The Uran-9 multifunctional unmanned combat reconnaissance and fire support module was demonstrated at the Alabino training ground on March 24, 2016. After a very short period of time, a promising tracked combat robot was talked with admiration not only in Russia, but also in Western Europe, as well as the United States. The fact is that for this period not a single member of the NATO bloc had a combat platform similar in functionality, and even received a level of initial combat readiness. Even the sometimes biased military predictions analyst of the popular US magazine The National Interest, Dave Majumdar, called Uranus 9 a "herald of the future." This is not surprising: a ten-ton unmanned combat vehicle, controlled via secure radio communication channels with a pseudo-random restructuring of the operating frequency at a distance of up to 3 km, can perform almost any combat operation of an assault, defensive or reconnaissance nature within 3 km, or further, depending on the radio horizon, which depends from the terrain and the height of the location of the command post. The range of receiving telemetry information and control of "Uranus" can be significantly expanded by using repeater UAVs, or by integrating the control terminal of a combat vehicle into the avionics of an attack or attack transport helicopter.
A wide range of tasks performed is associated with a rich set of missile and cannon armament and optical-electronic sighting systems, located on a six-track tracked chassis, similar to the BMD-2 undercarriage. One of the most interesting qualities of the Uran-9 robotic combat platform is its anti-tank potential: on the tower mounts (on both sides of the tower) there are 4 transport and launch containers for 9M120 Attack anti-tank guided missiles with armor penetration up to 900 mm behind the elements dynamic protection due to the tandem warhead, their range is 6 km. Also, transport and launch containers "Uranus" can be charged and more advanced "Attacks" - 9M120M / D, the range of which reaches 8-10 km. Due to the rich nomenclature of missiles of the Ataka family, Uran-9 can cope with the enemy's fortified area using the 9M120F product; this missile carries a high-explosive volume-detonating warhead.
There is also a 9M220O (9A220) missile adapted for air defense purposes, it is capable of intercepting subsonic targets at altitudes of no more than 3 km and is equipped with a core warhead. To control "Attack" missiles, as well as a 30-mm automatic cannon 2A72, a multichannel optical-electronic sighting one is used, including TV / IR channels, a laser rangefinder, as well as a Ka-band millimeter channel designed for semi-automatic radio command control of 9M120 / 220 missiles. The beam of the radio correction channel has a very narrow sector along which the ATGM flies. The upgraded 9M120-1 rocket also has a photodetector for a semi-automatic laser guidance channel. This type of guidance is used by the 9M123 missiles of the Chrysanthemum complex. The optoelectronic module is located directly above the embrasure of the 2A72 cannon.
It should be noted that the main means of air defense "Urana-9" are not missiles of the "Attack" family, capable of hitting targets at speeds of 350-400 km / h, but full-fledged 9M342 missiles of the "Igla-S" complex. These missiles are placed in TPK 9P338 directly above the attachment points for the Attack missiles. One Uran-9 combat vehicle has 6 such missiles (3 on each side). Bispectral IKGSN 9E435 allows you to very effectively capture targets in the front hemisphere. The target destruction range reaches 6000 m, the height is 3.5 km, the maximum interception speed is 1440 km / h. Thus, an unmanned tracked combat unit can literally strike a couple of enemy strongpoints in just a few minutes, hit the M1A2 Abrams and even intercept the enemy's F-16C, and all this while controlling one operator from a Kunga PBU based on KamAZ. For a better view of the upper hemisphere and fire control of the Igla-S MANPADS, as well as for monitoring the ground theater of operations from behind shelters and obstacles, a special boom with an additional multi-channel optoelectronic module is installed on the rear of the tower. It is located at a height of about 3.7 m.
"Uran-9" is perfectly adapted for conducting reconnaissance in force, as well as participating in a group confrontation between a motorized rifle brigade and enemy units. The vehicle can carry out fire support using the 2A72 cannon, following the more protected main battle tanks (MBT), the Terminator-2 BMPT, or the Armata and Kurganets-25 BMP. The body of the vehicle with the cannon has a length of about 5.2 m (separate body - 4, 2-4, 4), due to which the EPR is comparable to the radar signature of the BMD-2 and to identify it against the background of other combat units using synthetic aperture radar and portable radar reconnaissance of enemy positions will be very difficult, especially in difficult meteorological conditions.
The disadvantage of the robotic combat platform "Uran-9" can be considered a relatively low speed of the vehicle - 35 km / h, as well as relatively low armor protection. Even taking into account the fact that "Uranus" is not intended for the transportation of large cargoes and the transfer of personnel or the wounded, which means that its booked volume is small enough, and the armor protection should be good, it is unlikely that it will allow to reliably cover MTO with a 260-horsepower diesel engine and other units from NATO 25/30/40-mm automatic cannons M242, L21A1 "Rarden" or CT40, using armor-piercing shells of the latest generations, since the steel dimensions must exceed 80-120 mm. With a mass of "Uranus-9" of 10 tons, it can reach no more than 30-50 mm in the frontal projection and 10 - 20 in the side projection, which will protect only from 12, 7/14, 5-mm machine guns, and even then not from any angles. Anti-cumulative screens also do not inspire serious confidence. At the exhibitions "Uran-9" can be seen without PQE at all, but there is also a photo of a car with screens, where they have a small size and only slightly cover the rollers and far from thick armor plates of the hull. Taking into account the appearance of more modern anti-tank weapons and armor-piercing shells, it will not work to carry out a "light" sweep in a captured settlement with the help of a couple of "Uranov-9", no matter how much talk about it on various information resources. For this, the combat platform must undergo an improvement: receive a remote control and a KAZ. Fortunately, according to the developer, the Uran-9 robotized fire support platform can be supplemented at the request of the customer, and almost any armored unit can be structurally modernized.
WESTERN COMBAT ROBOTIC PLATFORMS: STANDING ON SPEED AND DEFENSE. FIRST IN THE LIST WILL BE THE "BLACK KNIGHT"
As you already understood, the western school was a little late with the development of tracked multifunctional means of fire support for troops. But not everything is so fatal there. As it became known, at the military-technical exhibition "Global Forces Symposium and Exposition-2017"Huntsville (Alabama) from 13 to 15 March, was presented a very interesting concept sister of our "Uranus-9" under the loud name ARCV "Black Knight" ("Black Knight"). The British manufacturing company BAE Systems is already positioning its development as the main competitor to our Uranus, and considers the US Armed Forces as the main future customer and operator. London is pushing the car into the American arms market through a subsidiary of BAE Systems Inc.
As the main command post for the British vehicle, it is planned to use the latest modifications of the US Army M2A2 / 3 "Bradley" infantry fighting vehicles, which will receive additional terminals with the corresponding modified Bradley Combat Systems software to control the "Black Knight"; the terminals will be located in the place of the BMP commander. Even the appearance of the tracked undercarriage and hull is maximally "fitted" to the external resemblance to the "Bradley". The length of the hull of an unmanned combat vehicle ARCV with a cannon reaches 5 m with a mass of 12-13 tons. The Black Knight looks quite "whipped and strong", a wider tracked platform protrudes a little better into the hull and is covered in advance by 7-10 mm anti-cumulative screens, which is an excellent addition to the side armor plates of the hull with a thickness of more than 20-25 mm. The frontal projection of an unmanned similarity to "Bradley" is likely to have better security than the "Uranus". The MTO of the machine is located in the front part.
The Black Knight turret is developed and has a medium profile, the size of the frontal armor plates is not known exactly, but it may well reach 40-60 mm, the sides and rear of the turret are thinner. On the frontal armor plates, 4 rotary cylindrical modules with high-resolution surveillance cameras (including IR channel) are visible for viewing the surrounding area directly around the vehicle while driving and being in shelters in unknown terrain. The central modules inspect the surrounding space in a vertical plane, and the outer ones - in a horizontal one. There are also intermediate rectangular modules in which, most likely, compact powerful floodlights are installed. The massive movable mask of the 30-mm automatic cannon is sunk deep into the embrasure recess of the turret, which is a good defense against automatic cannon fire from enemy infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers.
The question remains about the types of anti-tank / multipurpose missile weapons that have not been voiced by BAE Systems, or the reconnaissance equipment used by ARCV, because on the very capacious tower of the unmanned fire support vehicle, decent side hatches are visible, behind which the FGM-148 Javelin ATGM can also be hidden And a compact hexacopter of territorial reconnaissance. However, they can also be used for quick reloading and maintenance of a 30-mm AP in the field.
There are 2 armored doors on the aft armor plate of the hull, which indicates the possibility of transporting goods, and possibly personnel in the amount of 2 or 3 people. Obviously, this armored vehicle may well be involved in search and rescue operations in the theater of operations, or in the delivery of food and ammunition to the surrounded friendly units.
Among the sighting equipment, one can distinguish one large multi-channel panoramic sight on the tower roof (in the center), operating in IR / TV channels of sight, as well as a lower multi-channel sight on the left side of the tower roof. The scopes are housed in fairly sturdy armored hulls that protect against small arms.
The most interesting and important quality of the ARCV "Black Knight" combat platform in the theater of operations will be its mobility. This is the Black Knight's real trump card: a 300 hp Caterpillar diesel engine. accelerates a tracked combat unit to 75-80 km / h, which allows it to advance to a given section of the battlefield 2 times faster than our Uran-9. From all of the above, we conclude that the British and Americans are focusing not on the broad spectrum of promising unmanned combat units, but on the high potential in performing narrow-profile tasks in the network-centric theater of operations. Thus, the large mass, armor protection and speed of movement of the ARCV "Black Knight" will allow this vehicle to provide excellent fire support for the M1A2 MBT without the need to involve the M2A2 / 3 BMP with a risk to the life of the crew. Our specialists, while creating "Uran-9", focused more on the possibilities of long-range safe suppression of the enemy with anti-tank weapons from shelters, conducting sabotage operations, as well as work on the enemy's attack and helicopter aviation operating over the theater of operations.
