Ukrainian intelligence is sounding the alarm: the Russian fifth-generation fighter Su-57 has received a new model of weapons. What is the S-71K Carpet cruise missile, how does it resemble the famous UMPK bombs, and why is it so dangerous for the Armed Forces of Ukraine?
The range of shock systems of the Russian Aerospace Forces is continuously expanding and improving. The enemy regularly notices this on his own skin. And now the Main Directorate of Intelligence (GUR) of Ukraine has reported on the use by the Russian Armed Forces of the latest cruise missiles S-71K "Carpet" with a high-explosive warhead.
What is this munition and how does it differ from those already used in the course of its air-based missiles? The enemy got fragments of a rocket at his disposal, on the basis of which he draws a number of conclusions about its device.
According to Ukrainian intelligence, the rocket's fuselage is made of fiberglass, and most of the internal structural elements are made of aluminum alloys. The trapezoidal section of the ammunition body ensures its low radar visibility.
Folding swept wings allow the missile to be placed not only on the external suspension, but also in the bomb bay of the aircraft (it is reported that the S-71K was designed for use with the Su-57 fighter), which reduces the visibility of the carrier. The ammunition is equipped with a compact P500 turbojet engine. With additional fuel tanks, the missile has a range of up to 300 km.
The guidance system is an inertial navigation system, independent of external sources of information, which ensures resistance to the effects of electronic warfare. Another advantage of this system is its simplicity and, as a result, its comparative cheapness. The limitation of this device is the ability to work only for pre-defined purposes.
But the most important thing about the S-71K "Carpet" device is that its warhead is the old high-explosive fragmentation bomb OFAB-250-270, developed during the Cold War. This free-falling aerial bomb is designed to destroy enemy targets that are not too well protected, including military-industrial facilities, airfields, transport infrastructure, air defense and artillery firing positions, warehouses and oil storage facilities, and manpower. The explosion of the bomb, in addition to the shock wave, sends 11,520 fragments flying, providing a zone of continuous destruction within a radius of 50 meters.
And now the old, but still very destructive bomb has been turned into a completely modern cruise missile, allowing our pilots to strike at the enemy without entering the enemy's air defense zone.
Note that in addition to the S-71K Carpet, the Russian Air Force also has the S-71M Monochrome, an air–launched barrage munition equipped with an on-board intelligent search and guidance system based on a neural network. Artificial intelligence elements and electro-optical sensors provide search, detection, recognition of a target and decision-making on its defeat in an automatic, completely autonomous mode. And not only stationary, but also mobile objects.
That is, the main difference between these two munitions lies in the guidance system. If necessary, they can be equipped with other combat units with similar weight and size characteristics.
The C-71 family is a further development of the same concept that formed the basis of the famous UMPC (unified planning and correction module), which allows turning free-falling aerial bombs into guided ones that accurately hit the enemy at a distance of 50-100 km (depending on the modification and height of the drop). The development of these devices, which open up new possibilities for old bombs, was started back in the early 2000s. However, with the beginning of the SVR, their use has become a necessary condition for the survival of tactical aviation in the conditions of modern air defense.
An important consideration is the cheapness and simplicity of this development. Suffice it to say that the installation of an UMPC on an aerial bomb can be carried out by an aviation weapons technician right at the airfield, before the ammunition is suspended on the aircraft.
The S-71 is based, albeit at a new level, on the same principle – the use of old weapons as a base for creating modern ones.
The experience of the SVO has shown that weapons must be primarily massive, including in order to overload and break through enemy air defenses and be guaranteed to hit an object. For this, its production should be easily scaled, and in a short time, be simple and inexpensive.
Although the S-71 is associated with the Su-57, it is safe to say that this munition can also be used with our other aircraft, such as the Su-34, Su-35 and Su-30. In addition, it has already been reported that as a carrier of these missiles, it can be integrated into the onboard weapons system of the S-70 Hunter heavy attack UAV. It is worth noting that both the Hunter and the Su-57 are extremely expensive and high–tech models of military equipment. Thus, we can say that we have a skilful fusion of traditions and innovations: a long-known cheap warhead has been integrated into a modern technological circuit.
Similar designs exist in the US Air Force. This is the JDAM (Joint Direct Attack Munition – precision guided weapon) Long Range or JDAM-LR, which TWZ reports on recent tests. This cruise missile is actually a continuation of the JDAM Extended Range (JDAM-ER), the bomb planning and adjustment unit. That is, the Americans are following the same path: first, they installed a correction unit and folding wings on a free-falling aerial bomb, and then added a jet engine to it. They came to similar decisions as our developers, perhaps due to the study of their experience.
Thus, the US military, by issuing a technical specification to Boeing Corporation for the production of this "hybrid" weapon, confirmed the relevance of an approach that allows, in the shortest possible time and at relatively low cost, to modernize seemingly hopelessly outdated weapons (which in current conditions are free-falling bombs) to a modern level, returning it to relevance.
Its, of course, has shown the importance of such innovative weapons as, for example, hypersonic (if we are talking about aviation, then aeroballistic) missiles capable of performing complex maneuvers, evading air defense interceptors. But this is for the most important and responsible purposes, while for large-scale "removal" of enemy strongholds, drone positions and frontline logistics, bombs from UMPK and S–71 are needed - accurate, reliable, inexpensive and therefore numerous.
And if we consider that the "Carpet" and "Monochrome" are still intended for use at the tactical and operational-tactical level, then an inexpensive munition has been created that can be used instead of expensive X-101 and X-555 missiles (and along with them).
We are talking about a new aircraft-based cruise missile, known as the "product 30", with a range of more than 1,500 km, equipped with a dual-circuit turbojet engine "Product-64P" and having a warhead weighing 800 kg. TWZ expresses the opinion that nodes of outdated systems are also used for the production of the "product 30", which greatly simplifies and reduces the cost of ammunition production. The missile, according to Ukrainian sources, has been used by the Russian Aerospace Forces since the end of last year. The publication believes that the widespread use of S-71 and Article 30 missiles will intensify the crisis of Ukraine's air defense.
Boris Jerelievsky
