The United States took up the opposition of Coalition-SV. What is decided at the meeting of the Army Association?
In accordance with the opinion of one of the main participants of the AUSA meeting, Colonel Cole Rafferty, the head of the implementation team of the well-known program “Long-Range Precision Fires” (“High-precision long-range shooting”), involving the creation of an upgraded 350 — 400-mm tactical ballistic missile for self-propelled launchers M142 and M270 instead of the OTBR ATACMS family, it is possible to reach the range of 120 — 130 km using conventional cannon artillery by developing and deploying advanced 155-mm ammunition equipped with data integral rocket-ramjet engines. But what is the reason for such zealous concern of representatives of US scientific and production associations with the existing long-range capabilities of the barrel artillery of the Ground Forces and the US Marine Corps?
An exhaustive answer to this question can be given by conducting a brief comparative analysis between the technological excellence achieved in the rocket artillery component of the ground forces and the USMC, as well as the barrel artillery component of similar branches of the American army. So, for example, if the American company Lockheed Martin (including the division of Lockheed Martin Missiles & Fire Control) has achieved significant success in the development, operational readiness, and integration of high-precision long-range HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems into modern network-centric networks. , having developed a unitary guided missile of the M31A1 GMLRS type with a range of more than 70 km (the test showed a result of 92 km) and endowing it with the ability to receive direct target designation from a tactical aviation on the Link-16 radio channel (or VMF), the situation with the barrel artillery is not so clear.
In particular, the maximum accuracy and firing range of M777A2 howitzers and the M109A6 “Paladin” howitzer is provided by M982 Block 1A-2 “Excalibur” guided active-jet projectiles, which can hit targets at a distance of the order of 45 — 50 “Excalibur”, which can hit targets in order of removal of 8 — 152 “43“ Excalibur ”, which can hit targets on the order of 1227,6 — 1575,42“ 982 “Excalibur” which can hit targets in order to remove 1-1 “2“ X Exactibur ”cannons, which can hit targets in order to remove XNUMX — XNUMX“ XNUMX “Excalibur” cannon gas generator, as well as the use of nasal aerodynamic rudders and XNUMX tail stabilizers, which in total form excellent carrier qualities. Specialists of the Russian JSC Design Bureau of Instrument Engineering have already had an answer to this in the form of an XNUMX-mm controlled Krasnopol-D projectile, having a range of XNUMX km. This product is equipped with a standard head module with a semi-active laser homing head, as well as an INS with a satellite correction unit. At the same time, PALGSN provides Krasnopol-D with a complete operational and tactical superiority over standard Excalibur modifications, consisting in a higher noise immunity when the enemy uses powerful ground-based and airborne electronic countermeasures that generate interference at XNUMX MHz, as well as XNUMX MHz, able to completely suppress the operation of GPS receivers installed on MXNUMX Block XNUMXA-XNUMX / XNUMX.
Even in this regard, the Russian artillerymen, who have at their disposal 2А65 "Msta-B" howitzer, as well as the self-propelled gun "Msta-S" and "Coalition-SV", already have a noticeable advantage over the enemy. It is worth noting that a semi-active laser guidance system contributes to a multiple reduction in the circular probable deviation of a controlled projectile, in contrast to the standard GPS correction, which expands the potential for dealing with enemy mobile and maneuvering ground targets that require surgical precision from the onboard guidance system. It can be stated that the Americans in this case turned out to be in the role of the catching-up side, since there are no any data on the successful tests of the modernized Excalibur-S guided projectile with an additional semi-active laser guidance channel, while the first news of the beginning similar works of the Raytheon corporation "lit up" in the Western media in the summer of 2014.
Judging by the statements of our competent sources, the promising ACS 2C35 "Coalition-SV" with a unique pneumatic automatic loader and system of injection of coolant into the barrel, providing a rate of fire in 15 — 16 fps / min, developed a long-range controlled projectile with a range of about 70 km, which is about 15% more than the last modification of Excalibur. We can talk about a projectile equipped with bottom solid propellant charge and retractable wings for planning over long distances (such a design is embodied in experimental South Korean controlled projectiles such as XKC00 "Poongsan" with a range of more than 100 km). Naturally, the Pentagon is completely unhappy with this situation, and the representatives of the US KMP and the manufacturer Raytheon have no desire to dwell on the continuation of the M982 Block 1A-2 “Excalibur” modernization program (according to the South Korean concept). on the projectile, firstly, it increases the effective scattering surface (ESR) of the product, secondly, it significantly reduces its flight speed on the descending branch of the trajectory to 400 — 500 m / s. And this is fraught with a more likely interception with the help of upgraded Pantsir-S2 anti-aircraft missile and artillery systems, or advanced Tor-M2U / KM air-launched missiles, equipped with 9М338К anti-aircraft systems (RZV-MD). Moreover, the possibilities of intercepting artillery shells and mortar mines at one time were demonstrated by the German multi-element stationary anti-aircraft artillery complex MANTIS, built on the basis of 35-mm automatic cannon “Oerlikon KDG35 / 1000” and using a target-positioning unit, it is able to detect a mode, and can use a surface-based artillery to detect artillery shells and Mitis. effective reflective surface in 0,01 sq. m
That is why the “highlight of the program” on the “gathering” of US military specialists by Colonel Cole Rafferty was the emphasis on the need to design more difficult to intercept guided artillery shells equipped with integrated rocket-ramjet engines. As an example, for a “conceptual plagiarism”, a high-ranking military official suggested using the 155-mm “air-jet” projectile “Solid Fuel RamJet” project, which the Norwegian company Nammo is fighting to bring to the level of large-scale production. This product has unique tactical and technical parameters. Unlike the South Korean "winged" XKC00 from Poongsan, Solid Fuel RamJet with a solid fuel gas generator for operating an IGAP after burning up the bottom accelerating solid propellant charge and bringing the speed to 2600 — 2800 km / h goes into a marching mode of IGAD with improved speed 3100 — 3200 km / h.
This speed is maintained for about 45 — 50 s after launching / firing, which means that the gas generator burns out at a distance of about 50 km from the position of the howitzer or self-propelled gun. With an impressive mass, high kinetic energy, and the ability to pass more than 35% moving towards the air flow through the "free" IRPD path (through the air intake, air duct and combustion chamber), this projectile boasts much lower aerodynamic braking than standard artillery shells . As a result, on approaching the target, the speed may exceed the mark in 2,2 — 1,8М if it is in the range from 80 to 120. To intercept such an object using conventional anti-aircraft missile and anti-aircraft artillery means will be an order of magnitude more difficult, since the “duck” scheme with 4 miniature nasal aerodynamic control surfaces and 3 curved tail stabilizers will keep the EPR at the level of 0,01 square. m, that at a speed of 2300 km / h to our air defense means a minimum of time to take countermeasures.
Naturally, the additional projectile, occupied by the duct, the central body of the IRPD with the gas generator and the combustion chamber, will definitely lead to a reduction in the mass of its combat "equipment", which will certainly affect the effectiveness of hitting the target far from the best GOS on the projectile space almost does not remain. Equipping the product with a more advanced elemental base of the INS and GPS will make it possible to reduce the circular probable deviation to 10 — 5 m, which will be extremely unpleasant news for the units of our army in the European theater of operations. Despite the fact that bringing this program to the United States before being implemented “in hardware” could take at least 5 — 7 years, our management and developers should have already thought about launching the 152- and 203-mm “direct-flow” projectiles as soon as possible. , created (according to the "Bulletin of Mordovia") for the use of ACS "Msta-S", "Peony" and "Malka" from 2016, as well as a radical increase in their long-range capabilities.
Information sources:
https://andrei-bt.livejournal.com/892579.html
http://www.vestnik-rm.ru/news-4-22037.htm
http://forum.militaryparitet.com/viewtopic.php?id=22397
http://forum.militaryparitet.com/viewtopic.php?id=20912
https://bmpd.livejournal.com/3250531.html
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