The self-propelled guns "Lotus" and "Coalition-SV" have different calibers, but the same tasks
At the very end of last year, preliminary tests of the self-propelled artillery gun 2S42 "Lotus", intended for use in the Airborne Forces, began. Their program includes self-propelled aircraft landing, moving over rough terrain of a complex profile, overcoming obstacles, shooting, including on the move and afloat. After that, state acceptance tests will begin. And the adoption of the "Lotus" should be expected as early as next year.
However, this is the "third approach" to state tests. And there is great hope that it will be the last and decisive one. In 2016, representatives of the developer-the Central Research Institute of Precision Engineering-promised to start testing in 2017. In 2019, it was supposed to receive the letter O1 for design documentation and launch mass production in 2020.
Air artillery
In 2012, it was decided to update the fleet of air-mounted self-propelled guns "Nona-S "and" Nona-SM", armed with a rifled gun of 120 mm caliber, although the latest modification of the " SM " was then only six years old. However, the upgraded vehicles were produced in homeopathic quantities, their number in the Airborne Forces did not exceed 30 units. The basis of the self-propelled artillery of " Uncle Vasya's troops "is still the self-propelled guns" Nona-S", there are two and a half hundred of them in operation.
In this connection, in the Podolsk TSNIITOCHMASH was opened the project "Saurait-D". The designers turned their creative imagination to full power. Among the seriously considered options for solving the problem was a 152-mm gun on a wheeled chassis, even prototypes were made. But that was the end of it.
Common sense prevailed, and the landing gear from the BMD-4M amphibious assault vehicle was chosen. But it was extended, adding a seventh support roller, as for the landing gun "Octopus-SD". Thus, the unification of the amphibious vehicles used in the Airborne Forces was achieved according to the running parts.
The weapon was a rifled 120-mm universal gun-howitzer-mortar 2A51 – the same as the "Nona-S", but has undergone modernization. The length of the barrel was increased, and it was also possible to fire projectiles with great power.
The use of the chassis from the new BMD-4M, adopted in 2015, has significantly improved the driving performance of the car. The speed on the highway reached 70 kilometers per hour instead of 60 at "Nona-S". The speed is also higher afloat – 10 kilometers per hour instead of 9. On very rough terrain, the speed of the "Lotus" reaches 40 kilometers per hour, which is largely achieved through the use of a 450-horsepower diesel engine. The Nona-S, based on the BTR-D chassis of the 1974 model, has an engine power of 240 horsepower.
The length of the chassis increased by a meter, reaching 7085 millimeters, which allowed to increase the fuel and ammunition supply. The possibilities of increasing the self-propelled gun's protection have also increased, which is extremely important for amphibious vehicles due to the low bullet-proof armor.
"Lotus", unlike" Nona-S", is equipped with circular protection against high-precision weapons. Along the perimeter of the hull, laser irradiation indicators are installed, which record the detection of the self-propelled gun by the guidance systems of high-precision anti-tank ammunition. At the command of the triggered indicator, the corresponding grenade of the 902 "Cloud" system of 81 mm caliber is fired in the direction of the radiation source. An aerosol cloud is formed, which prevents the targeting of anti-tank guided missiles in the laser and infrared spectra.
The versatility of the 120-mm gun of the new self-propelled gun is that it can be used both as a mortar (with a minimum firing range of 400 m), and as a cannon, firing direct fire, and as a howitzer, sending shells along a steep parabola. This is predetermined by the large elongation of the barrel, and accordingly a large initial velocity of the ammunition, and a wide range of angles of elevation of the barrel - from minus 4 degrees to plus 82.
According to the chief designer of the "Lotus" Veniamin Schastlivtsev, the upgraded gun and its automation system significantly benefit in comparison with the"Nona". The ammunition has almost doubled, that is, it has reached 40 rounds. New optoelectronic sights and a fire control system have been introduced. The horizontal guidance became circular, while the Nona's firing range did not exceed 70 degrees. The time to switch the gun from marching to combat mode was reduced from three minutes to 30 seconds. Rate of fire – six to eight rounds per minute.
Also, new ammunition appeared, the power of which, according to the experts of Tsniitochmash, approached the power of 152-millimeter shells. The range of active-rocket projectiles "Kitolov-2" increased from 12 to 13 kilometers. However, for the new self-propelled gun, planning active-jet projectiles "Glissada" are being created, the range of which will reach 25 kilometers. According to the homing head, they are unified with the 152-mm caliber shells intended for the self-propelled gun "Coalition-SV".
The crew consists of four people: two are located in the body of the self-propelled gun, two - in the combat compartment. The weight of the car is 18 tons.
Simultaneously with the" Lotus", the "Zavet-D" amphibious fire control vehicle is also being tested. It will replace the "Rheostat" in the airborne units, which has been in operation for almost 40 years. "Zavet-D" is designed to detect and recognize targets and transmit target designation to the CAO "Lotus". The new fire control vehicle uses drones to conduct reconnaissance activities and highlight detected targets.
Competitors are resting
The new self-propelled artillery installation was also expected in the Ground Forces. This is the SAU 2S35 "Coalition-SV", the development of which in the Nizhny Novgorod Central Research Institute "Burevestnik" began in 2002. The self-propelled gun, which should become a mobile howitzer that has no analogues in the world, took part in the Victory Day Anniversary Parade on Red Square in 2015. And it was supposed to be mass-produced last year. However, to date, only 12 vehicles are undergoing trial operation in the Ground Forces.
The year before last, a world record was set for a range of more than 80 kilometers. American designers in the last decade rushed to catch up with their Nizhny Novgorod colleagues, but their figure was 10 kilometers less. In addition, the American perspective howitzer XM1299 still exists in the form of a shooting layout, that is, without a turret and a native chassis. In case of successful completion of all stages of testing, the self-propelled gun in 2025 will turn into the M1299 howitzer, which will replace the archaic M109.
All existing self-propelled guns in the world in key parameters lose to the "Coalition-SV" by one and a half to two times. To a certain extent, this was due to the fact that this type of weapon is one of the most conservative. The NATO countries, satisfied with the victory over the USSR in the Cold War, gave up on the creation of new artillery systems. But as "Burevestnik" has demonstrated, it is possible to make innovative breakthroughs in this field.
In addition to the firing range, there are a number of characteristics that are unattainable for any of the existing ones in the world, as well as for promising self-propelled guns. The rate of fire indicated in the prospectuses of 15 rounds per minute is actually higher – in the tests, the "Coalition-SV" did up to 22. That is, the interval is less than three seconds. And this is predetermined not only by the perfection of the automatic equipment that provides shooting. At a high rate of fire, the barrel heats up, which can lead to its deformation. The Russian self-propelled gun uses a new high-efficiency cooling method.
The vast majority of NATO self-propelled guns have a rate of fire of six to eight rounds per minute. And only in the German self-propelled howitzer PzH-2000, this parameter reaches 10. The Americans have the weakest indicators: the M109 – four, and the promising self-propelled gun HM1299-three. And only by the end of the decade, they intend to bring the pace to 10 shots per minute.
The fire control system has a unique ability to send projectiles aimed at different trajectories to the same target. Due to this, ammunition fired sequentially at intervals of three to four seconds, arrive at the target almost simultaneously, creating an effect called a "barrage of fire".
The "Coalition-SV" uses a tracked chassis from the main T-90 battle tank, although at one stage of the project development it was mentioned about the "Armata". The reservation, like that of the Lotus ,is bulletproof. And exactly the same defense system, which is the release of an aerosol cloud by detonating grenades of the 902 "Cloud" system. However, there is a significant difference – the tower, which houses the gun and automatic loading and firing, as well as ammunition, is uninhabited. Three crew members – the commander, the gunner and the driver-are located in the ACS building.
The survivability of the "Coalition-SV" is also increased due to the fact that the howitzer has a high rate of fire, and is also able to switch from combat mode to marching mode in the shortest possible time. That is, it can rapidly change its position on the ground, without waiting for the enemy to detect its position and start firing. In addition, given the superiority of the Russian self-propelled gun in the range of fire, a rare artillery system will be able to get it.
The main element of the self-propelled howitzer is the 2A88 152 mm gun. The length of the rifled barrel is 52 calibers or about 7.9 meters. The gun has a modular (cap) loading – the flammable charge and the projectile are not combined by a sleeve, but are fed into the chamber separately. Moreover, to achieve the required firing range, it is possible to use the required number of charges for one projectile (from one to six). All this is done automatically, up to the selection of the necessary charge and projectile. At the end of the barrel is a traditional muzzle brake, which reduces the recoil when firing.
The automatic loader works in all positions of the barrel, sending the projectile into the barrel channel without returning it to the neutral position. The shot is fired by a microwave ignition system. Transportable ammunition-70 rounds. To resume the ammunition supply, a transport-loading vehicle on a wheeled chassis is used.
The "Coalition" uses a wide range of shells – high-explosive, active-jet and guided high-precision. The maximum firing range of high-explosive shells reaches 40 kilometers. The controlled ones fly already at 80 kilometers, high accuracy for them is achieved by correcting the flight using the GLONASS signal. At the same time, work on the creation of new ammunition continues within the framework of the "Coalition-BP"ROC.
All operations are automated, starting from the use of pneumatic automatic loader guns to the calculations of the trajectory of the projectile, depending on a number of parameters, which, for example, include temperature of the barrel and its depreciation (i.e. how many shots since the beginning of operation), the state of the atmosphere, speed and direction of moving targets. The crew controls the shooting, and in fact only determines the targets for destruction with the help of a computer system. That is, all operations for organizing the fire are performed using the display and the touch keyboard.
At the same time, the presence of the crew is not necessary for firing. The "Coalition-SV" can be fully controlled from a command vehicle or a stationary command post.
Non-budget record holder
It was said above that the most ambitious project in the world to create an American self-propelled gun X1299 loses to the "Coalition-SV" in terms of efficiency. However, this is true only for ground artillery. Still, we must pay tribute to the Americans, who are most invested in the creation of marine complexes. And here they have achieved significant success in terms of long-range artillery. However, they cannot use them for economic reasons.
For the newest destroyer of the type "Zamvolt" was originally supposed to make a railgun (electromagnetic gun), firing at 400 kilometers. However, the mind of the sailors won the imagination of the searchlights from the company "General Atomics", who intended to send unmanageable 10-kilogram blocks at random, that is, with monstrous deviations from the targets.
The railgun was replaced with a BAE Systems 155 mm AGS artillery launcher with a firing range of 150 kilometers. And this is true – the characteristic was confirmed during the tests. Shooting is carried out by specially designed active-rocket projectiles LRLAP. Their length reaches 2.24 meters, weight-102 kilograms. The mass of the explosive is 11 kilograms, the rest is accounted for by the jet engine and fuel. The control system is inertial with GPS signal correction, providing a circular probable deviation of the order of 20-50 meters. However, this path turned out to be a dead end.
Initially, it was planned to build 32 destroyers of the "Zamvolt" type. However, as the discovery of unpleasant technical issues, as well as due to the monstrous high cost of this futuristic appearance of the ship worth 4.5 billion dollars, the program was cut to three units. In the mass production of shells for 32 "Zamvolts", one munition would cost 35 thousand. But for three ships, each shell costs the Pentagon (taking into account the depreciation of the artillery installation) almost two million. This is almost like two Tomahawk missiles, which have a longer range, and the mass of the warhead, and higher accuracy.
The Pentagon categorically refused to buy these shells. And the wonder cannon will presumably be dismantled and replaced with something more sensible.
Vladimir Tuchkov
The newspaper "Military-Industrial Courier", published in issue # 2 (865) for January 19, 2021