Despite the fact that the 26th International Exhibition of Arms and Defense Technologies "Eurosatory-2018" ended in Paris three days ago, the news stream about the models of advanced weapons announced at it continues to be actively disseminated and discussed in military analytical blogs and on other mass platforms. -media, attracting an increasing number of amateurs and specialists in the field of armored vehicles, navy, artillery and combat aviation. One of these samples was a demonstrator of a 155-mm high-explosive fragmentation projectile with a ramjet engine, represented by an open-type solid-fuel gas generator. The product called "155 mm Solid Fuel RamJet", developed by the Norwegian-Finnish company "Nammo", is to some extent an unexpected and breakthrough result against the background of the developer's experience in the production of ammunition for the 40-mm American automatic heavy-duty Mk 47 "Striker" grenade launcher ", Multipurpose 12, 7-mm bullets Mk 211, as well as not paramount participation in the design of the interceptor missile" IRIS-T ".
Obviously, the creation of this project of Nammo specialists was prompted by the realization that the work on the design of a hybrid rocket launcher and a single-component rocket engine for the prototype of the British supersonic car Bloodhound SSC (Supersonic Car) is only a one-time commercial deal that is unable to give neither significant economic growth of the company in general, nor further strengthening in the arms market in particular. After all, the Bloodhound SSC project predominantly envisages obtaining research experience in the movement of ground-based supersonic objects. Another thing is artillery shells with a ramjet engine, capable of providing their operators with a mass of tactical "goodies" in a modern theater of operations against an enemy using conventional high-explosive fragmentation or active-rocket projectiles. Such products are really capable of bringing real success to a small, little-known company.
It is noteworthy that back in the distant 50s and 60s. Of the twentieth century, Soviet specialists carefully studied the design and principle of operation of ramjet projectiles for the M-24 and BM-21 Grad multiple launch rocket systems in the hope of significantly increasing the range of the MLRS to gain complete dominance in theaters during the exchange of artillery strikes with adversary, but the turn at that time did not reach the implementation of such developments "in iron", since at that time there was experience in the manufacture and refinement of only large liquid-propellant ramjet engines, intended, for example, for the first intercontinental supersonic KR 4K80 "Tempest", the project of which was closed due to the low efficiency of the RD-012U ramjet engine and the impossibility of 100% overcoming the existing American missile defense systems against the background of 5.5 times faster 8K71 (R-7) and 8K74 (R-7A) ICBMs. Nevertheless, scientific and technological progress led to the emergence in the mid-60s. anti-aircraft missile system "Circle", the basis of which was more compact than the cruise missile "Tempest", SAM 3M8, equipped with a ramjet engine with a single air intake. It is this design of the air duct that will become the main one in the development of promising solid-propellant rocket-direct-flow projectiles.
In the 14th year, Igor Ivanov, a representative of the association, announced the active work of specialists of the Tula Scientific and Production Association "Splav" on the creation of a ramjet / RPD for multiple launch rocket systems. Just three years later, in August 2017, within the framework of the Army-2017 military-technical forum, a demonstrator of a standard 152-mm projectile with a ramjet engine for the Msta-S self-propelled gun was already adorned at the stand of the Baltic State Technical University. "Coalition-SV", as well as the towed howitzers "Msta-B" and "Hyacinth-B", which indicates that work is being carried out in two "branches" at once: for both barrel and rocket artillery, which is in service with the Russian army. So it is certainly impossible to call the Norwegians with their 155 mm Solid Fuel RamJet rocket-projectiles pioneers in this direction, especially considering the fact that our specialists are also working on a 203-mm long-range version of a ramjet projectile adapted for long-range self-propelled artillery mounts of the 2S7 "Pion" and 2S7M "Malka" types.
It is worth noting here that if the standard active-rocket projectiles ZOF61 for the Msta-S self-propelled guns (gun 2A64M2) and ZOF44 for the Pion (gun 2A44) can achieve only 15% and 23% increase in the firing range, respectively in comparison with conventional high-explosive 152-mm ZOF64 and 203-mm ZOF43, the new ramjet projectiles increase this indicator either by 80% or more than 2 times (depending on the type, quantity and intensity of solid fuel supply gas generator into the ramjet / RPD combustion chamber). In particular, our experts claim that equipping 152- / 203-mm projectiles with a ramjet engine or a ramjet rocket engine of the head or bottom type will increase the range to more than 70 km, which will already become a record figure for these calibers. Meanwhile, the "head" configuration (front engine) raises some doubts about the 2-fold increase in the range, because in this case there is simply nowhere to place a large and "long-playing" fuel charge of the gas generator. Such an arrangement of the engine will increase the range of the projectile, but only by 1, 5-1, 7 times, or it will be necessary to use liquid fuel supplied from the tanks built into the shell of the projectile.
The most optimal option is the "bottom" configuration of the placement of a ramjet engine with a large charge of solid or pasty fuel, which will make these figures (70-80 km) more realistic. The engine will start a few seconds after leaving the bore of the gun by the oncoming air flow and for a long time maintain a high flight speed of the artillery projectile, at the level of 3-3.5M, increasing the flight range, and, accordingly, the kinetic energy when a distant ground object is hit. There is also a negative aspect of the presence of a ramjet / RPD projectile: an inevitable decrease in the mass of the explosive due to the volume allocated to the central body, air duct, solid fuel charge, gas generator and combustion chamber.
Nevertheless, this problem will be partially compensated for by the small circular deflection of the projectile (within 5 m), achieved due to the presence of a control system, represented by small nose aerodynamic rudders, and high kinetic energy at the moment of hitting the target. Another advantage of such ammunition will be a decrease in the likelihood of interception by such enemy missile defense systems as the Israeli anti-missile system "Iron Dome", the British SAM "Land Ceptor", or the German 6-module anti-aircraft artillery complex MANTIS: the ability to break through the missile defense increases due to the high speed of the projectile in the final phase of the flight, which complicates the process of capturing by radar / optoelectronic guidance stations, leaving the calculation a minimum time.
According to the well-known military expert Joseph Trevetik, representatives of the US Armed Forces immediately showed interest in the Norwegian 155 mm Solid Fuel RamJet projectile. This is not surprising, because at a similar or slightly higher cost in comparison with the US guided M982 "Excalibur" projectile, the Norwegian air-rocket projectile will provide a 50-60% increase in the range from 40 to 60-70 km (when using M777 howitzers and self-propelled guns M109A6). When used from guns longer than 50 calibers, the range can increase to 85-90 km. Trevetik argues that such shells can provide a host of tactical advantages to the US Marine Corps in the event of an escalation of a large-scale conflict in the western part of the Asia-Pacific region, where small groups of islands in the disputed Spratly archipelago and Paracel Islands are separated by water sections of the South China Sea with a width of 20 to 70 km.
So, in the event of a conflict with Beijing, 155-mm M777 howitzers with old OFS and even Excaliburs delivered to the islands by LCAC air-cushion landing boats with old OFS and even Excaliburs will not be able to provide artillery support to the marines moving deeper into the island network, while the 155- mm Solid Fuel RamJet”will provide such an opportunity. Of course, Joseph Trevetik did not take into account such circumstances as the Chinese fortifications already erected on the islands, covered by the HQ-9B air defense system and YJ-12B anti-ship complexes, but in terms of artillery capabilities, he is completely right.
A much greater impact of ramjet missiles will have on the course of a possible large-scale conflict in the European theater of operations, especially in the area of the "Suwalki corridor" (the section between Belarus and the Kaliningrad region). In the event of a collision of the Russian Armed Forces with the NATO Joint Armed Forces in this sector, all our artillery units deployed in the Kaliningrad region will be diverted to counter-battery work in the Polish and Lithuanian operational directions, while the main item on the list of tasks of the Russian and Belarusian artillerymen will be to provide support motorized rifle and tank subunits holding the Suwalki Corridor under control to preserve Kaliningrad. The length of this "corridor" is just 65 km, which means that only new "direct-flow" artillery shells announced at the Army-2017 forum can cover it, because hundreds of expensive strategic "Caliber" and tactical " Ovodov-M”is not a good idea. But will it not happen that the Norwegian project from Nammo, backed by billions of dollars in Pentagon injections, will enter the stage of large-scale production faster than our samples? This prospect is really alarming.
