Reactive systems of the volley fire of Russia
Since the time of the glorified Katyusha much has changed. Tactics of combat, armament, state borders ... But the system of the volley fire of Russia and to this day are extremely important on the battlefield. With their help, you can throw shells of enormous destructive power for tens of kilometers, destroying and disabling fortified areas, enemy armored vehicles and its living force.
Our country occupies a leading position in the field ofthe development of MLRS: the old developments are constantly being improved and new models of these weapons are appearing. Today we will consider what systems of the volley fire of Russia today are in the arsenal of the army.
Grad
MLRS caliber 122 mm. It is intended for the destruction of the enemy's manpower, the remote setting of minefields, the destruction of the fortified positions of the enemy. Can fight light and medium armored vehicles. When creating the machine, the chassis "Ural-4320" was used, on which the guides for 122mm shells are placed. Transportation of ammunition to the "Grad" is possible on any machine that has suitable dimensions.
The number of guides for projectiles is 40 pieces,located in four rows of ten pieces in each. The fire can be fired either by single shots or by one-shot volley, which takes less than a minute (no more than 20 seconds). The maximum range of fire is up to 20.5 kilometers. The affected area is four hectares. "Grad" can be successfully used in the widest temperature range: from -50 to +50 degrees Celsius.
Fire control is possible both from the cockpit,and in the latter case, in the latter case, the calculation uses a remote wired remote control (range up to 50 meters). Since the designers have provided for the consistent descent of projectiles from the guides, the combat vehicle is relatively weakly swinging during firing. It takes no more than three to four minutes to bring the unit into combat position. Chassis can overcome fords depths up to one and a half meters.
Combat application
Where did these systems of volley fireRussia? First, their baptism of fire took place in Afghanistan. As recalled by the survivors of the shelling of the Mujahideen (and there were very few of them): "Around the world was a real hell, clods of earth soared to the skies. We thought that the end of the world came. " The installation was widely used during both Chechen campaigns, during the "war of three eights", when Georgia was forced to peace.
How many Chinese died there, probably alreadyit will not work out. Soviet military leaders believed that at least 3,000 people crossed into the peninsula. In any case, the survivors were not exactly.
Current state of affairs
Today it is considered that Grads is morally andare technically obsolete. Many of these machines, which are now in service with our army, have almost completely developed their resources. In addition, now there is a rearmament of the troops and the saturation of their "Tornado" MLRS. But for "old men" is still far from finished. The fact is that the Ministry of Defense still wants to leave in the ranks of the army an extremely well-established, cheap and efficient machine.
In this regard, a special project was created for them.modernization and reduction to a modern kind and efficiency. In particular, the normal model of satellite navigation was finally installed on the old model, as well as the Baget computer, which controls the process of launching shells. On the assurances of the military, a relatively simple update procedure went to Grads for good, as their combat potential grew several times.
This technique is used by all partiesconflict on Ukrainian territory. Militant Africans, who received MLRS from the USSR, also love this weapon. In short, the geography of distribution of the installation is enormous. This is what the Grad rocket system is characterized by. The "tornado", which we will describe below, is many times more powerful and has a terrible destructive power.
"Tornado"
A truly awesome weapon. In comparison with it, "Grad" is really similar in efficiency with the same natural phenomenon. Judge for yourself: the Americans believe that the "Smerch" is a volley fire, the characteristics of which would be more suitable for a compact complex with a nuclear munition.
And they are absolutely right. This installation for one volley alone "covers" the unreal 629 hectares of area with a range of shooting up to 70 kilometers. And that's not it. Today new types of shells are being developed, which will be flying for a hundred kilometers. On the square, which covered these systems of the volley fire of Russia, everything burns, including heavy armored vehicles. Like the previous MLRS, "Smerch" can be operated in the widest range of temperatures.
Designed for large-scale machiningenemy positions before the offensive, the destruction of particularly strong bunkers and bunkers, the destruction of large concentrations of enemy manpower and enemy equipment.
Chassis, guides for launching projectiles
The chassis is based on a high-performance carpatency of MAZ-543. Unlike Grad, this installation is much more dangerous for the enemy, also because the battery includes the fire control system Vivarium, which allows achieving the highest efficiency, which is more typical for barrel artillery systems.
These rocket launchers have 12tubular guides for projectiles. Each of them weighs 80 kilograms, with 280 of them accounting for the charge of a powerful explosive. Weapons specialists believe that this ratio is an ideal option for unguided projectiles, since it allows to combine powerful military engines and huge destructive potential in the ammunition.
And another feature of the shells "Smerch". The designers worked on this for a long time, but they made sure that the angle of their fall to the ground was equal to 90 degrees. Such a "meteorite" can easily be penetrated through any OBR of a probabilistic opponent, and concrete structures are unlikely to resist such a power. Currently, the production of the new "Smerch" is not planned (most likely), as they will be replaced by new "Tornadoes" at the fighting post.
However, there is some probability thatThe old complexes will still be modernized. It is absolutely certain that their new ammunition can include new types of missiles with active guidance, so that the combat capabilities of the complex are far from exhausted.
What other rocket launchers do we have?
"Hurricane"
Adopted in the 1970s of the last century. According to combat effectiveness, it occupies an intermediate position between "Grad" and "Smerch". So, the maximum range of fire is 35 kilometers. In general, the "Hurricane" is the installation of a salvo fire, during the design of which many principles were laid down, which are still used by developers of such weapons in our country. Created its famous designer Kalachnikov Yuri.
By the way, "Hurricane" - installation of salvofire, which in its time the Soviet Union supplied in considerable quantities to Yemen, where combat operations are now intensively being conducted. Surely soon we will find out how effective the old Soviet technique has been in the battles. The domestic armed forces, along with the Grads, also used the Hurricane during the war in Afghanistan.
The installation was also widely used in Chechnya, andthen - and in Georgia. There is information that with the help of the "Hurricanes" the column of the advancing Georgian tanks was somehow destroyed (according to other sources, they were Grads).
Structure of the complex
On the chassis of the off-road vehicle ZIL-135LMmounted 16 tubular guides (initially it was planned that there will be 20 of them). The Ukrainians at one time modernized the cars that they got, putting them on the chassis of their Kremenchug KrAZ. The combat compartment of these units includes the following components:
Directly the machine 9P140.
Transport for transportation and loading of projectiles 9T452.
A set of ammunition.
The fire control machine on the basis of the installation 1В126 "Cabbage-B".
Means for training and calculation training.
The station of topographical reconnaissance 1Т12-2М.
Complex of direction finding and meteorology 1B44.
A complete set of equipment and tools 9Ф381, designed for repair and maintenance of machines from the complex.
Horizontal targeting can be carried out underangle of 30 degrees to the right and left of the central axis of the combat vehicle. In order to avoid the risk of heavy chassis being filled with a massive volley, there are two powerful fighting stops in the rear part of the chassis. The complex is also equipped with night vision devices, and therefore can be operated in the dark.
At present, the Russian Armed Forces still haveAbout one and a half hundred of these machines are operated. Most likely, they will not be subjected to modernization, but they will write off right after the full development of the combat resource. This is due to the fact that a new MLRS system was adopted, which includes all the advantages of the old models.
"Tornado"
This is a new system of volley fire in Russia. Its development began in connection with the fact that the old Grads, which had been in service for more than forty years, urgently needed a replacement. As a result of intense design work, this machine also appeared.
Unlike their predecessors, the systemvolley fire of Russia "Tornado" is much more perfect in the field of guidance and accuracy of shooting, since they can use topographic data transmitted from satellites. But not only this is a unique newly created MLRS.
The fact is that earlier for each taskSoviet industry created a separate installation: in fact, this is how the meteorological "zoo" appeared in the form of Grad, Smerch and Hurricane. But modern systems of the volley fire of Russia ("Tornado") will be produced in three versions at once, using the shells of all the three machines described above. It is assumed that the designers will provide for the possibility of a quick replacement of the artillery unit, so that one chassis can be used in different qualities.
New shells
In addition, all previous systems had onea major drawback associated with the uncontrollability of ammunition. Simply put, it was not possible to correct the course of the already produced shells. All this was quite suitable for wars of the past decades, but under present conditions it is already inadmissible. To solve this problem, new types of projectiles with active optical and laser guidance were created for the Tornado. From now on, MLRS turned into a fundamentally new, extremely dangerous weapon.
Thus, modern reactive systemsvolley fire of Russia at present can be compared in efficiency with the most perfect samples of barrel artillery, hitting the target for tens of kilometers. Unlike the most perfect "Smerch" in this plan, the range of shooting at the "Tornado" is already up to 100 kilometers (using the appropriate projectiles).
Meeting new and old
As we already wrote at the very beginning of the article, inCurrently, work is also under way to improve the old "Grads", which are still quite a few in service. And then the designers visited the idea: "And what if we use a simple, technological chassis from Grad, installing a new combat module from the Tornado of the appropriate caliber there?" The plan was quickly implemented.
So a new machine was bornThe Tornado-G. Officially, it was adopted in 2013, at the same time supplies to the troops began. On the "Tank Biathlon - 2014" a new MLRS was demonstrated to all comers.
Unlike both predecessors of thistechnology, the control system "Kapustnik-BM" is included in the design, which several times increases the combat capabilities of the complex. In addition, the process of firing and firing was greatly simplified: now the crew does not need to go outside, as all the necessary topographic data is displayed in real time on the monitors installed inside the cabin. From there you can set a goal and launch the projectiles.
Such modernization not only modernizedcomplex, but also significantly ensured the crew. Now the machine can quickly make a volley from a closed position and leave it, having spent no more than one and a half minutes. This dramatically reduces the risk of detection and destruction of the complex by a retaliatory blow from the enemy. In addition, due to the use of new shells with a detachable warhead, it is now possible to significantly expand the range of possible combat modules.
These are the current systems of the volley fire of Russia. Their photos are given in the article, so you can make an approximate impression of their power.
