The Ministry of defense decided to start purchasing self-propelled artillery units "Sprut-SDM1". In terms of fire capabilities, the vehicles are not inferior to tanks, while they are able to overcome water obstacles and land by parachute. Operations of the airborne forces, which will receive them, will be much more effective, experts said. In addition, according to experts, such equipment is indispensable in areas where there are many water barriers.
The Ministry of defense decided to start purchasing self-propelled artillery units "Sprut-SDM1". In terms of fire capabilities, the vehicles are not inferior to tanks, while they are able to overcome water obstacles and land by parachute. Operations of the airborne forces, which will receive them, will be much more effective, experts said. In addition, according to experts, such equipment is indispensable in areas where there are many water barriers.
Long way
The number of vehicles ordered by the military Department is still unknown. According to sources of Izvestia in the Ministry of defense, the question of which units and in what quantity the equipment will be delivered is currently being worked out. However, the fundamental decision on the formation of self-propelled units has already been made.
Also, according to the publication's interlocutors, starting next year, the 242nd airborne training center will begin training commanders of the Sprut installations»
The basic version of the machine — "Sprut-SD" - was adopted in 2006. It was produced on the BMD-4 chassis. Until the end of the last decade, more than a dozen samples were delivered to the troops. However, in 2010, the leadership of the Ministry of defense refused to use the equipment. This was preceded by an incident during the parade on may 9 — one of the "Octopus" engine caught fire immediately after passing through red square. The first installation was criticized for its poor design and weak armor, protecting only from bullets.
"Sprut-SDM1 — - a fundamentally new technique, unified with the latest BMD-4M. For the upgraded vehicle, more powerful protection has been developed, which will increase its survivability on the battlefield. The product is fully integrated with a digital fire control system, which not only improves the accuracy of shooting, but also makes it possible to shoot at low-flying and low-speed targets, such as helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles of the enemy.
In the Arsenal of self-propelled guns there is a rocket fired through the barrel of a gun-it was created on the basis of Invar-M. The shaped charge is located in the nose of the munition and provides overcoming dynamic protection, including those made in the built-in version. It directly hits the target. To destroy fortified engineering structures, a version of the rocket with a high-explosive thermobaric warhead was developed.
-The vehicle, capable of overcoming water obstacles and landing from an airplane, is armed with the same 125 — mm gun as all the main tanks with a full range of ammunition, - military expert Alexey Khlopotov told Izvestia. — It was created for fire support of the landing force. Previously, the fighters had only 120-mm self-propelled guns "Nona-S", which could not effectively fight with armored vehicles. The concept of the new installation immediately seemed somewhat controversial, so its implementation was delayed. Development took place in the 1980s and 1990s. In the current modification, the machine has completely redesigned the fire control system, installed a thermal imaging sight, so that the fire capabilities are the same as those of the latest tanks. In fact, the "octopus-SDM1" is a light floating tank. In recent years, there has been a global trend to create such a class of equipment. Many countries have similar developments. In terms of combat capabilities, they roughly correspond to the "Octopus", but no one has machines capable of landing and swimming.
The expert noted that due to the driving characteristics, "Octopuses" are especially relevant for areas where there are many rivers and other reservoirs.
With the new vehicles, airborne units will be able to fight against the enemy equipped with heavy armored vehicles, Colonel Valery Yuriev, Deputy Chairman of the Union of paratroopers of Russia, told Izvestia.
— The need for mobile anti-tank weapons in the troops has always been, - he explained. — For example, the BMD-2 is equipped with a 30-mm gun that can't destroy a tank. And, in fact, of the anti-tank weapons, the units on this equipment had only hand-held grenade launchers (RPGs) and guided missiles (ATGMs). But the range of the grenade launcher is 400 m, while you still need to be able to hit, and you can only hit the target from two hundred meters. ATGM launchers have a small amount of ammunition — three or four missiles. Installations were in the anti-tank battery of the regiment, and the commander put it on tank-dangerous directions. But now the tanks are becoming more maneuverable, and they will simply bypass this battery and go to attack the troops from other directions. Therefore, a powerful weapon with dozens of rounds of ammunition is necessary for the troops. Thanks to it, amphibious units will become more Autonomous.
New look
Today, the airborne forces form the basis of the Russian rapid reaction forces. They can be quickly transferred to any point of the country or far beyond its borders by air, land or sea. For this purpose, units are equipped with special equipment that is not found in other types and branches of the armed forces.
In addition to the anti-tank "octopus" for the artillery units of the landing, the development of the 120-mm self-propelled artillery gun 2S42 "Lotus"is now being completed. The range of its gun reaches 13 km. The armored vehicle is capable of swimming and is equipped with a hydro-pneumatic suspension for transportation in military transport aircraft.
Production of new, well-armed BMDS has been established. In 2020, the airborne forces should receive three of their battalion kits. Each includes 31 BMD-4M and eight BTR-MDM "Shell" armored personnel carriers.
Currently, an experiment is underway to create a new type of airborne units that will be delivered to a given landing site not by planes, but by helicopters. Their load capacity is not sufficient to transport BMD. Therefore, it was necessary to develop a new lightweight military equipment based on domestic high-terrain vehicles. High-speed buggies capable of accelerating up to 150 km / h have already been demonstrated, as well as armed models with Kornet anti-tank missile systems and 120 mm mortars.
This year, a new type of battalion from the 31st separate amphibious assault brigade was tested at the strategic command and staff exercises "Caucasus-2020". There, Mi-8 and Mi-26 helicopters not only delivered paratroopers to the battlefield. They also transported a battery Of d-30 howitzers with ammunition and armed vehicles. The deployment of paratroopers was covered by the mi-28N and Ka-52 attack planes. Fighters were landed both by landing method and by special cables from a height of 20-25 m.
In the future, the airborne forces plan to equip their own helicopter units. It was reported that there were immediate plans to introduce an army aviation brigade, armed with both shock and transport vehicles, into their structure.