Holding "High-precision complexes" presents the latest developments in Zhukovsky
The Moscow Aviation and Space Salon, which takes place at the end of August at the Zhukovsky airfield near Moscow, traditionally becomes a platform for both Russian and international companies, some of which will place their expositions, while others will send delegations consisting not only of managers, but also of engineers. -specialists. Among the most anticipated by the military and experts are the new items of the High-Precision Complexes holding.
In addition to industrialists, representatives of military departments from dozens of countries work at MAKS. Undoubtedly, all shown aircraft, as well as various types of weapons and military equipment will be closely studied.
On the first working day of the air show, King Salman of Saudi Arabia and King Abdala II of Jordan are planning to visit it. So far, there is no reliable information what specifically from the Russian manufacturers presented in Zhukovsky are of interest to the monarchs from the Middle East, and this is just one of the intrigues that arouse increased attention of the expert community and the press.
One of the most impressive expositions at the current MAKS belongs to the High Precision Complexes holding, which is part of the state corporation Rostec. It is noteworthy that the company is known primarily as a manufacturer of air defense equipment, including the Pantsir anti-aircraft missile and cannon and the Verba portable anti-aircraft missile systems.
The line of products of "High-precision complexes" intended for arming the ground forces is varied. This, in particular, has already become a world bestseller ATGM "Kornet-E", capable of hitting not only enemy armored vehicles, but also field fortifications, buildings, unmanned aerial vehicles.
The expositions of the holding and its member enterprises, including the legendary design bureaus from Tula and Kolomna - KBP and KBM, once headed by the great gunsmiths Arkady Shipunov and Sergei Invincible, always draw close attention of not only specialists and military personnel, but also ordinary visitors.
The "Shell" phenomenon
Despite the fact that the Pantsir anti-aircraft missile-gun system has long been presented to the general public and has been presented more than once at various international arms exhibitions, the interest in it from not only specialists, but also potential customers does not subside.
This is largely due to the fact that the Tula Instrument Design Bureau is constantly improving their brainchild, at the cradle of which was still Arkady Shipunov. For example, the massive deliveries of the latest air defense systems to the Russian Armed Forces have just begun, as the KBP announced the development of a new promising complex.
It will be not just a product with improved characteristics, but in fact a completely new complex with unique tactical and technical data. In particular, promising air defense missile systems are supposed to be used in conjunction with the S-500 anti-aircraft missile systems.
And for the already released "Pantsir" last year, the latest missiles were tested, developing speeds close to hypersonic. The "Pantsiri" also mastered in the Arctic, in particular on Kotelny Island.
Despite the frost and snow, the "Pantsir" - in such an uncharacteristic spotted gray-white-black coloring, which has replaced the already familiar monophonic dark green protective color in the Arctic Circle, calmly rides as part of the front "box". Moreover, the video clearly shows that not only the combat, but also all the other vehicles that make up the complex, as they say, are workers.
There were also "Armor" in the Crimea. The recently published images from the Gvardeisky airfield clearly show air defense missile systems deployed in special shelters and covering the positions of the S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems located there. A little over a year ago, the whole world was covered by photographs of the Pantsirey, which ensure the safety of the Winter Olympic Games, not only in Sochi, near the sea, but also in the mountain cluster. So this anti-aircraft missile-gun system, developed and produced by the Tula Instrument Design Bureau, which is part of the High-Precision Complexes holding, is at the forefront of Russia's defense - from the arctic cold island of Kotelny to the sultry Crimea.
In the foreseeable future, "Pantsir" will appear on the ships of the Russian Navy. According to the General Director of the High-Precision Complexes holding, Alexander Denisov, work on the so-called Pantsir-M (sea), which should replace the well-known Kashtan anti-aircraft missile and artillery complex (it is they who are now armed with most Russian warships), should begin according to the contract concluded with the military department next year.
It is noteworthy that not only ships undergoing modernization will be equipped with the latest ship-based anti-aircraft systems, but also the promising destroyer Leader, on which work is currently underway. Its armament, according to the "VPK", will include two "Pantsir-M" at once.
Do not forget that Tula anti-aircraft missile-gun systems are in demand on the international market and are already actively supplied to more than ten countries.
So what is the phenomenon of the Tula anti-aircraft missile-gun systems?
First of all, it is versatility that allows you to cope even with low-altitude targets: helicopters, and most importantly, cruise missiles. "Armor" is also buttered with such complex targets as unmanned aerial vehicles, moreover, at present it is cruise missiles and UAVs that have become the main targets for our air defense missile systems.
It should be noted that with all the mass of equipment and weapons installed on it, "Pantsir" is a fairly maneuverable complex, characterized by good maneuverability and power reserve. It is convenient to transport it by military transport aircraft. So, in 2013, during an exercise in the Far East, "Pantsiri" from one of the aerospace defense brigades were transferred to Kamchatka, after which, having made a multi-kilometer march across rough terrain, they struck targets imitating a cruise missile strike on the move.
The designers of the Tula KBP managed to create an anti-aircraft missile-gun system capable of striking a wide range of targets, including the most complex, and at the same time very mobile, maneuverable and easily transported by aviation. It is unique not only in its characteristics, but, which is fundamentally important, also in terms of the cost-effectiveness criterion.
There is nothing surprising in the fact that now the Tula ZRPK "Pantsir" has become one of the world's bestsellers, and everyone who already has this complex in their arsenal and uses it, appreciating its merits, apply for an increase in the contract and look forward to a new continuation.
"Cornet-E / EM" hits for sure
In the product line of the High-Precision Complexes holding there is another unique product that is not inferior to the Pantsir in the world arms market in popularity - the Kornet anti-tank missile system, also the brainchild of Arkady Shipunov.
On May 9 this year, at the parade held in Moscow dedicated to the Victory in the Great Patriotic War, in addition to the newest Tagil tanks "Armata", heavy combat vehicles T-15, BMP and armored personnel carriers "Kurganets", armored personnel carriers "Boomerang", where there are also weapons modules, developed in KBP, the general public was able to see the self-propelled anti-tank complexes "Kornet-EM", installed on the chassis of armored vehicles "Tiger".
These unique ATGMs are capable of dealing with both enemy armored vehicles and field fortifications, combat helicopters and UAVs. Currently, the Instrument Design Bureau and the High-Precision Complexes holding offer the Kornets as weapons systems that enhance the potential of the Pantsir air defense missile system in the fight against drones.
Now various modifications of the Kornet ATGM are not only in service with the RF Armed Forces, but are also supplied to many countries. Moreover, the Tula anti-tank missile systems have already managed to fight more than once. In particular, during the second Lebanese war, the "Cornets" destroyed Israeli tanks "Merkava", considered one of the most invulnerable in the world.
For a long time, experts, including domestic ones, argued that the Tula ATGMs would not cope with the American Abrams tanks. But, as they say, the war puts everything in its place. A video has appeared on the Internet where Islamic State militants are firing captured Cornets at the M1A1 Abrams tanks transferred by the US government to Iraq. The bottom line is not in favor of the United States. The Kornets easily deal with his armor and destroy the war machine. It is not for nothing that in their memoirs dedicated to the invasion of Iraq in 2003, American tank crews write that they perceived the Cornets as one of the biggest threats.
Unlike Western competitors, in particular from the Martin Marietta company, which developed the Javelin ATGM, the Tula engineers went their own way when designing the Kornet-E complex - they decided not to put a complex homing head on the missile itself, but made it guided by laser. The launcher is equipped with observation devices and an automatic target tracking machine, which allows you to destroy the enemy with high accuracy. The ATGM operator only needs to find the target and take it for escort - throw on the "sight frame", and then launch the rocket. Further, the control system of the complex itself will keep the enemy on the front sight, illuminating it with a laser, until the missile hits the target. The all-weather telescopic sight allows effective shooting around the clock in difficult weather conditions, so that the enemy will not be saved by a smoke screen or other countermeasures.
Currently, to protect against fire from hand-held anti-tank grenade launchers and ATGMs, so-called active protection systems like the Russian Arena or Israeli Trophy - Windbreakers, which are capable of shooting down missiles flying up to the tank, are being introduced everywhere.
But Tula engineers do not stand still. Today, Kornet-EM can fire in tandem for guaranteed destruction of a tank equipped with an active protection system, when two missiles are fired at one target at intervals of a split second. When approaching an armored object, KAZ knocks down the first one, but there is no second defense, the defeat of the tank is guaranteed.
It should be noted that the transport-portable version of the Kornet-E ATGM is one of the lightest and most mobile systems. A detachable launcher with a stock of missiles can be carried by a crew of just two people. If necessary, as well as at the request of the customer, the ATGM can be mounted both on a car and on an armored personnel carrier, an infantry fighting vehicle, or any other armored vehicle. In particular, Kornet-E ATGM missiles are part of such weapons modules as Berezhok and Bereg, which are produced by the Tula Instrument Design Bureau and are actively exported.
It must be admitted that the modern version of the Kornet-EM ATGM has ceased to be a purely anti-tank complex, but has turned into a high-precision defensive-assault weapon on the battlefield, capable of dealing with a wide range of targets, including helicopters and UAVs.
Thanks to the technical solutions implemented in the Tula ATGM, buyers receive a product with a unique combination of "price-quality" with wide capabilities, which not all foreign "classmates" can boast of.
Sharper than "Needle"
The portable anti-aircraft missile system "Verba", despite the fact that it was adopted by the Russian Ministry of Defense relatively recently, has more than once hit the pages of not only industry, but even socio-political publications, and not only domestic, but primarily foreign …
Numerous experts who tried to determine the tactical and technical characteristics of MANPADS argued that in terms of its performance characteristics, the Verba, developed by the Kolomna Machine Building Design Bureau, which is part of the High Precision Complexes holding, significantly surpasses its foreign competitors, such as the American Stinger and the French "Mistral".
Only a few countries independently develop and mass-produce portable anti-aircraft missile systems. These are the USA, France, China, Israel and Russia. But nevertheless, the title of the flagships of the world MANPADS market, according to almost all experts, belongs to American and Russian manufacturers, whose products are most in demand on the market.
In our country, for many decades, portable anti-aircraft missile systems have been developed and produced by the Design Bureau of Mechanical Engineering. On account of the Kolomna engineers, the Strela and Strela-2 MANPADS supplied to dozens of countries of the world, the more modern Igla, and now KBM presented the newest Verba.
The presentation of a new portable anti-aircraft missile system, which since last year has already been supplied to units and subdivisions of the Russian army (in particular, the Verba has already been received in several divisions of the Airborne Forces), took place at the exhibition held in June this year in Kubinka near Moscow. Forum "Army-2015".
At the event organized at the stand of the High-Precision Complexes holding, the General Director of the Mechanical Engineering Design Bureau Valery Kashin said that the homing head of the newest missile of this complex operates in three spectra at once (ultraviolet, near and middle infrared), that is, according to the classification adopted by foreign experts is multispectral. Enemy aircraft will not be able to defend themselves not only by the so-called heat traps - pyrotechnic charges with a high combustion temperature, but also by sophisticated counter systems that interfere with the seeker using a laser.
But the most important thing is that with a multispectral homing head, the rocket of the latest Russian MANPADS easily captures an unmanned aerial vehicle, which is characterized by a very small amount of heat generated, which is why such targets are unavailable for other MANPADS.
It is noteworthy that the "Verba" is immediately supplied with a battery, which includes not only the launchers themselves, but also radar stations and automated control systems, thanks to which the commander can not only distribute targets between MANPADS calculations, but also give them target designations long before how they themselves will see the enemy's aircraft. The delivery set also includes special training complexes that allow high-quality training of personnel without spending expensive missiles and the resource of launchers.
Even in the current time of sanctions, the High-Precision Complexes holding and its member enterprises continue to produce competitive products, often surpassing their global counterparts. And the current Moscow Aviation and Space Salon is another proof of this.
