Air defense of Czechoslovakia.
In addition to the low-altitude S-125M / M1A air defense systems, the medium-range SA-75M, S-75M / M3 systems, the long-range S-200VE and the S-300PMU multichannel anti-aircraft system, which protected important administrative and industrial centers, in Czechoslovakia there was a significant number of mobile army anti-aircraft missile systems and MANPADS.
SAM "Circle" in the armed forces of Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia and the GDR were the first among the allies of the USSR to receive medium-range military air defense systems "Krug" in 1974. Apparently, these were modernized complexes of the 2K11M "Krug-M" modification. Before the appearance of the S-300V air defense system, anti-aircraft missile brigades of front-line and army subordination were equipped with mobile complexes on the tracked chassis of the Krug family. The "krugovskaya" air defense brigade usually consisted of 3 anti-aircraft missile divisions. In turn, the air defense control platoon had: a target detection station 1C12 (a modified version of the P-40 radar), a PRV-9B radio altimeter, and a K-1 Crab target designation cabin. Each of the three anti-aircraft batteries included: a 1S32 missile guidance station, three 2P24 self-propelled launchers (each with two 3M8 missiles). To ensure combat activities in the technical battery there were transport and transport-loading vehicles, refuellers, equipment for refueling missiles with kerosene, mobile workshops with instrumentation.
The elements of the anti-aircraft missile system, placed on a tracked chassis, had good mobility, the maximum speed of movement on the highway was up to 60 km / h, with a cruising range of about 350 km. The tracked vehicles of the Krug air defense missile system were covered with light armor, which provided protection for the crew from light shrapnel and rifle caliber bullets.
The radio command guidance of anti-aircraft missiles and the search for targets in the control center received from the SOC 1S12 was carried out by the SNR 1S32. At the rear of the hull of the guidance station, there was a circular rotation antenna of a coherent-pulse radar. Above the antenna of the narrow beam of the missile channel, the antenna of the wide beam of the missile channel was attached. Above the antennas of the narrow and wide missile channels, there was an antenna for transmitting guidance commands for the 3M8 missile defense system. When suppressing the interference of the radar tracking channel, a television-optical sighting device located in the upper part of the antenna post could be used. The computing-decisive equipment of the guidance station by the coordinates of targets with a certain centimeter-range radar calculated the zones for launching missiles. The data came to SPU 2P24, after which the missiles turned in the direction of the target. When entering the affected area, the missiles were launched.
The 2P24 self-propelled tracked launcher housed two 3M8 anti-aircraft missiles, with a ramjet engine running on kerosene. The rocket was accelerated to cruising speed by four detachable solid-propellant engines. In the tanks of the 3M8 missile defense system with a length of 8400 mm, with a starting mass of 2.4 tons, 270 kg of aviation kerosene was poured.
According to the reference data, the Krug-M air defense system could hit air targets flying on a collision course at a distance of up to 50 km. Height reach - 24.5 km. The minimum height of fired targets is 250 m. The probability of hitting a fighter-type target in the absence of organized interference is 0.7. The maximum target speed is 800 m / s.
In the armed forces of Czechoslovakia, the Krug air defense system was equipped with the 82nd anti-aircraft missile brigade stationed in Jihlava. The brigade had three divisions: the 183rd, 185th and 187th divisions. In 1976, the "Krugovskaya" 82 brigade was assigned the 66th separate radio technical battalion with P-15, P-18 and P-40 radars. Since the mid-1970s, in addition to participating in major exercises, the anti-aircraft missile divisions of the 82nd air defense brigade periodically carried combat duty at pre-prepared positions.
In terms of the range and altitude of hitting targets, the Krug air defense system was close to the S-75M / M3 complexes, which used missiles with an engine running on liquid fuel and an oxidizer. It would seem that anti-aircraft missiles with a ramjet engine, in whose soft rubber tanks only kerosene was filled, were more suitable for carrying out combat duty. However, in practice, despite the difficulties with refueling and maintaining missiles, the S-75 air defense systems were much better adapted to long-term combat duty than the Circle. The lamp element base was very sensitive to vibration and shock loads that inevitably occur when the complex was moving on a tracked chassis, even on a good road. In practice, it turned out that the conditions of duty in the SNR 1C32 are much worse than in the “doghouse” SNR-75. The reliability of the electronic equipment of the Krug military air defense systems turned out to be significantly lower than that of the complexes created for the USSR air defense forces.
After the liquidation of the Warsaw Pact, the Krug mobile medium-range anti-aircraft systems did not serve for long in most Eastern European countries. This was due not only to the complexity of maintaining the equipment in working order, built on an outdated element base, and the low noise immunity of the missile guidance channel. By the early 1990s, cracking of soft rubber fuel tanks was observed on many 3M8 anti-aircraft missiles, which led to a kerosene leak and made the use of missiles very dangerous in terms of fire. In this regard, the extension of the operation of the Krug air defense system in Czechoslovakia was considered not rational, and the 82nd anti-aircraft missile brigade was disbanded. Until the second half of 1994, a number of the least worn-out equipment with a stock of missiles was in storage, but now elements of the Czech Krug air defense systems can be seen only in the Leshany museum.
SAM "Cub" in the armed forces of Czechoslovakia
On February 1, 1975, an anti-aircraft missile regiment was formed in the Czechoslovak army, equipped with a medium-range air defense system 2K12M "Kub-M". The 171st ZRP, which was part of the 20th Motorized Rifle Division, was stationed in Rozhmital pod Trshemshin in the western part of Czechoslovakia. In total, Czechoslovakia received 7 regimental sets of 2K12M "Kub-M" air defense systems and 2 sets of 2K12M3 "Kub-M3". Anti-aircraft missile regiments "Cube" were attached to tank and motorized rifle divisions. The anti-aircraft missile regiment had five fire batteries and a control battery.
For the mid-1970s, the Cube air defense system was considered a very effective anti-aircraft system, combining good mobility, noise immunity and a high probability of hitting a target. The guidance station and self-propelled launchers of the Cube air defense missile system had light armor protection against bullets and shrapnel. Highway speed - up to 45 km / h. The power reserve is 300 km.
When creating a complex capable of moving on the march in the same columns with tanks and infantry fighting vehicles and intended to cover tank and motorized rifle divisions from air attacks, a number of innovations were applied. In the anti-aircraft missile complex "Cube" 3M9 - for the first time in the USSR, a semi-active homing head was used. The marching ramjet engine of the missile defense system ran on solid fuel, which made it possible to significantly simplify the maintenance of the rocket during operation and preparation for combat use. To accelerate the rocket to a cruising speed of 1.5M, a solid-propellant first stage was used. After the completion of the launch stage, the inner part of the nozzle apparatus is shot off to change the geometry of the nozzle of the after-combustion chamber for the operation of the main engine. SAM "Kub-M" could hit air targets at a distance of 4-23 km, in an altitude range of 50-8000 m, which was close to the capabilities of the low-altitude SAM S-125.
The self-propelled reconnaissance and guidance unit 1S91M of the "Kub-M" complex provided the detection of air targets, the calculation of their coordinates and the guidance of anti-aircraft missiles. To solve combat missions on the 1S91 SURN, there are two radars: 1S11 target detection station and 1S31 missile guidance. The antennas of these two stations are arranged in two tiers and rotate independently of each other. The 1C11 target detection station had a range of 3 to 70 km. The altitude was from 30 to 8000 m. The 1S31 missile guidance station provided target acquisition, its subsequent tracking and illumination of the semi-active radar seeker missile defense system. In the case of the suppression of the SNR by electronic interference, the target in angular coordinates could be tracked using a television-optical sight, but at the same time the accuracy of guidance fell.
The 2P25 self-propelled launcher housed three 3M9 missiles. The turn of the launcher towards the target and the launch of the missiles were carried out according to the data coming from the self-propelled reconnaissance and guidance unit via the VHF radio channel.
The Cube air defense missile system included one SURN 1S91, four SPU 2P25, TZM 2T7. Transport-loading vehicles on the chassis of a ZIL-131 vehicle had a special hydraulic lift for reloading missiles from the vehicle onto the pylons of a self-propelled launcher.
Although the SURN 1S91 ensured the autonomous use of the air defense missile system, the combat effectiveness of the complex increased significantly when interacting with the control battery, which had the P-15, P-18, P-40 radar stations, the PRV-16 mobile radio altimeter and the K-1 Crab control cabin … In a number of sources it is mentioned that since 1985 the command post "Polyana D-1" has been supplied to Czechoslovakia. The control cabin, located on the Ural-375 chassis, automatically provided the distribution of targets between anti-aircraft missile batteries and the setting of fire missions, taking into account target designations from higher command posts.
By the second half of the 1980s, the Czechoslovak air defense systems "Kub-M" and "Kub-M3" were a formidable force capable of causing a lot of trouble for NATO aviation. For the maintenance and repair of complexes and missiles in the city of Jaromezh, in the north-west of Czechoslovakia, the 10th repair base was created.
Caponiers were prepared in the places of permanent deployment of anti-aircraft missile regiments and in predetermined areas of responsibility, where missile batteries were alternately on alert. Thus, the maintenance of proper qualifications and practical training of combat crews, and coverage of gaps in the affected zones of stationary complexes at low altitudes were ensured. Unlike the Krug air defense missile system, after the division of military property between the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993, these states retained the Cube mobile systems in service. Moreover, in both countries, in addition to carrying out refurbishment, attempts were made to modernize the air defense system, but this will be discussed in the next part of the review.
SAM "Osa-AKM" in the armed forces of Czechoslovakia
In addition to the Cube air defense system in Czechoslovakia, the mobile anti-aircraft missile system 9K33M3 Osa-AKM, located on a universal wheeled floating chassis, was in service. Since 1984, the 5th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment, stationed in Zhatze, was part of the 1st Panzer Division.
The Osa-AKM SAM combat vehicle is based on the BAZ-5937 three-axle chassis, which provides a maximum highway speed of up to 80 km / h. Maximum speed afloat - 10 km / h. Unlike the Kub and Krug complexes, all the radar elements of the complex and anti-aircraft missiles are located on one vehicle. A radar station with a circular view, operating in the centimeter range, ensures the detection of a fighter-type target at distances of up to 40 km, at a flight altitude of 5000 m. The defeat of a target at a distance of 1, 5-10 km and an altitude of 25-5000 m was provided by a 9M33 anti-aircraft missile with radio command guidance with a probability of 0, 5..0, 85. In the radio command guidance system of the "Osa" air defense missile system, there are two sets of antennas of medium and wide beams for capturing and further inserting two missiles into the beam of the target tracking station at launch with an interval of 3-5 seconds. When firing at helicopters at a height of less than 25 meters, the complex used a special method of guiding missiles with semi-automatic tracking of targets in angular coordinates using a television-optical sight.
The 5th Czechoslovak regiment "Osa-AKM" had five fire batteries and a control battery. The fire battery consisted of four combat vehicles and a PU-12M battery command post. The regiment's control battery included a PU-12M control point and a P-19 detection radar.
The mobile control center of the PU-12M air defense units was located on the basis of the BTR-60PB wheeled armored personnel carrier. Operators of the control point receive information about the air situation, then process it and make a decision on the necessary actions and transmit instructions to the air defense units. To ensure control of subordinate units, PU-12M has 3 VHF radio stations R-123M, HF / VHF radio station R-111 and radio relay station R-407, and there is also a telescopic mast with a height of 6 m.
SAM "Strela-1M" in the armed forces of Czechoslovakia
Until the mid-1970s, the PLDvK VZ ZSU was the main air defense system in the Czechoslovak tank and motorized rifle regiments. 53/59, armed with two 30mm machine guns. In 1978, the first four combat vehicles of the 9A31M "Strela-1M" air defense missile system entered the military air defense training center in the city of Poprad in northern Slovakia.
As a base for the Strela-1 air defense system, a wheeled BRDM-2 was used. The 9A31 combat vehicle of the Strela-1 complex, put into service in 1968, was equipped with a rotating launcher with four anti-aircraft guided missiles placed on it, located in transport and launch containers, optical aiming and detection equipment, missile launch equipment and communication equipment. Structurally, the combat vehicle was very simple, and in some ways even primitive. The launcher is an armored turret rotated by the muscular force of the shooter. The front wall is made of bulletproof glass and is tilted at an angle of 60 °. There is a gunner-operator behind the glass. Launchers with anti-aircraft missiles are installed on the sides of the tower. Target search and guidance are carried out visually. To defeat air targets in the Strela-1 air defense missile system, a single-stage, solid-propellant 9M31 rocket was used. Capture and aiming at the target was carried out by a photocontrast seeker, the principle of operation of which was based on the selection of a contrasting target against the background of the sky.
With the relative simplicity and low cost of the design, such a seeker could only function during the day. The sensitivity of the seeker made it possible to fire only at visually visible targets located against a background of overcast or clear sky, with angles between the directions in the sun and at the target of more than 20 °. At the same time, unlike the Strela-2M MANPADS, the use of a photocontrast seeker made it possible to destroy a target on a head-on course. Due to the low characteristics of the seeker, the probability of a missile hitting the target was lower than that of other Soviet air defense systems that were in service at the same time. In "greenhouse" range conditions when firing at an Il-28 bomber flying on a counter course at a speed of 200 m / s, at an altitude of 50 m - the probability of defeat was 0.15..0.55, for a MiG-17 fighter - 0.1..0, 5. With an increase in altitude up to 1 km and speed up to 300 m / s, the probabilities for the bomber were 0, 15..0, 48 and for the fighter - 0, 1..0, 40.
SAM 9A31M "Strela-1M" was put into service in December 1970. The modernized version differed from the first modification by the presence of a passive radio direction finder, which ensured target detection with onboard radio equipment turned on, its tracking and input into the field of view of the optical sight. Thanks to the use of modified 9M31M missiles, it was possible to reduce the near border of the affected area, increase the homing accuracy and the likelihood of hitting targets flying at low altitudes.
In the Soviet Army, the Strela-1 air defense missile system, as part of a platoon (4 combat vehicles), was part of an anti-aircraft missile and artillery battery (Shilka - Strela-1) of a tank (motorized rifle) regiment. Since the ZSU-23-4 "Shilka" was not supplied to Czechoslovakia, the "Strela-1M" air defense missile system was supposed to be used in conjunction with the 30-mm twin self-propelled guns PLDvK VZ. 53/59. However, according to archival data, the volume of deliveries of the Strela-1M air defense system to Czechoslovakia was small. The operation of the Soviet-made complexes based on the BRDM-2 was carried out only in the anti-aircraft batteries of the 14th tank division. More widespread in the Czechoslovak armed forces was the Strela-10 air defense system, which had the best combat capabilities. Nevertheless, the combat service of the Strela-1M air defense system in Czechoslovakia continued until the early 1990s.
SAM "Strela-10M" in the armed forces of Czechoslovakia
Since the Strela-1M air defense system had a relatively low probability of defeat and was not capable of firing at night, and the BRDM-2 wheeled chassis could not always accompany tracked vehicles, it was replaced in 1976 by the 9A35 Strela-10SV air defense system. », Located on the basis of the multifunctional lightly armored tractor MT-LB. The lightly armored tracked chassis is capable of moving at speeds up to 60 km / h. In store down the highway - up to 500 km. The combat-ready ammunition load of the Strela-10SV air defense system is 4 missiles, the same number is inside the combat vehicle. The 9A35 combat vehicle of the Strela-10SV complex differed from the 9A34 in the presence of a passive radio direction finder. Typically, the 9A35 was used as a command vehicle. The anti-aircraft platoon consisted of one 9A35 combat vehicle and three 9A34 vehicles.
To defeat air targets in the Strela-10SV air defense system, a solid-propellant 9M37 anti-aircraft missile with a two-channel seeker was used. To increase noise immunity and increase the likelihood of hitting a target, it uses a photocontrast channel and an infrared guidance mode. The sensitivity of the IR channel in comparison with the GOS MANPADS "Strela-2M" was significantly increased due to cooling with liquid nitrogen. In the Strela-10SV air defense system, it became possible to fire at higher-speed targets in comparison with the Strela-1M complex, and the boundaries of the affected area were also expanded. While Strela-1M was very susceptible to natural and organized optical interference, the Strela-10SV complex during operation using the thermal channel of the homing head was completely protected from natural interference, as well as, to a certain extent, from single deliberate optical interference -traps.
To determine the position of the target and automatically calculate the lead angles of the missile launch, a millimeter range radio range finder and a calculating device are used. In the "Strela-10SV" complex, to guide the guides towards the target, they used not the muscular strength of the operator as in the "Strela-1M" air defense missile system, but the electric drive of the starting device. In 1979, the 9K35M Strela-10M air defense system entered service with the Soviet Army, in which the 9M37M air defense missile system was used with an anti-jamming IR-seeker, which separated the target and heat traps by trajectory characteristics. The Strela-10M complex is capable of combating air attack weapons at ranges of 800-5000 m, in the altitude range of 25-3500 m. The probability of hitting a target with one missile defense system in the absence of interference is 0.3 … 0.5.
The first machines of the Strela-10M complex were delivered to Czechoslovakia in 1982. Anti-aircraft missile batteries "Strela-10M" in the Czechoslovak army were attached to tank (motorized rifle) regiments. The battery had two platoons. The platoon consisted of one 9A35 combat vehicle and three 9A34 vehicles. The battery was controlled from the PU-12M control point on the BTR-60 chassis. The centralized control of the Strela-10M air defense missile systems, which are part of the battery, was to be carried out by issuing target designations and commands from the regiment's air defense command post and the battery command post via VHF radio stations.
According to the plans, the Strela-10M air defense system was supposed to replace the outdated PLDvK VZ air defense systems. 53/59. However, for a number of reasons, the rearmament process was delayed. Only the 15th motorized rifle division was able to fully equip mobile air defense systems. In most Czechoslovak motorized rifle regiments, by the end of the 1980s, 30-mm anti-aircraft self-propelled guns were still in operation. According to the state, the regiment's anti-aircraft artillery battery had three platoons of 6 PLDvK VZ ZSU. 53/59.
MANPADS "Strela-2M" in the armed forces of Czechoslovakia
Battalion air defense systems in the Czechoslovak army in the 1970s-1980s were 12.7-mm machine guns and Strela-2M portable anti-aircraft missile systems. MANPADS 9K32 "Strela-2" was adopted in the USSR in 1968. An improved version of the 9K32M "Strela-2M" appeared in 1970. The launch range has increased from 3.4 km to 4.2 km, the altitude reach from 1.5 to 2.3 km. The maximum flight speed of the fired target increased from 220 to 260 m / s. According to statistics obtained in the course of real combat operations, the probability of hitting a target with one missile did not exceed 0.2.
The development of the Strela-2M MANPADS in the armed forces of Czechoslovakia began in 1973. In the mid-1970s, licensed assembly of portable complexes began in Czechoslovakia. The most critical parts of the complexes were supplied from the USSR, the rest were produced locally. Thanks to licensed production, by the mid-1980s, the Czechoslovak army was very well saturated with MANPADS. Portable "arrows" were used by all branches of the military. According to the staffing table in the early 1980s, the motorized rifle regiment was equipped with 24 Strela-2M MANPADS. Each battalion had an anti-aircraft missile platoon with 6 portable complexes. Another platoon of MANPADS covered the headquarters of the regiment. For the transportation of anti-aircraft crews, wheeled armored personnel carriers OT-64 were used, a place for stowing the "Strela-2M" was also provided for in the Czechoslovak version of the BMP-1 - BVP-1.
In the second half of the 1980s, the resulting surplus of MANPADS made it possible to create significant reserves and introduce anti-aircraft gunner squads in radar and communications battalions. The Strela-2M portable anti-aircraft systems also began to be actively used to protect medium and long-range air defense missile systems from low-altitude attacks from enemy aircraft from low altitudes.
In general, the Czechoslovak army by 1990 was provided with a fairly strong anti-aircraft cover. Also, military air defense systems were part of three Soviet motorized rifle and two tank divisions stationed in Czechoslovakia. The anti-aircraft units of which there were: ZSU-23-4 "Shilka", SAM "Kub", "Osa", "Strela-1" and "Strela-10", as well as MANPADS "Strela-2M", "Strela-3" "Needle-1". In total, more than 100 medium and long-range air defense systems were deployed on the territory of Czechoslovakia. This, even without taking into account the Osa-AKM, Strela-1, Strela-10 mobile air defense systems, numerous MANPADS and about 1000 ZSU and towed anti-aircraft guns - made the Czechoslovak air defense system quite stable when conducting combat operations with conventional weapons. The anti-aircraft weapons available in Czechoslovakia could inflict very serious losses on the combat aviation of NATO countries and were able to effectively cover their own troops and facilities from air strikes.
