In recent years, Ukraine has been making attempts to create its own models of weapons and military equipment. The existing industrial potential significantly limits the real possibilities of the country, so every success in the development of new weapons is widely publicized. Thus, in recent weeks, Ukrainian officials and experts have repeatedly raised the topic of a promising multiple launch rocket system Vilkha (Alder) - an option for a deep modernization of the Smerch product of the old Soviet design.
It is noteworthy that Ukrainian officials not only boast of certain successes, but also announce new information. So, at the end of last year it became known how much the country had to pay for a promising MLRS. On December 20, a number of Ukrainian mass media disseminated statements by the Minister of Economic Development and Trade and First Deputy Prime Minister Stepan Kubiv. According to him, the state spent more than 1 billion hryvnia on the development of Alder, about 35 million US dollars, or almost 2.4 billion Russian rubles.
The member of the government noted that these numbers took into account both the development of the project itself and the creation of production lines necessary for the production of serial weapons. Thus, 130 million hryvnias (slightly more than 4, 6 million US dollars) were spent on design. Another 800 million ($ 28.5 million) was spent on preparing the production of solid fuel for promising missiles.
According to S. Kubiv, by December last year in the Kiev GKKB "Luch" the creation of a line for the production of new missiles of the "Vilkha" complex was completed. Also, some other enterprises are involved in the production of such products. Thus, the Pavlograd Chemical Plant is responsible for the production of solid rocket fuel. Thus, we are talking about the development of a full cycle of production of new weapons - without the participation of foreign suppliers of any components. This fact is regularly called a reason for the pride of the Ukrainian industry.
Over the past few months, Ukrainian officials have repeatedly mentioned the imminent launch of serial production of a new MLRS. Once again, similar messages appeared a few days ago. On January 10, the Uryadoviy Kur'ur newspaper published an interview with Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak. In a conversation with the press, the minister revealed new details of the process of creating new weapons and rearmament of the army.
S. Poltorak said that in December the armed forces of Ukraine received additional funding in the amount of 4 billion hryvnia (more than 140 million dollars). These funds are intended for the purchase of new military equipment and the continuation of the rearmament of the army. Together with other models, the Ministry of Defense plans to purchase serial MLRS "Vilkha" and missiles for them. The head of the military department noted that the industry is already launching the serial production of such products.
Unfortunately, the military and political leadership of Ukraine has not yet clarified its plans and has not disclosed the number of multiple launch rocket systems planned for order. In addition, the planned expenses for their purchase remain unknown. Thus, in his recent interview, the Minister of Defense reported only about additional appropriations for purchases, but not about their distribution between different contracts.
Interesting information about the progress of the Alder project and the prospects for this MLRS was announced the other day. On January 14, the Ukrainian Internet edition "Segodnya" published an interview with the director of the information and consulting company Defense Express Sergei Zgurts, the topic of which was a new type of system. S. Zgurets revealed some interesting features of the promising project, and also spoke about possible events in the foreseeable future. From his interview it follows that the development of the MLRS "Vilkha" will continue, and in the future its modernized version may appear.
The Director of Defense Express noted that the Vilha system is one of several modern Ukrainian-designed high-precision weapons. At the same time, it took relatively little time to create it. The essence of the project was a deep modernization of the old Soviet MLRS "Smerch" through the use of automated control systems and a completely new guided missile.
S. Zgurets also recalled a couple of main differences between Vilkha and the basic Smerch. The first is different capabilities and fighting qualities. So, the Soviet MLRS with its volley covered an area comparable to several football fields. Alder can attack several different targets with one salvo, and each of them is destroyed by a precise hit of a separate missile. The second key difference lies in the use of an automated control system. Thanks to it, the Ukrainian MLRS can assign its own target for each missile.
Also mentioned was the characteristic problem of the missile forces and artillery of the Ukrainian army. The warranty period of the Smerch MLRS missiles is 20 years, and by now all the available missiles have been found to be unusable due to the degradation of solid fuel. Rockets for the Vilha system are equipped with new-production engines that can be stored and used in the future.
This year, the troops will have to receive the first serial samples of promising weapons, as well as master them. In parallel, the Luch design bureau will continue to work on improving the Alder. The main task of the Vilkha-M project, according to S. Zgurts, is to increase the firing range. However, more detailed information on the modernization project of the recently created MLRS is not yet available.
Thus, the messages of recent months reveal the current state of affairs in a promising Ukrainian project. The Vilkha multiple launch rocket system, based on the relatively old Smerch complex, has been tested and recommended for serial production. Already this year - possibly in the coming months - the army will receive the first production samples. In all likelihood, the production of Alder will be carried out by repairing and modernizing the existing Smerch combat vehicles with the parallel production of new models of missiles.
The military and political leadership of Ukraine has high hopes for new systems of its own design, including the MLRS "Vilkha". This project actually has two main goals. With its help, the army will be able to abandon outdated weapons with expired shelf life, as well as get products with new capabilities and increased characteristics. For this reason, the Alder project receives the highest ratings and is regularly mentioned as a reason for the pride of the Ukrainian defense industry. However, the known facts can make any optimism redundant.
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Ukraine has made attempts to create its own missile weapons of different classes for a long time. Projects of multiple launch rocket systems and operational-tactical missile systems have been repeatedly proposed. Nevertheless, the limited financial capabilities of the Ministry of Defense, the reduced potential of the industry and other negative factors hindered the successful implementation of ideas and proposals, and they did not leave the stage of design work and promotion at exhibitions. The situation began to change for the better only a few years ago.
At the end of January 2016, the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, during one of the summit meetings, instructed the defense industry to create a new version of the MLRS with increased characteristics. Several enterprises jointly had to develop a project of deep modernization of the existing Soviet-developed Smerch complex. According to the plans of that time, development work was to be completed by the end of 2017, and in 2018 the launch of serial production was set.
Apparently, GKKB "Luch" and related enterprises already had certain developments on the topic of modernization of "Smerch", which made it possible to launch tests in the shortest possible time. The first firing tests of the Vilkha rocket prototype took place at the end of March 2016. In the last days of August of the same year, 14 missiles with a new control system were launched simultaneously. In November, they tested missiles with a warhead. In 2017, according to known data, two series of launches took place, aimed at checking and fine-tuning new components. Last year, the project participants carried out state tests, based on the results of which a decision was made on the imminent launch of mass production and adoption.
According to open data, the Vilkha project provided for a deep modernization of the Smerch MLRS with the upgrade of the launcher devices and the use of a completely new guided missile. As a result of such a restructuring, the multiple launch rocket system gains some of the capabilities of the operational-tactical missile system. However, due to the known peculiarities, such potential of the Alder is limited in a certain way.
It is proposed to mount new navigation and fire control devices on the upgraded self-propelled launcher. They provide a more accurate topographic location, and are also responsible for entering data into missile homing systems. In addition, the automation of all the main processes in preparation for firing has been carried out, from calculating the guidance angles to moving the package of guides.
The missile for MLRS "Vilha", as far as is known, is a single-stage solid-propellant product with its own guidance systems. The length of the rocket is about 7 m, the diameter of the body is 300 mm. The starting weight is 800 kg, of which the warhead, according to various sources, accounts for 170 to 250 kg. There is information about the development of high-explosive fragmentation, cluster and thermobaric warheads. All charges are carried out in a unified body and do not affect the design of the rocket.
Initially, Ukrainian officials reported on the possibility of achieving a firing range of over 100 km. In the future, more daring estimates appeared, but by now the real calculated characteristics have become known. According to the test results, "Alder" can fly at a distance of up to 120 km. In this case, the upper point of the ballistic trajectory can be at altitudes up to 35-40 km.
It is known that unguided missiles cannot be effectively used at such ranges, and therefore one of the main features of the Vilha product is the presence of guidance systems. The rocket has a seeker based on inertial and satellite navigation. Flight control is carried out using gas-dynamic and gas-jet rudders. It is argued that when firing at the maximum range, the circular probable deviation does not exceed 5 m. At the same time, there are certain restrictions: missiles of one salvo - without additional guidance of the launcher before each launch - can attack targets in a sector of limited width.
The new guided missile allows Olkha to solve problems inherent in both multiple launch rocket systems and operational-tactical complexes. The presence of homing allows you to fire at both area and point targets in the entire range of the declared ranges. The presence of several variants of the warhead also expands the range of tasks to be solved. From this point of view, the new Ukrainian complex repeats the old Soviet "Smerch".
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According to the latest reports, Ukraine has completed the development of MLRS "Vilkha" and is ready to launch mass production of missiles with parallel modernization of combat vehicles for them. Apparently, due to the high military and political priority of this project, additional funds were recently allocated for the purchase of serial equipment. This year, the industry should transfer the first production samples to the army, and the army will begin to develop them. In addition, according to some information, the development of the project will continue, and in the future the Vilkha-M system may appear. When this will happen - if it will happen - is unknown.
The military and political leadership of Ukraine considers the new MLRS "Vilkha" a real reason for pride and one of the main hopes of the army. In addition, the development of this project was associated with issues of prestige. However, the optimism of Ukrainian officials may be overkill. Plans for a long-term program may face objective problems inherent in the armed forces and industry of Ukraine.
In recent years, in connection with the events in the Donbass, funding for the Ukrainian army has improved, but still not fully sufficient. This, in a known way, makes it difficult to order new weapons and equipment, both existing and future types. There are also problems in the industry, which, due to a shortage of personnel, technology and funding, is not able to quickly and efficiently produce the necessary products. As a result, a situation is unpleasant for Kiev, in which the mass production of the required samples is, at least, seriously hampered.
The latest messages from Ukraine in the context of the promising Vilkha project show the optimism of the military and political leadership. However, this optimism may turn out to be excessive and unjustified - against the background of the real situation and the characteristic problems of the country. Thus, the Ukrainian army will indeed be able to receive a certain number of Alder systems. However, it does not yet have to hope for mass production, capable of providing a full-fledged rearmament of missile forces and artillery.
