And what remote systems does the Russian army have today
In the conditions of the Ukrainian counteroffensive, it is extremely important to defend the prepared borders and strike at the nearest rear and command posts of the enemy. But modern technical means also make it possible to quickly and remotely install minefields on the path of breakthroughs. Such important work is performed by remote mining systems of the Russian army. Together with a military expert, the founder of the Military Russia portal Dmitry Kornev, Izvestia figured out what developments are in service with the Russian Federation and how useful they are on the battlefields.
"Agriculture"
The most famous engineering system of remote mining (ISDM) The Russian Armed Forces today became the complex "Agriculture", which was adopted in 2021. It was developed by NPO "Alloy" of the Technodinamika holding.
Remote mining system "Agriculture"
Image source: Photo: RIA Novosti/Vadim Savitsky
The main combat vehicle — a rocket launcher with mines — is made on a four-axle KAMAZ chassis. Two packages of 25 guides are very similar to the launchers of the Grad multiple launch rocket system and have the same caliber of 122 mm. But unlike the Grad, the shells of Agriculture carry anti-personnel and anti-tank mines. A field with the necessary set of mines can be installed promptly at a distance of up to 15 km from the launcher.
The setting of mines is controllable — the field can have the desired configuration and, most importantly, the mines are equipped with decontamination timers. They activate self-destructors after a specified time interval and make them safe, which fully complies with the Geneva Convention.
The complex is equipped with a satellite navigation system, a computer and a weather station. This allows you to automatically determine the location of the launcher, and make adjustments for both wind and weather conditions. The setting of the minefield is recorded electronically and can be sent to the headquarters for transmission to all its military units. The modern chassis provides the complex with cross-country ability on any roads and even off-road, and the transport-charging machine ensures rapid reloading of launchers during active operation.
Photo: RIA Novosti/Vadim Savitsky
Image source: iz.ru
The "Agriculture" complexes, which entered the southern grouping of the Russian Armed Forces in 2022, in a special military operation successfully played their role in preventing the breakthrough of the APU at the Vremevsky salient in June 2023. The ability to quickly and according to aerial reconnaissance to put a minefield in the way of advancing motorized forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine allowed to immobilize and later destroy the enemy. It is likely that those very first Bradley combat vehicles and the first Leopards-2 were just trapped in a mine trap, which was organized by the Agriculture complexes.
"Tornado"
The most well-deserved remote mining system, which is currently in service with the Russian army, remains the well-known multiple launch rocket system "Smerch" with 300 mm caliber missiles and with a range of up to 70 km. Today it is considered one of the most effective long-range strike systems.
In the arsenal of the system there is a 9M55K4 rocket projectile, which carries 25 PTM-3 anti-tank mines with an electronic proximity fuse at once. In the descending section of the trajectory, the head of the missile opens and scatters submunitions — anti-tank mines - over the terrain. After falling to the ground, they are automatically cocked and form an impassable minefield for armored vehicles. The area that the "Tornado" can cover with one volley is large — it is about 40 hectares, that is, a rectangle of 500 x 800 m. At the same time, the distance between mines is usually no more than 13-15 m.
Multiple launch rocket system "Smerch"
Image source: Photo: RIA Novosti/V. Borisenko
From the very beginning, the Russian Armed Forces used the Smerch MLRS and its more advanced Tornado-S modifications. "Tornadoes" played a role in 2022 in several operations to break through and destroy the defensive formations of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In the spring and early summer of 2023, remote mining systems with the help of the Smerch complex make it possible to deprive mobile groups of the Armed Forces of Ukraine of mobility, literally encircling them with impassable minefields for armored vehicles.
"Tick"
To work at the forefront, we need systems that are more mobile and with a shorter range than "Agriculture" and "Tornado". In the USSR, universal UMP minelayers on the ZIL-131V chassis were used for such tasks. Such a barrier allows you to scatter several dozen mines at a distance of tens of meters from the car. Moving around the mining area, it is possible to mine a very large area quickly enough within tens of minutes.
The modern reincarnation of such a universal system is a family of combat vehicles "Tick". The universal UMP-G minelayer is made on the tracked armored chassis of the T-72 tank. The unit weighing 43.5 tons carries 270 cassettes with mines, which can be installed in semi-automatic mode at a distance from units to tens of meters from its route. The mine installer has a defensive armament — a "Cord" machine gun. The mine spreading units are deployed to fire into the rear hemisphere and are controlled remotely.
Combat vehicle "Tick"
Image source: Photo: A.V. Karpenko/VTS "Bastion"
The second and lighter universal installer is the UMZ—K minelayer on the chassis of the Astace-70202-0000310 car. This is a protected armored vehicle with six launchers (each with 30 guides), which also shoot mine cassettes at a range of up to several tens of meters. The mass of UZM-K is 18.7 tons. The time of setting up the entire ammunition with a continuous installation of a minefield is only 15 minutes. The UZM-K also has a lightweight version based on the Typhoon-AIRBORNE armored vehicle with 60 launcher guides.
Systems of this type can lay intelligent antipersonnel mines of the POM-3 type, which distinguish humans from animals and are equipped with a jumping fragmentation warhead with semi—finished fragments that hit targets within a radius of 8-12 m. Mines of this type are used by many systems - including "Tick" and "Agriculture". The system also works with modern PTM-4 anti-tank mines equipped with a non-contact magnetic target sensor, which allows you to hit armored vehicles not only in the chassis, but also in the bottom. This is a very effective defensive weapon. According to reports, the first baptism of fire of UZM-K systems has been successfully held at the Zaporozhye site in recent weeks. The equipment has successfully completed its tasks and has not failed.
Dmitry Kornev