GRAU experts believe that the missile forces and artillery in the future will be able to retain the title of the main fire and strike force of the Ground Forces. Today and in the near future, the most significant components of the missile and artillery armament (RAV) system will remain: rocket armament, rocket and cannon artillery. With proper development, these systems will be able to multiply their role as the main means of engaging the enemy with fire in combat conditions.
At the same time, the peculiarity of the current stage of development of RAV is that the tactical and technical characteristics of many models have already reached the maximum level of values within the framework of the applied technological solutions. In such a situation, even for an insignificant increase in individual indicators of the effectiveness of missile and artillery weapons, material costs are necessary, which are incomparable with the military-technical effect that we observe at the exit. At the same time, new types of weapons, such as kinetic, laser, and non-lethal weapons are only at the initial stage of their development, therefore, they require huge costs and a technological leap for practical use in real combat conditions. That is why the increase in the combat potential and tactical and technical characteristics of modern RAV systems occurs in the form of performing individual operations on the basis of the gradual introduction of new technological solutions into their design. For the near future, the following development directions have been identified for the RAV system of the Ground Forces of the Russian Federation:
Rocket armament
Today, the operational-tactical missile system (OTRK) "Iskander-M" with aeroballistic and cruise missiles, as well as the tactical missile system (TRK) "Tochka-U" are in service. The last complex is close to the expiration of the terms of technical suitability, most likely, it will be withdrawn from the troops in the near future. Complex "Tochka-U" was a modernized version of the TRK "Tochka", officially adopted by the Soviet Army in 1975, it differed from its predecessor in greater range and accuracy of fire. State tests of the Tochka-U TRK (according to NATO codification Scarab B) took place from 1986 to 1988, in 1989 the complex was officially adopted and began to enter the troops. The maximum firing range of the complex was increased to 120 km. According to The Military Balance 2018, the Russian army still has 24 launchers of the Tochka-U complex. Most likely, the Russian Missile Forces and Artillery (MFA) will completely switch to the Iskander-M OTRK by 2020. Thus, the replacement of the Tochka-U complexes of the previous generation will take place, the head of the MFA, Lieutenant General Mikhail Matveevsky, has already spoken about this earlier.
OTRK "Iskander-M"
In connection with the gradual withdrawal of Tochka-U from service, the Iskander-M OTRK will become the base complex of the missile forces of the RF Ground Forces. According to The Military Balance 2018, the Russian army is armed with 120 Iskander-M complexes, which can hit targets at a distance of up to 500 km. At the same time, when using a missile with a correlation homing head, the circular probable deviation does not exceed 5-7 meters. The complex was put into service in 2006, and work on its modernization and improvement continues today. According to many experts, the complex is the best in its class. According to foreign military experts, along with the S-400 Triumph anti-aircraft missile system and the Bastion coastal anti-ship missile system, the Iskander-M complex plays a key role in the implementation of the strategy known in the West as the “no access zone” (Anti-Access / Area Denial, A2 / AD).
OTRK "Iskander-M" is constantly being improved, continuous work is underway to refine and improve the weapons, software and hardware of this complex. The authors of the collection "Missile-technical and artillery-technical support of the RF Armed Forces - 2018" note that the main directions of its further development are: expanding the range of missiles used with different types of warheads and increasing the combat capabilities of OTRK; development of high-precision missiles with high combat effectiveness; ensuring the possibility of using the complex both in a decentralized mode and as part of a reconnaissance and fire network.
Rocket armament
Currently, the Land Forces of the Russian Federation are armed with multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) of three main calibers: 122, 220 and 300 mm (Grad, Uragan and Smerch-M systems, respectively). In the past few years, work has been carried out in Russia to modernize these systems in terms of increasing accuracy and maximum firing range, increasing the level of protection against weapons of mass destruction and general improvement of combat vehicles.
Fighting vehicle 2B17M from the MLRS Tornado-G
In the future, the main attention in improving the existing MLRS will be paid to the further process of increasing the accuracy and firing range, expanding the range of missiles used for various purposes and increasing the combat capabilities of the MLRS. GRAU specialists believe that thanks to the implementation of the above measures, the role and place of multiple launch rocket systems in future hostilities will significantly increase and rocket artillery will take a leading place in the system of fire weapons of the Ground Forces of the Russian army.
At the same time, the key condition for increasing the combat capabilities of rocket artillery formations is to equip them with new Tornado-G (122 mm) and Tornado-S (300 mm) multiple launch rocket systems, the first is a further development of the Grad system, the second - modernization of "Smerch". "Tornado-S" provides destruction of targets at a distance of up to 120 km, experts believe that this figure in the future can be increased to 200 km. At the same time, the "Tornado-G" MLRS is able to use the entire range of ammunition, both specially created for the new system, and old unguided rockets from the Grad MLRS. Also, the key condition for increasing the combat capabilities of rocket artillery units should be their equipping with high-precision long-range projectiles. Their development should also have a significant impact on the effectiveness of the use of MLRS in terms of reducing the time of readiness and reloading of packages of rockets.
Artillery armament
In recent years, the GRAU of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation has been taking measures to reduce the outdated range of artillery weapons, carry out repair work and modernize a number of barreled artillery samples in service. As the baseline for the Russian Ground Forces, the prospects for the development of artillery barrel systems of 82, 120 and 152 mm calibers were identified. At the same time, a fundamental feature of the promising 152-mm inter-service artillery complex (IAC) "Coalition" is the development of an artillery system as a full-fledged multipurpose complex, including not only a new generation of artillery ammunition, but also new means of automation of command and control and reconnaissance.
ACS 2S35 "Coalition-SV" at the rehearsal of the Victory Day parade in Alabino, 2016
An increase in the combat capabilities of artillery formations can be achieved by re-equipping them with a 152-mm inter-service artillery complex. As noted in the GRAU collection, the calculations show that the task performed by the 2S19 Msta-S self-propelled artillery battalion can be performed by a battery armed with the Coalition-SV IAC in just 2-3 minutes with the same ammunition consumption. Accordingly, a division equipped with an IAC surpasses a similar division armed with 2S19M2, 2S3M3 "Akatsia" systems, in terms of the size of the concentrated fire area - by 2-3 times; by the number of simultaneous fire missions - 3-4 times; by the size of the section of different types of accompanying and obstruction lights - 3 times; by the time of the execution of the firing mission - 2 times. Further development and enhancement of the combat capabilities of the 152-mm IAC should be the use of promising high-precision projectiles, allowing the implementation of the "fire and forget" principle.
It is known that the military operation of the first 12 self-propelled artillery installations 2S35 "Coalition-SV" will take place until 2020, in the same 2020 it is planned to complete state tests of the new installation. Deputy Defense Minister of Russia Yuri Borisov told reporters about this. According to him, the new artillery system is far superior in range and rate of fire not only to Russian, but also to foreign counterparts. At the same time, the main characteristics of the installation are still classified. In the media, you can find information about the firing range of up to 70-80 km and the installation rate of up to 16 rounds per minute. Ensuring high rates of fire is achieved due to the applied design of the loading mechanism. In addition to a self-propelled artillery mount based on the chassis of the T-90 tank, there is an option for placing a 152-mm 2A88 howitzer based on a wheeled off-road chassis, for example, a KamAZ 6560 chassis with an 8x8 wheel arrangement.
A promising direction in the field of further improvement of artillery and mortar armament of the Ground Forces of the Russian Federation is the development of samples for equipping artillery (mortar) batteries of battalions of different types (motorized rifle, airborne assault, arctic, etc.) in order to solve the tasks of fire destruction of manpower. and enemy equipment in their area of responsibility and in different climatic zones. It is planned to achieve this by developing models of artillery and mortar armament on an automobile, as well as a two-link tracked chassis of high cross-country ability.
120-mm SAO 2S40 "Flox", can fire mortar mines and artillery shells
In the future, a rational system of anti-tank missile systems (ATGM) should include two main types of such complexes: a multipurpose ATGM, which is a truly universal complex of guided weapons designed to solve a wide range of combat missions in the near tactical zone; a modernized medium-range wearable ATGM with an increased power of the warhead. The result should be the emergence of powerful weapons of acceptable weight and size characteristics, low cost, with further development potential.
The armament of Russian main battle tanks is based on a 125-mm smoothbore cannon. Over the past four decades, this weapon, in the course of numerous upgrades, has undergone a number of changes that were aimed at increasing the level of its tactical and technical characteristics. Currently, Russia is working on the creation of a cannon of increased energy intensity for the promising T-14 MBT on the Armata platform. So far, it is known that the main weapon of the new tanks will be the smooth-bore 125-mm cannon 2A82-1M, which is distinguished by increased firepower. According to representatives of "Uralvagonzavod", this required the use of new technologies for auto-fastening and the application of a protective coating of the bore to ensure the required strength and survivability. The rate of fire of the gun is 12 rounds per minute, the firing range depends on the selected ammunition, for example, the gun allows you to launch guided missiles with a range of up to 10 km.
As the main armament of Russian armored combat vehicles (AFV), automatic 30-mm cannons are used today, which have the same ballistic solution, as well as 100-mm guns - launchers. At the same time, for further implementation in modern and promising armored combat vehicles, the caliber of automatic guns of 57 mm was adopted. The cannon is an improved version of the S-60 anti-aircraft artillery system. The power of 57-mm ammunition allows you to confidently hit most of the currently existing armored objects on the battlefield. The rate of fire of the gun is up to 120 rounds per minute. In addition to the classic armor-piercing, fragmentation-tracer and anti-aircraft shells, new guided and multifunctional ammunition with a remote fuse can also be used. At present, the AU-220M artillery mount has been demonstrated, which can be mounted on the BMP-3 chassis or the T-15 heavy BMP on the Armata tracked platform. Also on display was a self-propelled anti-aircraft artillery system for the ROC "Derivation-Air Defense" with a 57-mm automatic cannon, also built on the BMP-3 chassis.
"Derivation-PVO" with a 57-mm automatic cannon
Small arms
The current system of small arms of the Russian Ground Forces is based on samples of individual weapons of soldiers (machine guns and sniper rifles) and machine guns of two main calibers - 5, 45 and 7, 62 mm. GRAU experts believe that in the future, it is possible to abandon the use of weapons of caliber 5, 45 mm in the Ground Forces of the Russian Federation due to the insufficient penetrating effect of bullets on enemy manpower equipped with modern personal protective equipment, especially at medium and increased combat distances. And focusing efforts on improving performance characteristics and modernizing cartridges and weapons of 7, 62 mm caliber.
