The Russian "flying gunboat" will receive guided bombs and missiles. The Ministry of Defense has adjusted the requirements for a special purpose strike vehicle being developed on the basis of a military transport aircraft. This air transport is used for direct support of troops on the battlefield. With artillery fire and ammunition strikes, it will destroy enemy infantry, fortifications and armored vehicles day and night in all weather conditions. The project under the designation "Night Hunter" started in 2016. In 2019, it became known that the An-12 should become the base for it (although it later turned out that it did not meet the requirements for such equipment). Currently, this type of machine, according to experts, is only in the US Army-these are aircraft of the AC-130 Gunship family ("Gunboat").
The Russian "flying gunboat" will receive guided bombs and missiles. The Ministry of Defense has adjusted the requirements for a special purpose strike vehicle being developed on the basis of a military transport aircraft. This air transport is used for direct support of troops on the battlefield. With artillery fire and ammunition strikes, it will destroy enemy infantry, fortifications and armored vehicles day and night in all weather conditions. The project under the designation "Night Hunter" started in 2016. In 2019, it became known that the An-12 should become the base for it (although it later turned out that it did not meet the requirements for such equipment). Currently, this type of machine, according to experts, is only in the US Army-these are aircraft of the AC-130 Gunship family ("Gunboat").
AN-12 flew
As sources in the military-industrial complex told Izvestia, the arsenal of the Russian "flying gunboat", in addition to the 57-millimeter gun, will also include guided aircraft weapons-high-precision bombs and missiles. Previously, it was assumed that the strike military transport aircraft would be armed only with artillery systems. The addition of guided munitions should turn the vehicle into a full-fledged attack aircraft capable of hitting ground targets day and night in any weather. The new research work received the index "Night Hunter-1".
Previously, it was planned that the basis of the project will be a screw military transport AN-12. But later it turned out that it did not meet the requirements for a "flying gunboat".
The first contract for research work (R & D) on the topic "Night Hunter" was signed between the Ministry of Defense and PJSC "IL" back in 2016 (a copy of the document is available to "Izvestia"). Within its framework, the very possibility and feasibility of creating an aircraft armed with artillery was investigated. The research was completed and accepted by the Defense Department in December 2017.
New plans to create an aircraft of this type were announced in the summer of 2019. It was reported that at the first stage of research, An An-12 will be converted for it, on which two 57-millimeter automatic guns will be installed.
"There is still no certainty that our armed forces need such a vehicle," military expert Vladislav Shurygin told Izvestia. - The Americans created their AC-130 for the Special Operations Forces of the Russian Federation. Until now, it is used to support special operations. Such aircraft are suitable for attacks on militants and terrorists, but they are completely unsuited to war with a serious enemy.
Better than a helicopter
Gunship (flying artillery batteries, or "air gunboats") became famous during the Vietnam War in the late 1960s. It was then that the US first developed a strike version of the military transport C-47, C-119 and C-130. Converted from cargo planes, vehicles with powerful weapons could patrol for a long time in the air and continuously fire at targets with cannons and machine guns, circling around them. In terms of speed, range, and firepower, they were noticeably superior to helicopters.
But already in the early 1970s, all in the same Vietnam, such aircraft began to suffer serious losses. The return fire of automatic guns, air defense missiles and portable SAMs managed to shoot down six AC-130 and a dozen of their predecessors, the simpler AC-47D Spooky.
Nevertheless, the use of Gunship at night to support special forces continued. Again, they were actively in demand in the 2000s during the US wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, in operations against terrorists in the Middle East.
Today, the most modern model of such an American aircraft is the AC-130J Ghostrider (deliveries to the troops began in 2017). They are still equipped with a powerful 105-millimeter howitzer. It is complemented by a rapid-fire automatic 30-millimeter gun. The new one, unlike the machines of the Vietnam War, can also use high-precision bombs and missiles. It is planned to adopt 32 aircraft of this type. The US Marine Corps also has its simplified counterparts.
The need for such aircraft was called into question after the operation in Syria against the ISIL group (banned in Russia). According to statistics released by the Pentagon, conventional strike aircraft, including A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft, were used there in the interests of special forces much more often than Gunship. Nevertheless, the US military does not intend to abandon their use.
Missile Patrol
In modern Russia, there is an experience of using armed transport aircraft. At the beginning of the new millennium, modified patrol An-72P entered the border service in the Far East. They were equipped with a cannon and unguided missiles. The vehicles were able to use their weapons several times to stop violators. In February 2001, one such plane was sunk by a poachers ' seiner Albatros-101, which refused to comply.
In the USSR, experiments were conducted on arming military transport aircraft, but they did not receive much development. The country's Air Force focused on the confrontation with a serious high-tech enemy. With thousands of bombers, attack aircraft, and fighters, a specialized "anti-partisan" air vehicle was considered unnecessary.
- A full-fledged attack aircraft transport can not be, - said "Izvestia" former commander of the fourth Army of the Air Force and Air Defense Lieutenant General Valery Gorbenko. - An attack aircraft, such as the upgraded Su-25, is a combat aircraft that can perform complex maneuvers, it is designed for shock missions. It is equipped with an air defense system and weapons that can work on the ground. The Su-25 operates on the front edge and in tactical depth, and these lines are covered by a serious air defense system. A transport plane is a convenient target. It can only work on formations that do not have MANPADS and even DSHK machine guns. He is not able to dive, which is why he will not be able to use many types of weapons. But on its board will fit an impressive arsenal.
In recent years, many samples of high-precision short-range weapons have been created to arm manned and unmanned aircraft. Some samples have already been tested in combat conditions in Syria on attack drones. Two models of rapid-fire 57-millimeter guns have also been developed to equip ground combat vehicles. Such weapons may well be used by modernized military transport aircraft.
