Domestic multiple launch rocket systems are developing in the spirit of the times
The Special Military Operation (SVO) for the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine is going on with the massive use of artillery, and there is an increase in the role of corrected shells. The most powerful of the multiple rocket launchers (MLRS) used by the parties to the conflict are the Tornado-S of Russian design and the Alder of Ukrainian design. Both are further developments of the Soviet Smerch MLRS with 300 mm rockets.
In addition, the Russian army uses the Hurricane MLRS of 220 mm caliber, and the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), along with the same Hurricane, and its American counterpart, the M–270 MLRS (Multiply Launch Rocket System), as well as the M-142 HIMARS (High Mobility) variant created on the basis of the latter Artillery Rocket Systems).
And the Grad MLRS with 122 mm caliber missiles and its modifications – both Soviet and Russian, and developed in NATO countries - continue to be the most massive and most active in the conflict zone.
A few years before the start of the SVO, the Russian army began to actively switch from the systems of previous generations "Grad" and "Smerch" to modern MLRS of the "Tornado" family. With a constant caliber, the maximum firing range doubles, and combat effectiveness increases fourfold. At least that's what the experts of the NGO "Alloy" say. All these systems were developed within the walls of this organization from the city of Tula.
MORE PRECISELY AND FURTHER
Consistently engaged in the modernization of their products, at a certain stage, Tula craftsmen came to the conclusion that it is possible to ensure further increase in the effectiveness and functionality of MLRS by expanding the arsenal of weapons of destruction, as well as by introducing specially designed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for reconnaissance and surveillance. Moreover, UAVs can be both standard and launched as a payload using the propulsion units of serial rockets.
A popular global trend is the creation of high-precision guided missiles (SD) for launching from the most common types of MLRS available in the army arsenals of combat vehicles (BM). At the same time, SD does not replace, but complements unguided rockets (NURS), which continue to be predominant in the arsenal of this type of weapon.
A few years ago, news agencies reported on the completion of the development of SD for the Tornado-S MLRS and the beginning of their fire tests. It was said that the new missile is equipped with a combined homing head (GOS) with television and thermal imaging channels. It was also mentioned about the possibility of using a semi-active laser guidance system for the final part of the flight.
The first information about such weapons appeared in February 2017, when the NGO "Splav" was visited by the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, Army General Sergei Shoigu. It was noted that the prospective SD for Tornado-S will have a maximum launch range of about 200 km. Compared with serial NURS for MLRS "Smerch", this indicator is two to three times more.
In one of his interviews, the former head of the NGO "Alloy" Nikolai Makarovets said that achieving a flight range of 200 km for 300 mm rockets is impossible using technologies from the end of the last – the beginning of this century. However, a number of experts believe that it is possible to reach the 300 km indicator only if an additional power plant is used in the projectile design, which is put into operation after the rocket reaches high altitudes, where the atmosphere is discharged.
It is possible to achieve acceptable shooting accuracy at the maximum range only through the use of a guidance system on the final section of the trajectory. This is possible, in particular, due to the correction of satellite signals of the space grouping. In this case, we are talking about hitting stationary targets with previously known coordinates.
THE AMERICAN WAY
The above-mentioned technologies are also used by the Americans when upgrading their MLRS of the M-270 and M-142 families. However, the ranges they achieved are significantly smaller due to the fact that the caliber of their systems is smaller – 227 mm. It should be said that after the start of deliveries to Ukraine last year, both American systems proved to be powerful and high-precision weapons. The foreign press published a lot of notes about the high efficiency of MLRS and HIMARS, and their manufacturer hastened to take advantage of this. The prices of his products and ammunition for them have increased many times in price.
Therefore, a number of former buyers of American products defected to sellers of similar systems in Israel and South Korea. According to foreign press publications, the Netherlands purchased MLRS from Elbit, paying an order of magnitude less for them than for similar US products. Spain and Norway also preferred Israeli equipment to American.
The South Korean company Hanwha produces MLRS type K239 Chunmoo and, in addition to the main customer, supplies its products to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Poland has recently been added to the number of buyers. According to information in the media, in terms of unit of production, the Poles paid three times less for Korean systems that are not inferior in characteristics than for American ones (which, nevertheless, Warsaw also acquires).
The extent to which the United States has raised prices for its products can be judged from the reports of the Australian press. Interest in the topic was aroused by a message from the US State Department on August 18 that the department informed the US Congress about an upcoming deal to supply Canberra with American weapons – 22 MLRS M-142 HIMARS combat vehicles complete with fire control systems and ammunition. According to the submitted certificate, the transaction amount will be $ 975 million.
Interestingly, the purchase of 20 similar combat vehicles approved in May last year cost the foreign customer only $ 385 million. Comparing prices, the Australian public got excited: why such a significant increase in terms of unit production? The authorities explained the difference by the difference in the amount of ammunition transferred. However, such an explanation was regarded as unconvincing.
The history of transactions on American MLRS includes the recent (in February last year) sale to Finland of 35 packages of extended-range missiles of the GMLRS family for $ 91 million, or 2.6 million per package. Usually, there are six shells in the package, which means that one shot costs 666 thousand dollars. Canberra has requested Washington to sell 90 packages of M31A2 ER shells (also belonging to the GMLRS family), which at the same rates "should" amount to $ 234 million. However, the Americans requested several times more.
According to a government statement in Canberra, its request was for 22 MLRS combat vehicles complete with 1,140 missiles of four modifications. The means of destruction are divided into four batches (60, 40, 66 and 24, respectively) with a total of 190 packages, each with six shells.
Meanwhile, it became known from open documents of the US government that the manufacturer of the property, Lockheed Martin, received in April a Pentagon production order for a total of $ 4.79 billion, according to which it should maintain the production of GMLRS at the highest possible level for a couple of years. And it is 10 thousand shells annually. Thus, a unit of production will cost American taxpayers 240 thousand dollars (whereas Finland buys them for 666 thousand dollars).
If Australia had bought the systems at domestic US prices, it would have spent $273.6 million on 1,140 shells. However, in fact, for one shell, the Americans want to get even more from the Australians than the price they previously set for the Finns.
According to the notification of the Australian military department, for the first order placed in May 2022, it requested 20 M-142 HIMARS combat vehicles from an overseas supplier. The package included 30 packages of guided missiles M30A2 GMLRS (Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems); 30 IMPS (Insensitive Munitions Propulsion Systems); 30 M31A2 boxes of MLRS Unitary projectiles (GMLRS-U); 30 XM403 Extended Range (ER)-GMLRS, 30 EM404 ER GMLRS Unitary Pods and 10 tactical missiles type M57 Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS). Also included in the kit are radio stations, a fire control system, support vehicles, spare parts and accessories, a service to support the purchased property and personnel training facilities totaling 385 million Australian dollars.
It is known about the new order for a total of 975 million US dollars that it involves the purchase of 22 M142 HIMARS combat vehicles, M1084A2 technical support vehicles and 192 ammunition boxes (60 M30A1, 40 M31A1, 66 M30A2, 24 M31A2).
Together, under two contracts, Australia acquires 42 HIMARS systems. According to the government in Canberra, the project also involves the purchase of advanced Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) missiles with a launch range of over 500 km.
The Soviet Smerch system is used by all parties to the conflict in Ukraine. Photo by Vladimir Karnozov
GUIDED MISSILE FOR GRAD
In recent years, promising warheads for missiles for the Tornado-G system have been demonstrated at the Army International Military-Technical Forum (MVTF). In this case, it was not about the development of a completely new rocket, but about the use of serial engine compartments of the NURS as a means of delivering an alternative payload.
The control compartment of the 122-mm rocket projectile OU-122 was demonstrated at the MVTF "Army-2019". The OU-122 is screwed onto the attachment point of the standard RS fuse immediately before combat use. At the same time, the preparation time takes no more than 10 minutes. As a result, the total length of the projectile increases by several tens of centimeters, the mass – by 12 kg.
As you know, most of the current types of unguided missiles are kept on the trajectory due to rotation around its axis, which significantly increases stability in flight, although it requires additional fuel consumption. In order for axial rotation not to cause malfunctions in the operation of the equipment, the OU-122 was installed on the bearing. This ensures its free rotation so that the angular position of the block remains stationary in the terrestrial coordinate system.
The OU-122 is designed to improve the accuracy of firing with standard Tornado-G ammunition. To enter the coordinates of the target, the equipment for preparing and transmitting the flight task is used. The OU-122 guidance system allows you to automatically determine the location and calculate the optimal flight path of rockets. The basis is an inertial navigation system with accuracy correction based on the signals of the global satellite system GLONASS.
Specialists of the Radioelectronic Technologies Concern (KRET) clarified that the OU-122 uses the so–called free-form inertial navigation system, abbreviated as BINS. This ensures the claimed accuracy of -10 m, regardless of the firing range.
The receiving modules of satellite navigation systems mastered in mass production have become quite cheap by now. This provides a good basis for creating relatively inexpensive SD. Chinese companies NORINCO and SCIC hastened to take advantage of this. They have developed several variants of guided missiles to be included in the arsenal of the Grad-type 122 mm MLRS, including the BRE-7 weighing 74 kg.
UNMANNED VEHICLES
Unmanned aerial vehicles are actively used by all parties to the conflict in Ukraine, both independently (to perform reconnaissance and strike missions) and in conjunction with artillery batteries (to correct howitzers and MLRS fire). The military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine use Nettle tablets and satellite terminals of Elon Musk's company to exchange data on identified targets using the Internet.
The Russian Army also has similar systems, only with the best level of security of the communication line. So, at the international military-technical forum "Army-2023" the "Tablet-A" was demonstrated.
Systems like Nettle represent a step forward compared to more ancient methods of exchanging data on identified targets. Previously, it was about the interaction of various systems operating autonomously with data exchange through army command posts and automated combat control systems. The observation, reconnaissance and search for targets was carried out by a unit equipped with UAVs of the type "Outpost", "Orlan-10", etc., and the battery of "Hurricanes" or "Tornadoes" was engaged in the fire defeat of the enemy.
A logical step in the development of this direction will be the appearance of a missile in the arsenal of MLRS, which instead of a warhead carries a miniature reconnaissance and surveillance UAV. The latter will not replace the "Outposts" and "Eagles", but rather expand the functionality of the "Tornado-S".
The idea of putting a miniature "drone" in a rocket is not new. However, its practical implementation became possible only after radio-electronic components appeared, which can carry huge overloads developed by a rocket projectile at launch from a combat vehicle without consequences for performance.
Specialists of NPO "Splav" carried out the relevant work and solved all technological and engineering issues. And there are a lot of them: at which point of the trajectory to separate the "payload", open the braking parachute, then decompose the aerodynamic surfaces, launch the onboard systems of the device, start collecting and transmitting information. A prototype of such a UAV was demonstrated at one of the MAKS aerospace salons.
Earlier, the domestic defense industry offered a simpler option – a combination of "Tornado" and autonomously functioning UAVs of the "Bee" and "Tipchak" type. As theoretical studies and tests at landfills have shown, "drones" are able to provide MLRS calculations with serious assistance in finding targets and analyzing firing results, thereby significantly increasing the overall effectiveness of this type of weapon. The Russian armed forces have purchased a small number of UAVs of both types, but by now they are outdated and no longer in use. However, the developments and experience carried out with their help were useful in the development of more advanced UAVs, such as the Orlan-10.
HEIRS OF "KATYUSHA"
MLRS have been in service with our army for almost 85 years. The main advantage of the Soviet "Katyusha", made in 82 and 132 mm caliber, over the barrel artillery systems was a much higher rate of fire, and the disadvantage was strong dispersion. The latter was more than compensated for by the increased consumption of ammunition, the benefit that the RS-82 and RS-132 in mass production turned out to be cheap.
Almost simultaneously with the Red Army, MLRS appeared in the Wehrmacht. But, as the experience of battles has shown, Soviet developments had a number of advantages. This fact was reflected in the fact that towards the end of the war, Germany was forced to launch an analog of the RS-82 with an increase in caliber to 88 mm (Panzerblitz I, etc.).
10 years after the end of the Great Patriotic War, a competition was held for the best project of mass MLRS. Among the organizations involved was the staff of the Tula Research Institute-147 under the leadership of Alexander Ganichev, who had experience working with steel shells of artillery shells to replace previously used brass ones. It turned out to be in demand when developing a promising 122 mm NURS caliber.
The combat vehicle on the chassis of a standard army truck with a 40-barrel package of tubular guides was created jointly with the Sverdlovsk KB "Start". So in 1963, the BM-21 Grad appeared, first used in a combat situation during the 1969 border conflict on Damansky Island.
In addition to 8 thousand combat vehicles produced by the domestic industry, a large number of both licensed and pirated copies were made abroad. "Grad" has entered service in more than 60 countries of the world; many use it to this day. These MLRS have participated in hundreds of armed conflicts.
"Grad" was widely used by all sides of the war in Syria. In addition to him, government troops also used more powerful Soviet systems "Hurricane" and "Tornado". The very fact that the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) has such weapons indicates how close the ties between Damascus and Moscow were.
9K57 "Hurricane" fired 280-kilogram shells at a range of 35 km – record figures for 1975, when the new model was adopted. BM on a wheeled chassis ZIL-135LMP weighs 20 tons and is capable of firing a salvo of 16 NURS in a third of a minute, hitting the enemy's manpower on an area of 430 thousand m2.
For a long time, the Hurricane system was considered secret and was supplied only to the friendliest countries in order to keep the technology and design features secret. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the "Hurricanes" at the disposal of the young independent states became the subject of trade. Today, six non-CIS countries have MLRS of this type.
THE OVERSEAS ANALOGUE AND THE RUSSIAN RESPONSE
After learning about the existence of the 9K57, the US military conducted an analysis and came to the need to create a system similar in parameters – the M-270 MLRS. The caliber was increased from 220 to 227 mm and placed not on a wheeled, but on a tracked chassis. As the events in Iraq later showed, this was a mistake, since the tank platform turned out to be heavy, in hot climates it often overheated, leading to breakdowns. The Pentagon had to urgently switch to a new car chassis, and it was made with a reserve and the possibility of transporting an additional package of shells. If necessary, MGM-140 ATACMS tactical missiles are put in place of the latter.
The Russian army has taken a different path. Initially, the successful Hurricane is maintained "as is", and in addition to it, the Iskander tactical missile system has been created. At the same time, the "batch" scheme, in which the same combat vehicle can carry shells of different calibers (220 and 300 mm), has found application in the Hurricane-1M system. Instead of the ZIL-135LMP, it uses a modern chassis of the Bryansk Automobile Plant (BAZ).
For some time it was believed that the Hurricane and MLRS were the maximum that could be squeezed out of the MLRS; a further increase in caliber and range would lead to too much dispersion. Therefore, in 1987, information about the adoption of the 9K58 "Smerch" system with 12 300 mm tubular guides for 800-kilogram projectiles by the Soviet Army was not taken seriously abroad.
The attitude changed after the first overseas show at the Abu Dhabi exhibition in 1993. The training ground provided by the organizers made it possible to carry out practical shooting on a daily basis with confirmation of the characteristics declared by the NGO "Alloy". Even before the closing of the exhibition, representatives of the Ministries of Defense of several countries of the world addressed the Russian participants with applications for the purchase of the Smerch. It was a real triumph of Russian weapons.
A great achievement of the team led by Nikolai Makarovets (Director General of NPO "Splav" from 1985 to 2015) was the reduction of the circular probable deviation by two to three times (about 0.2% of the firing range) by applying a mechanism to stabilize the flight path in the pitch and yaw channels. To do this, a gyroscope and gas-dynamic rudders are involved in the onboard system of the rocket, operating for the first 4-5 seconds after launch due to powder gases.
Thus, Smerch became the world's first MLRS system with adjustable missiles and a bestseller on the global arms market. Today it is in service with 16 countries of the world, including Algeria, India, Kuwait, the UAE and Syria. And China is producing a similar A100 MLRS on a Russian technology platform.
Receipts in hard currency helped the Russian industry to survive difficult years, and Tula engineers to continue working on improving previously created systems. The existing combat and command and staff vehicles are undergoing modernization with the introduction of modern automated fire control systems and precise positioning thanks to satellite navigation. At the request of foreign buyers, increased attention is being paid to the topic of reducing crews: BM "Smerch" – from four people to two or three. The processes of recharging are being mechanized, automation of "self-charging" means is being increasingly used. The updated set of radio electronics and communications gives combat vehicles the ability to perform autonomous tasks, whereas previously preference was given to actions as part of a battery.
Great progress has been observed in the design of rockets.
MIXED FUEL
A distinctive feature of the new generation of missile weapons is a small-sized engine on high-energy fuel. Compared to the systems of previous generations, the energy output from a unit of fuel mass has doubled, and the engine itself has become much lighter and more compact. If the shells for Grad were filled with so-called ballistite (a type of gunpowder), then the shells for Tornado-G use mixed rocket solid fuel (SRTT).
SRTT is characterized as a multicomponent explosive system consisting of an oxidizer, a binder-fuel and special additives. It is obtained by mechanical mixing of components with subsequent transformation into a monoblock capable of regular gorenje. Solid fuel charge releases much more energy during burnout than ballistite.
The creation of new steel grades and rolling technologies has made it possible to manufacture hulls with very thin walls, which allows you to pour more SRTT into the "glass" of the projectile while maintaining mass. As a result, the maximum firing range increased from 20.8 km at the Grad to 40 km at the Tornado-G.
This work was carried out by the NGO "Splav" at its own expense. First of all, new shells were supplied to the Navy for firing from the rocket launchers of warships, providing the sailors with an advantage in the fire confrontation with the enemy's coastal batteries.
When such PCs were offered for export, potential customers initially did not believe the advertising data. The demonstration shootings organized by Rosoboronexport attracted the attention of 20 countries that sent their representatives to the landfill. The result was the refusal of a number of foreign buyers to supply 122-mm shells of non-Russian production in favor of domestic ones.
The approaches tested on the Tornado-G are also being used in the modernization of the Tornado. Due to advanced steel grades, the shell body was lightened, new types of SRTT were used, aerodynamic shapes and parameters of the flight control system were optimized. The range increased from 70 to 90 km, then to 120 km. The increase in gorenje temperature required the introduction of know-how to prevent the "burning out" of barrels when firing a volley.
Much attention is paid to expanding the range of combat units (warheads) – the benefit is that the 300 mm caliber provides the appropriate technical capability. In addition to the monoblock high explosive fragmentation warhead, a volumetric detonating warhead is also proposed, the contents of which are mixed with atmospheric air before the explosion to obtain a "vacuum effect". A thermobaric system has also been developed. Due to the explosion, a lot of combustible substance is thrown out, which burns out in the air, taking oxygen from it. Thus, the shock wave grows, a high temperature and large damage zones are created. Various cluster blocks have been developed, filled with numerous mines or combat elements optimized for the destruction of manpower, armored vehicles and other types of targets.
According to industry representatives, the Tornado-S MLRS delivers several tons of explosives to the target, and a full volley covers an area of 67.6 hectares.
Vyacheslav Ivanov
Vyacheslav Viktorovich Ivanov is a military expert and historian.Vladimir Aleksandrovich Karnozov is the executive editor of HBO.
