June 2017 was distinguished by a powerful information surge in the leading media and on numerous analytical platforms regarding the approaching date of the initial operational combat readiness of a new operational-tactical ballistic missile of the M57A1 type. Some have already dubbed the new OTBR the American "Iskander", some are eagerly awaiting information on the priority regions of its deployment in order to further assess the changes in the operational-strategic situation. One thing is certain: by the winter of 2017-2018, the product will be adopted by the field artillery units of the US Army, as well as the US Marine Corps artillery units. This event will mark the beginning of large-scale production of an advanced product with 1.5 times the range compared to the standard MGM-140 / 164B ATACMS OTBR (450 versus 300 km, respectively). According to American sources, the upgraded missile must undergo "qualified" field tests on the basis of the Bravo battery of the 20th Field Artillery Regiment (PA) of the US Army in late summer - early fall of this year, at the White Sands training ground (New Mexico). This missile battery will be the first to gain experience in the use of the new "equipment" of ATACMS complexes, having received comprehensive information about its ballistic and speed indicators.
The carrier body M57A1 with a diameter of 607, 2 mm is equipped with completely new: a solid-propellant rocket engine, an inertial navigation guidance system with satellite correction, a high-performance on-board computer, as well as steering gears for driving aerodynamic rudders. The range of the M57A1 missile of 400-450 km, in fact, will enable the US Army, and then the ILC to deliver powerful strikes against the enemy's military infrastructure located deep in the rear zone. At the same time, the calculation of this ATACMS is unlikely to fall within the radius of destruction of the enemy's cannon and rocket artillery, since it will be located 250-350 km from the front line. The only exceptions are the armies of such states as Russia, Belarus, Iran, China and the DPRK, which have tactical missile systems similar in range.
Moreover, a unique feature of the M57A1 is the ability to deliver “special forces” of 6 small-size individual targeting warheads P3I BAT (“Brilliant Anti-Tank”) to a combat field remote at 450 km. Each of them is equipped with an extremely rare combined acoustic-infrared homing head, which allows hitting sound-emitting ground targets in difficult meteorological conditions, as well as when the target uses protective equipment (heat-absorbing materials, air and liquid cooling systems for the hull in the area of the power plant) from the infrared sighting channel. Thus, only 10 M57A1 missiles are capable of destroying 40-50 units. armored vehicles not equipped with active protection systems.
Meanwhile, no one has canceled the military anti-aircraft / anti-missile defense. The capabilities of the OTBR M57A1 to overcome the enemy's anti-missile defense are not confirmed by anything, just as they were not confirmed by the earlier ATACMSs. If our operational-tactical BR 9M723-1 Iskander-M, in addition to aerodynamic rudders, also use 2-nozzle tail units of gas-dynamic rudders for maneuvering along the trajectory, then the ATACMS family of missiles does not know about the presence of such the ability to perform anti-aircraft maneuvers with overloads up to 30G at a speed of 3200 - 3600 km / h. At the same time, Lockheed Martin has another ambitious ATACMS replacement program called LRPF "Deep Strike" (Long Range Precision Fires). This project also provides for the creation of an operational-tactical ballistic missile with a semi-ballistic flight path at a range of up to 500 km (close to the M57A1), but its dimensions, including the radar signature, should be significantly smaller than that of the entire ATACMS family. The fact that one box-shaped launch "farm" of the M142 HIMARS combat vehicle provides for the placement of 2 transport-launch containers LRPF indicates the caliber of the OTBR within 350 - 380 mm, which is 1.6 times less than that of the standard ATACMS Block IIA (MGM-164B). This indicates a significantly lower mass of the warhead (120 - 160 kg) and a total weight in the range of 850 kg.
It is quite clear that an LRPF rocket with a standard high-explosive fragmentation warhead will not be able to achieve such a high power as that of the classic ATACMS. There is also no possibility of placing a large number of homing combat elements. At the same time, all this is compensated for by the increased ease of transportation and reloading, a small effective scattering surface (increasing the missile defense "breakthrough" capability), as well as guidance accuracy, which will become possible due to a more advanced correction module from GPS radio navigation satellites. With a significantly higher aspect ratio in comparison with the MGM-164B, the promising LRPF will have greater flight stability and lower ballistic deceleration rate. These two criteria determine the approach speed to the target, which ultimately affects the ability to intercept enemy anti-aircraft missile systems.
Despite the fact that before the first full-scale test of the LRPF OTBR flight prototype, more than 2.5 years of hard and painstaking work of Lockheed's specialists in product design should pass, some high-ranking company officials are already coming up with myths and speculations about the future capabilities of the new ballistic missile. For example, Scott Green, vice president of Lockheed Martin for ground combat systems, has made a strong emphasis on the "anti-ship future" of the LRPF tactical ballistic missiles. For greater importance, he didn’t even skimp on an example. As a surface target of the enemy, Green chose our corvette of project 20380 "Guarding", which (in his opinion) is much easier to destroy than the promising main battle tank of the 5th generation T-14 "Armata", due to the large size of the first one. Scott Greene stated that "a large 353-foot metal object rises above the water surface", while the main battle tank can hide among wooded terrain or in urban infrastructure. He also noted that for accurate (one-second) guidance to a high-speed and maneuvering target, the use of a combined ARGSN / IKGSN will be required.
Green is very seriously mistaken here; and, apparently, lagged behind reality. Let's start with the fact that on all serial ships of the project, built after the head side No. 1001 "Guarding", there is a fundamentally new superstructure, made mainly with the use of multilayer composite coatings based on fiberglass and carbon fiber. This applies to corvettes: "Smart", "Boyky", "Perfect", "Steadfast", "Loud", "Zealous", "Strict", "Hero of the Russian Federation Aldar Tsydenzhapov" and "Sharp" (updated 20380th project), as well as "Thundering" and "Provorny" (project 20385, differing in 16 transport and launch containers KZRK "Redut" instead of 12). Such a superstructure design is distinguished by a small radar signature (EPR), which several times reduces the range of capture by active radar homing heads, including the ARGSN of the new LRPF missile.
In addition to the stealth superstructure, the corvettes of these projects are equipped with optical-electronic countermeasures PK-10 "Smely" (KT-216) or KT-308 "Prosvet-M", capable of disrupting the process of "capture" of many combined homing heads of high-precision weapons. Thanks to fired infrared traps and radio-emitting units with a caliber of 120 mm, there is not only the possibility of disrupting the "capture" of the enemy's ARGSN, but also the ability to complicate the process of tracking RC-135V / W "Rivet Joint", E-8C "JSTARS" and E- 3C / G "Sentry", as well as infrared systems with a distributed aperture type DAS, which are equipped with 5th generation F-35A fighters.
But the corvettes of the project 20380/85 can boast not only by means of optical-electronic countermeasures. Unlike the lead ship of the Steregushchy series, all subsequent sisterships are equipped with 3K96-3 Redut surface-to-air missile systems with a universal vertical launcher for 12 9M96E2 / 48 SAMs 9M100 SAMs (for the modernized project 20380) and 16 anti-missiles 9M96E2 / 64 short-range missiles 9M100 (for project 20385). Being the basis of the most advanced anti-aircraft missile systems S-400 "Triumph" and S-350 "Vityaz", interceptor missiles 9M96E2 are designed to destroy almost all types of air attack weapons in the altitude range from 5 m to 35-40 km.
Super-maneuverable anti-aircraft guided missiles are equipped with a "gas-dynamic belt" of transverse control engines, the nozzles of which are directed along the circumference of the missile defense body perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the body (in the center of mass of the product), which makes it possible to realize an overload of 20G in just 0.025 seconds. Due to this, the interceptor missile is capable of intercepting aerodynamic and ballistic elements of high-precision weapons by the method of kinetic destruction with a direct hit ("hit-to-kill"). The anti-ship modification of the OTBR LRPF, praised by Scott Green, is no exception. If we take into account that this modification of a ballistic missile will receive a 280 - 300-mm active radar homing head (which is necessary to defeat moving targets), then its EPR can be about 0.07 - 0.1 m2, and for the 9M96E2 anti-aircraft missile it will not be difficult hit the LRPF at any distance, up to a maximum range of 130 - 150 km.
Only the flight path of the LRPF can complicate the process of detection and capture by shipborne radar systems. Its final section is almost vertical: the anti-ship ballistic missile can dive at a surface target at angles of more than 80º. In the case of the corvettes of the project 20380/85 "Guarding / Thundering", an extremely difficult situation is developing. For detection, tracking and target designation of air targets, the multifunctional radar complex of the decimeter range "Furke-2" is responsible. Despite the fact that it is able to detect an air target with an RCS of the order of 0.1 m2 at a distance of 35 - 45 km, its elevation sector is only 80º, which may not be enough to detect an approaching threat. As a result, the LRPF missile can be detected exclusively by passive means of electronic reconnaissance of the corvette by the radiation of its active RGSN, the target designation from which will be sent first to the terminals of the Sigma-20380 combat information and control system, and only then to the PK-10 optical and electronic countermeasures "Brave" and KT-308 "Prosvet-M" and the "Redut" complex.
If the anti-ship modification of the LRPF uses exclusively the infrared guidance channel, then general ship radar equipment of neighboring NK orders, as well as the Shmel-2 radar systems deployed on AWACS A-50U aircraft, will be able to detect its approach to the corvette. Through secure network-centric channels for exchanging tactical information, the coordinates of the missile will be transmitted to the Sigma-20380 BIUS of the corvette of pr. 20380/85, after which a 9M96E2 antimissile will be launched in its direction. As you can see, the defensive capabilities of the upgraded project 20380/85 corvettes have little in common with the capabilities of the head unit "Guarding", and during large naval battles such corvettes as "Boyky" or "Thundering" are quite capable of protecting themselves even from promising models high-precision weapons of the American army. This can be especially vividly manifested in the course of a large group confrontation with the use of auxiliary reconnaissance and target designation means of sea, land and air based on the part of the Russian Armed Forces.
