The self-propelled launcher MLRS 9K58 "Smerch" leaves the garage of one of the military units near the city of Tver. The system is one of the most powerful in its class, nevertheless, it needs an early modernization of the missile part. The absence of corrected or guided missiles creates significantly more risks in a complex tactical situation in the theater of operations: due to the decent spread of the NURS in the affected area, friendly military units can also be affected, and at worst - civilians, which was shown to us by the escalation in Donbass Photo Fishki.net
An increasingly important type of weapons today are medium and long-range multiple launch rocket systems. Meanwhile, in the modifications used today by modern MLRS, there is a huge technological contrast in the designs and methods of targeting unguided, adjustable and cluster rockets: the standard systems BM-21 Grad, BM-27 Uragan do not differ in the introduction of anything common with high-precision missile weapons, which we saw during the use of these machines in battles in Novorossiya: the thoughtless use of systems by the Ukrainian side led to enormous destruction and casualties in the DPR and LPR, making the Kiev government a criminal formation.
Fighting vehicle MLRS 9K57 "Uragan". Possesses a sufficiently long range, at the same time, low indicators of the accuracy of the battle (+/- 1, 3 - 1, 4 km), in comparison with the guided missiles of the "Polonaise" system, make the 9M27K unguided cluster shells a real weapon of mass destruction Photo Voennoe- obozrenie.ru
At the same time, Russia, China and Belarus made significant progress in shaping a new look for rocket artillery as a whole. In 2010, China developed one of the most advanced long-range MLRS AR3, in which 300-mm unguided and corrected missiles and 370-mm guided missiles are used for high-precision destruction of strategically important enemy targets, boldly belonging to the class of operational-tactical ballistic missiles., the range of the former confidently reaches 130 km, the latter - 220 km. The projectiles have a satellite INS that controls small aerodynamic rudders, which makes it possible to realize a CEP (circular probable deviation) of no more than 50 m, which turns the previously most ruthless and deadly missile weapons into a complex and rather humane high-precision “smart war” complex.
Quite recently, with the support of Chinese military corporations, Belarus was also able to boast of the successful development of a promising MLRS. The high-precision MLRS "Polonaise", equipped with an analogue of the Chinese guided missile A-200 with a caliber of 301 mm, is capable of simultaneously hitting various fortified areas and enemy strongholds at ranges of about 200 km with an 8-rocket salvo. But it was the Celestial Empire that became the main "forge" of this kind of weapons, because with the Chinese population density and such powerful and not very friendly neighbors like India, the issue of MLRS accuracy is put in the first place, and foreign customers look at the unguided shells of regular MLRS as "archaism ".
High-precision MLRS "Polonaise" Photo Nevskii-bastion.ru
In Russia, where the defense industry focuses on more advanced and sophisticated weapons - the Iskander-E / M OTRK, the modernization of long-range MLRSs is carried out mainly in the key of modifying the warhead (missile equipment). One of the first-borns in this direction is the 9M55K1 unguided missile equipped with Motiv-3M self-aiming combat elements designed to effectively engage heavy and light armored vehicles in the upper (most weakened) projections. The projectile was brought to the level of combat readiness by the middle of 1993, and in 1996 entered service with the artillery units of the Russian army. But work in this difficult area continued, which ultimately led to the emergence of fundamentally new hybrid combat subsystems.
On September 9, 2015 it became known about the progress of an interesting project - a rocket with a reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicle T-90 on board the 300-mm NURS 9M534 system BM-30 "Smerch", as reported to RIA "Novosti" by the Deputy General Director of "Techmash" D Rytenkov. On the Russian side, the NPO Splav is engaged in the development of a promising projectile, but the Chinese side also takes part in the refinement of the product.
The details of the development of the 9M534 rocket with an unmanned drone on board began to become clear already in mid-2011. In particular, it became known that the T-90 UAV itself, installed in the warhead of the projectile, has a fairly compact size and low weight: its length is only about 1.5 m, a wing span of up to 2.5 m, its weight is 40 kg … Also shown are some flight parameters of the experimental product 9M61 (T-90-11), developed by the Kazan CJSC Enix. It is known that after separation of the container with the UAV from the NURS at high supersonic speed, the braking parachute opens, the container opens and the drone descends. The small-sized pulsating VRM provides a loitering flight of the vehicle at a cruising speed of about 130 km / h for 20-30 minutes over the enemy's territory, while the flight altitude is approaching 3 km. The diameter of the UAV fuselage is 0.2. The T-90 can be assembled entirely from composite materials, and in the area of the PUVRD attachment it is covered with an additional layer of radio-absorbing materials to minimize the EPR (radar signature). The estimated RCS of the aircraft is about 0.05 m2, which complicates the detection even by powerful radar systems and the Patriot air defense system of the AN / MPQ-53 type, especially if the drone is in low-altitude flight.
The T90 UAV has a double straight wing of a large area, which allows it to glide at altitudes up to 3000 meters. Despite its small size and low RCS, the drone is vulnerable to anti-aircraft artillery complexes by optoelectronic guidance systems and to MANPADS "Stinger", "Strela", "Igla" due to the operation of the PuVRD Photo Rbase.new-factoria.ru
MAIN TACTICAL ADVANTAGES OF THE 9M534 - T-90 BOND
As you know, before conducting artillery preparation or any other strike from artillery systems, short-range or long-range territorial reconnaissance must be carried out promptly. MLRS "Smerch", designed to defeat the enemy at a distance of 70 - 120 km (depending on the type of NURS), needs a faster means of aerial reconnaissance, since during the approach of a conventional UAV of the "Orlan-10" type to the combat area to confirm the coordinates objectives, the operational-tactical situation can change dramatically, since it will take him from 35 to 45 minutes (speed 150 km / h). Installed in NURS 9M534, the T-90 drone immediately after leaving the launcher of the Smerch combat vehicle gains a hypersonic speed of over 1200 m / s (about 4500 km / h), due to which the drone will be over the target in just 1, 8 - 2, 5 minutes (taking into account the deceleration of the rocket on the trajectory). Such a flight time will make it possible to quickly and clearly identify the coordinates of the necessary targets, which will definitely not have time to leave the combat targeting field of the Smerch MLRS. A high-resolution gyro-stabilized TV camera with a telemetry image transmission unit over a radio communication channel will do its job. The use of a high-speed NURS as a carrier for a reconnaissance UAV also solves another, no less important problem.
General view of the T90 UAV in a transport and launch container with a parachute compartment. The container is installed on the site of the warhead NURS 9M534 Photo Commons.wikimedia.org
Very often, for reconnaissance of ground targets located at a great operational depth of the enemy-controlled territory, operators of unmanned reconnaissance aircraft systems are forced to "blindly" guide the apparatus over enemy zones, which are "stuffed" with a huge number of highly effective short / medium-range air defense systems, including passive guidance method (IKGSN), it is not so easy to calculate and identify the deployment sites of such complexes, even with the involvement of Tu-214R optical and radio-technical reconnaissance aircraft. The use of the 9M534 flywheel projectile allows you to solve this problem easily and efficiently. Firstly, its marching section of the trajectory passes at altitudes above 20 - 25 km (an unattainable ceiling for most medium air defense / missile defense systems), and the speed does not at all fit into the framework of "easy" interception by air defense missiles of interceptors of such air defense systems as Buk- М1 "," Spider "and others. The drone will be able to reach the place of combat use without hindrance.
In addition, I note that the use of such radically improved operational reconnaissance and strike techniques leads to the overall progress of rocket artillery. Not only a small T-90 drone, but also more serious means of aerial reconnaissance and destruction can there may be a special compact hypersonic aircraft with a delta wing of a large sweep, capable of using a compact ramjet to conduct optical and electronic reconnaissance at an altitude of 30-35 km at a speed of up to 5M, and maybe a specialized combat stage with a small-sized warhead to destroy remote sea and ground targets, or a high-frequency microwave generator to damage the onboard radio-electronic equipment of the enemy's strategic and tactical aviation. Such combat stages can significantly increase the range of the Smerch known to us from 120 possible kilometers to 200 - 250 km, which will be commensurate with long-range tactical cruise missiles.
Image of a starting NURS M26 with a GBU-39SDB small-sized aerial bomb at the head. GLSDB project is under development Photo Janes.com
In the West, the well-known company Boeing and the Swedish SAAB are engaged in similar improvement programs for MLRS of the MLRS family. The most recent ambitious project of the company is the modernized version of MLRS MLRS - GLSDB. The system is a standard M270 launcher with an M26 rocket, which is equipped not with a standard M26A2 warhead, but with a special container with a GBU-39SDB “Small Diameter Bomb” gliding guided aerial bomb. The launch stage accelerates the bomb to a speed of more than 850 m / s and brings it to an altitude of over 25 km, where the combat stage is separated and the SDB continues its controlled flight along a given course.
Our Tula NPO Splav, together with the Chinese NORINCO and SCAIC, are currently working on fine-tuning the already developed auxiliary tactical reconnaissance complex for the 300-mm MLRS, which will allow a different look at the use of this formidable type of weapon.
