Against the background of the massiveness of projects for the development of long-range promising subsonic, supersonic and hypersonic anti-ship missiles for the fleets of the leading countries of the world, it is sometimes difficult to consider less eminent programs for the creation of equally formidable anti-ship systems designed to strike at enemy surface targets at distances from 5 to 35 40 km, but with a completely different concept of use, which came from the 40s. XX century. Today we will talk about the promising development of South Korean specialists - a ship-to-ship or ship-to-ground multiple launch rocket system. Despite the fact that the layout of the 130-mm guided missile was presented at the Polish exhibition "MSPO-2017" on September 7, South Korean representatives provided an extremely narrow range of information about the new product. In view of this, it became necessary to conduct a separate analytical review, based on several factors at once, including: the history of the development and use of similar missile weapons in the 20th century, the tactical and technical aspects of the escalation of the probable Korean conflict today, as well as the features of the homing systems of promising tactical missiles.
The ingenious idea of using torpedo boats as carriers of unguided missiles was announced in the distant 30s. XX century Lieutenant G. V. Ternovsky. It provided for the use of NURSs from the board of surface ships for direct support of the landing force and other units of the ground forces, but in the pre-war period the large-scale production of rockets had not yet been established, and therefore in the "hardware" of this concept was destined to be embodied only a few years later (after commissioning the production line of the most famous Soviet MLRS BM-8 and BM-13 "Katyusha"). The baptism of fire of the first 82-mm MLRS BM-8 took place on board the "small hunter" MO-034, covering the civilian transport "Pestel" at the crossing. Then the ship's crew of the MLRS managed to drive off the German torpedo bomber, which was attacking the convoy, with a sudden salvo of RS-82 shells.
Later, the new complex was used for its intended purpose. So, on the night of September 20, 1942, the calculation of the installation of the MLRS BM, installed on board the "small hunter" MO-051, disabled the German schooner, which attempted to disembark a sabotage and reconnaissance group on our shore. An even more tactically important operation was carried out on the night of February 4, 1943, when the "chilled" modification of the BM-13 "Katyusha" MLRS, mounted on the Mackerel minesweeper, was first used to provide fire support for the landing from the sea. After demonstrating the real combat potential in the fleet, the special design bureau "Compressor" was instructed to design 3 modifications of 82-mm and 132-mm MLRS, adapted for ship use, as soon as possible. They received the indexes 8-M-8, 24-M-8 and 16-M13. Adaptation to deck placement included upgrade packages such as reinforced rockets on the rails, reducing the effort required to rotate the guidance wheels in azimuth and elevation, and increasing guidance speed. These installations played a huge role in the weapons systems of torpedo boats, "small and large hunters" and other ships until the end of the Great Patriotic War.
Since the 60s of the XX century, after the long-term use of the aging post-war MLRS BM-14 with 140-mm NURS M-14, the legendary 122-mm MLRS BM-21 "Grad" has become the main unit of the Soviet Army's rocket artillery, designed to defeat lightly armored personnel equipment, weakly protected strongpoints and command posts, as well as anti-aircraft missile battalions and enemy artillery batteries at a distance of 4000 to 20400 m using high-explosive fragmentation rockets 9M28 and 9M22. MLRS 9K51 "Grad", included in the 13th separate rocket artillery division (ReADn) of the 135th motorized rifle division in the amount of 12 combat vehicles, confirmed their effectiveness during the conflict on Damansky Island, which occurred in March and September 1969. Later, a simplified partisan modification of the complex with the index 9P132 Partizan (Grad-P) was actively used by the DRV army against units of the American army, including airbases. In total, the North Vietnamese army received more than 500 Grad-P portable launchers.
In parallel with the success of the combat use of the partisan and mobile versions of the Grad land-based MLRS, the ship modification of the 122-mm A-215 Grad-M multiple launch rocket system was in full swing. January 1966. After factory and ground tests of the first and second prototypes of the "hot" MLRS "Grad" for the period from the end of 1969 to 1971, tests began on the large landing ship BDK-104 "Ilya Azarov" using a new 2x20 launcher MS-73, design which provided for the presence of the original under-deck charging device, which allows you to update the ammunition on the launcher in just 2 minutes. With the use of the M-21OF unguided missile, the ability to fire at 6-point sea waves was achieved, which led to an excellent adaptive potential to difficult meteorological conditions in the maritime theater of military operations.
It should be noted that the MLRS A-215 "Grad-M" for the first time received an advanced computerized fire control complex PS-73 "Groza", which not only displays the presence of NURSs in the guides at the operators' terminals, but also automatically calculates the required azimuthal lead angles and the elevation angles of the launcher, based on target designation data received from shipborne surface target detection radars of the types 5P-10 / -03 Puma / Laska, MR-123 Vympel, etc. Moreover, in accordance with the level of pitching and rolling, as well as depending on the direction of the wind, the level of humidity and pressure, the azimuthal and vertical angles of the launcher guidance can be corrected. All this ensures exceptional accuracy of strikes against surface targets at a distance of more than 10 km. The first deck modification of the Grad A-215 Grad-M with a new rangefinder laser-optical complex DVU-2 was put into service in 1978. Later, the A-215 was deeply improved to the level of the A-215M. The design and principle of operation of the MS-73 launcher were retained, while the MSA was replaced with a promising multi-channel SP-520M2 developed by Concern Morinformsystem-Agat JSC. It is presented by a modern optoelectronic turret complex and an operator's terminal, connected by a high-speed data bus with each other and with the MC-73 launcher. The rotary turret of the optical-electronic surveillance and sighting complex contains:
The operator's terminal is built on a fully modern computerized element base and is represented by three multifunctional LCD indicators of various diagonal, displaying comprehensive information about the target, including its visual and infrared image. The A-176M, A-190 large-caliber artillery mounts and the AK-630M anti-aircraft artillery systems can also be synchronized with the SP-520M2 optoelectronic system. Later, the arsenal of the shipborne MLRS A-215M was also updated: in addition to the standard 122-mm rockets of the 9M22U type with a range of 20.4 km, modernized 9M521 missiles with a range of 40 km were attached, as well as the no less advanced 9M522, a descending branch of the trajectory which has a very large angle, which significantly increases the damage inflicted on the target and reduces the likelihood of interception by modern missile defense systems. Despite all the above advantages of the modern Grad-M, this MLRS is absolutely not a high-precision system, because its rockets are still uncontrollable and have an extremely low accuracy of combat even when firing at a distance of 10-15 km.
The creators of the promising South Korean anti-ship / multipurpose MLRS are ready to arrange a real breaking of stereotypes regarding the classical principles of using multiple launch rocket systems. Obviously, the new product will embody the ideas that are used today both in existing MLRS with corrected and guided missiles, and in anti-ship and multipurpose missile systems. If we compare the advanced brainchild of South Korean engineers with the existing guided missile XM30 GUMRLS (Guided Unitary MLRS), developed by Lockheed Martin in conjunction with European companies for the MLRS / HIMARS multiple launch rocket system, then it is worth noting their cardinal differences in the architecture of the guidance and control system … These differences are caused by a completely different range of tasks assigned to the new South Korean ship-based MLRS.
In particular, if the American and Chinese guided missiles of the XM30 GUMLRS and WS-2A / C / D types are intended for long-range pinpoint strikes against stationary ground strongholds and accumulations of enemy equipment with a CEP of the order of 30-50 m, then South Korean missiles should effectively hit high-speed and maneuverable (including semi-submerged) boats of the Taedong-B / C classes of the North Korean Navy. For guidance and confident destruction of stationary ground targets or slowly moving armored units of the enemy, it is enough to load target coordinates into the drive of the URS inertial navigation system, while the rocket should be equipped with small nose aerodynamic rudders driven by compact electromechanical servos. After 12 M30 GMLRS URSs reach the battlefield with an accuracy of ± 35-50 m, the cassette will be deployed and lethal "equipment" in the form of 4848 HEAT-fragmentation submunitions will hit a good half of the enemy's units. Self-aiming combat elements of SPBE with cumulative warheads can also be used. It is such a nose section of the URS correction on the trajectory with small aerodynamic rudders that we observe in the M / XM30 G / GUMLRS missiles, while the guidance to the necessary coordinates is carried out using the GPS module.
To carry out an anti-ship strike (including the defeat of small nimble boats of the North Korean "mosquito fleet"), fundamentally different methods of combined guidance of missiles are required, providing for the introduction of radar and optoelectronic homing channels. Satellite guidance channels in this case are completely irrelevant, especially in the approach area. Detection, tracking and "capture" of a surface target should be carried out directly with the help of an onboard active radar seeker of the millimeter-wave Ka-band, operating in the frequency range from 26500 to 40,000 MHz. Only this guidance method can provide a minimum circular probable deviation within 1 - 2 m even in difficult meteorological conditions, given the fact that the target maneuvers on the water surface at a speed of 45 - 52 knots, which is very typical for North Korean boats of the Taedong-B line / C ".
The design of the controls for rockets designed to destroy mobile surface targets also cannot match that used in rockets to destroy stationary or slow-moving ground targets. The design used in XM30 projectiles - miniature nasal aerodynamic rudders that do not provide the required moment of force - is absolutely inappropriate for the implementation of the high angular velocity of the rocket's turn (at the moment of approaching the maneuvering object). An aerodynamic configuration "carrying body" with developed tail aerodynamic rudders is required (a similar scheme is used in the 48N6E2 and MIM-104C anti-aircraft guided missiles). It is this scheme that we can see in the photograph of the layout of a promising South Korean rocket, presented to the public during the MSPO-2017 exhibition. The photo clearly shows a 25-30-degree sweep along the leading edge of the tail planes, which once again emphasizes their purpose as aerodynamic controls, because on most of the adjustable rockets, the tail fins have an exclusively rectangular shape with a large elongation, while control (we repeat) uses bow thrusters aerodynamic planes, or gas-dynamic correction means.
Also, since July 2016, it is known about the existence of a modification of the South Korean multiple launch rocket system with a 130-mm guided FIAC (Fast Inshore Attack Craft) ship-based missile (pictured below). It is built according to the aerodynamic "canard" design, but has more developed nose aerodynamic rudders than the adjustable URSs of the XM30 GUMLRS type. The product provides for the installation of both an active radar seeker and an IKGSN with the possibility of radio correction from the carrier and other units on board which there are Link-16 terminals.
Taking into account the current trends in the development of solid-propellant rocket engines, including an increase in the quality and thermodynamic properties of fuel charges, it can be argued that the range of a promising 130-mm South Korean MLRS can approach 50-60 km at a missile flight speed of the order of 3.5-4M. About the approximate timing of the beginning of the factory, and even more so full-scale, tests of a promising anti-ship South Korean MLRS, no information has been reported at the moment. Nevertheless, it is already clear that an "unnamed" multipurpose MLRS can create a lot of unpleasant surprises not only for the "mosquito fleet" of the DPRK, but also for larger surface ships of the "frigate / destroyer" class, which are in service with the Chinese Navy and the Pacific Fleet of the Navy Russia.
In any scenario of a likely large-scale conflict in the APR, the Navy of the Republic of Korea will "play" on the side of Washington, and, despite the short range of the new MLRS, any modern frigate or destroyer, even with the latest versions of shipborne air defense systems (Polyment Redoubt, HQ-9B) can end in very unpleasant consequences. In particular, it will be very difficult to repel a 10-second salvo of 20 small-sized guided missiles. Light fragmentation combat "equipment" of these URSs is not capable of sending our or Chinese ships to the bottom, but it may well disable the radar systems vital for self-defense that control the ship's air defense systems. This weapon is capable of significantly changing the alignment of forces during possible naval battles in the APR at medium distances.
