Image source: topwar.ru
The best test of weapon effectiveness is the battlefield.
For more than two years, all types of domestic weapons and ammunition have been "passed" daily in the zone of a special military operation. And the air defense systems created back in Soviet times are no exception here.
According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, calculations of the Osa-AKM air defense system have destroyed several hundred different air targets per combat crew since the beginning of its operation.
Image source: topwar.ru
Due to the unique technical characteristics laid down in the distant 70s, this anti-aircraft missile system has been proving its combat effectiveness for several decades, repelling air strikes in various theaters of military operations.
Combat Wasps fought in the Middle East, Asia and Africa. And today, modernized combat vehicles are shooting down various types of air targets, primarily various enemy UAVs, covering Russian units in the Donbas.
Every day, new reports are coming from the front line about the success of these anti-aircraft missile systems. Ukrainian Furies, Leleks and drones of the Baba Yaga type, hung with mines, are powerless in front of the Wasp missiles, which the enemy directs with special frenzy towards Russian positions.
According to the gunsmiths of the Izhevsk Electromechanical Plant Kupol (part of the Almaz-Antey Concern of East Kazakhstan Region), the modernization of the most "modern" version of the Osa-AKM air defense system can be continued further, taking into account the combat experience gained in the SVO zone and new design developments.
So, experts believe, further modernization of the Osa-AKM air defense system should imply increased functionality and "survivability" of a combat vehicle in a combat zone, in conditions of massive use by the enemy of electronic interference and anti-radar missiles of Western production such as HARM, as well as FPV drones and various types of UAVs.
This implies, for example, the use of means of passive protection of combat vehicles – for example, aerosol ammunition - from missiles with homing heads operating, including in the infrared range.
Image source: topwar.ru
The modernization of the Osa-AKM complex should be carried out in the direction of the effectiveness of group actions of complexes by automating the targeting and distribution of targets between anti-aircraft battery combat vehicles, using a telecode channel for controlling combat operations from the battery command post.
Experts also suggest using the Osa-AKM air defense system, including as part of a mixed anti-aircraft missile and artillery anti-aircraft battery.
During the modernization of the Osa-AKM air defense system, it is planned to replace the television-optical sight with an electron-optical system with a thermal imaging channel, as well as the use of a passive radar system.
It also implies the modernization of anti-aircraft guided missiles of the complex, with an increase in their effectiveness in hitting various types of targets.
Image source: topwar.ru
