In the circles of lovers of alternative history and conspiracy for decades there has been a persistent myth about the existence in the Soviet Union of a unique vehicle, codenamed "subterrin"This is a supposedly “underground boat” that can travel through the ground at tremendous speeds, like a torpedo moves in water, and legend has it that this project was classified, and the machine itself could reach speeds of up to 15 km / h in hard rocks.
However, if we look at the archives of engineering thought and the real technological possibilities of geology of the time, the picture is completely different. subterrin It's a little bit like a combat or a submersible vehicle, and it's a little bit of a fantasy, a little bit of a distortion of facts, but actually, behind these rumors is the story of the creation of the submersible. subterraneanThey were really a brilliant invention, but had a completely different design and purpose.
In this article we will examine where the myth of flying in the ground submarine came from, what real technologies were behind the projects of penetration in the USSR, and why the creation of a full-fledged submarine. subterranean So, in terms of physics and soil mechanics, it's almost impossible, and you'll learn about the actual analogs that were used to build tunnels, and why the term boat is completely irrelevant here.
The history of the myth of the Soviet subterrin
The legend of a giant machine plowing the Earth's interior dates back to the Cold War, when both superpowers were active in the field of development. underground The existence of secret facilities and unusual technical solutions was often overgrown with speculation. subterrin A machine that was rumored to be able to tunnel on its own without the need for further wall strengthening.
A special contribution to the popularization of the myth was made by publications in the yellow press of the late 20th century, where the usual drilling-plant It was claimed that Soviet engineers had built a machine hundreds of meters long, equipped with a nuclear engine, but no documentary source, no declassified archives since the collapse of the Soviet Union, have confirmed the existence of such a facility.
There is also a version that the term “subterrin” was mistakenly applied by journalists to the project of creation of the “Subterrin”. autonomous underground complexes Or to experiment with explosive tunneling, and the average person's mind was a boat floating in the ground, even though technically they were static or slow-moving drilling boards. technical It's a lot of fiction.
Real Prototypes: What Happened Behind the Name
If you discard the fantasy of "submarines in the ground," you can find real engineering wonders that became the prototypes for the myth. passage-board These machines could actually swallow the ground and produce a tunnel with rings or pipes installed at the exit, but their speed was measured in meters per day, not kilometers per hour, as legend has attributed. subterrin.
One of the closest to the myth of real objects is the installation of drilling In the 1960s and 70s, the Soviet Union was busy building mining and subway technology, and engineers were looking for ways to speed up the traversal using thermal rock destruction or hydro-pulse technology, which could give rise to talk about "thermal" or "nuclear" underground boats.
It is important to understand the difference between tunnel-complex The first one is a shield, a cutting organ in front, a mount in the back, and the snatching takes place, and the hypothetical boat would be a continuous slide in a tunnel that was already finished or self-sealing, which requires very different stabilization and control decisions, and the real machines were cumbersome and required a huge amount of infrastructure.
- 🚜 Tunnel-tunnel shields - massive complexes for laying the metro, working on the principle of pressing the soil.
- ⚙️ Horizontal drilling installations - technique for laying communications without opening the surface, often used until now.
- 🔥 Thermal drills - Experimental installations using high-temperature effects to destroy rocks.
When searching for information about underground equipment, pay attention to the year of publication: in Soviet times, many conventional drilling rigs were described in the press using pathos epithets, which later gave rise to many myths.
Technical limitations and soil physics
Why is the idea of a full-fledged subterraneanAnd the answer is, if you look at a liquid that moves like a submarine in the ocean, it's a fantasy, and the answer is that there's a fundamental difference between a liquid and a solid. Water, despite its density, is a fluid. And the soil, especially at the depths, experiences a tremendous amount of fluidity. side-pressureTo dive into the ground and move there, a machine would either have to constantly destroy the rock in front of it (which requires a huge amount of energy) or have a tunnel that already exists.
If we consider the option of movement in the already finished tunnel, we come to the usual subway But if you're going to create a tunnel on the go, you have to deal with the problem of disposing of the soil, the water in the submarine just flows around the hull or pumps, and you have to put the soil somewhere, and accumulating huge amounts of rock inside the hull would make the car incredibly heavy, and throwing it back would require very complex mechanical systems that are easily clogged.
And then there's the friction problem, the heat problem, the movement in a dense environment generates a huge amount of heat, the heat is removed efficiently in water, and the ground is a machine with a very high temperature. nuclear-powered Or even a powerful turbine would simply melt the surrounding rock, turning the tunnel into a glass tube, where it would be stuck forever. subterrin As a high-speed vehicle contradicts the laws of thermodynamics and mechanics of soils.
⚠️ Attention: Attempts to implement a high-speed underground boat using modern technology also face the problem of soil instability. Any vibration from a high-speed engine can cause the arch of the tunnel to collapse, making the concept dangerous and impractical.
Technology of penetration in the USSR: from myth to reality
Despite the absence of boats flying in the ground, the Soviet engineering school achieved outstanding success in the field of engineering. subterraneanIt was in the USSR that unique methods of traversing were developed, which are still considered to be reference methods, such as the method of freezing soils, which allows you to build subway stations in floats, or the use of subways. shield-plates for laying tunnels of the Baikal-Amur highway.
Particular attention should be paid to experiments with blast-streakThere were projects that were supposed to use directed nuclear explosions to create cavities or tunnels in hard-to-reach places (Project Chagan and other peace atom programs), and although it wasn't literally a boat, the result -- instantaneously creating an underground cavity -- could look like a fantastic machine, but the radiation background made such tunnels unsuitable for permanent human presence without protection.
The real Soviet machines, such as mole or GPM They were mechanical masterpieces, they could walk tens of meters a day, mounting concrete rings, but it was a hard, slow and laborious process, requiring a whole factory of people and equipment to work on the surface, no autonomy or speed attributed to them. subterrinI've never seen a word of it.
The Truth About "Nuclear Drilling"
In the 1960s and 70s, there was a program to use nuclear explosions for the economy, and a 150-kiloton charge created a cavity up to 100 meters in diameter, but the idea of using them to create transport tunnels was rejected due to high levels of radiation and the risk of seismic activity.
Comparative Table: Myth vs Reality
To finally systematize information and separate fantasies from engineering facts, consider the comparative specifications of the hypothetical theory. subterrin and the real squatters of that time.
| Characterization | The mythical "subterrin" | Real Transit Shield (USSR) |
|---|---|---|
| Speed of movement | Up to 15 km/h (according to legend) | 0.5 - 5 meters per hour |
| Principle of movement | Sliding in the ground | Mechanical destruction and installation of the rod |
| Power plant | Nuclear reactor (rumoured) | Electric motors/hydraulics |
| Soil disposal | Not specified (magic?) | Transportation belt in trolleys |
| Appointment | Transportation/Shidden Movement | Construction of subways and tunnels |
As you can see from the table, the differences are dramatic. Underground boat The real shield is a construction machine, and the confusion arises from a misunderstood term, "underground boat," which has sometimes been used metaphorically to describe the scale of construction.
☑️ Signs of a pseudoscientific article on technology
Modern analogues and the future of underground transport
Today, in the era of Elon Musk and his project The Boring CompanyBut the idea of high-speed underground transport is not that modern engineers are trying to create a boat floating in the ground, but instead, they are going to build a network of deep tunnels that will move electric platforms or capsules. HyperloopThis brings us back to the classic concept of subway, but using magnetic levitation and vacuum to reduce drag.
There are also developments in the field thermal-drillingThey can be faster than mechanical ones, but they still remain stationary or slow-moving drilling machines. subterrin As an autonomous vehicle that does not require pre-built infrastructure, it remains a staple of science fiction.
But there's a growing interest in the underground, and megacities are choking with traffic jams, and going underground seems like a logical solution, but even the most daring projects today rely on time-tested solutions. shieldingThe myth of the Soviet miracle machine remains a beautiful but unrealistic tale.
⚠️ Attention: Modern vacuum train projects should not be confused with “underground boats”: the vacuum train moves inside the pipe, that is, in a prepared environment, whereas the mythical subterrinus was supposed to create its own way in the massif of soil.
The subterrinus of a self-contained underground boat is a myth, and the real analogues are tunnel systems that build infrastructure, not vehicles in themselves.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Was there a program in the USSR to build underground boats?
There are no official documents to prove a full-fledged transport “underground boat” (subterrins), and there have been programs to develop powerful passage shields and experiments with nuclear penetration, but they have not led to the creation of an autonomous vehicle.
What is the thermal method of passage?
This is a method of breaking rocks down by high temperatures (plasma jet, laser or fuel burning), and in the USSR, experiments were conducted with such installations, because they allow very hard rocks to pass through, which are difficult to take with a mechanical incisor.
Why can’t subterrinos move fast in the ground?
The main reason is the resistance of the soil and the need to dispose of huge volumes of rock, and fast movement would require energy comparable to a nuclear explosion and cooling systems that are technically impossible to implement in a closed volume of a moving machine.
What is the largest underground machine in the world?
One of the largest are the modern tunnel-complex (TPCs) like the Berta (used in the United States) or the Soviet/Russian subway shields, which can be 17-19 meters in diameter and hundreds of meters in length, but they move very slowly.
Can we create a subterrinal analog in the future?
In the classical sense, a machine floating in the ground, hardly because of the laws of physics, but the creation of high-speed underground transport systems in ready-made tunnels (maglev, hyperloop) is a real direction for the development of the transport of the future.