Part two. Improvement and development of the machine
In the late 1970s. it became clear that the underwater reconnaissance aircraft turned out to be too expensive. An officer was needed to manage it, which turned out to be impractical. Also, the hydraulic control system was complex. At the same time, RShMs in the submerged position gave a lot of false alarms, and this is one of the main reconnaissance devices. In general, the question arose about simplifying, modernizing the machine and, accordingly, making it cheaper. In addition, by this time, echo sounders appeared, which made it possible to determine the density of the soil from the surface of the water. That is, the possibility of crossing tanks through a water barrier could be determined without immersion under water.
Therefore, a new reconnaissance aircraft was designed in OGK-2 of the Kryukovsky plant - product "78A", which received the code "Berkut". The new vehicle is a development of the IPR scout, but, as mentioned above, in a simplified version. "Berkut" does not submerge under water, but works only afloat. As the base of the machine, the solid body of the predecessor was used with a diesel engine, transmission, instruments and linkage. "Berkut" was notable for the absence of ballast tanks and reservoirs for compressed air, there was no airlock for the diver's exit, the RDP device, etc.
The new reconnaissance aircraft was intended to conduct engineering reconnaissance - determining tank passes over rough terrain on land and over shallow water obstacles, including the identification of minefields. For these purposes, a modern at that time digital mine detector "Cleaver" and two external inductive elements on hydraulic extendable rods were installed. They ensured that each inductive element was in the track area and at the required distance.
Underwater scout "Berkut" - training poster
The scout can carry out his work in the enemy's counteraction zone - the hull is protected from small arms, and a Kalashnikov machine gun with 1000 rounds of ammunition was installed in the rotating turret. In addition, inside the control and crew compartments, there is a stowage for 3 AKM-S assault rifles and 150 rounds for them, a 26-mm signal pistol with two sets of cartridges, 10 hand grenades and 15 kg of explosives. The reconnaissance body itself is divided into seven compartments and is sealed, which ensures the buoyancy of the vehicle.
The machine has anti-nuclear, chemical and biological protection, a fire extinguishing system, a drainage device and a TDA masking system. For observation day and night, as well as for orientation on the terrain, the vehicle is equipped with: PIR-451 periscope, which allows observation from the vehicle both on land and on water; observation devices TPNO-160; artificial horizon AGI (installed in front of the mechanic - warrior), showing the longitudinal and transverse angles of inclination of the terrain; navigation equipment TNA-3, which includes a gyro course indicator, control panel, heading indicator, etc. For direct reconnaissance, the vehicle has stationary (RShM-2 mine detector and echo sounder) and portable reconnaissance devices (artillery busol PAB-2M, manual mine detectors IMP and RVM -2, PIR engineering reconnaissance periscope, DSP-30 sapper range finder, etc.
The scout's crew consisted of 6 people:
1. supervises the actions of the crew, draws up and transmits reconnaissance reports through the R-123 radio station and (or) in writing. It works directly with navigation equipment, mine detector RShM-2, echo sounder and periscope PIR-451.
2…. He controls the car, works with the artificial horizon, measures the speed of the river.
3. Monitors the terrain, is responsible for the safety of the crew, destroys detected targets by the commander's decision, is responsible for the operation of the radio station and conducts radio communications according to the instructions of the vehicle commander.
4. Supervises the actions of sappers when working outside the vehicle, monitors the operation of navigation equipment, decides on the destruction or disposal of mines found.
5. Responsible for the state of mine detectors, outside the machine, works with mine detectors IMP and RVM-2, prepares and performs blasting operations.
6. Works with a distance measuring device (DST-451) and a PIR engineering reconnaissance device.
At the end of 1978, it was decided to test the Berkut in various climatic conditions. The winter stage of testing was carried out on the basis of the Tyumen Higher Engineering School. A group consisting of Yuri Artyushenko, Nikolai Lynnik, Georgy Ignatov, Vladimir Bazdyrev, headed by the deputy chief designer of OGK-2 Alexander Yekhnich and the customer's representative, Major of the Engineering Troops Valery Razombeyev, left the plant for testing.
On tests in Tyumen. From left to right: Georgy Ignatov, Alexander Yekhnich, Evgeny Senatorov, Vladimir Bazdyrev and Nikolai Lynnik
Tyumen met with thirty degrees of frost. From the airport, in cold PAZiks, we drove to the military settlement on Andreevskoye Lake, where the technical base of the school was located. The next day we examined the equipment. No violations of the integrity of the hull and systems were found. The main stage of the tests was to check the performance of the equipment and the crew at low temperatures (on the day of testing, special sensors on the car showed "-43 degrees"). To begin with, it was necessary to start the engine of the cooled car. The heater for the engine and transmission of the car had previously passed similar tests on an underwater reconnaissance aircraft, so it worked without problems. After some time, the engine was regularly started, and the car from the parking lot with the crew and the inspectors moved to the training ground.
The next stage of testing the "Berkut" was the path along a closed route, when the hatches of the car were battened down, and the movement was carried out using the TNA-3 navigation device. The crew of the car was as follows: a driver-mechanic - a sergeant of compulsory service, the commander - a representative of the customer Valery Razombeyev, and the third on the tests was a member of the commission, a military doctor who was supposed to register the parameters of the crew's vital functions. The route was difficult, rugged terrain, overgrown with bushes and rare trees. There is deep snow all around. The inhabited compartment of the vehicle had an air heater with limited power.
The commander was responsible for determining the coordinates using the TNA-3 indicators and giving the necessary commands to the driver-mechanic to move along a given course. The commander and driver could inspect the terrain in front of them only through the triplex and negotiate with the "base" by radio communication. The tests took place over 5 hours. The error on arrival at the indicated point was only a few meters after a 30-kilometer march.
But there was an incident on the route! The doctor lost consciousness and had to be treated. In fact, he was a passenger, did not see the road, and he was simply seasick. When the hatches were opened upon arrival, we saw that everything inside froze from the breathing of the crew. But people and technology did not disappoint.
During the tests, machine gun firing was carried out. The bushes on the parapet enclosing the shooting range were used as targets. The branches of the bushes flew very effectively! After the winter stage, similar tests were carried out in Belarus, at the test site near Grodno, and in Turkmenistan, near Chardzhou. It should be noted that during the tests in the spring, solid-propellant rocket engines from the 9M39 missile defense system were put on the stern of the IRM in order to self-pull the vehicle out of swampy areas. But on production machines, such a system in most cases was not installed.
According to the test results, the product 78A "Berkut" was adopted by the engineering troops of the Soviet Army in 1980 under the name "engineering reconnaissance vehicle" IRM.
Later, as a result of the war in Afghanistan, the car was modernized: a second turret with a machine gun was installed to ensure firing in two directions. The vehicle received the unofficial index IRM-2. Later, only a loophole for firing personal weapons was left in the turret (more precisely, the wheelhouse). Today, it is this version of the IRM that is in service with the engineering troops of the former republics of the USSR. At the time of the collapse of the USSR, about 80 IRM scouts were released.
Training poster of the early 1980s, where there is one tower
Longitudinal section of the IRM from TO for 1990, where two towers are already clearly visible
The second turret with an embrasure (on the left side under observation devices) for firing small arms
The biggest disadvantages of the machine include the fact that the IRM does not detect mines in a wooden or plastic case. It is necessary to modernize the trawl, at least for a knife one. And also the IRM does not tolerate a mine explosion - the hull bursts at the welds, etc. After the Afghan war, the IRM had a chance to fight a little in Tajikistan, but there is no data on the effectiveness of the use of machines in this conflict. The last fact of the IRM's participation in hostilities refers to the war in the East of Ukraine.
IRM -2 "Zhuk" in Tajikistan
IRM -2 on the streets of Lugansk, 2015
In Murom recently, together with MVTU im. Bauman developed the "Pass" trawl. The engineering reconnaissance aircraft IRM-2 was taken for the base vehicle. This is a mine clearance system, consisting of a shock trawl, designed for the Ministry of Emergency Situations. The machine operates in telecontrol mode, wired or radio. Of course, in combat conditions this is inapplicable, the radio channel will be easily crushed (and even in return it can fly in bearing), and there is no need to talk about the reliability of the wired channel in the minefield. But in peaceful conditions or for "humanitarian demining" - it is quite normal. The risk of the driver's death in the event of a meeting with an extraordinary power by a land mine is completely eliminated.
Machine Application
The reconnaissance engineer IRM in reconnaissance acts as part of an engineering reconnaissance patrol, reinforced by a sapper department with reconnaissance and penetration means of the MVZ. With the release of combined arms reconnaissance to the opposite shore, reconnaissance of the water barrier begins. In accordance with the assigned task, the vehicle commander clarifies the boundaries of the crossing. At the same time, sappers - scouts conduct reconnaissance of the coastal strip for the presence of a cost center.
When using the RShM-2, it must be borne in mind that the width of its search ensures the safety of the machine only when driving in a straight line. Turns are allowed to be carried out no more than 9 degrees. and on an area not less than 10 m. The angle of rotation is controlled by the machine's heading indicator. With the exit of the car to the water, the mine detector is transferred to the stowed position. The penetrometer determines the permeability of the bottom at the water's edge, specifies the direction of the alignment of the movement of the machine on the water. The bottom profile is recorded afloat with an echo sounder. The number of arrivals is determined by the size of the sections of the crossings and on the section can be two or three or more. In one of the races, the speed of the river is determined. The car stops, and the driver-mechanic, increasing (decreasing) revolutions, keeps the car motionless relative to the leading signs on the bank. The speed of the current is determined by the number of revolutions of the tachometer.
Also, at one of the points of entry into the water, the width of the river is determined using the grid of the PIR-451 periscope or the DSP-30 device. When mines are found in the water, depending on the situation, a search for a new site or demining is carried out. Demining is carried out only after the vehicle has been removed ashore. The results of reconnaissance of a water barrier are drawn up in the form of an engineering reconnaissance card, the basis of which is the profile of the main section of the crossing. The use of IRM allows to reduce the time for exploration of a water barrier by 1, 5-2 times.
IRM -2 "Zhuk" on a pedestal at the checkpoint of the former Kamenets - Podolsk military engineering school
The performance characteristics of the IRM-2 "Zhuk"
crew, people - 6 (of which 3 sappers)
weight, t - 17.5
length, m - 8, 32
width, m - 3, 15
height, m - 2, 42
clearance, mm - 420
specific ground pressure, kg / cm2 - 0, 69
maximum speed, km / h - 55 (afloat - 10)
cruising range, km - up to 550
bulletproof armor, steel - hull forehead - 20 mm, turret and hull roof - 3 mm each
armament / ammunition - 7, 62-mm PKT machine gun, 1,000 rounds for a machine gun, 10 F-1 hand grenades, 15 kg of explosives
In conclusion, a few photos:
