The best fire fortifications include those that require less time and money to build, are hardly noticeable on the ground and are capable of suddenly opening effective fire on the attacking enemy.
In the system of long-term and field fortification, two directions have long been realized - small transportable firing structures, quickly installed in positions, and hidden structures.
"GORCHAK" IN DEVELOPMENT
In 1990, in the Central Research Institute of Precision Engineering (TsNIITOCHMASH, Klimovsk, Moscow Region), experimental design work was opened on the "installation for fire fortifications with a mechanical drive to control standard weapons." The ROC received the code "Gorchak", led by the leading design engineer V. I. Altunin. It was about the creation of a rapidly erected firing structure with a ready-made "fighting compartment" in the form of a hiding armored shelter, carrying a complex of weapons to combat various targets, including low-flying air targets. In 1996, the installation was put into service under the designation "universal firing structure of a hidden type", keeping by tradition the code of the ROC "Gorchak". Serial production of the unit was organized by Motovilikhinskiye Zavody OJSC (Perm) - earlier it had already produced Gorchak prototypes according to TsNIITOCHMASH documentation.
"GORCHAK" IN THE SECTION
The Gorchak universal firing structure (UOS) is intended for the operational construction of defensive zones, fortification equipment of fortified areas, checkpoints, border zones, and the organization of security lines for important objects (for example, points of the Strategic Missile Forces).
The basis of the two-seat firing structure is a cylindrical base equipped with sealed doors. In the upper part there is an armament unit, fixed under a hinged armored cover, and observation devices. The armament unit is equipped with various types of weapons - automatic "anti-personnel" weapons of floor (machine guns) and floor-mounted (automatic grenade launcher) fire, weapons for fighting lightly armored ground and low-flying air targets (heavy machine gun), guided anti-tank missile weapons (ATGM). In the presented version, the UOS "Gorchak" carries in the swinging armored block:
- 12, 7-mm heavy machine gun NSV-12, 7 (combat rate of fire up to 200 rds / min, 480 rounds of ammunition), - 7, 62-mm PKM machine gun (combat rate of fire 250 rds / min, 1700 rounds of ammunition), - 30-mm automatic grenade launcher AGS-17 (rate of fire - up to 400 rounds / min, 360 rounds of ammunition), - launcher 9P135M for anti-tank guided missiles 9M111 ("Fagot"), 9M113 ("Competition"), 9K113M ("Competition-M") - all with a semi-automatic control system by wire. Ammunition - four ATGMs in TPK.
Each of these weapons is worthy of separate consideration. Suffice it to say here that such a set allows the FBM to fight:
- with open, lying and entrenched enemy manpower at ranges up to 2000 m, - with lightly armored targets at ranges up to 2000 m, - with tanks and armored vehicles at ranges from 70 to 4000 m, - with attacking aircraft and helicopters at ranges up to 1500 m.
Under the armament block there are jobs for the calculation. The set of devices allows the crew to constantly monitor the battlefield, timely detect and identify targets.
"GORCHAK" IN POSITION
UOS "Gorchak" is transportable, transported by vehicles of the ZIL-130 type (one UOS) or KAMA3-4310 (two UOS), by rail. To install the ESP at the selected position, using an engineering earth-moving machine, a cylindrical recess with a depth of 2.0 m and a diameter of 2.5 m is prepared in the ground with an adjacent blocked trench for entering the UOS of the calculation. In the hidden position, the weapons unit is in the lowered position, the hatch in the roof of the structure is covered with an armored cover. At the same time, the height of the structure above the ground does not exceed 150 mm, which makes it inconspicuous, when using simple camouflage measures, it is practically invisible on the ground for ground and air surveillance. When transferred to the firing position, the upper cover of the UOS opens, the weapon unit rises up - the installation is ready to open fire.
The height of the structure above the ground surface in the combat position increases to 600 mm. UOS is characterized by a combination of enhanced protection and improved habitability for a combat crew. The armored cover withstands a direct hit from a field gun artillery shell. However, the greatest protection is given by the low visibility of the structure. Weapon control is remote, using periscopic viewing blocks, aiming and guidance devices, both calculation numbers are constantly below ground level. The combination of transportability and a concealed installation scheme gave the structure a new quality - the ability to quickly create a defense system without significant time costs, redeployment using road or rail transport. UOS "Gorchak" can also be used as part of a more solid buried long-term firing structure.
