This year, as well as the past, the Russian Armed Forces will receive a new generation of portable anti-aircraft missile systems (MANPADS) "Verba". This unique product was developed by specialists of the Kolomna JSC NPK Design Bureau of Mechanical Engineering, which is part of NPO High-Precision Complexes JSC of the Rostec State Corporation.
The novelty is primarily used for arming brigades of the Ground Forces (motorized rifle and tank), as well as airborne divisions.
The means of the complex are supplied to the troops in sets, which include not only the MANPADS itself, maintenance equipment, training equipment, but also detection equipment with an automated control system "Barnaul-T".
"Verba" was adopted by the Russian army in 2015. And it became a sensation already at the first public demonstration during the Army-2015 International Military-Technical Forum in Kubinka, Moscow Region. This MANPADS, in terms of its characteristics and capabilities, surpasses all similar products in service with the countries of the world.
AND ONE IN THE FIELD WARRIOR
The portable anti-aircraft missile system, as such, is designed to fire one person. How not to recall the textbook: "And there is one warrior in the field." For a better understanding of the essence of this unique weapon - a little history.
MANPADS with guided missiles (and this is a fundamentally new step in arming the army) were first used in 1969 in the Arab-Israeli "war of attrition". These were the Soviet Strela-2. In one day, then they destroyed three Israeli A4 Skyhawk aircraft. And with only three missiles. The result shocked military professionals. In the same battle, two missiles were fired at Mirage III aircraft, but the targets were outside the affected area.
A few years earlier, the American Red Eye complex had appeared. And since those years MANPADS have been actively used all over the world.
Portable complexes harmoniously fit into network-centric and hybrid wars. They were originally created to cover ground military units and over half a century of their existence have more than proven that they are equal combat units of the modern army. They are still idolized today for their simplicity and effectiveness. Over the course of its existence, Soviet and then Russian MANPADS shot down more than 700 aircraft. Used in Egypt, Iraq, Yugoslavia, Ethiopia to protect military units in the Peruvian conflict.
The famous "Stinger" has made itself felt loudly in Afghanistan since 1986. These MANPADS shot down more than a hundred Soviet planes and helicopters. Groups of our special forces were hunting for the Stinger. In a short time, several missiles were captured, which were subsequently exported to the USSR and used to create countermeasures.
APPEARANCES ARE DECEPTIVE
The creators of the first domestic MANPADS were the ingenious designers Boris Shavyrin and Sergey Invincible. I was fortunate enough to be accompanied by KBM employees in the apartment of the Invincible in a skyscraper on Kotelnicheskaya embankment a few years before the death of the defense master. I remember the majestic figure, the shine of a fanatic in his eyes, magnetism. And - an incredible amount of knowledge poured out on the interlocutor by a waterfall.
MANPADS - only one of nearly three dozen brainchildren of the Invincible, and hence the KBM. Among them - the operational-tactical missile system "Oka", which was replaced by "Iskander", the complex of active protection of tanks "Arena", the all-weather anti-tank missile system "Chrysanthemum-S" and much more. Today the general designer of KBM is Valery Kashin, a disciple and follower of Invincible. Under his leadership, Igla-S was created, the development of which was Verba.
With the outward similarity of the novelty with its predecessors, this is a completely different weapon, with new characteristics. "Verba" is capable of successfully hitting not only traditional air targets - aircraft and helicopters, but also the so-called low-radiation targets - cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles.
Its differences from its predecessor are significant. For the first time in the world, a fundamentally new seeker is installed on a product - an optical tri-band (or three-spectral): it works in the ultraviolet, near-infrared and mid-infrared ranges. This allows you to get more information about the target, which makes the complex a "selective" weapon.
Three sensors constantly double-check each other, making it difficult for the aircraft against which the missile is directed to mislead it using false targets. The homing head automatically selects false thermal targets (interference) and focuses on the object, if not with the strongest thermal radiation, but precisely on the one that needs to be hit. The sensitivity of the missile seeker has been increased eight (!) Times. Accordingly, the area of capture and destruction of air targets has also grown: in comparison with the MANPADS of the previous generation "Igla-S" - by 2, 5 times. The complex is equipped with a Mowgli-2 night vision sight.
The automated control system makes it possible to detect air targets, including group targets, determine the parameters of their flight, and even distribute targets between the shooters. The new rocket engine allows you to shoot at an object located at a distance of 6 km from the shooter. The height of the lesion is from 10 m to 3.5 km. The mass of the launcher with a power source and a rocket inside in a firing position is only 17, 25 kg.
In short, we are talking about a unique and innovative technology. The missile, according to the general designer of KBM Valery Kashin, is "completely digital", it is hermetically sealed, materials that are insensitive to aggressive media were used for its manufacture. In flight, the rocket is controlled autonomously. The homing system is designed so that it can deceive anti-missile target systems. The fighter is required to press the launch, and then the rocket will do everything by itself. The "friend or foe" recognition system significantly reduces the risk of hitting friendly air vehicles.
COMPETITORS LAGGED BY YEARS
MANPADS "Verba" can be used not only from the shoulder. In the future, it is possible to install Verba missile turrets on ships and helicopters. MANPADS "Igla-S" is used as part of shipboard installations "Gibka" and in sets of autonomous modules "Strelets" on combat helicopters. "Verba" will go the same way, "Valery Kashin said the other day. Moreover, according to him, the "Verba" MANPADS from the very beginning was developed taking into account the possibility of using it, in addition to the named, and on "other movable military equipment." Which one is anyone's guess.
In terms of its characteristics, the Verba complex surpasses not only the Igla-1, Igla, Igla-S MANPADS in service with the Russian army, but also their foreign counterparts - the American Stinger Block I and the Chinese QW-2. The American MANPADS is significantly inferior to Verba in all respects.
The Russian government has allowed the sale of the novelty abroad, there is already a foreign buyer. The manufacturers, however, have not yet said who exactly. The US military called the new Russian MANPADS one of the most "alarming" types of weapons, and its export - "a potentially threatening event."Russia has created the most dangerous anti-aircraft system in history, writes the American edition of Business Insider.
The Israelis are also worried about the prospect of selling "Verba". They say: "Verba" is capable of breaking the opposition of most of the defensive systems of the Western armies. In the local conflicts of the past three decades, it is the portable anti-aircraft missile systems that posed the greatest threat to military aviation.
The Israeli government has decided to equip the aircraft fleet with directional infrared countermeasures DIRCM to protect against MANPADS. This system combines passive, optical missile detectors and directional, infrared countermeasures. The developers of the system claim that the laser beam disrupts the attack of the missile fired at the aircraft and forces it to deviate from the course. Perhaps these threats extend to early-model MANPADS, but not to the Verba, say Russian military experts, with whom the author spoke.
Numerous exercises of Russian troops underway confirm: "Verba" confidently destroys targets imitating attack drones, helicopters and assault aircraft of a conventional enemy. This MANPADS operates at maximum maximum ranges and altitudes, on head-on and catch-up courses.
The quality and reliability of the complex has been significantly improved, its operation, maintenance and training have been simplified. Gradually "Verba" will replace all MANPADS of earlier types. This will make it possible to completely unify the arsenals of the types and types of troops for this type of weapon.
