The gradual improvement of devices and sights for firing from a tank led to the creation of multichannel sights with stabilization of the field of view, working on different physical principles, weapon stabilizers, laser rangefinders and ballistic computers. As a result of the evolution of these devices, automated fire control systems were created for the tank, providing all-day and all-weather effective firing from a place and on the move.
At the same time, the tank's crew was limited in their ability to transfer information to each other about the situation on the battlefield, the detected targets and their characteristics, the location of their tanks and targets. For this, the crew had only a tank intercom. There were also serious restrictions on the control of a tank unit on the battlefield, which was carried out only with the help of a radio station.
Tanks on the battlefield mostly acted as separate combat units, and it was rather difficult to organize interaction between them. The next stage in the development of the MSA was the organization of interaction between crew members in the search for and defeat of targets and interaction between tanks and attached units to search for targets, target designation, target distribution and concentration of fire of a group of tanks on specific targets using a tank information control system. At the same time, the task of organizing a "network-centric" combat control system, automated receipt and transmission of information in real time and the creation of automated control systems for tactical units was solved.
Oddly enough, the beginning of work in this direction was laid in the Soviet Union, in the late 70s the idea of combining electronic tank systems was born in MIET (Moscow). The creation of such a system for the modernization of the T-64B tank began, which in the 80s became the basis of the control complex for the promising Boxer tank (object 477). In the course of the work, the concept of TIUS was formulated and the tasks to be solved by it were defined. Based on the functional tasks solved by the tank, the TIUS should contain four subsystems: fire control, movement, tank protection and the interaction of the tank in a tank unit and other branches of the military. Each subsystem solves its own range of tasks, and among themselves they exchange the necessary information.
Such a range of tasks could be solved only by a digital control system based on an onboard digital computer, which was not on the tank. Further work on the TIUS went in two directions: the modernization of analog systems of existing tanks under the control of a digital TIUS and the development of new digital control systems for the tank based on the TIUS.
Due to the collapse of the Union, the development of TIUS was not completed. I had to justify the need to create such systems and develop their structure. At that time, there was no technical and technological basis for their creation, the idea was many years ahead of the possibility of its implementation. They returned to it only in the 2000s with the modernization of the T-80 and T-90 tanks and the creation of a new generation Armata tank.
Abroad, the development of TIUS was started in the mid-80s with the creation of the French Leclerc tank, which was put into service in 1992. Subsequently, this system was improved and today it represents a single tank information and control system, which unites all the electronic systems of the tank into a single network, which controls and manages the fire control systems, movement, protection and interaction of the tank.
The system receives information from the gunner's and commander's fire control equipment, automatic loader, engine, gearbox, crew and tank protection systems via a single digital data exchange bus to the onboard digital computer. TIUS monitors the operation of all these systems, records malfunctions, the presence of ammunition and fuel and lubricants and displays information about the condition of the vehicle on the multifunctional monitors of the crew members.
To ensure interaction with other tanks and command posts, TIUS combines the inertial navigation system and the Navstar satellite navigation system, an anti-jamming and cryptographic radio communication channel operating according to a pseudo-random frequency hopping law and making it difficult to intercept and suppress communications.
The introduction of TIUS provided ample opportunities for fast and reliable receipt of information about the condition of the unit's vehicles, their location and the timely issuance of control commands. At the same time, an automated exchange of information between tanks and command posts about the tactical situation was ensured and the presentation on the crew's monitors of data on the location of their own tank, unit tanks, detected targets, the route of movement and the state of the tank systems.
On the M1A2 tank, the introduction of TIUS began with modernization programs (SEP, SEP-2, SEP-3) (1995-2018). At the first stage, the first generation TIUS was introduced, which provides the integration of fire control, movement, navigation, control and diagnostics systems. The system provided information exchange between tank systems (IVIS), determining the coordinates of the location of the tank (POS / NAV) and displaying information on the monitors of the crew members.
At the next stages, more advanced digital processors, color monitors of the tactical situation, digital maps of the area, a speech synthesizer, a system for determining the coordinates of a location using signals from a satellite navigation system, and equipment for transmitting information between tanks and command posts were introduced.
The improved TIUS combined the existing devices and systems of the tank into a single network with the possibility of introducing new devices during its modernization and made it possible to implement the concept of a "digital tank" as an element of a future digital command and control system on the battlefield.
On the M1A2 tank, it was possible to connect the information network of the tank to the automated control system of the tactical level and the ability to display the combat situation in real time on the commander's electronic map.
The tank commander had an information device installed that ensures the interaction of the tank commander with the tactical level control system and the thermal imaging system for searching for targets and firing from the tank. The device combined two monitors into a single complex: a color monitor for displaying tactical symbols on the background of a topographic map characterizing the location of the tank, the position of their tanks, attached and supporting units, sectors of fire, the position of targets, and a monitor for displaying an image of the battlefield with a thermal imaging sight.
Modifications of the M1A2 tank according to the programs (SEP, SEP-2, SEP-3) made it possible to significantly increase the efficiency of the tank practically without reworking its design, and the introduction of the FBCB2-EPLRS command and control system in 2018, during the SEP-3 modernization, made it possible to integrate the tank into the combined arms digital tactical control system.
On the German tank "Leopard 2A5" modification "Stridsvagn 122" (1995), the TIUS of the first generation was introduced, sharpened according to the same principle as on the tanks "Leclerc" and M1A2. The introduction of noise-immune communication equipment and the LLN GX combined navigation system using a signal from the Navstar satellite navigation system made it possible to transmit and receive formalized information in real time and display a digital map on the commander's monitor with plotting the tactical situation of the battlefield, and displaying images from thermal imaging channels of the commander's and gunner's sights on the commander's monitor made it possible to see the real picture of the battlefield and identify targets.
On the modification of the Leopard 2A7 tank (2014), the concept of the “digital tank” was fully implemented. The introduction of the TIUS on this tank, coupled with navigation, communication, information display, all-day and all-weather surveillance, made it possible to provide the tank commander with a detailed panorama of the battlefield with a plot of the tactical situation of his forces and enemy forces in real time. Such a tank has approached the level that allows it to be included as a full-fledged element of "network-centric combat".
Tanks of this level have not yet implemented a system of three-dimensional three-dimensional image of the terrain "look at the tank from the outside", which is created by a computer based on video signals from video cameras located around the tank's perimeter and displayed on the commander's helmet-mounted display, as in aviation. On many tanks, CCTV cameras are already installed along the perimeter of the tower, but they only record the image of the terrain and display it on the monitors of the crew members. The 3D image system "Iron Vision" was created for the Israeli tank "Merkava" and is planned for implementation on the M1A2 tank with the upgrade under the SEP v.4 program.
On Soviet tanks, the development of TIUS for T-64B, T-80BV tanks and within the framework of the Boxer project was not completed. In the 90s, these works were practically stopped, and today only individual elements of the TIUS have been introduced on the T-90SM tank. According to fragmentary information, this tank has a system for controlling the movement of the tank and interaction within the tank unit.
The T-90SM tank is equipped with a combined navigation system using a signal from the NAVSTAR / GLONASS satellite navigation system, a thermal imaging sight, an anti-jamming radio channel and a system for displaying information on the tank commander's monitors, allowing the tank to work in a single automated tactical control system together with a new generation tank " Armata "and receive information about the tactical situation on the battlefield. TIUS also provides automatic control over the parameters of the power plant of the tank and the possibility of automated motion control.
The introduction of the TIUS on the tank also makes it possible to implement a robotic tank with a remote control practically without additional technical means, the system already has everything for such an implementation, only the transmission channel to the command post of the image from the TV-thermal imaging channels of the tank's instruments is lacking.
The LMS of the new generation Armata tank is fundamentally different from the LMS of the previous generations, and its concept is based on the integration of optoelectronic and radar means for detecting, capturing and destroying targets. Due to the fact that this tank has a configuration with an uninhabited turret, there is not a single optical channel in the sights of the tank's FCS, which is a serious drawback of this tank.
The FCS of the "Armata" tank is based on the principle of the FCS "Kalina", where a panoramic sight with independent stabilization of the field of view vertically and horizontally, with television and thermal imaging channels, an automatic target acquisition and a laser rangefinder is used as the main sight of the tank. The sight allows you to detect targets at a range of up to 5000 m during the day, at night and in difficult meteorological conditions at a range of up to 3500 m, to lock onto a target and conduct effective fire.
There are many incomprehensible things in the gunner's sight, apparently, a multi-channel sight based on the Sosna U sight with independent stabilization of the field of view, with thermal imaging and television channels, a laser range finder, a laser missile control channel and an automatic target tracking will be used.
Additionally, a pulse-Doppler radar based on an active phased antenna array was introduced into the OMS, capable of providing a 360-degree view without rotating the radar antenna using four panels on the tank turret and tracking dynamic ground and air targets at a distance of up to 100 km.
In addition to the radar and optoelectronic devices, the OMS includes six video cameras located along the perimeter of the tower, which allow you to see 360 degrees of the situation around the tank and identify targets, including in the infrared range through fog and smoke.
To expand the capabilities of searching for targets and target designation, the tank has a Pterodactyl UAV connected to the tank with a cable that can rise to a height of 50-100 m and, using its own radar and infrared devices, detect targets at a distance of up to 10 km.
The TIUS of the tank provides control of fire, movement, protection and interaction of the tank as part of a unified command and control system of tactical echelons. For this, the tank is equipped with a combined navigation system using the signal of satellite navigation systems NAVSTAR / GLONASS, an anti-jamming and cryptographic radio communication channel and a system for displaying information on the monitors of the commander and gunner.
The FCS of the Armata tank, with all the advantages of using radar and thermal imaging devices for target detection, has a number of significant disadvantages. The radar can detect only moving targets, it does not see stationary ones, and there is not a single device with an optical channel on the tank. In this regard, the reliability and stability of the OMS is very low, in the event of a failure of thermal imaging devices or a violation of the power supply system of the tower for various reasons, the tank becomes completely unusable.
It should be noted that the Leopard 2 tank has three sights, all of them with optical channels, and the M1 tank also has three sights, and two optical channels. This suggests that foreign tanks provide for three- or two-fold duplication of sights; tank "Armata" is deprived of this opportunity.
There was already experience in creating an OMS with optical channels when placing all crew members in the tank hull. For the tank developed at LKZ in 1971-1973 on the subject of "Sprut", a double-headed sight with a two-channel optical hinge was developed, which transmitted the image of the field of view from the head parts of the sights located in the tower to the eyepiece parts of the commander and gunner, which were located in the body of the tank. Apparently, this experience was not used in the creation of backup optical sights for the "Armata" tank control system.
Comparing the LMS of foreign and Soviet (Russian) tanks, we can conclude that the most optimal and reliable LMS in terms of performing the functions assigned to it is the LMS of the Leopard 2 tank, in which the combination of high efficiency, reliability and multifunctionality most fully meets the requirements presented in modern tanks.
The latest generation of tanks "Leclerc", "Leopard 2", M1 and "Armata" can rightfully be called "network-centric" tanks, ready to successfully conduct hostilities in a "network-centric war", characterized by the achievement of superiority through information and communication capabilities, united in a single network. This concept provides for an increase in the combat power of military formations by combining information, command and control equipment and weapons into an information and communication network, ensuring quick and effective delivery of objective information and command and control commands to the participants in a combat operation.
The introduction of the TIUS made it possible by technical means to solve the problem of a significant increase in the combat effectiveness of tanks without serious alteration of their design. The evolution of tank fire control systems led to the creation of tank information and control systems, which made it possible to create a "network-centric tank" and come close to creating a robotic tank.
