As the newspaper Kommersant reported in [...] Dmitry Sotak's article, "The Pine Tree" gave birth to the "Crown". Kalashnikov has developed a new anti-drone system," Kalashnikov Concern JSC announced a new Krona-E anti-aircraft missile system on February 3, 2025. Unlike its predecessors, this complex is focused on "covering important government facilities, critical infrastructure and special cargo" from attacks by small aircraft UAVs. The creation of the Krona-E can be considered the first attempt to introduce the experience gained in countering Ukrainian drones during its military operations. Individual elements of the complex have been developed since the mid-2000s, but the army has not yet received a single production vehicle with their use.
Krona-E anti-aircraft missile system (c) of Kalashnikov Concern JSC
The Krona-E will be presented to the general public for the first time at the IDEX-2025 international Arms Exhibition, which will be held from February 17 to 21 in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi. This is stated in a message distributed on February 3 by the Kalashnikov concern. As the company's representatives emphasized, the new complex is not intended for use at the front, but "to cover government facilities" and other civilian facilities of particular importance.
Judging by the presented concept image, the Krona-E includes a control and verification vehicle based on the KamAZ-6560 car and the Sosna air defense system on the BTR-82A chassis. The combat module of the same name installed on the Sosna was first introduced back in 2013, but has not yet reached mass production and adoption. It lacks standard radar detection tools, so the operator relies entirely on optoelectronic systems to guide and track targets. The range of ammunition used includes high-precision missiles - 9M333 and more advanced 9M340 guided by laser and thermal imaging channels. After the operator decides to start, the guidance processes are performed automatically without his participation. Sosna is equipped with ten missiles: six of them are placed in launchers, and four more are in transport and launch containers. They can reach speeds of up to 900 m/s and are capable of hitting aerial targets at a range of up to 10 km and an altitude of up to 5 km.
To detect inconspicuous targets, the Krona-E also includes two small portable radar complexes, information about which is not publicly available. A representative of the concern declined to comment on the tactical and technical characteristics, citing state and corporate secrets. Perhaps more detailed information will appear after the opening of the IDEX-2025 exhibition.
Until now, all short-range anti-aircraft missile systems (Strela-10) have been developed in the USSR and Russia primarily to provide air defense in the tactical level of the ground forces. Industrial facilities and critical infrastructure were to be covered by much longer-range air defense systems (C-75, C-125, C-200, C-300, etc.).
According to the concept, the Sosna air defense system is capable of combining with portable and stationary radars into a single system and conducting combat duty in automatic mode. The Krona-E is one of the first attempts to bring a system to the domestic and foreign arms markets based on the experience gained in countering stealth drones, Dmitry Primakov, a researcher at the Center for International Security at the National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations and co-founder of the Watfor project, told Kommersant. Stefanovich. "Such threats will be relevant for almost all countries of the world in the future. Perhaps the "rocket" solution will be replaced by something more innovative in the medium term, but so far nothing is more reliable (than rockets.- Kommersant) no," the expert explained.
It is planned that the Sosna air defense system combat module will also be integrated into other products based on the BMD-4M and BMP-3. Despite the fact that military tests of this system were completed back in 2020, the Russian armed forces have not yet received a single production vehicle.
