FOBS as a Primary Motivator for Human Spaceflight

In years past there has been lots of discussion here about the view
that human spaceflight was funded primarily in the interest of
national defense because of the role that these rockets played as ICBM
booster demonstrations (a form of power projection). The vocal
majority of this forum has staunchly rejected that view, but for those
with an open mind here is a quote that I happened on today. It talks
about the FOBS system with a quote from Khrushchev with an
understanding that the ability to do a precise deorbit of a cosmonaut
from orbit directly translated to a military capability to deorbit a
nuke warhead on a South Pole trajectory that avoided DEWS/BMEWS/
PineTreeLine detection. Here's the excerpt:


(From http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/wo...ssia/r-36o.htm)
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In the early 1960s, the Soviets needed a way to overcome the forward
base advantage held by the west. The west had forward bases in Turkey,
Europe, and Asia from which shorter range missiles and bombers could
attack the USSR. Following the failure of placing missiles to Cuba,
the Soviets turned to technology to overcome the lack of forward
positioning. The Vostok launches had previously demonstrated that the
Soviets possessed the technology necessary to orbit a space vehicle
and then land it in a specific target. In this, there was an implicit
assumption that nuclear weapons could be placed in orbit and returned
to Earth at any time and place. Khrushchev made this suggestion in
1961, but in March 1962, as part of the rhetoric preceding the Cuban
crisis, he made yet another, more ominous suggestion.

"We can launch missiles not only over the North Pole, but in the
opposite direction, too... Global rockets can fly from the oceans or
other directions where warning facilities cannot be installed. Given
global missiles, the warning system in general has lost its
importance. Global missiles cannot be spotted in time to prepare any
measures against them."

This statement was the first hint of a new concept called the
fractional orbit bombardment system (FOBS) that had been under
development since 1961.

The orbital missile 8K69 was initially deployed on 19 November 1968,
and the first regiment with the R-36 orbital missiles was put on alert
on 25 August 1969. The missile was phased out in January 1983 in
compliance with the SALT-2 treaty, which prohibited the deployment of
FOBS systems.

The R-36O SS-9 variant 3 SCARP with a modified upper stage was
equipped with an orbital nose cone, which contained an instrumentation
section, a single-chambered liquid propellant retrorocket motor and a
nuclear warhead. Western estimates were that the orbital missile
carried a one- to three-megaton warhead. Once placed into low-Earth
orbit, the ICBM possessed unlimited range and the ability to approach
the US from any direction, avoiding US northern-looking detection
radars. This type of approach would give little or no warning that a
warhead was inbound. The reentry vehicle came down in less than one
revolution, hence the "fractional" orbit.
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~ CT