Today's so-called "asymmetric" military conflicts require new types of weapons that can detect or prevent terrorist attacks using missiles, artillery and mortars. Such protective systems were named C-RAM (Counter Rockets, Artillery and Mortar, which in abbreviated form means resistance to missile, artillery and mortar attacks). In 2010, the Bundeswehr decided to acquire the NBS C-RAM or MANTIS (Praying Mantis) short-range defense system, designed primarily to defend field camps from terrorist attacks using unguided rockets and mortars.
According to statistics from the International Institute for the Fight against Terrorism IDC (Herzliya, Israel), the most common type of terrorist attacks are - contrary to the well-established and widespread opinion - not at all the detonation of bombs and land mines, but rocket and mortar attacks, which share the palm with attacks with the use of small arms and grenade launchers. This choice of weapons is easy to explain. Firstly, mortars and unguided rockets are quite easy to build in an artisanal way from improvised materials, for example, gun casings, scraps of water pipes, etc. Secondly, terrorists often deliberately place the firing positions of mortars and rocket launchers in residential areas, camps refugees, near schools, hospitals, hiding behind a kind of human shield. In this case, in the event of a retaliatory strike against the firing position of terrorists, casualties among innocent civilians are almost always inevitable, which gives the organizers of the terrorist attack a reason to reproach the defending side with "cruelty and inhumanity." And finally, the third - regular shelling from mortars and rockets has a strong psychological impact.
Faced with similar tactics in Iraq and Afghanistan, NATO, at the initiative of the Netherlands, as part of the Defense Against Terrorism (DAT) general program of combating terrorism, organized a special working group DAMA (Defense Against Mortar Attack) with the aim of developing a system for protecting objects, primarily field camps., from rocket and mortar attacks. It is attended by 11 members of the North Atlantic Alliance and over 20 companies from these countries.
Shoot down a flying fly with a rifle
The task of protecting against RAM means is formulated in approximately this simple language - this is the abbreviated name for rockets, artillery shells and mortar mines. At the same time, there are several ways to intercept small-sized air targets.
You can intercept them with a guided missile, as the Israelis do in their Iron Dome system. The system, developed by Rafael and put into service in 2009, is capable of intercepting targets such as 155-mm artillery shells, Kassam missiles or 122-mm rockets for the Grad MLRS, at ranges of up to 70 km with a probability of up to 0 9. Despite such high efficiency, this system is very expensive: the cost of one battery is estimated at up to 170 million dollars, and the launch of a single rocket costs about 100 thousand dollars. Therefore, only the USA and South Korea showed interest in the Iron Dome from foreign buyers.
In European states, the military budget is not able to finance such costly projects, so the countries of the Old World focused their efforts on finding means of intercepting RAM that could become an alternative to guided anti-aircraft missile weapons. In particular, the German company MBDA, which specializes in the production of guided missile weapons, is developing a laser installation for intercepting mortar mines, artillery and rockets under the C-RAM program. A prototype demonstrator with a power of 10 kW and a range of 1000 m has already been built and tested, but a real combat system requires a laser with even higher characteristics and a longer (from 1000 to 3000 m) range. In addition, the effectiveness of laser weapons is highly dependent on the state of the atmosphere, while the C-RAM system, by its definition, should be all-weather.
Today, the most realistic way to combat rocket and mortar attacks, paradoxical as it may sound, is anti-aircraft artillery. Barrel artillery has a sufficiently high range and accuracy of fire, and its ammunition has the capacity to ensure effective destruction of RAM in the air. But a weapon by itself cannot solve such a difficult task as "getting into a flying fly from a rifle." This also requires high-precision means of detecting and tracking flying small-sized targets, as well as a high-speed fire control system for the timely calculation of the shot settings, guidance and programming of the fuse. All these components of the C-RAM system already exist, although they did not appear immediately, but in the course of a rather long evolution of air defense and missile defense systems. So, it probably makes sense to make a small excursion into the history of C-RAM technology.
C-RAM: preconditions and predecessors
The first ever airborne missile hit probably dates back to 1943, when a group of Allied destroyers in the Atlantic with their anti-aircraft artillery fire shot down a German Hs 293 projectile, which was, in fact, the world's first anti-ship guided missile. But the first officially confirmed interception of a rocket, performed by ground anti-aircraft artillery, occurred in 1944. Then the British anti-aircraft gunners shot down a Fi 103 (V-1) projectile over southeast England - the prototype of modern cruise missiles. This date can be considered the starting point in the development of anti-cannon defense.
Another major milestone was the first experiments in radar observation of the flight of artillery shells. At the end of 1943, an operator of one of the allied radar stations managed to detect on the screen the marks of large-caliber shells (356-406 mm) fired by naval artillery. So in practice, for the first time, the possibility of tracking the trajectory of the flight of cannon artillery shells was proved. Already at the end of the war in Korea, special radars appeared for detecting mortar positions. Such a radar determined the coordinates of the mine at several points, along which the trajectory of its flight was mathematically reconstructed and, therefore, it was not difficult to calculate the location of the enemy's firing position from which the shelling was conducted. Today, artillery reconnaissance radars have already firmly taken their place in the arsenals of armies in most developed countries. Examples include the Russian stations CHAR-10, ARK-1 Lynx and Zoo-1, the American AN / TPQ-36 Firefinder, the German ABRA and COBRA, or the Swedish ARTHUR.
The next major step in the development of C-RAM technology was taken by sailors, who in the 60s and 70s were forced to search for means of combating anti-ship missiles. Thanks to advances in engine building and fuel chemistry, second-generation anti-ship missiles had a high transonic flight speed, small dimensions and a small effective reflective surface, which made them a "tough nut to crack" for traditional shipborne air defense systems. Therefore, to protect against anti-ship missiles, small anti-aircraft artillery of 20-40 mm caliber began to be installed on ships, and high-rate multi-barreled aircraft guns with a high fire density were often used as the artillery part of the installations. The presence of fire control radars, numerous automation and electronics turned them into practically "artillery robots" that did not require a gun crew and were activated remotely from the operator's console. By the way, due to some external resemblance to a fantastic robot, the American standard anti-aircraft artillery complex "Vulcan-Falanx" Mk15 based on the six-barreled 20-mm cannon M61 "Vulcan" received the nickname "R2-D2", named after the well-known astromech droid from the series "Star Wars". Other well-known small-caliber naval anti-aircraft artillery systems (ZAK) are the Russian AK-630 with a six-barreled 30-mm machine gun GSh-6-30 K (AO-18) and the Dutch "Goalkeeper" based on the seven-barreled American GAU-8 / A air cannon. The rate of fire of such installations reaches 5-10 thousand rounds per minute, the firing range is up to 2 km. Recently, for even greater efficiency, the ZAK also includes anti-aircraft guided missiles, as a result of which they received the name ZRAK (anti-aircraft missile and artillery complex). This, for example, is the domestic ZRAK 3 M87 "Kortik" with two 30-mm six-barreled machine guns and 8 missiles 9 M311 from the army air defense complex "Tunguska". ZAK and ZRAK today have become standard elements of the weapons of all large warships, being the last line of defense against the anti-ship missile defense system that broke through the ship's air defense system and a means of dealing with low-flying enemy aircraft and helicopters. The high potential of modern naval missile defense is eloquently indicated by the fact that a 114-mm artillery shell was intercepted by the Seawulf system (a British shipborne short-range air defense system).
Therefore, practical Americans, when creating their first C-RAM system under the name "Centurion", did not particularly rack their brains, but simply installed the ZAK "Vulcan-Falanx" of an improved version of 1 B together with a land radar on a heavy wheeled trailer. The ammunition load includes ammunition that differs from those used in the ship version: firing is carried out with high-explosive fragmentation (M246) or multipurpose (M940) tracer shells with a self-liquidator. In case of a miss, the self-destruct device automatically detonates the projectile so that it does not pose a threat to the protected object. Complexes C-RAM "Centurion" were deployed in 2005 in Iraq, in the Baghdad region, to protect the locations of American troops and their allies. Until August 2009, according to media reports, the Centurion system had carried out 110 successful interceptions of mortar mines in the air. The developer of the system, Raytheon, is also working on a laser version of the C-RAM system, in which a 20-kilowatt laser is installed instead of the M61 cannon. During tests carried out in January 2007, this laser was able to hit a 60-mm mortar mine in flight with its beam. Raytheon is currently working on increasing the laser range to 1000m.
Another interesting way to combat RAM targets was proposed by the German company Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, the main supplier of armored vehicles for the Bundeswehr. As a means of interception, she proposed using the 155-mm self-propelled howitzers PzH 2000, which have been in service with the German army since 1996 and are currently one of the most advanced barrel artillery systems in the world. This project was named SARA (Solution Against RAM Attacks). The highest shooting accuracy, a high degree of automation and a relatively large elevation angle (up to + 65 °) made this task technically feasible. In addition, the 155-mm projectile is capable of delivering a much larger number of damaging elements to the target, which increases the size of the "fragmentation cloud" and the likelihood of destroying the target, and the firing range of the PzH 2000 significantly exceeds the range of small-caliber artillery fire. Another advantage of howitzers as a means of C-RAM is their versatility: they can not only intercept rockets and mines in the air, but also hit their firing positions on the ground, as well as solve all other tasks inherent in a conventional artillery gun. KMW specialists came to this idea after testing PzH 2000 howitzers on two Sachsen-class frigates (project F124), installed on their deck as ship gun mounts within the MONARC project.155-mm land-based guns have shown themselves excellently as naval artillery, showing high efficiency of firing from a mobile carrier against moving surface and airborne targets, as well as against coastal targets. However, for technical and political reasons, preference was given to the 127-mm traditional ship mount of the Italian company Oto Melara, since the adaptation of the 155-mm land gun on the ship was associated with significant financial costs (for example, the use of corrosion-resistant materials, the development of new types of ammunition, etc..).
The Bundeswehr was forced to abandon such a tempting idea as the SARA project, also for a "technical and political" reason. The main drawback of the PzH 2000, originally designed for military operations in Europe, was its considerable weight, which prevented the transfer of howitzers by air. Even the newest transport aircraft of the Bundeswehr, the A400 M, is not capable of taking the PzH 2000 on board. Therefore, to transport heavy equipment over long distances, the European NATO countries are forced to rent Russian An-124 Ruslans. It is clear that such a solution (considered temporary, although in fact there is no alternative to it in the foreseeable future) in the North Atlantic alliance is not to everyone's liking.
For this reason, the Bundeswehr decided to choose a path similar to the American one: to create a C-RAM system based on small-caliber artillery. However, unlike the Americans, the Germans preferred a larger caliber, 35 mm instead of 20 mm, providing more ammunition power and a longer firing range. The Skyshield 35 anti-aircraft missile and artillery complex of the Swiss company Oerlikon Contraves was chosen as the basic system. This company has long been one of the world leaders in the production of small-caliber guns for anti-aircraft, aviation and naval artillery. During World War II, Oerlikon was one of the most important suppliers of 20 mm cannons and ammunition for the Axis countries: Germany, Italy and Romania. After the war, the most successful product of the company was the 35-mm twin anti-aircraft gun, which was adopted in more than 30 countries around the world. However, due to the end of the Cold War and in connection with the failure with the ADATS anti-aircraft complex, the holding, which included Oerlikon Contraves, decided to concentrate its efforts on civilian products, and the military sector represented by Oerlikon Contraves in 1999 became the property of the Rheinmetall Defense concern. Thanks to this, German specialists managed to breathe new life into such an interesting and promising development as the Skyshield 35, which, due to the organizational reasons mentioned, already seemed doomed to oblivion.
Birth of the "Praying Mantis"
The abbreviation MANTIS stands for Modular, Automatic and Network capable Targeting and Interception System. Such a name perfectly suits the new system: in English, the word mantis also means "praying mantis", which, as you know, is one of the most skillful hunters among insects. The praying mantis is able to remain motionless for a long time, waiting for the victim in ambush, and then attack it with lightning speed: the reaction time of the predator sometimes reaches only 1/100 of a second. The C-RAM protection system should act like a praying mantis: always be ready to open fire and, if a target appears, also react with lightning speed to destroy it in time. The name Praying Mantis also matches the old German army tradition of giving weapon systems the names of beasts of prey. However, at the development stage, the system bore a different designation, NBS C-RAM (Nächstbereichschutzsystem C-RAM, that is, a short-range protection system against RAM means).
The history of the development of the MANTIS system dates back to December 2004, when the Bundeswehr tested the Skyshield 35 (GDF-007) modular anti-aircraft missile and artillery system at the air defense range in Todendorf. This complex was developed on an initiative basis as a promising means of dealing with low-flying targets by Oerlikon Contraves, today bearing the name Rheinmetall Air Defense. Along with rocket armament, it includes a stationary remote-controlled turret gun mount equipped with a 35-mm rapid-firing 35/1000 revolving cannon with a rate of fire of 1000 rounds / min. The German military was extremely interested in the unusually high accuracy of the Swiss installation - it is the only one of all existing small-caliber barrel systems that is capable of hitting high-speed small-sized targets at distances over 1000 m. (GDM-008), unlike all known barrel systems, is capable of detecting, identifying and hitting with fire its 35-mm shells even such a miniature target as a submarine periscope protruding above the sea surface (!). Tests in Todendorf proved the potential for creating a C-RAM system based on the artillery component of the Skyshield complex, which was chosen as a prototype for the future NBS C-RAM / MANTIS system.
The contract for the development of the NBS C-RAM system was signed in March 2007 with Rheinmetall Air Defense (as the company is now called Oerlikon Contraves). The immediate reason for this was the Taliban's rocket and mortar attacks on the field camps of the Bundeswehr in Mazar-i-Sharif and Kunduz. The Federal Office for Armaments and Procurement in Koblenz has allocated 48 million euros for the creation of the system. It took about a year to develop the system, and already in August 2008 the system proved its combat effectiveness at the training ground in Karapinar in Turkey, where the natural and climatic conditions are much closer to those of Afghanistan than in Tondorf, located in northwestern Germany. As firing targets, 107-mm TR-107 rockets of the local company ROKETSAN were used, which is a Turkish copy of the projectile for the Chinese MLRS Type 63, which is widespread in the third world countries. This installation, along with the Soviet 82-mm mortar mod. 1937, NATO is considered the most common missile and mortar attack in "asymmetric wars".
The successful tests led the Bundestag to approve the purchase of two NBS C-RAM systems for the Bundeswehr on 13 May 2009 with a total value of 136 million euros. The supply of the NBS C-RAM to the troops was the first step towards the creation of a future promising integrated air defense system SysFla (System Flugabwehr), which is planned to be fully deployed in the current decade and in which NBS C-RAM is assigned the role of one of the basic subsystems. In 2013, delivery of two more such systems is planned.
At this time, serious organizational changes took place in the Bundeswehr, which directly affected the fate of the "Praying Mantis". In July 2010, the Minister of Defense of Germany, as part of the announced radical reduction of the armed forces, announced a decision to eliminate the air defense forces of the ground forces, and partially assign their tasks to the Luftwaffe. Therefore, the MANTIS system was in charge of the air force, and it began to be equipped with air defense squadrons that are part of the Luftwaffe. The first of these was the 1st Schleswig-Holstein Anti-Aircraft Squadron (FlaRakG 1), armed with the Patriot air defense system and stationed in Husum. On March 25, 2011, a special air defense group FlaGr (Flugabwehrgruppe) was formed within the squadron under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Arnt Kubart, whose goal is to master a fundamentally new weapon system, such as MANTIS, and train personnel for its maintenance, including for the planned use in Afghanistan. Currently, the FlaGr personnel are at the training ground in Thorndorf, where they are training personnel on simulators, after which it is planned to carry out the final tests of the system by the forces of the military crew. Organizationally, FlaGr consists of a headquarters and two squadrons, which, however, were initially only 50% staffed due to the participation of many military personnel in foreign missions. It was planned to fully staff the squadrons in 2012.
It was announced that the MANTIS development phase should be completed in 2011. However, the Bundeswehr appears to have abandoned its initial intention to deploy MANTIS in Afghanistan to protect ISAF forces. The German army leadership said that, due to the reduced likelihood of attack, the deployment of a so-called PRT (Provincial Reconstruktion Team) in Kunduz is no longer a top priority. Difficulties in providing the necessary ammunition and difficulties in setting up the system in the field were named as other reasons.
How "Praying Mantis" works
The MANTIS system includes 6 semi-stationary artillery turret installations, two radar modules (also called sensors) and a service and fire control module, abbreviated as BFZ (Bedien- und Feuerleitzentrale).
The artillery unit of the MANTIS system is equipped with a single-barreled 35 mm GDF-20 revolving cannon, which is a variant of today's Rheinmetall Air Defense base model, the 35/1000 cannon. The latter was created to replace the famous Oerlikon family of double-barreled cannons of the KD series, which was put into service in the 50s and designed on the basis of developments during the Second World War. In particular, the best western ZSU "Gepard" was armed with 35-mm Oerlikon KDA cannons, which until 2010 constituted the backbone of the air defense of the Bundeswehr ground forces. Due to measures to save, by 2015, these ZSUs are planned to be removed from the armament of the Bundeswehr, and part of the tasks previously solved by the Cheetahs will be assigned to the MANTIS system.
Automatic gun works on the principle of removal of powder gases through a hole in the wall of the bore into two gas chambers. The gases, acting on two pistons, activate a lever that makes the drum with four chambers rotate. The drum rotates 90 ° with each shot. For remote reloading of the gun without firing a shot, the lever can be hydraulically actuated.
On the muzzle of the barrel there is a device for measuring the initial velocity of the projectile. Thanks to him, it is possible to introduce corrections for the deviation of V0 by adjusting the temporary settings of the fuse. The barrel of the gun is protected by a special casing that prevents deformation of the barrel and the barrel under different weather conditions (bending due to uneven heating by the sun's rays, etc.). In addition, the gun is equipped with a variety of temperature sensors that monitor the heating of its various parts and transmit this information to the BFZ computer. This is necessary to ensure the required firing accuracy required to engage small targets at a distance of several kilometers.
Fire on the target is always conducted simultaneously by two guns, although one installation is enough to destroy it: the second installation plays the role of a backup in case of failure of the first weapon. Shooting is carried out in bursts of up to 36 shots, the length of which is adjustable by the operator. As ammunition to combat RAM targets, PMD 062 shots with shells of increased penetration and destructive ability, abbreviated as AHEAD (Advanced Hit Efficiency And Destruction), caliber 35 x 228 mm, are used. Their basic structure is similar to the well-known shrapnel shells, the design of which, however, has been seriously improved through the use of modern know-how. Such a projectile contains 152 striking elements made of heavy tungsten alloy. The weight of each element is 3, 3 g. When the design point is reached, which is approximately 10–30 m from the target, the remote fuse detonates an expelling charge, which destroys the outer shell of the projectile and pushes out the striking elements. A burst of AHEAD projectiles forms a so-called "fragmentation cloud" in the shape of a cone, hitting which, the target receives numerous damage and is almost guaranteed to be destroyed. AHED ammunition can be successfully used to combat small unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as lightly armored ground vehicles.
The most difficult technical problem in the creation of ammunition to combat RAM was the design of a high-precision fuse that would detonate the projectile in close proximity to the target. Therefore, it required a very short response time (less than 0.01 s) and accurate determination of the firing time. The latter is achieved by, as they say in NATO, fuse tempering - the fuse is programmed not before loading, as usual, but occurs at the moment the projectile passes the muzzle. Thanks to this, the actual value of the muzzle projectile, measured by the sensor, is entered into the electronic fuse unit, which makes it possible to more accurately calculate the trajectory of the projectile and the moment it meets the target. If we take the distance between the speed sensor and the fuse programming device equal to 0.2 m, then at a projectile speed of 1050 m / s, only 190 microseconds are given for all operations to measure speed, ballistic calculations and enter settings into the fuse memory. Perfect mathematical algorithms and modern microprocessor technology make it possible, however.
The artillery mount itself is mounted in a circular rotation tower made using stealth technology. The tower is mounted on a rectangular base with dimensions of 2988 x 2435 mm, corresponding to the ISO logistic standards, which allows the complex to be transported in standard containers or cargo platforms.
The radar module (or sensor module) is a centimeter-range radar mounted in a container from Serco GmbH. Its main feature is the ability to detect and track very small targets with a small effective reflective surface (EOC). In particular, the radar is capable of reliably distinguishing targets with an image intensifier factor of 0.01 m2 at a distance of up to 20 km. To fire an artillery module at a RAM object, information from only one radar is enough, another radar or electro-optical guidance means, which can also be part of the complex, serve only as a reserve or to cover dead zones, as well as to increase the range of the system …
The BFZ service and fire control module is also made in a standard 20-foot ISO container from Serco GmbH. The container weighing 15 tons is equipped with nine workstations and guarantees protection from electromagnetic radiation in the centimeter range, characterized by an attenuation coefficient of 60 decibels, as well as ballistic protection of personnel - its walls withstand 7.62 mm bullets from a Dragunov sniper rifle. The BFZ module contains the power supply for the system - a 20 kW generator. The staff is there around the clock, working in shifts. Each shift consists of three operators responsible for monitoring the airspace and maintaining sensors and gun mounts, and a shift commander.
In principle, the degree of automation of the MANTIS system is so high that, from a technical point of view, no operator involvement is required. However, due to the legal aspects regulated by NATO in the "Rules of Conduct", the use of the MANTIS system in a fully automated mode, without human participation in the decision to open fire, is not provided. In order to ensure a high response time, appropriate selection and training of personnel for work in the BFZ is carried out. The module is equipped with means of connecting to various networks of data transmission and information exchange in order to better control the surrounding situation. In addition, it is planned to add another medium-range radar to the system.
What's next?
First of all, we must make a reservation that C-RAM cannot be considered a 100% reliable means of protection against rocket and mortar attacks. This is just one, albeit very significant, means among a whole range of measures, including protective fortifications, the use of protective nets, warning and security means (for example, sniper patrols), etc. Of course, like any fundamentally new technical system, C-RAM has its own reserves to increase its combat effectiveness.
In particular, in the future, a significant expansion of the range of applications of C-RAM systems is possible. The vice-president of Rheinmetall Air Defense, Fabian Ochsner, announced his intention to test the MANTIS system in the current decade in order to show the fundamental possibility of destroying guided aerial bombs and free-falling small-caliber bombs with anti-aircraft artillery fire. He stressed that the prototype of the MANTIS system, the Skyshield system, was specially created as a means of combating high-precision guided aircraft weapons, such as, for example, the American AGM-88 HARM anti-radar missile. One should not be surprised here: Switzerland is a neutral state, therefore it considers potential threats from any opponents. At the same time, in the LD 2000 advertising brochure, there was a drawing depicting Chinese C-RAM systems, covering … mobile launchers of medium-range ballistic missiles. Everyone has their own priorities: who is protecting the house, who is the oil, and who is the missiles …
