At the end of the 50s, attempts were made in the Soviet Union to create tanks with missile weapons. Projects of tanks were developed, in which the main type of weapons instead of a cannon were missiles launched using launchers of a gun or platform type.
The Leningrad Kirov Plant developed such tanks based on the T-64 with the 142-mm Phalanx ATGM and then with the Typhoon 140-mm ATGM with the production of a prototype tank in 1963 (object 288).
The Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant on this base developed projects of the same tanks with 152-mm ATGM "Lotos" and then with ATGM "Typhoon" (object 772). At subsequent stages, a prototype of a tank with an ATGM "Rubin" launched from a 125-mm launcher (object 780) was developed and manufactured in 1963. VNIITransmash also developed their projects for such tanks, but they did not move beyond paper.
None of these tanks went further than prototypes due to the complexity and unreliability of the missile launch and guidance systems, as well as the low efficiency of the tank due to the lack of a cannon on it.
The most successful was the IT-1 tank destroyer project, developed in 1965 at the Ural Carriage Works on the basis of the T-62 tank with 180 mm Dragon ATGM launched from the launch platform. In 1968, this tank was put into service, only two tank battalions were formed, but due to design flaws and the lack of a cannon on the tank, it was withdrawn from service in 1970.
Such attempts have been made abroad as well. The French project of the AMX-30 ACRA missile tank with a 142 mm gun-type launcher remained a project.
In 1974, the US adopted the M60A2 Starship missile tank using the 152-mm launcher previously used on the M551 Sheridan light tank. This weapon, due to its specificity, was only capable of firing missiles, fragmentation and cumulative projectiles. The missile had a firing range of up to 3000 m and armor penetration of 600 mm, while the dead zone was 700 m. Due to its low efficiency, the tanks were quickly converted into engineering vehicles.
All these projects suffered from one significant drawback - with the advent of missile weapons on the tank, the cannon, the most effective means of engaging the enemy, disappeared. For the first time, this problem was solved on the Soviet T-64B missile and cannon tank with guided weapons "Cobra". The development of the tank began in the late 60s and after successful tests, the tank was put into service in 1976. This tank was developed on the basis of the T-64A serial tank. To launch the rocket without modifications and without reducing the effectiveness of artillery fire, a standard 125-mm tank gun was used.
The development of the complex was carried out by the Moscow Design Bureau "Tochmash". The missile was developed in the dimensions of an artillery projectile and was placed in a standard tank automatic loader in any combination of artillery and guided ammunition without restriction.
Complex "Cobra" was designed to conduct effective fire from a place and on the move on tanks, objects of armored vehicles, small targets such as pillboxes and bunkers, as well as low-flying helicopters. The complex ensured the defeat of moving and stationary targets at a distance of 100-4000 m with a probability of 0.8 and armor penetration of 600-700 mm. He also ensured the defeat of helicopters at a range of up to 4000 m, an altitude of 500 m and a helicopter speed of up to 300 km / h.
The missile guidance system was semi-automatic with two control loops. The communication of the rocket with the equipment of the tank was carried out automatically using a modulated light source installed on board the rocket and a light source device in the gunner's sight, which determines the position of the rocket in relation to the aiming line. Through the radio command line, control signals were fed to the missile board and, with the help of on-board equipment, it was automatically displayed on the aiming line.
The radio command line had five letter frequencies and two control signal codes, allowing for simultaneous firing as part of a company of tanks at closely spaced targets. The gunner had only to keep the sighting mark on the target, all operations to aim the missile at the target were automatically performed by the complex equipment.
To conduct effective fire in conditions of dusty smoke interference, a "overshoot" mode was provided, in which the rocket went several meters above the gunner's aiming line and in front of the target was automatically lowered onto the aiming line.
This tank was the first to introduce a full-scale fire control system for the Ob tank. The process of preparing and firing artillery shells and missiles was greatly simplified by automatically taking into account the conditions of fire, the parameters of the target and your own tank.
For these purposes, a gunner's sight with an independent two-plane aiming line stabilization system, a laser rangefinder, a ballistic computer and input information sensors (roll, wind speed, tank speed and heading angle) were used for the first time. With the use of the "Cobra" and "Ob" complexes, the efficiency of the T-64B tank increased 1.6 times compared to the T-64A tank.
This was a major breakthrough in Soviet tank building, laying the foundation for tank fire control systems for decades to come. It is worth noting the great contribution of the Novosibirsk Central Design Bureau "Tochpribor" to the creation of tank sighting systems "Kadr", "Ob" and "Irtysh" while actually ignoring and sabotaging work on tank topics by the head of the tank fire control systems of the Central Design Bureau of the Krasnogorsk Mechanical Plant.
For all the effectiveness of the Cobra missile system, it was very complex and expensive to manufacture, and it also required the organization of special protection of personnel from microwave radiation in the 8-mm range. The missile guidance equipment occupied a very large volume in the tank and required serious training of specialists in the production and maintenance of tanks in the army.
Despite the complexity of the T-64B, it was mass-produced until 1985 and was the basis of the tank fleet of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany and the Southern Group of Forces in Hungary. Due to the inability of the industry to produce such a quantity of missile guidance equipment and in order to save money, the T-64B1 tank was produced in parallel without rocket armament, providing effective firing only with artillery ammunition.
The next stage was the creation of missile and cannon tanks with laser guided missiles. A family of guided weapon systems was developed at the Tula Instrument Design Bureau for both new and modernization of previously released tanks. For the improved T-80U and T-80UD tanks, put into service in 1984 and 1985, respectively, a fundamentally new reflex guided weapon system and the Irtysh fire control system were developed, which is the next stage in the development of the Ob control system. The Reflex complex was later installed on various modifications of the T-72 and T-90 tanks.
The complex of guided weapons was drastically simplified, the radio command station for missile guidance was excluded and a semi-automatic missile guidance system was used along the laser beam. The rocket was fired into the laser beam of the gunner's sight and, with the help of the laser radiation receiver and the onboard equipment of the rocket, was automatically brought to the axis of the laser beam. This complex also provided for the "overshoot" mode when firing in conditions of dusty-smoke interference.
The complex provided destruction of targets at ranges of 100-5000 m with a probability of 0.8 and armor penetration of 700 mm. Subsequently, the Reflex complex was modernized. In 1992, the Invar complex was put into service using a missile with a tandem warhead providing armor penetration up to 900 mm.
To modernize the T-54, T-55 and T-62 tanks in order to increase their fire efficiency, in 1983, the Bastion and Sheksna guided weapon systems with laser-guided missiles were developed and adopted. For T-54 and T-55 tanks with 100-mm cannons, the Bastion complex, and for the T-62 tank with 115 mm cannons, the Sheksna complex. The complexes provided effective firing from a standstill or short stops at ranges of 100-4000 m with a probability of 0.8 and armor penetration of 550 mm.
The use of these complexes, despite the fact that they were inferior in characteristics to the Reflex complex, made it possible, at relatively low cost, to modernize previously produced tanks, significantly expand the capabilities of these tanks and greatly increase their combat effectiveness and fire capabilities.
The missile systems of Soviet and Russian tanks presented in the article can be used only in conditions of optical visibility of targets and they cannot be used for firing at targets outside the line of sight. This requires complexes that work on the principle of "fire - forget".
Such principles and technical solutions were worked out in the Instrument Design Bureau when creating a complex of guided weapons for various modifications of 152 mm Krasnopol self-propelled guns using semi-active homing heads. Using this reserve, in the late 1980s, a guided weapon complex was developed for the 152-mm tank gun of the last Soviet promising tank "Boxer", working on these principles.
At the same time, the possibility of laser guidance of the rocket in conditions of dust and smoke interference with the use of a CO2 laser was being worked out. Unfortunately, with the collapse of the Union, these works were curtailed. It is difficult for me to judge how far they have now advanced, at least the use of this effective weapon in combination with modern UAVs could significantly increase the firepower of tanks.
