How many air defense systems do we have? We continue talking about domestic anti-aircraft systems. Today we will consider the armament and promising short-range air defense systems, in the composition of the onboard equipment of which there are no detection radars. We will try to adhere to the same order of presentation as in the article "Why do we need so many air defense systems?", But there will be some digressions along the way.
Strela-10
The development of the Strela-10SV air defense system began in the late 1960s. This complex, put into service in 1976, was supposed to replace the short-range air defense missile system of the regimental level "Strela-1", mounted on the BRDM-2 chassis. It was decided to use the MT-LB tracked lightly armored multipurpose tractor as a base for Strela-10SV. Compared with the Strela-1 air defense system, the Strela-10SV complex had increased combat characteristics. The use of 9M37 missiles with thermal and photocontrast channels increased the likelihood of damage and noise immunity. It became possible to fire at faster targets, the boundaries of the affected area expanded. The use of the MT-LB chassis made it possible to increase the ammunition load (4 missiles on the launcher and 4 additional missiles in the fighting compartment of the vehicle). Unlike Strela-1, where the muscular force of the gunner-operator was used to turn the launcher towards the target, on Strela-10SV the launcher was deployed using an electric drive.
Two versions of Strela-10SV combat vehicles were produced in series: with a passive radio direction finder and a millimeter-wave radio range finder (command vehicle) and only with a radio range finder (fire platoon vehicles). Organizationally, the Strela-10SV platoon (commander and three to five subordinate vehicles), together with the Tunguska ZRPK or ZSU-23-4 Shilka platoon, was part of the missile and artillery battery of the anti-aircraft battalion of the tank (motorized rifle) regiment.
SAM "Strela-10" has been modernized several times. The "Strela-10M" complex included the 9M37M missile defense system. The homing head of the modernized anti-aircraft missile selected target and organized optical interference based on trajectory characteristics, which made it possible to reduce the effectiveness of heat traps.
In 1981, the serial production of the Strela-10M2 air defense system began. This version received equipment for automated reception of target designation from the PU-12M battery control gear or the control gear of the head of the air defense regiment of the PPRU-1 regiment, as well as target designation processing equipment, which provided automated guidance to the target of the launch device.
In 1989, the Strela-10M3 complex was adopted by the Soviet Army. Combat vehicles of this modification were equipped with new sighting and search electro-optical equipment, providing an increase in the detection range of small targets by 20-30%, as well as improved equipment for launching guided missiles, which made it possible to reliably lock a target with a homing head. The new 9M333 guided missile, in comparison with the 9M37M, had a modified container and engine, as well as a new seeker with three receivers in different spectral ranges, with logical target selection against the background of optical interference by trajectory and spectral features, which significantly increased noise immunity. A more powerful warhead and the use of a non-contact laser fuse, increased the likelihood of being hit on a miss.
SAM 9M333 has a launch weight of 41 kg and an average flight speed of 550 m / s. Firing range: 800-5000 m. Destruction of targets is possible in the range of altitudes: 10-3500 m. The probability of hitting a fighter-type target with one missile in the absence of organized interference: 0, 3-0, 6.
In the late 1980s, the Strela-10M4 complex was being created, which was supposed to be equipped with a passive sighting and search system. However, due to the collapse of the USSR, this air defense system did not become widespread, and the developments obtained during its creation were used in the modernized Strela-10MN. The complex has a new thermal imaging system, an automatic target acquisition and tracking and a scanning unit. But, apparently, the modernization program affected no more than 20% of the systems available in the troops.
Currently, the Russian armed forces have approximately 400 Strela-10M short-range air defense systems (M2 / M3 / MN; about 100 in storage and in the process of modernization). Complexes of this type are in service with the air defense units of the ground forces and the marines. A certain number of Strela-10M3 air defense systems are in the airborne troops, but their parachute landing is impossible. In 2015, air defense units of the Airborne Forces received more than 30 modernized Strela-10MN short-range anti-aircraft missile systems.
However, the reliability and combat readiness of the complexes that have not undergone major repairs and modernization leaves much to be desired. This applies to both the hardware part of the air defense system and the technical condition of the chassis, as well as anti-aircraft missiles, the production of which was completed in the first half of the 1990s. According to some reports, in the course of training and control firing at ranges, cases of missile defense failure are not uncommon. In this regard, anti-aircraft missiles that are outside the warranty storage period and have not undergone the necessary maintenance in the factory will have a less likely target hit than the stated one. In addition, the experience of local conflicts in recent years has demonstrated that the use of the zone assessment equipment in combat for real purposes unmasks the complex, and with a high degree of probability leads to the disruption of the combat mission, or even the destruction of the air defense system. Refusal to use a radio range finder increases stealth, but also reduces the likelihood of hitting a target. In the near future, our armed forces will part with a significant part of the Strela-10 family of complexes. This is due to the extreme wear of the air defense systems themselves and the impossibility of further operation of the outdated 9M37M air defense systems.
When assessing the combat value of non-modernized complexes of the Strela-10 family, it should be taken into account that the target is detected by the operator of the complex visually, after which it is required to orient the launcher in the direction of the target, wait for the target to be captured by the seeker and launch the rocket. In the context of an extremely short-lived confrontation between air defense systems and modern air attack weapons, when the enemy's attack often takes a few seconds, the slightest delay can become fatal. A big drawback of even the freshest air defense system "Strela-10M3" developed in the USSR is the impossibility of effective work in night and unfavorable weather conditions. This is due to the lack of a thermal imaging channel in the sighting and search system of the complex. Currently, the 9M37M and 9M333 anti-aircraft missiles do not fully meet modern requirements. These missiles have insufficient maneuverability for the current conditions, small boundaries of the affected area in range and height. The affected area of all modifications of the Strela-10 air defense system is significantly less than the range of use of modern aviation anti-tank missiles, and the "jump" tactics used by helicopters in the fight against armored vehicles greatly reduces the possibility of their shelling due to the long reaction time. The likelihood of hitting aircraft flying at high speed and performing anti-aircraft maneuvers with the simultaneous use of heat traps is also not satisfactory. Partially the disadvantages of the Strela-10M3 air defense system were corrected in the modernized Strela-10MN complex. However, the "fundamental" shortcomings of the complex, the first version of which appeared in the mid-1970s, cannot be completely eliminated by modernization.
Nevertheless, subject to the modernization of the Strela-10 air defense systems, they still pose a real danger to air attack weapons operating at low altitudes, and will remain in the army until they are replaced by modern mobile systems. In 2019, it became known that the Russian Ministry of Defense signed a contract worth 430 million rubles for the modernization of the late versions of the Strela-10 air defense system and the 9M333 air defense system. At the same time, the service life of anti-aircraft missiles should be extended to 35 years, which will allow them to operate at least until 2025.
SAM "Archer-E"
To compensate for the inevitable "natural loss" of the Strela-10 air defense system, several options were considered. The most budgetary option is to use the MT-LB chassis in combination with the Strelets near-field system. An export modification of such a complex in 2012 was presented in Zhukovsky at the forum "Technologies in mechanical engineering".
The mobile air defense missile system, designated "Archer-E", is equipped with an optoelectronic station with a thermal imaging camera capable of operating at any time of the day. To defeat air targets, SAMs from Igla and Igla-S MANPADS are intended, with a firing range of up to 6000 m. But, apparently, our Ministry of Defense was not interested in this mobile complex, and there is no information on export orders.
SAM "Bagulnik"
Another complex based on MT-LB was the Bagulnik air defense missile system, which in the past was offered to foreign buyers under the name Sosna. For the sake of fairness, it should be said that the development of the Sosna / Bagulnik air defense missile system was very delayed. Experienced design and research work on this topic started in the mid-1990s. A ready-to-use sample appeared after about 20 years. However, it would be incorrect to blame the creators of the complex for this. In the absence of interest and funding from the customer, there was little that the developers could do.
In the Bagulnik air defense system, for the first time for domestic anti-aircraft systems, the method of transmitting guidance commands to the board of an anti-aircraft missile by a laser beam was used. The hardware part of the complex consists of an optoelectronic module, a digital computing system, launcher guidance mechanisms, controls and information display. To detect targets and guide anti-aircraft missiles, an optoelectronic module is used, which in turn consists of a thermal imaging channel for target detection and tracking, a missile tracking heat direction finder, a laser range finder and a laser missile control channel. The optoelectronic station is capable of quickly searching for a target at any time of the day and in any weather conditions. The absence of a surveillance radar in the complex excludes unmasking high-frequency radiation, and makes it invulnerable to anti-radar missiles. A passive detection station can detect and escort a fighter-type target at a distance of up to 30 km, a helicopter up to 14 km, and a cruise missile up to 12 km.
The destruction of air targets is carried out by 9M340 anti-aircraft missiles, which are located in transport and launch containers, in two packages on the sides of the optoelectronic module in the amount of 12 units. SAM 9M340 used in the air defense system is a two-stage and is made according to the bicaliber scheme. The rocket consists of a detachable launch booster and a sustainer stage. Within a few seconds after the launch, the accelerator informs the rocket with a speed of more than 850 m / s, after which it separates and then the main stage continues its inertial flight. Such a scheme allows you to quickly accelerate the rocket and provides a high average speed of the rocket throughout the entire flight phase (more than 550 m / s), which, in turn, sharply increases the likelihood of hitting high-speed targets, including maneuvering targets, and minimizes the missile's flight time. Due to the high dynamic characteristics of the missiles used, the far border of the Bagulnik's affected area has doubled compared to the Strela-10M3 air defense missile system and is 10 kilometers, the reach in height is up to 5 km. The capabilities of the 9M340 missile make it possible to successfully hit helicopters, including those using the "jump" tactics, cruise missiles and jet aircraft flying around the terrain.
In the course of combat work, the Bagulnik air defense missile system searches for a target independently or receives external target designation via a closed communication line from the battery command post, other combat vehicles of a fire platoon, or interacting radars. After detecting the target, the optical-electronic module of the air defense missile system, using a laser rangefinder, takes it for tracking in angular coordinates and range. After the target enters the affected area, the rocket is launched, which at the initial stage of the flight is controlled by a radio command method, which ensures that the missile defense system reaches the line of sight of the laser guidance system. After switching on the laser system, the beam telecontrol is carried out. The receiver in the tail of the rocket receives the modulated signal, and the rocket's autopilot generates commands that ensure the continuous holding of the missile defense system on the line connecting the air defense system, the rocket and the target.
Conceptually, the 9M340 bicaliber SAM is in many ways similar to the 9M311 anti-aircraft missile used as part of the Tunguska air defense missile system, but instead of the radio command guidance method it uses laser guidance. Thanks to laser guidance, the anti-aircraft missile is highly accurate. The use of special guidance algorithms, a ring diagram of the formation of a fragmentation field and a non-contact 12-beam laser fuse compensates for guidance errors. The missile is equipped with a fragmentation-rod warhead with a durable tip. Undermining the warhead is carried out at the command of a laser fuse or a contact inertial fuse. SAM 9M340 is made according to the "duck" pattern, and has a length of 2317 mm. The weight of the rocket in the TPK is 42 kg. Loading is done by the crew manually.
After the start of mass deliveries of the Bagulnik air defense system to the troops, it will be possible to reduce the excess units of equipment and personnel in the air defense units of the regimental and brigade level. Unlike the Strela-10M3 air defense missile system, the Bagulnik mobile systems do not require transport-loading and control-checking vehicles.
The general public is presented with a variant of the Bagulnik air defense system based on the MT-LB chassis. However, this does not exclude the use of a different wheel or track base in the future. Currently, options for placement on other chassis have been worked out, for example, BMP-3 and BTR-82A. In the past, information was published that for the Airborne Forces on the basis of the BMD-4M, a short-range "Poultry" complex is being created, in which the 9M340 missiles will be used. However, the complexity of creating an airborne mobile anti-aircraft complex is associated with the need to ensure the operability of rather fragile nodes, electro-optical circuits and blocks of the complex after being dropped on a parachute platform. The landing of a multi-ton vehicle when landing from a military transport aircraft can be called soft only conditionally. Although the parachute system dampens the rate of descent, landing from a height is always accompanied by a serious impact on the ground. Therefore, all vital components and assemblies must have a margin of safety much greater than in machines used in the ground forces.
ZAK "Derivation-PVO"
In all likelihood, the Derivation-Air Defense artillery complex will work in tandem with the Bagulnik in the future. Since the mid-1990s, Russia has been actively experimenting with 57-mm artillery machine guns. It was proposed to arm a modernized version of the PT-76 light amphibious tank with guns of this caliber. In 2015, the AU-220M uninhabited combat module, armed with an improved 57-mm artillery system based on the S-60 anti-aircraft gun, was presented for the first time. The combat module AU-220M was designed to arm the promising Boomerang armored personnel carriers and the Kurganets-25 and T-15 infantry fighting vehicles.
The 57-mm high-ballistic rifled automatic cannon used in the AU-220M module is capable of firing 120 aimed shots within a minute. The initial velocity of the projectile is 1000 m / s. The gun uses unitary shots with several types of projectiles. To reduce recoil, the gun is equipped with a muzzle brake.
Interest on the part of the military in the 57-mm automatic gun is associated with its versatility. There are no infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers in the world, whose armor at real combat distances is capable of withstanding the hit of a 57-mm projectile. The BR-281U armor-piercing projectile weighing 2, 8 kg, containing 13 g of explosive, penetrates 110 mm armor at a distance of 500 m along the normal. The use of a sub-caliber projectile will increase the armor penetration by about 1.5 times, which will make it possible to confidently hit modern main battle tanks on the side. In addition, the 57-mm automatic cannon, when firing at manpower, successfully combines a fairly high rate of fire with a good fragmentation effect. The OR-281U fragmentation tracer grenade weighing 2, 8 kg contains 153 g of TNT and has a continuous destruction zone of 4-5 m. In the dimensions of a 57-mm fragmentation grenade, it is justified to create an anti-aircraft ammunition with a programmable remote or radio fuse.
For the first time, a new 57-mm anti-aircraft self-propelled gun "Derivation-Air Defense" was presented at the forum "Army-2018" in the pavilion of the state corporation "Rostec". The self-propelled artillery mount is made on the chassis of the well-proven BMP-3. In addition to the 57-mm automatic cannon, the armament includes a 7, 62-mm machine gun paired with a gun.
Combat module of the self-propelled anti-aircraft artillery complex "Derivation-Air Defense"
According to information published in open sources, the maximum range of destruction of air targets is 6 km, the height is 4.5 km. Vertical guidance angle: - 5 degrees / +75 degrees. The horizontal guidance angle is 360 degrees. The maximum speed of targets hit is 500 m / s. Ammunition - 148 rounds. Calculation - 3 people.
To detect air and ground targets day and night, an optoelectronic station is used in its capabilities, which is similar to that used on the Sosna air defense missile system. The detection range of an air target of the "fighter" type channel in the survey mode is 6500 m, in the narrow field of view mode - 12 000 m. The precise measurement of the coordinates and flight speed of the target is carried out by a laser rangefinder. A telecode communication equipment is installed on the combat vehicle to receive external target designation from other sources. The defeat of air targets should be carried out by a fragmentation projectile with a programmable fuse. In the future, it is possible to use a guided laser-guided projectile, which should increase the efficiency of the complex.
It is stated that the ZAK "Derivation-Air Defense" is capable of fighting combat helicopters, tactical aircraft, drones and even shoot down rockets of multiple launch rocket systems. In addition, 57-mm rapid-fire units are capable of successfully operating against small-sized high-speed naval targets, destroying enemy armored vehicles and manpower.
To ensure the combat operation of the Derivation-Air Defense complexes, a transport-loading vehicle is used, which provides ammunition for the main and additional weapons of the combat vehicle and refueling the barrel cooling system with liquid. TZM is developed on the basis of the Ural 4320 high cross-country wheeled chassis and is capable of transporting 4 ammunition loads.
At present, the state of the anti-aircraft battalion of a motorized rifle brigade is supposed to have 6 Tunguska air defense systems (or ZSU-23-4 Shilka) and 6 Strela-10M3 air defense systems. Most likely, after the start of large-scale production of new anti-aircraft missile and anti-aircraft artillery systems, the Sosna air defense system and the Derivation-Air Defense complex will become part of the anti-aircraft divisions in the same proportion.
New complexes intended for arming the air defense units of the ground forces of the regimental and brigade echelon are sometimes criticized for the lack of active radar equipment in the onboard equipment, allowing them to independently search for targets. However, when conducting hostilities against a technologically advanced enemy, self-propelled air defense systems and ZSU located in the same combat formations with tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers, when radars are turned on in the immediate vicinity of the line of contact, will inevitably be detected by enemy radio reconnaissance means. Drawing unnecessary attention to oneself is fraught with destruction by anti-radar missiles, artillery and guided tactical missiles. It should also be understood that the primary task of air defense units of any level is not to destroy enemy aircraft, but to prevent damage to the covered objects.
Unable to detect mobile anti-aircraft systems with radar radiation receivers, pilots of enemy aircraft and helicopters will not be able to timely undertake evasive maneuvers and jamming devices. It is difficult to imagine that the crew of an anti-tank helicopter or fighter-bomber, suddenly discovering explosions of anti-aircraft shells nearby, will continue to carry out further combat missions.
It is possible that the determining factor in the fate of the new anti-aircraft artillery complex was the experience of using air defense systems in the protection of Russian military facilities in Syria. In the past few years, the Pantsir-C1 air defense missile systems deployed on the territory of the Khmeimim base have repeatedly opened fire on unguided rockets and drones launched by the Islamists. At the same time, the cost of the 57E6 anti-aircraft missile with radio command guidance is hundreds of times higher than the price of a simple Chinese-made drone. The use of expensive missiles against such targets is a necessary measure and economically unjustified. Taking into account the fact that in the future we should expect an explosive growth in the number of small-sized remotely controlled aircraft over the battlefield and in the frontal zone, our army needs an inexpensive and simple means of neutralizing them. In any case, a 57-mm fragmentation projectile with a programmable remote or radar fuse is many times cheaper than the 57E6 SAM from the Pantsir-S1 air defense missile system.
