desert in the USA (thanks to the climatic conditions, the aircraft stored there at a special training ground are practically not subject to corrosion).

The most voluminous: Boeing 747 Dreamlifter

Surprisingly, the giant Mriya was not omnipotent. When companies Boeing it was necessary to establish supply chains for parts for the latest Boeing 787 Dreamliner, its capabilities were not enough to transport parts of the Dreamliner's wings and fuselage from Japan and Europe to a plant in Washington state. Moreover, none of the then existing aircraft (the Soviet AN-124 and Boeing's own 747 -400F) were suitable for the company, and transporting components by sea would have taken too long. Then the engineers Boeing developed (note, not without the participation of the company’s Moscow bureau) a modified version Boeing 747 by calling her Dreamlifter.

Boeing Dreamlifter at Chubu International Airport (Japan)

The difference between this, frankly, rather ugly aircraft (President of Commercial Division Boeing Scott Carson even had to jokingly apologize to the creator of the 747, Joe Sutter, “for what [they] did to his plane”) visible to the naked eye: the 747 is noticeably swollen - the diameter of the plane’s body has been significantly increased, and it opens for loading sideways tail section.

As a result, engineers managed to achieve a record volume inside of 1840 cubic meters. notice, that Dreamlifter not unique. Previously, the American Aero Spacelines Super Guppy(it was and is used to transport spacecraft parts) and the European Airbus Beluga, which delivers aircraft parts to the Toulouse plant. Both of them, however, have a smaller usable volume.

Potential Champion: Scaled Composites Model 351

May 31, 2017 in the Mojave Desert from a hangar with a crowd of public and journalists Scaled Composites Model 351- double-fuselage, 6-engine aircraft, element of the aerospace air launch system Stratolaunch, designed to lift rockets to a height of 11 kilometers Pegasus XL, from where they will be able to launch into space, spending significantly less fuel and, therefore, having more payload on board.

This launch scheme is not new - for the first time, launching aircraft from other aircraft was invented in the first half of the last century: in the 1930s, two airships were built in the USA, from which they were supposed to send small aircraft into flight. And after World War II, first in the 1970s in the USA (project Convoy Virtus), and then in the 1990s in our country (project “Molniya-1000”, also known as “Hercules”), projects were developed for launching spacecraft from superplanes. So far, however, none of them, including the one described Startolaunch, didn't take off.

But a much smaller one took off White Knight Two, a similar design twin-fuselage carrier aircraft built by the same Scaled Composites for the air launch of a tourist spaceplane SpaceShipTwo billionaire Richard Branson. In 2010 SpaceShipTwo made its first flight, separating from the carrier in the air White Knight.

SpaceShipTwo(center) and carrier aircraft White Knight Two, analog Scaled Composites Model 351

If the flight Scaled Composites Model 351 ever take place, this aircraft will break the record Hughes H-4 Hercules by wingspan of any aircraft ever flown: with a length of 71 meters, the wing length Startolaunch(and technically it has one solid wing connecting both fuselages) is 117 meters.

Photo: Larske / commons.wikimedia.org, commons.wikimedia.org, Monty Rakusen / Getty Images, Kiefer / commons.wikimedia.org, Muroi 8210 / commons.wikimedia.org, Virgin Galactic / Mark Greenberg / commons.wikimedia.org

Despite the constant improvement of reconnaissance equipment installed on reconnaissance satellites, space reconnaissance has a number of limitations that do not allow it to be called flawless.

Review and Capture

For example, there is a problem of obtaining information related to weather conditions - cloudiness and fog. In the northern hemisphere, cloudless days make up only 30-40% of the total number of days, so part of the time the species reconnaissance satellites are “idle” without work.

In addition, reconnaissance spacecraft (SC) have limitations in the size of the swath of terrain that their equipment scans for the detection of objects and military equipment.

The swath is a small visible part of the Earth's surface, which the instruments installed on the satellite see directly below the spacecraft to a width that depends on the altitude of its orbit.

Thus, satellites located in low orbit are capable of seeing a strip up to 1,000 km wide, and those in geostationary orbit can see the entire hemisphere of the Earth. But what they see is unlikely to be used for military intelligence purposes. This is all they will be able to report: “A suspicious object was detected in the line of sight.” And that’s all, without specifics or detail. You can’t draw up a battle plan with this kind of information, you’ll agree.

In order to find out what kind of object it is, other equipment is used, which, by increasing the characteristics of scanning devices, clearly identifies the object during a short moment of the satellite flying over it. But this is done in a smaller viewing area.

This detailed swath of view is called a swath. For example, the civilian Russian earth remote sensing (ERS) satellite Resurs-P has a swath width of 950 km, but a capture swath of only 38 km.

The life of a companion in war is fleeting

To create continuous monitoring of the situation on our borders, several satellites united in a constellation are launched into orbit. This allows you to receive intelligence information continuously and around the clock. In peacetime, several groups of spacecraft can simultaneously be in Earth’s orbit, performing visual and electronic reconnaissance tasks.

During combat operations, the importance of reconnaissance satellites increases critically. Obtaining information about the concentration of enemy troops behind the front line or the coordinates of its carrier strike group (ACG) is strategically important for the use of high-precision weapons when firing at maximum distances. Therefore, in the first weeks of a possible military conflict, the destruction of groups of reconnaissance satellites, as well as cosmodromes, becomes the main task for the enemy armed forces.

According to the calculations of many experts, the spacecraft group existing in peacetime can be completely destroyed within 2-3 weeks after the start of active hostilities. At the same time, the cosmodromes will be hit by ICBMs similar to the American Trident II D5 missiles, which have a probable circular deviation from the target point of only 90 meters, or from orbit by satellite weapons systems. However, the answer cannot but be similar...

Having lost all satellites and spaceports, an industrialized country will lose strategic parity.

Of course, the command of our armed forces is aware that during a war the life of a satellite in orbit is fleeting. Since the times of the USSR, the task of replenishing satellite constellations has been the main one for the domestic military space forces. But times change, and what was relevant yesterday becomes outdated very quickly today. Let's consider several ways to replenish the orbital constellation and fulfill the spacecraft's intended tasks during a protracted military conflict.

Ground complexes

The only existing way to replenish satellite constellations so far is to launch launch vehicles with spacecraft from the strategic reserve from cosmodromes. For the reasons mentioned earlier, any spaceport can also be put out of action. Therefore, methods of launching satellites using ballistic missiles have been developed as an alternative. One such ICBM can carry on board several small satellites, the life cycle of which in orbit is no more than 60 days.

This method has an advantage: ICBMs can be launched from anywhere in Russia - thanks to the mobile launchers of the Yars and Topol-M mobile ground-based missile systems (PGRK). At the same time, the main disadvantage is the limited number of ICBMs converted to launch spacecraft, as well as the sheer number of satellites, which take quite a long time to create.

In a protracted conflict, the number of satellite launches in this way will tend to zero due to various circumstances, including the destruction of missile and satellite production sites.

Air complexes

“Air Launch,” a project that was previously worked on in the USSR and is now being intensively developed by the US military-industrial complex, is an alternative to ground launches.

The advantage of this method lies primarily in economic indicators: launching a rocket from a specialized carrier aircraft reduces costs by 30-40%.

Secondly, the starting method itself remains an undeniable advantage. It is possible to launch a spacecraft to any orbital inclination, thereby expanding the range of working orbits of a space reconnaissance aircraft from equatorial to polar latitudes. At the same time, this method has not only restrictions on the number of missiles and spacecraft, like ground-based systems, but also restrictions related to ensuring launch safety. Air launches in wartime can only be carried out under the cover of air defense systems.

With the development of anti-satellite systems, the life cycle of small reconnaissance satellites launched into orbit using ground-based or airborne launch devices can be reduced from several days to several hours.

The fact is that previously, in order to shoot down a satellite, it was necessary to detect it, identify it and calculate its orbit.

With “peacetime” satellites, this process took three orbits: on the first orbit the spacecraft was detected and identified, on the second orbit the orbit was calculated, and on the third orbit it was shot down. Small satellites are difficult to detect against the background of “space debris”, consisting of fragments of other satellites, but this task has already been successfully solved in our country and is nearing completion in our unfriendly “probable partners”.

Therefore, these methods of replenishing the satellite constellation in the medium term may turn out to be ineffective.

Some kind of bleak picture emerges with these satellites, you will agree. Does the situation seem hopeless? Yes, if you use traditional methods of putting satellites into orbit. No, if we remember the legacy that Soviet aerospace science left us, there is a way out, and it is worthy.

Aerospace systems

Aerospace systems (AKS) were born at the intersection of two high-tech industries - aviation and astronautics. During the times of the USSR, the second method of removal was the airplane method, or, as it is also called, according to the second formula of K.E. Tsiolkovsky, was difficult to implement due to the lack of appropriate technologies and materials, as well as engines and control equipment.

Therefore, domestic scientists began to develop a hybrid: launch - like a rocket, return from orbit - like an airplane. By the way, it was precisely under this scheme that our Buran spacecraft was sent into orbit.

Before Buran, there was the Spiral project, according to which a small orbital aircraft (OS), launched from a carrier aircraft, was sent into orbit. The An-225 Mriya, modernized as an air launch complex with the index An-325, was chosen as the carrier aircraft. As an alternative, instead of the An-325, the An-124 was considered; two projects were calculated for it - “Air Launch” and “Bizan”.

“Air Launch” is essentially a project of crossing a rocket and an airplane, when one product is interfaced with the other. In principle it works, but few people know that it was an interim project. He was supposed to work on research related to the launch of the AKS in the air (project “Bizan”). In addition to this project, under the air launch program, NPO Molniya developed a project for a twin-fuselage aircraft Molniya-1000 (“Hercules”), which, according to the System 49M project, was supposed to launch the AKS into orbit.

Unlike satellites, the AKS orbital aircraft could freely change orbital parameters, performing a maneuver outside the visibility zone of enemy radio-electronic equipment that controls outer space. Therefore, on the radars of anti-satellite systems, our OS will look every time... like a UFO. In addition, launching from an airplane eliminates the presence of a cosmodrome, and, therefore, makes the AKS invulnerable to destruction.

The second advantage of AKS is the reusability of the OS. After completing the combat mission, he will return to base. In addition, on the same OS you can install various reconnaissance equipment - optical-electronic or radio-technical. In addition, the OS can also perform purely combat missions: the destruction of enemy spacecraft or ground targets.

The third advantage is the economic component. The cost of launching an AKS is approximately 20 times cheaper than launching using launch vehicles and 15 times cheaper than Air Launch. And if we add to this the savings from unproduced missiles and satellites, then you understand, we will be able to conduct strategic space reconnaissance continuously.

For war and for peace

The importance of AKS for military tasks is confirmed by the fact that work on mastering our technologies is now in full swing in the United States. The X-37B is flying in orbit - an analogue of our BOR-5. In 2020, the orbital aircraft Dream Chaser, a copy of the EPOS aircraft from the Spiral project, will dock with the ISS. In America, the twin-fuselage Stratolaunch (“twin” of the Molniya-1000) is also installed “on the wing”, which will launch the Dream Chaser into orbit. All of these programs are either funded or controlled by the Pentagon.

Therefore, in my opinion, Russia’s asymmetric response lies precisely in the creation of the ACN. Taking into account the fact that we have developments left over from Soviet times, Roscosmos can implement the domestic AKS in the short term.

Yes, and more. Perhaps it is AKS, in its civilian version, that will be able to once again bring our cosmonautics to the forefront of the world.

Friends, I won’t be modest, I am very happy to start a new topic in this section. The museum's collection was replenished with a new aircraft. Meet and get acquainted! Molniya-1 ML-012 RA-__104.

The plane is interesting and unusual. We don’t have enough technical and historical information on it, but we will look for every opportunity to fill in the gaps.
Briefly for now, from what is available on the Internet.

The light passenger 6-seater aircraft "Molniya-1" is intended for mass and individual use, business flights, cargo transportation and wide use in solving other tasks (patrolling forests, oil and gas pipelines, etc.). The layout of the aircraft is made according to the original two-beam design with three load-bearing surfaces - a “triplane”, with a rear-mounted piston engine with a pusher propeller.

Click to expand...

The lightweight multi-purpose aircraft Molniya-1, developed by NPO Molniya, is designed for 4-5 passengers and is intended for mass individual use, business flights, cargo transportation and use in the national economy. The aircraft is equipped with an M-14PM-1 engine (360 hp). Preparations for serial production have been carried out at the Samara aircraft plant of JSC "Aviakor"Light multi-purpose aircraft

MODIFICATIONS.

• Molniya-1-011 - option with Lycoming TIO LT-540 engine and Bendix King equipment;
• Molniya-1-012 - basic version with M-14P engine and domestic equipment;
• Molniya-1-015 - with M-14P engine and Bendix King equipment;
• Molniya-1-017 - with an engine from Teledyne Continental Motors; approximately in mid-1995, a contract for the construction of this modification was concluded with an undisclosed foreign investor;
• Molniya-2 - modification with two engines and a drive for one pusher propeller (see below);
• Molniya-3 - modification with Allison TVD series 250 B17; the aircraft can be lifted into the air 9 months after the start of funding for work in the required volumes; installation of a turboprop engine will lead to an increase in the cost of the aircraft compared to the base version by $150-180 thousand;
• Molniya-5 is created in accordance with the requirements of the FPS.

https://www.aviaport.ru/directory/aviation/molniya1/

Click to expand...

We have been planning to transfer the aircraft to Monino for a long time. This summer the active phase of the event began. All formal needs were agreed upon and approved between the three parties, NPO "Molniya", EMZ named after. V.M. Myasishchev and the Air Force Central Command, the relevant documents were signed.
In the summer, a team of Monino volunteers prepared the plane for the upcoming transportation. The wing consoles were undocked, which structurally have the ability to fold upward, as on some carrier-based aircraft.

It should be noted here that initially we planned to transport the aircraft on a low-loader, and in this form we would have been within the maximum size restrictions for transportation on public roads. However, without thinking for long, it was decided to undock the consoles completely, as they say, just in case. And this decision turned out to be correct.

The search for suitable transport dragged on. We traveled to different cities, hoping to find a suitable cart for the plane. At one car depot they even considered the possibility of repairing a trawl with a damaged traverse. But the renovation promised to be too serious. Frankly, we were looking for a low-loader for the future. There are plans for the future, but time is running out. Having weighed all the pros and cons, knowing the exact overall dimensions of the plane in the form in which we left it after preparing for transportation, we took a different route, which promised to be straighter, simpler and shorter.

It was decided to use more conventional automotive technology. At first we thought about a scow, but in the end...






And in this case it was more than the right decision. Maneuverability, sufficiency and fit into the maximum dimensions. This combination looks, of course, unusual.

The width of the KamAZ-53501 body is almost 2.5 meters. The track width of the Molniya-1 chassis is 3 meters. For safe transportation, they made an appropriate extension on which the aircraft could rest.

The plane was loaded into the back of a KamAZ-53501 with a front loader.

A garland of flashing modules was hung on the plane, appropriate signs were attached to oversized elements, and we are ready to leave. And like clockwork, the VAI crew arrived to accompany the transportation. Let's move out!


They occupied two lanes and carefully drove along one...

There were also eccentrics for whom neither the warning signs on the cover vehicle nor the escort vehicle meant anything... Clowns. But in general, the transportation turned out to be more than smooth and calm, which is the merit of the truck driver, soldier Artyom, the escort of the VAI and cover vehicles, which was even played by the car of the film crew of the Vesti program, and the crew of our colleague Edwin (who was also technical chief). Thank you!

We turned around at Monino...

We have arrived, the Museum is receiving a new aircraft for its collection in a long time.

Of course, there is a lot of work to be done with him. The engine and propeller are missing. Interior and instrument equipment are also almost completely absent. The condition of the external surfaces leaves much to be desired.

In the near future we will prepare a complete list of defects, lists of missing and necessary equipment, and will begin to work in our usual direction. The first thing we will do is refit the landing gear of the aircraft.

We express our deepest gratitude for organizing and facilitating this important event for the Central Air Force Museum:
- employees of NPO "Molniya";
- employees of the EMP named after. V.M.Myasishcheva;
- command staff of 8 ADON;
- commanders and personnel of the motor depot and motor battalion of the division;
- to the head of the 101st VATI and the crew of the escort vehicle for professionalism;
- to our friends from the car lovers club freedomcars.ru, who provided rigging equipment for the safe transportation of the aircraft.

For equipping and restoring the aircraft we are looking for, for the first approach:
- M-14P engine;
- propeller MTV-3, MTV-6 or even MTV-9. (for now we can judge that MTV-9 was used on later versions of the aircraft, and presumably ours once had an MTV-3 or MTV-6);
- aircraft instrumentation;
- aircraft cabin equipment.

The engine, propeller, equipment and spare parts may be faulty, damaged during operation and unsuitable for further intended use.

In modern Russia, they are so ashamed of their Soviet past that they are trying to destroy everything that somehow reminds them of past achievements and past greatness.

It’s much easier to talk about queues for sausage during the “decline of stagnation” and subsequent Perestroika, the general and natural backwardness of Soviet science and economics, the doom of the USSR destined by fate itself and, consequently, privatization as a natural and only correct reaction to the current situation, if the people will simply forget about what really happened in the USSR. Including about space.

How else can you explain the situation that developed at the Tushinsky Machine-Building Plant, which a few years ago was not only the production, but also the scientific flagship of the country’s aerospace industry?

How many billions were lost during the construction of the Vostochny cosmodrome? What happens to construction contracts at Baikonur if the contractors (who also happen to be persons with access to state secrets) are held accountable for the theft of hundreds of millions of dollars and flee abroad with money and secrets?

There is money for dubious construction projects and entertainment events, but there is no money for the country’s space future... And this is under joyful promises to move the entire country into a new technical era.

Today I want to bring to your attention an article by V.I. Boyarintsev and A.N. Samarina about what is happening in modern Russian space. The article is quite lengthy, but really interesting. However, the authors have many questions, but it seems there are no answers to them. Although the answer is obvious. But the truth is rarely sugary and convenient.

Who is the mysterious enemy here?

— Vladimir Vysotsky asked.

We are accustomed to hearing from the leaders of democracy about the successes of our developing rocket and space industry.

Here is a rocket and space company - the Tushinsky Machine-Building Plant, until recently - the largest enterprise in the aerospace industry of Russia, organized in 1932 with the aim of developing the latest models of the aviation industry (the "Steel-2" aircraft), which in Soviet times became known as NPO Molniya is the creator of the reusable manned orbital spacecraft Buran.

The team was led by Academician Gleb Evgenievich Lozino-Lozinsky (1910-2001) - one of the leading developers of Soviet aerospace technology, hero of Socialist Labor, laureate of the Lenin Prize and two Stalin Prizes.

In Soviet times, 28 thousand people worked at an enterprise called the Tushinsky Machine-Building Plant; under the conditions of democratic capitalism, it was gradually destroyed: in the early 2000s, the number of employees was approximately 3,500 people, in 2013 - already 860 people, after an organized bankruptcy procedure of the plant in 2013 - 2015, no more than 150 people remained on the staff, apparently the number necessary to protect the territory.

In 1993, an American delegation arrived at the enterprise, which for the most part consisted of career intelligence officers, after which the intellectual plunder of Molniya began with the flow of state secrets abroad and the physical liquidation of the enterprise.

In November 2011, Sobyanin visited the Tushinsky Machine-Building Plant, called it “not bad” and promised to help with the payment of 6 billion debts. Did not help…

On December 10, 2015, a fire broke out at the plant, the area of ​​which exceeded 15 thousand square meters. According to some sources, it was not the warehouse with engine oil that burned down, as was announced, but the plant’s most modern workshop No. 110, where the control and testing complex (KTC) was located with a huge chamber in which the Buran was assembled and prepared for flight.

In 2018, the property of the Tushinsky Machine-Building Plant was put up for sale, at an open auction they were asking for 10 billion 350 thousand rubles. It is possible that it could be bought by a foreign owner, although this is unlikely, since all the secrets of the Molniya NPO have long been sold.

Who and what did the former advanced rocket and space enterprise interfere with?

The main problem of NPO "Molniya" was that since the completion of the creation of "Buran", work was carried out there on the project of the reusable aerospace system MAKS, a large cooperation (about 70 enterprises of the aviation and space industry) developed a preliminary design.

According to the plan, a small winged ship equipped with an external tank is launched from an An-225 Mriya booster aircraft, after which, using its own engines, it enters orbit, performs maneuvers and independently returns to Earth.

The MAX system, the spacecraft itself looks small compared to its life support.

As the late head of NPO Molniya, Academician G.E. Lozino-Lozinsky, noted: “the task of using a modernized project in the form of the reusable aerospace system MAKS is again urgent. Moreover, now “Buran”, as if paying a debt to its predecessor, is ready to put at its disposal the entire huge stock of theoretical and engineering knowledge accumulated by its creators, new design methods developed at NPO “Molniya”, a unique laboratory and bench base ... "

To confirm the design technical characteristics, a large amount of experimental research work was carried out in aerodynamics, gas dynamics, strength of structural elements and other areas.

This unique project, according to experts, differs from the analogues of the Russian Buran and the American Shuttle in its mobility, which allows the device to be launched into various orbits. The main elements of the MAKS system are reusable, except for the external fuel tank and the launch unit. The system is based on conventional 1st class airfields, additionally equipped with the necessary means for MAX for refueling fuel components, ground technical and landing complexes and fits mainly into the existing means of the ground complex for controlling space systems.

MAX has undeniable advantages over existing launch vehicles:

• lower cost of launching payloads into orbit compared to disposable launch vehicles and first-generation reusable launch vehicles;
• ability to launch in any direction;
• the possibility of launching into orbits with the necessary phasing and parallax relative to the departure airfield;
• possibility of wide maneuvering in the longitudinal and lateral planes when returning from orbit;
• efficiency of application;
• the possibility of returning payloads and their reusable use;
• the ability to return MAX when the launch is cancelled;
• the ability to use existing 1st class airfields, retrofitted with the necessary means for MAX for refueling fuel components, ground technical and landing complex.
• environmental friendliness (reduction of step fall fields and non-toxic fuel components).

It can be argued (experts are unanimous on this point) that such a system is the future for the next 25 to 30 years.

$14 billion has already been spent on the project.

At the beginning of 2006, Roscosmos announced a competition for the creation of a rocket and space system, but all projects were rejected, and only one technical comment was made on the MAKS project - it was supposed to use a foreign-made aircraft (Ukraine) as a carrier. But there is a project to create your own aircraft with a greater payload capacity than the Ukrainian one.

Soviet version of the aircraft. "Molniya-1000" ("Hercules") - a super-heavy triplane, was developed by NPO "Molniya".

Despite the fact that the USA, Russia and China are actively working on “Air Launch” and each country is following its own path, the unique aerospace program began in the Soviet Union. And all modern foreign technologies resemble only timid attempts to copy what was developed in the USSR almost 40 years ago.

On May 31, 2017, the Stratolaunch Model 351, a multi-purpose carrier aircraft for the aerospace system, was solemnly shown in the United States.

They say that there is no money in Russia, but 15% of the budget goes to creating a “bright” image of Russia for foreign football fans, colorful pop-sports events with the participation of the president in a foreign wedding.

From a letter from plant workers (2010):

— The destruction of actually existing enterprises that still have the groundwork and potential, despite all the enormous plans for the development of aerospace topics in Russia, is not only strange, but also criminal. We are convinced that with proper verification and investigation, everything that happens at NPO “Molniya” will be qualified by the court as a CRIME!…

In Soviet times, this was called sabotage, a serious state crime that undermined defense capability. Such cases were investigated by a military tribunal...

This was the second appeal to the president, prime minister, and prosecutor general, which did not yield results.

Here is an excerpt from the address of the Hero of the Soviet Union, leading pilot of the ISS Buran, President of the Foundation for Assistance to National Projects I.P. Wolf to the president of the country:

“To ensure the fundamental possibility of developing a number of projects of promising models of hypersonic and rocket-space technology, including those included in federal state programs, it is necessary to unconditionally preserve and use the potential of JSC NPO Molniya as a single research and production complex and the full recreation of the scientific school...”

From the Internet:

• The plant was burned down, in my opinion, on purpose. Until now, its restoration has been called into question. Thousands of qualified specialists found themselves on the streets and joined the ranks of traders, drunkards, security guards, etc. This is a clear crime of the authorities, who do not care not only about industry, but also about people.
• “I think the plant is being destroyed deliberately...” says a plant worker.

Journalist and publicist Maxim Kalashnikov believes that modern Russia, having spent money on repeating projects of the 1950s, which were already closed then as unpromising, has outsourced the production of light aerospace systems to the United States and China, and domestic “cosmonautics will remain in the last century with expensive cosmodromes and disposable rockets..."

True, Kalashnikov naively believes that this is the result of the stupidity of the leadership, and not a national crime.

Who doesn't need the MAKS system in Russia?

It is not needed by the leaders of the military space complex, since it requires attention, responsibility, technical knowledge, the involvement of systematically destroyed specialists and hard work, which cannot be expected from a government created on the basis of personal loyalty and complete incompetence.

MAX is not needed by the government, a government consisting of lawyers and economists, a government that is no longer ours, concerned about obtaining high personal incomes and maintaining their posts while engaging in activities that are, in fact, hostile, leading to the complete subordination of the country to world capital.

The situation with Molniya is typical of the current full-scale national tragedy, the defeat of Soviet civilization. Some forces abroad are interested in the deindustrialization of Russia, the elimination of its former power, and are paying for it.

The top leadership of the Russian Federation “Takes the advantage”

And here once again you can ask Vladimir Vysotsky’s question: “Who is the mysterious enemy here?”

P.S.: On August 10, 2018, a joint visit to the enterprise of JSC NPO MOLNIYA by representatives of the Department of Science, Industrial Policy and Entrepreneurship of the city of Moscow and the city organization of the trade union of aviation industry workers took place.

The issue of developing Moscow industry was discussed.

The meeting of this commission, judging by the photographs, resembled a wake, but without vodka and snacks; in the upper right corner of the photograph you can see a model of the Buran - a symbol of the deceased achievements of rocket and space technology.

It would be simple if only this one enterprise found itself in such a situation. However, everything that is happening looks more like a system than a misunderstanding or economic oversight.

Spaceships are still flying, especially commercial flights, something is being built somewhere, i.e. money is being invested, and a lot of it. But this bears very little resemblance to the development of the industry and concern for the future of Russian space. These are almost 100% commercial investments and projects for today. Business on public money and nothing more.