The present and future of Russian air defense systems
In a special military operation in Ukraine, despite the air supremacy won by our aviation, Russian calculations of anti-aircraft missile systems (SAMs) of various modifications are involved.
How did they manifest themselves in the conditions of a military conflict? What does the Russian army have to protect against air strikes? What new air defense systems have been received by units and formations? Has the defense complex prepared new developments?
THREE GENERATIONS OF "TORS"
More often than others, "Thor" is mentioned in reports from the fields of the special operation. Half a century of age does not prevent the complex from shooting down planes, helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
The upgraded complex has gained autonomy, the ability to solve combat tasks without relying on additional radars and target designation points. To ensure the operation of all systems of the complex, a computer with logic blocks and elements of artificial intelligence is used. The ten most dangerous targets fall into the priority range, and the issuance of target designations begins with them.
The time from detecting a target to launching an anti–aircraft guided missile (SAM) at the Tor is from 3.5 to 10 seconds. This is the best indicator among the world's air defense systems. The reason is the phased array of the search radar. It allows for an instant additional search of the target, its automatic capture and tracking without the participation of an operator.
The powder charge throws the rocket to a height of about 20 m, then the declination system turns on to the azimuth of the target flight, then the rocket's main engine enters. Recharging the SAM takes about 20 minutes.
"Thor" successfully fights with small-sized high-precision weapons. Its anti-radar missiles hit targets at a distance of 6-8 km, aircraft at a range of up to 12 km and at altitudes of 6 km.
The Tor-M1 already has two target channels: it can fire at two targets simultaneously. An automated battery command post "Rangir" appeared as part of the anti-aircraft missile battery. He automatically excluded the possibility of firing two combat vehicles at the same target. This is not implemented today on any foreign air defense systems of this class. An innovation was also the "clip" of four 9M331 missiles in one transport and launch container.
The third iteration of the complex is "Tor-M2". It began production in 2020. The channel capacity of the complex has doubled – it fires up to four targets at the same time thanks to the refinement of the antenna and a number of onboard systems, an increase in the search and tracking sector, and the replacement of a computer with a more productive one.
The Tor-M2 can hit almost all types of aircraft in its altitude and range range (excluding ultra-small drones). But the main feature of this SAM is the ability to destroy targets from the move, in a column of equipment. It is expected that the complexes will be equipped with 9M338 missiles with infrared homing heads. The range of the complex will increase to 15-20 km – this is enough to cover motorized rifle and tank units from the brigade and above.
BATTLE-TESTED
"Tor" operates together with the complexes of direct cover of troops – the updated "Tunguska" and "Pantsir-1C". After the fighting in Syria, the complex was modified to intercept small high-speed targets. The use of Tor in military conflicts from Yugoslavia to Ukraine shows that the complex successfully performs all tasks of intercepting and destroying targets in its range. And not only in the protection of motorized rifle and tank divisions. It may well be a means of protecting particularly important objects, including from high-precision weapons.
At the beginning of 2022, the Tor-M2 SAM entered service with the newly formed 20th Guards Carpathian-Berlin Motorized Rifle Division in Volgograd and the region. The division is part of the 8th Combined Arms Army of the Southern Military District, which, if necessary, will be able to operate against the southern flank of NATO.
About 100 billion rubles have been allocated for the purchase of Tor-M2 for the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation until 2027. NATO ships with long-range cruise missiles on board were constantly entering the Black Sea; American missile defense launchers were installed in Romania. Provocations of the Ukrainian military were not excluded either.
The Tor-M2 can simultaneously track 48 aerial targets and fire at four of them both from the spot and in motion. According to many characteristics, the Tor-M2 surpasses its Western counterparts. It can be mounted on a tracked or wheeled chassis, transported in a trailer, and fire at speeds up to 45 km/h. This allows you to cover columns of military equipment.
The Tors, along with other air defense complexes, guard the Russian bases of Khmeimim and Tartus in Syria. Most of the downed drones are on the account of the "Tors". The Tor-M2 ammunition has grown from 12 to 16 missiles, ammunition has become more maneuverable, it is more difficult to deceive them with interference and false targets. The combat vehicle can transmit information about the target to less long-range air defense systems. Small UAVs detected by the Tor radar can be destroyed by portable air defense systems.
"Tor-M2" will be used in conjunction with long-range S-400 systems.
WILL NOTICE AND RECOGNIZE
The unified chassis of the Buk air defense system – GM-355 of the Minsk Tractor Plant – is distinguished by cross-country capability and load capacity. The chassis housed target detection stations, missile tracking, optical-electronic means of tracking the target, eight anti-aircraft guided single-stage solid-fuel missiles 9M330, launch automation, controls and communication equipment, topography and navigation.
The Buk-M2 military air defense system protects troops around the clock from attacks by airplanes, helicopters, cruise and ballistic missiles, UAVs, and barrage ammunition. As a result, it is impossible to approach the positions of our troops unnoticed closer than 30 km. One second is enough to understand whether your object is your own or someone else's. The operator of the SAM command post can simultaneously track up to 900 targets.
The detection range of the Buk-M2 target is up to 100 km. The equipment automatically recognizes the enemy and sends a command to the firing means. During the special operation, military air defense units destroyed more than fifty targets.
The participants of the special operation told: mortars repeatedly worked on positions, calculations quickly changed the location. Drones, these aerial saboteurs, often distract air defense specialists from more serious goals. The enemy uses them not only for reconnaissance and air strikes, but also for hidden deceptive maneuvers. But thanks to reconnaissance and radar, all targets were destroyed on approach. This is how combat experience accumulates.
STARS ON BOARD
In a special operation in Ukraine, self-propelled anti-aircraft missile and cannon complexes (ZRPC) "Pantsir-S1" are used. This machine can work on the spot and in motion. The detection station can find up to 30 targets. The Pantsir-S1 is capable of destroying Tochka-U missiles and all types of enemy drones. The calculations of the SAM work only after confirming the information about the absence of our aircraft in the air. On board one of the "Shells" involved in Ukraine, you can see eight painted stars. These are destroyed targets – seven planes and one drone.
In 2022, work will be completed on a new version of the air defense cannon-missile system – "Pantsir-SM SV" – for the Ground Forces and Airborne Forces. The complex, according to the commander of the military air defense, Lieutenant General Alexander Leonov, will have a tracked chassis and an enlarged kill zone, will be able to use two types of anti-aircraft missiles.
"GARDENER" AND "BIRDMAN"
In 2022, the development of a new anti-aircraft system for the Ground Forces will be completed. This is the "Birdman" air defense system with two types of missiles. One will be guided by a laser beam, the other by the thermal radiation of the target.
A promising air defense system "Sosna" is used as a combat module for the "Birdman". This is a deep modernization of the Strela-10M3 air defense system. Sosna has a solid ammunition package of 12 anti-aircraft guided missiles capable of hitting air targets at a distance of up to 10 km and at altitudes of up to 5 km.
The platform for the "Birdman" is the BMD-4M "Sadovnitsa" landing combat vehicle. Its mass is 13.6 tons, speed on the highway is up to 70 km/ h, afloat – 10 km/ h. The combat weight of the complex is suitable for existing parachute systems capable of safely "landing" up to 18 tons of cargo.
Airborne air defense units are a highly mobile means of covering units of this kind of troops. Soon the Airborne forces will receive their own air defense system for raids on the enemy's rear. It is planned to equip batteries of anti-aircraft missile regiments of airborne and amphibious assault divisions with "birders".
The appearance of the "Birdman" in the air defense of the Airborne Forces is caused by an increase in the means of air destruction and an increase in their combat effectiveness. The radar station of the latest SAM monitors the situation within a radius of 16 km. "Birdman" can hit UAVs, helicopters, airplanes, cruise missiles, multiple rocket launchers.
The "Birdman" will interact with the airborne anti-aircraft missile system "Willow" when repelling air strikes on landing units operating behind enemy lines. According to the plan, the "Birdman" will enter service with the Airborne Forces in 2024. The complex is designed for actions directly on the front line.
"MARK" FOR THE OPPONENT
The combat vehicle for the Typhoon-Air Defense anti-aircraft gunners will be armed not only with the existing Igla, Igla-S and Willow MANPADS, but also with new ones called "Tag". The rocket is equipped with an optoelectronic GPS that has no analogues in the world. It will hit targets despite optical interference.
For the first time, platoon sets of the ultra-short-range mobile air defense system "Gibka-S" will be delivered to the troops. Combat vehicles are equipped with reconnaissance equipment, an automated control system. This will allow them to conduct round-the-clock combat duty and control fire in real time.
The Gibka-S air defense system is capable of resisting aircraft, helicopters, UAVs, cruise missiles and precision weapons systems flying at low and extremely low altitudes in conditions of limited visibility. The complex is equipped with four Igla, Igla-S or Willow missiles and is mounted on the chassis of the Tiger-M armored car.
THE STINGING SWARM
In 2022, according to the plan, work on the creation of promising weapons for military air defense should be completed. A promising mobile anti-aircraft artillery complex "Derivation-Air defense" is being developed to replace the anti-aircraft self-propelled installation "Shilka" and paired anti-aircraft installations ZU-23. He has a 57-mm automatic high-ballistics cannon and a multifunctional projectile with remote detonation near the target.
"Derivation-air defense" will also be able to hit an enemy who has taken refuge in a trench, trench or behind a parapet. This is possible due to the use of guided explosive shells and the latest fire control system. The ZAC control system calculates the detonation time of each projectile. The shells will explode in a chain in the air exactly above the enemy's trench, covering his infantry from above with shrapnel. The living force hidden behind the thickness of the earth will be destroyed.
This function is also important for the destruction of small UAVs – a group of shells can explode at certain points of the trajectory in order to cover the drone with a field of fragments as effectively as possible. At the same time, the areas of possible maneuver of the drone are covered with fragments. The time of detonation calculated by the system is entered using a programmer installed on the trunk of an anti-aircraft artillery complex next to the muzzle brake.
The control system calculates the direction of flight of the projectile, its ballistics and the point of explosion by setting a timer for each projectile. As a result, the ammunition explodes on the flight path of the aircraft, over the trench, around the corner of the building, and so on.
AGILE "ABAKAN" – UKRAINIAN "SHILKA"
The concern of East Kazakhstan Region Almaz-Antey has created a unique anti-aircraft missile system of non-strategic missile defense (NPRO) "Abakan" 98P6E. This SAM is designed to defeat modern and promising non-strategic ballistic missiles.
"Abakan" combines missiles from "Anteya-4000" and radar from advanced air defense and missile defense systems. Due to this, it was possible to achieve unique characteristics. "Abakan" is designed to defeat single–stage missiles with a speed of up to 3 km / s and a launch range of up to 3 thousand km. The target range is 45 km, the maximum altitude is 25 km. The SAM can be integrated into any air defense–missile defense system and ensure the performance of combat missions both autonomously and as part of medium- and long-range anti-aircraft systems as an additional module. "Abakan" is put on alert in less than three minutes. The American Patriot air defense system takes 30 minutes to change positions.
Even before the start of the Russian military special operation, the Ukrainian army received overhauled anti-aircraft self-propelled guns "Shilka". The work was carried out at the Balakley repair plant in the Kharkiv region. The number of delivered equipment was not reported. Part of the work was carried out at the expense of the working capital of the enterprise.
By the beginning of the actions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Donbass, there were no "Shilki" in service with the ground forces of Ukraine – they were taken to storage bases. There were about 70 anti-aircraft rocket-gun "Tunguskas". But in the summer of 2014, due to losses and for the formation of new combined arms brigades, Kiev was forced to return the Shilki to service.
At first, they were going to replace the sighting electronic equipment and additionally install surface-to-air missiles. But because of the budget deficit, it was only necessary to restore the old Soviet equipment.
Nikolay Poroskov
Nikolay Nikolaevich Poroskov is a military journalist.
