The air defense of the ground forces is an integral part in the formation of the proper survivability and safety of armored units on the march in regions where, due to large-scale hostilities, there may be a shortage of fighter aircraft, and the air defense means of the air forces simply cannot provide a reliable anti-missile "umbrella" over the ground forces, since they are forced to cover other strategically important objects: air bases, naval facilities, early warning radar, metallurgy, heavy engineering, military-industrial complex, or silo launchers of intercontinental ballistic missiles. In relatively small territories and theaters of military operations, such shortcomings are practically not observed, since anti-aircraft missile divisions (ZRDn), brigades (ZRBr) and regiments (ZRP) belonging to the Aerospace Forces, with their ranges of action usually cover all objects in need of protection in this territory, and in the entire range of heights - from low-altitude (5-20 m) to near space and low-orbit (30-180 km). And all the background here is in the low-altitude area.
If we are talking about an air defense system of the S-300PM1 or S-400 family, then the ideal protection of the strategic object covered by them can be provided only at a distance of 35-45 km, i.e. to the radio horizon for radar illumination and guidance (RPN) 30N6E / 92N6E on a universal tower 40V6M. This can be observed today in the construction of the air defense of the Syrian theater of operations or the Republic of Crimea, where it makes no sense to deploy a large number of medium-range military air defense systems of the Buk-M1 / 2 type. In the first case (in Syria), we see the deployed S-400 Triumph and several S-300V4 divisions, covering their "dead zones" by the Pantsir-S1 anti-aircraft missile and artillery systems. From the sea, our contingent on the naval base Tartus and Avb Khmeimim and the government troops of the SAR are covered, the naval air defense, which is carried out by the RRC "Moscow", the TARKR "Peter the Great", equipped with 3 air defense missile systems S-300F / FM. In Syria, only the northwestern part of the state is protected.
In the second case (in the Republic of Crimea), everything is a little more complicated. Here we see the Crimean Peninsula, which is 7 times in area and approximately 2, 2 times smaller in area than Syria, but about the same as the part of its territory controlled by the Syrian Armed Forces. For full cover of Crimea, 10-12 S-300PM1 divisions and the Pantsir-S1 and Tor-M1 / 2 self-propelled complexes attached to each division are sufficient. But the air defense-missile defense of the peninsula had to be significantly strengthened with the S-400 "Triumph" division in the southern VN (Feodosia) and additional "Three hundred" in the Sevastopol region to cover the naval base of the Black Sea Fleet, as well as air bases in Gvardeisky, Belbek and Dzhankoy, where the 27th mixed aviation division of the 4th command of the Air Force and Air Defense. Such serious measures to protect the peninsula are associated with absolutely inadequate and unpredictable actions of the Ukrainian leadership, which, on the instructions of the West, plans to provoke a major escalation of hostilities in the Donbass and on the border with Crimea after the presidential elections in the United States.
At longer distances, the low-altitude area becomes already obscured by the on-load tap-changer, and missiles such as the AGM-158A / B JASSM / JASSM-ER will not be detected by the SAM operators. We take into account the most unfavorable situation when the S-300/400 does not receive target designation from the A-50U long-range radar target designation and control aircraft. It turns out such a picture, when the "Triumph" is forced to defend an important industrial facility, and the tank brigade must make a march 100-150 km from the approximate location of the deployed S-400. Naturally, it will not be able to cover the brigade from cruise missiles Chetyrokhsotka at such a distance, nor will it be able to cover it from tactical and assault aircraft operating at altitudes of 50-150 m. actions that must accompany the ground forces on an ongoing basis in any sector of the theater of operations. We have already talked about the S-300V / B4 and their advantages in the work devoted to the transfer of the Antey system to Syria. Now is the time to consider the "middle echelon" of the air defense of the Land Forces of the Russian Federation - the Buk anti-aircraft missile systems, or rather, their newest version, Buk-M3.
As it became known, on October 21, 2016, during the Single Day of Military Acceptance, announced by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, it was officially announced that the first set of the 9K317M Buk-M3 anti-aircraft missile battalion was handed over to the Ground Forces. This was announced by the Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Yuri Borisov. The first short video clip with the Buk-M3 elements transferred to the troops was shown on the Zvezda TV channel, in the “I Serve Russia” program, two days later. In the video, you can see that the first division was received by one of the military units of the SV of the Ulyanovsk region. According to S. Shoigu himself, by 2017 one more division will be transferred to the Ground Forces. It will go into service with the military air defense of one of the brigades in the Southern Military District.
Obviously, the new complexes will gradually replace the Buk-M1 and Buk-M2 air defense systems in service. But how tangible is the increase in the defensive capabilities of the new complex? Does it fully meet the challenges of the 21st century, coming from dangerous and unpredictable air directions? You can answer these questions by comparing the parameters of the 9K317M with the earlier versions of the 9K37 and 9K317 air defense systems.
The development of the Buk-M3 medium-range military anti-aircraft missile system has been carried out under the leadership of Chief Designer Evgeny Aleksandrovich Pigin since 1990. Evgeny Pigin, starting his career at OJSC Scientific Research Institute of Instrument Making V. V. Tikhomirov ", participated in the development of the 1C11 radar detector and 1C31 RPN for the Kub anti-aircraft missile system, and then became the chief designer for almost all versions of the Buk complex. It should be noted that the development of Buk-M3 provided for several areas of improvement at once in comparison with Buk-M1-2 and Buk-M2. One of them was the increase in the protection of ammunition. On all versions of the "Buk" up to "M2", launchers and launchers with an open architecture for the location of missiles such as 9A310 and 9A39 were used. The first installation provided for the placement of 4 missiles of the 9M38 type, and the second - 8 anti-aircraft guided missiles.
Buk-M3 has a completely new (closed) type of launchers. SAM 9M317M are placed in cylindrical transport and launch containers (TPK) of the type of S-300/400 complexes. Each PU / SOU 9A317M (self-propelled gun mount) is equipped with 6 TPK. Those. the rockets here are not in the open air, but are reliably hidden in the strong "shell" of the TPK, surrounded by 8 crimp rings. Due to the 1.5 times increased ammunition load of the 9A317M launchers, the total number of missiles in the battalion remains even with a 50% reduction in the number of launchers. - loading machine 9T243M), the ammunition of 9M317M anti-aircraft missiles can be 60 units. When 2 more TPU 9A316M are added to the division, the complex will have an arsenal of more than 100 anti-aircraft missiles. This indicates the greater survivability of the complex at the time the enemy is carrying out a massive missile and air strike.
Another difference relates to an increase in the performance of on-board electronics, and, as a consequence, an increase in the target channeling of the air defense system. The new self-propelled launcher 9A317M, in contrast to the 1/4 channel 9A310M1 / 9A317, has 6 target channels. A modern digital element base with a modular design will make it possible to include 4-6 or more self-propelled firing units in one division, receiving target designation from the 9S36M radar, so that the channel can be 36 or more air targets. The 9S36M radar also performs the function of a low-altitude detector and radar for illumination and guidance of 9M317M missiles-interceptors at low-altitude short- or long-range cruise missiles, as well as UAVs. This radar is located on a special hydraulic mast with a height of 22 m and is represented by a phased array antenna with an electronic scanning beam. Similar radars are installed on each control system, with the only difference that they are paired with the launcher, and the 9S36M is located at a separate antenna post.
The 9S36M illumination and guidance radar, as well as a similar radar built into the 9A317M SOU, have a range of 120 km against targets with an RCS of 2 m2. The field of view of the radar data in the azimuth plane is 90 degrees, in the elevation - up to +70 degrees, but after tying the target track, the view sectors increase to 120 degrees in azimuth and +85 degrees in elevation, which is quite good at the time of operation of each self-propelled launcher according to its group goal with a large "spatial spread". As you can see, the radar appearance of all Buks, including the Buk-M3, is very similar to their more powerful "military counterparts" - the S-300V / 4 air defense systems, where each launcher (9A82 and 9A83) is equipped with its own RPN. The only difference is that the Anteyevs have one-channel continuous radars, while the last Buks have six-channel radars. All these technical measures were taken solely to increase the survivability of the anti-aircraft missile system.
Serious changes have also been made to the 9M317M SAM itself, which, in terms of the combination of flight characteristics and combat qualities, is several times more perfect than the early modification of the 9M38M1. The new 9M317M interceptor missile is more compact than its predecessor (5083 versus 5550 mm in length, 360 versus 400 mm in diameter and 581 kg versus 685 kg in weight). And its speed, range and altitude indicators are 2 times ahead of 9M38M1. So, due to a more high-power dual-mode solid propellant rocket with a prolonged period of operation, the distance of hitting an air target in the 9M317M is 70 km, the interception height can reach 40 km, and the flight speed reaches 5600 km / h (5.27M). The 9M38M1 (Buk-M1) rocket had a maximum speed of 800 m / s, and therefore even such a seemingly simple target as the F-15E “Strike Eagle” retreating on the afterburner would be too tough for the Buk-M1. On the other hand, the Buk-M3, thanks to the new high-speed missile defense system, is capable of intercepting high-speed aerial targets at a distance of up to 30 km. Equipping with an active radar homing head allows the 9M317M to be launched “over the horizon” without the need for constant illumination from the 9A317M or 9S36M MRLS, and therefore the source of target designation can be an AWACS aircraft, a tactical fighter, and any other aerial reconnaissance means.
One of the main innovative solutions introduced into the fire control system of the Buk-M3 air defense missile system is the installation of an auxiliary thermal imaging and heat direction finding optoelectronic complex. This is done to dramatically increase the noise immunity of the complex in conditions of strong electronic countermeasures from the enemy's electronic warfare air assets. A more heat-sensitive infrared sighting device with a cooled high-resolution matrix and a narrow viewing angle will allow to detect air targets in the front hemisphere at considerable distances even by slightly warmed up infrared radiation from the turbojet engine of the airframe elements, as well as by the thermal radiation of the jet stream. A wider-angle heat direction finder, on the contrary, compensates for the lack of a narrow-angle thermal imager, and will be able to detect many warm-contrast air objects in a quick period of time, but at a shorter distance Times of Day).
The most important advantage of the military "Buk-M3" is the maximum target speed of 3000 m / s (about 11000 km / h), due to which almost all existing hypersonic precision weapons, including the well-known American 7-fly KR X- 51 "Waverider", developed as part of the US concept of "Rapid Global Non-Nuclear Strike". Today, from a standard army air defense-missile defense system of the middle line, the Buk-M3 has turned into a worthy "stratospheric hunter", which is capable of performing the same range of tasks as the "Three hundred", which are in service with the Aerospace Forces.
