For more than half a century of using aircraft guided weapons, most aviation enthusiasts and specialists in their field have developed persistent stereotypes that there is an exceptional line that always assigns air-to-ground, air-to-ship, and air-to-radar missiles according to their intended purpose. "And" air-to-air ". For the most part, these stereotypes are correct: each air attack vehicle performs its own combat missions, which were assigned to it by a unique tactical and technical assignment, as well as design features. But today, in the 21st century, when the most difficult combat situation in the network-centric theater of operations often requires super-capabilities both from the on-board radio-electronic equipment of tactical aviation and flight personnel, and from the missile and bomb weapons themselves, we are gradually beginning to observe the breaking of old stereotypes, expressed in the empowerment weapons of one class with the capabilities of weapons of a different class.
A FEW FACTS FROM THE HISTORY OF THE USE OF ROCKET WEAPONS OF DIFFERENT CLASSES NOT FOR DIRECT PURPOSE: THE SOURCES OF VERSATILITY AND INTERCHANGEABILITY BETWEEN MISSION COMPLEXES
The simplest example of the expansion of the multipurpose qualities of missile weapons is the endowment of sea-based anti-ship missiles with the ability to destroy enemy coastal and ground targets located several tens of kilometers from the littoral zone. This quality was demonstrated during the final activities to verify the combat training of the Russian Navy on October 16, 2016, when the multipurpose nuclear submarine of pr. 949A "Antey" - "Smolensk" destroyed a complex conditional a coastal target on the Northern Island of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago. The AGM-158C LRASM multipurpose / anti-ship stealth cruise missile, which is to enter service with the US Air Force and Navy in 2018, also has similar qualities. If the sufficiently high accuracy of the P-700 "Granit", when firing at ground targets, is realized due to the operation mode of the active radar seeker in the millimeter Ka-band, as well as the INS, represented by several on-board computers, then the LRASM also has an optical-electronic sighting guidance system with TV channel of sighting of the terrain and ground targets.
The second, much more complex example of giving missiles one purpose of additional functions, can be considered the implementation of the "ship-to-ship / radar" mode in the guidance system of anti-aircraft guided missile-interceptors of shipborne air defense systems. Examples are: 5V55RM / 48N6E missiles of the S-300F / FM "Fort / Fort-M" complexes, the American long-range missiles RIM-174 ERAM of the "SM-6" complex, as well as the 9M33 missile defense system of the ship's "Osa-M / MA" ". The first and most significant naval confrontation, where 9M33 anti-aircraft missiles were actively used as anti-ship missile weapons, without a grain of doubt, can be considered the military operation to force Georgia to peace in 2008. Despite the fact that the whole gaze was then turned to the ground and air theaters of military operations in South Ossetia and the southern parts of Georgia, the naval theater of operations near the Georgian coast was also very hot. Then the small missile ship (MRK) of project 1234.1 distinguished itself, sent to the region of the Georgian-Abkhaz coastline to maintain the security zone of the Russian naval strike group, represented by the large landing ships "Saratov" and "Caesar Kunikov", as well as the small anti-submarine ship (MPK) of the project 1124M "Suzdalets".
According to the TV journalist of the program "Special Correspondent Arkady Mamontov", on that triumphant evening on August 10, 2008, at 18 hours 39 minutes, thanks to the coordinated and operational work of radio-technical and electronic intelligence of the Russian Federation (apparently, it was about the successful patrolling of the western part of the Black sea by AWACS A-50 aircraft and IL-38 anti-submarine vehicles), tactical information on the approach of a group over-the-horizon target from the Georgian sea city of Poti was received on board the flagship of the Caesar Kunikov large landing craft. The target consisted of 5 speedboats, two of which were missile boats and three were patrol boats. Missile boats of projects 206MR "Tbilisi" (formerly R-15), as well as P-17 "Dioscuria" carried on board 2 anti-ship missiles P-15M "Termit" and 4 anti-ship missiles MM-38 "Exocet", respectively. With the assistance of US Navy instructors, the Georgian military hastily devised a plan to defeat the flagship of the Russian BMC, but it failed miserably. First, the crews of the Georgian boats, for some reason, did not use the anti-ship missile arsenal during the confrontation with the ships of our fleet. Secondly, the operator staff of the air defense missile system of the small missile ship Mirage under the command of Captain 3rd Rank Ivan Dubik showed the highest skill, hitting 2 high-speed and maneuverable Georgian missile boats with 9M33 anti-aircraft guided missiles at a range of 10 to 15 km. One boat was completely destroyed by our sailors, the other was put out of action.
The fast response time, as well as the guidance accuracy of the Osa-MA air defense missile system against various types of maneuverable surface targets are ensured thanks to the 4K33A antenna post. This AP, despite only one target channel, is a complex highly automated tracking and targeting detection module with two types of radars. The first is a rotating radar for early detection of targets in the decimeter range, the second is a radar for tracking targets and missiles in the centimeter range. There is also an antenna array for transmitting radio commands to the 9M33 missile defense system. The centimeter range of the guidance station allows Ose-MA to work without difficulty on surface targets located at a distance of up to 12 km. The complex even has an anti-ship mode of operation and a separate software guidance principle developed for the Osa-M version in the 70s of the XX century.
The thing is that with the sudden appearance of a surface enemy, or a belated reaction of the Termit or Malachite SCRC with the P-15M or P-120 subsonic anti-ship missiles, the only salvation was the 9M33 missile defense system of the Osa-M complex, which has a maximum speed 800 m / s and small radar signature (RCS about 0.1m2). It was impossible to shoot it down, unlike the large subsonic Termit and Malachite, with the Tartar or SM-1 complexes (the supersonic anti-ship missiles X-41 (3M-80) mosquito began to enter service with the fleet only in 1984- m year). This is one of the main examples of imparting multipurpose qualities to missiles originally designed to intercept air targets. In the second part of our work, we will try to consider in detail the importance of technological adaptation of short-range air-to-air missiles to the destruction of heat-contrast land and sea targets.
ON THE PROSPECTS OF ADAPTATION OF AIR-AIR CLASS GUIDED ROCKETS TO WORK ON SURFACE AND GROUND PURPOSES
Often during strike operations, modern tactical fighter-bombers and attack aircraft use various types of air-to-surface / ship missiles, including numerous modifications of the AGM-65 Maverick, AGM-84, AGM-114 Hellfire ", Tactical KR / anti-ship missiles AGM-158A / B JASSM / -ER and AGM-158C LRASM, as well as KEPD-350" TAURUS "; In the near future, it is expected that a promising multipurpose missile with a three-channel seeker JAGM will enter service with the F / A-18E / F "Super Hornet" fighters, reconnaissance-attack and transport helicopters MH-60R, as well as the US Navy "Sky Waqrrior" UAV. These missiles are distinguished by a minimum circular probable deviation, high kinetic energy, as well as specialized monoblock or cluster warhead equipment, among which there are micro-cumulative elements, HE, as well as penetrating and concrete-piercing submunitions.
Nevertheless, the placement of several units of such weapons on suspensions, for example, the F / A-18E / F multipurpose carrier-based fighter, will not leave room for a sufficient number of AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles or AIM-120D missiles required to confront a distant air enemy. … A similar situation is developing with our Su-30SM, Su-34 and Su-35S, equipped in an air-to-ground configuration with Kh-29 / T / L missiles and anti-radar Kh-31. To escort such vehicles, an additional link of the same Su-30SM is needed, but with R-73, RVV-AE missiles, as well as R-27ET / EM on suspensions. And this is already attracting additional forces that might be needed in another section of the airspace, for example, to gain air superiority over enemy aircraft or to intercept enemy cruise missiles. Another point is the impossibility of conducting short-range maneuverable air combat with a heavy type of air-to-ground suspension. The thrust-to-weight ratio of the fighter at this moment will be no more than 0.75 - 0.8 kgf / kg. From all this, a simple conclusion can be drawn - tactical aviation needs a universal tactical missile that will both effectively destroy an air enemy and cause significant damage to ground stationary and moving targets. The only correct solution is to adapt the most common air combat missiles R-73, AIM-9X "Sidewinder", IRIS-T to combat ground targets.
Work of a similar nature has been carried out by leading Russian and Western corporations and enterprises of the aerospace industry for more than 20 years. The latest news, published on the resource "Thai Military and Asian Rregion", on December 8, 2016, concerns the IKGSN optimization of the BVB "IRIS-T" missile for the destruction of small-sized heat-emitting stationary and moving targets. The source reports that in September this year, the F-16AB of the Royal Norwegian Air Force performed a successful launch of "IRIS-T" on a ground target.
The development program for this guided air-to-air missile (URVV) was launched in the second half of 1995 due to the insufficient maneuverability of the British AIM-132 ASRAAM missiles and the American AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles, which have a much larger turning radius of 180 degrees. than our R-73 RMD-2. The work on the project was started by the German company Diehl BGT Defense, which received an assignment from the German Ministry of Defense to design a product that would meet the requirements of modern close-range highly maneuverable combat. The severity of the issue was also increased by the use of 106 tactical fighter-bombers and electronic warfare aircraft "Tornado IDS / ECR" in the Luftwaffe of the Bundeswehr, the low maneuverability of which did not allow to conduct close air combat on an equal footing with the enemy in the event that the opponent of the Tornado was such a machine as the MiG -29CMT. The IRIS-T missiles were supposed to provide sufficient self-defense for the Tornado tacticians, which the Sidewinder could not do. Later, within the framework of the developed Memorandum of Understanding, specialists from the Italian division MBDA-IT, Italian companies LITAL, Magnaghi and Simmel, Spanish Semmer, Greek INTRACOM, Swedish Saab Bofors Dynamics and many other.
The highest flight technical and accuracy characteristics of the IRIS-T missiles were confirmed by the fall of 2003, when, during the interception of training air targets, 35% of the missiles launched hit targets with a direct hit (according to the hit-to-kill concept). Later, the missiles began to enter service with the fighter aircraft of the Air Forces of the states included in the memorandum, and even later, on its basis, a mobile short-range air defense missile defense system "IRIS-T SL" was developed. The highest maneuverability of the IRIS-T rocket is due to its equipping with a thrust vector control system, which is located in the tail section of the rocket. The thrust vector deviation occurs only during the operation of a powerful dual-mode low-smoke solid-propellant rocket engine from the FiatAvio company. At this moment, the rocket, when it reaches an actively maneuvering target, is capable of overloading 60 - 65 units, which is about 2 times higher than that of the American AIM-9X and 1.5 times higher than that of the R-73 RMD- 2. When the fuel burns out, the large-area aerodynamic rudders located in the tail of the rocket, as well as the wide-chord-type cruciform wing with a large aspect ratio and area, continue to be responsible for the high maneuverability of the IRIS-T. About 50% of the rocket's lift is generated directly by this wing.
The most important element of the IRIS-T rocket, which is directly related to the topic of our today's article, is the TELL high-tech infrared seeker, designed by the main contractor of the program - Diehl BGT Defense. A feature of this IKGSN is the use of an infrared matrix based on indium antimonide (InSb) with a resolution of 128x128 pixels. Unlike most infrared homing heads installed on missiles such as Maverick, which use the long-wavelength range of 8-13 microns, the IKGSN TELL operates in the short-wave infrared range of 3-5 microns. This range is not only distinguished by a sufficiently high noise immunity, but also more preferable for conducting thermographic analysis of objects with high reflective and light-transmitting capabilities. The TELL homing head of the IRIS-T missile is capable of much faster and more clearly detecting and “capturing” not only air targets, but also ground-based heat-contrast objects, the temperature difference in relation to the environment in which is minimal. Such objects include armored vehicles with operating or recently turned off power plants, transportable and self-propelled artillery units firing, as well as other "warm" objects that contrast against the background of the earth's surface.
The German shortwave infrared seeker TELL is distinguished by approximately the same technological advantages. In addition, a two-axis gimbal, as well as an advanced high-performance processor system for processing infrared information, brought the pumping angles of the coordinator to ± 90 degrees, and the limiting angular velocity of target tracking to 60 degrees / s. In addition to the modern on-board computer, the missile control system also has a storage device in which reference infrared images of various targets from different angles are loaded. This is done for more accurate and faster selection of detected objects. In addition to infrared reference images of fighters, cruise missiles and other aircraft, the storage device can also be loaded with reference standards for ground and sea targets. Considering that a fighter with an afterburner mode of operation of the power plant can be detected at a distance of 18 to 22 km, a mobile target of the "tank" type can be detected at a distance of 5-7 km, a large-caliber artillery mount in combat mode - 8-10 km. URVV "IRIS-T" is excellent for the destruction of ground targets.
Now let us consider all the advantages of using this missile as a high-precision aircraft munition at the time of an air operation. As an example, let's imagine a hypothetical section of the air theater of operations, where the Tornado ECR tactical strike fighter performs an operation consisting in a low-altitude "breakthrough" of the enemy's long-range air defense line. As you know, modern self-propelled anti-aircraft missile systems are distinguished by the highest network-centric properties, achieved by the presence of a large number of digital interfaces capable of receiving tactical information about the air situation and target designation from third-party sea, land and air-based radar-AWACS via radio data transmission channels. All this happens with their own radar facilities turned off. "Tornado", carrying electronic warfare containers of the "Sky Shadow" and BOZ types, as well as 4 anti-radar missiles of the "ALARM" type, is capable of effectively resisting only radio-emitting targets, since ALARM radar missiles have a wide-range passive radar seeker designed to search for and capture those working on radiation Radar. Having received target designation, the air defense missile system can completely suddenly attack the Tornado, using only an optical-electronic sighting system when the aircraft is in close proximity to it. The operator of the Tornado ECR combat systems will not be able to use ALARM for this type of target, and the 27-mm Mauser aircraft cannon has been dismantled from this vehicle in favor of the AAD-5 infrared optical-electronic surveillance and sighting system. The only weapon capable of attacking enemy air defense missile systems by targeting the onboard infrared sight will be the adapted IRIS-T air combat missile.
Tactical reconnaissance aircraft and air defense / RER suppression aircraft of the German Air Force "Tornado ECR". Despite the existence of many times more advanced British ALARM anti-radar missiles, German vehicles continue to use the American AGM-88 HARM. At the suspension point under the right wing there is a container with 14 BOZ decoys
Another example is the situation in which the Typhoon, a 4 ++ generation multirole fighter, on an air superiority mission, suddenly collides with an enemy ground air defense system while directly above the target. Even in the event that a pair of tactical missiles with IKGSN to destroy ground targets is on the suspensions, it will no longer be possible to hit the target of this approach, since the maneuverability of specialized air-to-ground missiles rarely allows attacking ground targets with a 60-90-degree angle relative to the heading direction of the carrier. "IRIS-T", which has a minimum radius of turn (from 150 to 220 m), on the contrary, will be able to hit the target even from a 90-degree angle relative to the heading direction of the fighter. This will require the use of a helmet-mounted target designation system HMSS (Htlmet Mounted Symbology System), which, through the Typhoon control system, will use the radio command method to bring the IRIS-T to an angular target with the subsequent capture of the TELL seeker. This technique of attacking enemy targets (called "over the shoulder"), together with the new capabilities of the IRIS-T missile, will fundamentally change the situation with the low multipurpose capabilities of tactical fighters participating in air defense operations.
A similar situation is observed in the tactical fleet, which is armed with the AIM-9 "Sidewinder" family of melee missiles. As you know, successfully passing flight tests in 1953, the AIM-9A / B melee missiles entered service with the US Air Force in 1956. These versions of the Sidewinder became the world's first effective guided air-to-air missile weapons. So, already in 1958, the brainchild of the Raytheon company - AIM-9B, launched into large-scale production of 80 thousand missiles, was baptized by fire in air battles over the Taiwan Strait, where the F-86F fighters became the carriers of the Sidewinder " Saber ". Prospective missiles made it possible for the worst-performing Sabers not only to achieve parity with the Chinese MiG-17s, but also to substantially surpass them. Serial production of this version of the missiles continued until 1962. It is known at least about the 21st modification of the AIM-9B "Sidewinder" rocket, among which there are such significant products of the program as:
- AIM-9C (version with PARGSN, the project of which remained only on the drawings due to the poor design and low efficiency of the seeker, as well as the arrival of the AIM-7 "Sparrow" airborne missile system);
- AIM-9G (the first version in the family, equipped with a module for receiving target designation from an airborne radar such as AN / APG-59 "Westinghouse", and newer samples of AN / AWG-9, AN / APG-65 and AN / APG-63 fighters F-14A, F-16A and F-15A, the series of these missiles was 2120 units);
- AIM-9R ("Sidewinder" with an optoelectronic / television seeker, which was aimed directly at the silhouette of an air target, this project was "frozen" due to the collapse of the USSR).
We were most interested in the version of the AGM-87 "Focus" rocket. This concept, unique for that time, was developed by Raytheon in the second half of the 60s, and provided for the defeat of ground targets using a heavier 70-kg warhead. The Focus's target list included moving cars, light armored vehicles, MBTs, boats and other units with a working power plant. Due to the fact that the missile received several times heavier high-explosive fragmentation "equipment", its range and maneuverability were significantly reduced, but this did not affect the highest efficiency of one of the first samples of high-precision missile weapons (WTO) during its use in Vietnam theater of operations in the late 60s. Nevertheless, the rocket still lost the ability to fight highly maneuverable air targets, and the project was closed immediately after the end of the Vietnam War. The Raytheon manufacturer, together with the Hughes company, has focused on the development of new modifications of the Maverick tactical missile.
36 years later, on December 4, 2009, the management of the aerospace giant "Raytheon" again announced the development of an air-to-ground missile based on the promising AIM-9X "Sidewinder." According to the Western resource "Flightglobal", in addition to air targets, AIM-9X will be able to destroy enemy ground targets. For example, in a test launch of the AIM-9X missile on September 23, 2009, the F-15C "Eagle", the main air superiority fighter of the US Air Force, hit a fast-moving boat. The infrared seeker detected and captured the hot hull of the boat's engine. Work on this project began in 2007. Meanwhile, the so-called modification "Block" of a promising missile with expanded capabilities was not exactly reported. The details became clear after another 4 years.
