Robot 330

The theory and practice of the Profession of Arms through the ages.
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Micael
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Joined: Thu Nov 17, 2022 10:50 am

Robot 330

Post by Micael »

Since we were talking about nukes and Sweden elsewhere I was reminded about a weapons system from the past that was for a while envisoned as a carrier for the prospective Swedish nuclear arsenal, and which I don’t think has been mentioned on the board before. Designated Robot 330 it was designed by Saab between 1957 and 1959 but never left the drawing board.

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It was actually designed for both a conventionally armed and a nuclear armed version. The nuclear one would have a single 20 kiloton warhead that weighed 300 kg. The missile itself was reasonably advanced for the time period. It had two stages where the first featured a gunpowder rocket engine, and the second one two ramjet engines. With a range of 500 km it was intended mainly for use against Soviet military targets in the Baltic countries, specifically ports where Soviet landings ships would depart from prior to an invasion of Sweden. Whilst featuring a gyro based navigation system this alone would not have achieved the required accuracy and so it was also to have a radio navigation system, it seems essentially like a Decca type system. All controlled by a Saab built computer called Sank (Saabs Automatiska NavigeringsKalkylator). Saab did try to sell (essentially) this computer on the civilian market under the name Datasaab D2, with no success:
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The computer was however the starting point for the later Viggen computer, the CK37.

With a relatively small nuclear warhead the targets’ locations still had to be able to be calculated with a high degree of accuracy if the desired effect was to be achieved. Fortunately the Swedish surveying agency had done highly detailed surveys of the Baltic countries during their stint of independence between the wars so this was possible to be achieved by Sweden even without the aid of satellite imagery.

But the missile itself then, its flight speed was Mach 3.7 at a cruising altitude of 75,500-79,000 feet. It would then do an essentially vertical attack dive on its target. This was considered to be very difficult for the Soviets to intercept at the time. The lenght is given at 11.7 meters, diameter of 0.55 meters and a total weight of 4,385 kg. As you can see from the illustration it would be road mobile and fired from a trailer style launch ramp. The first stage was 4.1 meters long and weighed 1,500 kg, the second was 7.6 meters and 2,825 kg. Mainly made from steel with a magnesium alloy nosecone it also featured an evaporation cooling system to keep the friction heat load low enough that it would be able to survive the entire flight.

The reasons why it was eventually cancelled was a mix of high cost and doubt over whether it was feasible to see it being used in the way envisoned, as it was a substantial (perhaps implausibly so) step for a Swedish government to order a preemptive strike against Soviet ports prior to war actually having broken out.

But its another one of those interesting ”what if” components. Where would we have been today if the nuclear weapons, the missiles, the bombers etc. had become reality?
Zen9
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Re: Robot 330

Post by Zen9 »

Shades of a cross between Bloodhound and Blue Water.
Craiglxviii
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Re: Robot 330

Post by Craiglxviii »

It’s like a crazy sexy Swedish Regulus crossed with a Bristol 188
Micael
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Re: Robot 330

Post by Micael »

Zen9 wrote: Sun Feb 23, 2025 2:18 pm Shades of a cross between Bloodhound and Blue Water.
We actually had Bloodhound later on, for about a decade before budget spats forced it away.
Micael
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Re: Robot 330

Post by Micael »

Craiglxviii wrote: Mon Feb 24, 2025 10:05 am It’s like a crazy sexy Swedish Regulus crossed with a Bristol 188
A poetic description!
Johnnie Lyle
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Re: Robot 330

Post by Johnnie Lyle »

How does the ventral fin clear the launcher? Is it a split rail, with a cavity in the middle to contain the ventral fin?
Micael
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Re: Robot 330

Post by Micael »

Johnnie Lyle wrote: Mon Feb 24, 2025 10:42 pm How does the ventral fin clear the launcher? Is it a split rail, with a cavity in the middle to contain the ventral fin?
Yes, here’s a model of it where I think you can see it more clearly:
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