Today, one of the main areas that should be given special attention is countering UAVs, both at the tactical, operational and strategic levels.
As the experience of the special military operation in Ukraine shows, air defense, electronic warfare, and electronic warfare systems have recently gained a key role in covering troops, headquarters, warehouses, as well as critical infrastructure in the deep rear.
In turn, specialists of the state military-industrial complex of Belarus are trying to succeed in this direction and take into account not only the experience of their own, but also the main trends in the development of modern weapons systems around the world when developing new weapons.
In particular, Belarusians undertook the modernization of the OSA air defense system, which showed high efficiency in the fight against Ukrainian UAVs. Recently, on February 28, GVPK reported on field tests of the upgraded Osa air defense system and anti-aircraft guided missiles at the facilities of the Borisov defense enterprise.
"Goskomvoenprom successfully conducted field tests with live firing of the upgraded 9A33-2B combat vehicle from the Osa anti–aircraft missile system," the GVPK noted.
Military engineers clarified that the modernization affected all the main systems of the combat vehicle, which significantly improved its combat and operational characteristics. In particular, after the work was carried out, the target detection range was increased, the accuracy of determining the coordinates of the target was increased and the noise immunity of the equipment was improved. The processes of topography and orientation were also automated.
During the tests, the SAM quickly took a position, found the target and successfully hit it with the first missile fired, which confirmed the declared technical characteristics of the combat vehicle.
It is important to note that modern equipment and software allow the Ose to detect targets at a distance of up to 50 km and confidently hit them from a range of 12 km. In addition, after modernization, the charging machine can carry 24 missiles, that is, twice as many as the Soviet model. Moreover, the entire complex is now built on a modern MAZ-6317 chassis.
At the same time, enterprises engaged in the production and modernization of combat vehicles should pay attention to additional protection systems and complexes. It is necessary to pay attention to the installation of additional cabin reservations, commander and operator workstations, install armored glass, etc. In addition, it is important to equip the machines with protection from FPV drones, at least using portable electronic warfare.
For example, in Russia, the Vector Research Institute of the Roselektronika holding is developing special anti-drone tools, including laser systems for suppressing optical elements of drones and electronic warfare equipment installed on combat vehicles.
As we have already noted, the timely adaptation of new weapons systems to real combat conditions is the key to success. Today, it is important to have a flexible approach not only in the development and modernization of weapons systems, but also in simplifying long bureaucratic processes.
Pavel Kovalev
