Dangerous competitor "Coalition-SV". High-speed "carrying cone" with air defense capabilities
In the above material, we examined in detail all the advantages and disadvantages of “rocket-direct-flow” artillery shells and were able to come to the following conclusions. Thus, a sufficiently long period of operation of a ramjet (burning out a solid propellant gas generator) allows, firstly, to maintain a high supersonic flight speed in 3200 — 3400 km / h, both on the cruise trajectory and on the final part of the trajectory, and also provides greater kinetic energy with the defeat of the target to compensate for the reduction in the weight of the projectile's combat equipment), secondly, to achieve the firing range at 80 — 120 km, which ensures complete mastery in the offspring of the «Nammo» of being in mass production by US guided artillery shells family M982 «Excalibur», not to mention the usual 155-mm high-explosive shells or rocket-assisted projectile.
But even despite the fact that the unique properties of this projectile caused a lively interest of representatives of the US Marine Corps, representatives of the US defense department did not focus on the ambitious Nammo project and finance it, which is why the fate of “155 mm Solid Fuel RamJet has remained vague. And the reasons for this are quite trivial. First of all, this is the need for a radical miniaturization of the radio electronic and electromechanical elemental base of the “smart projectile” to separate the internal volume under the contours of the rocket-ramjet engine and the compartment with the warhead. Naturally, such miniaturization will complicate and raise the cost of manufacturing the “critical” components of the projectile, bringing the total cost of the product to 250 — 300 thousand dollars, which the Pentagon is unlikely to suit even taking into account the 2,5 times lower cost than the projectiles of the closed LRLAP project. Secondly, this is the complete absence of the modernization potential of the Norwegian-Finnish concept, which is also associated with the impossibility of placing additional sensors in the already “hammered” electronics of the shell.
It is for this reason that the Pentagon today focuses on bringing to mind the less expensive concept of adapting high-speed HVP (“Hyper Velocity Projectile”) projectiles, originally designed for use with an EMRG rail gun, to shoot shipboard 127- and 155-mm Mark 45 Mod 2 / 54 and AGS artillery mounts (destroyers of the Arleigh Burke and Zamvolt classes), as well as 155-mm SAU M109A6 and howitzers M777A2. Adaptation of these projectiles to two different calibers “to the disgrace” is simple and does not incur significant financial costs: it is a trivial launch of the mass production of 127-mm and 155-mm pallets, whose smart cores will be HVP projectiles.
The main “chip” of the brainchild of “BAE Systems” is a huge range of flight, which will reach 130 km when shooting 155-mm AGS guns of Zamvolt class destroyers, and up to 80 km - from the ACN M109A6. And all this will be achieved without the use of ramjet engines or bottom gas generator. The whole secret is that the HVP has an aerodynamic “carrying cone” scheme, the main advantage of which is the creation of adequate lifting force with low aerodynamic drag (a similar scheme is used in the ultra-long-range anti-aircraft missile 9М82МВ ЗРС 300ВХNUMX). Consequently, HVP projectiles will be able to maintain flight speed at 4 — 2800 km / h for most of the flight path, including its descending branch.
This feature, causing the preservation of high energy properties of HVPs in tens of kilometers from the exit point of the barrel, makes both the commands of the US Navy and the United States Emergency Commission, as well as the experts of BAE Systems, more often think about the feasibility of developing an anti-missile modification of the projectile. the products were confirmed during field tests conducted during the RIMPAC 2018 naval exercises near Kauai (Hawaii), when the Mk 45 artillery destroyer USS Dewey URO launched 20 shots experimental shells of this type. Even today, HPVs are equipped with advanced tail aerodynamic rudders, which at high speed and kinetic energy will allow intercepting enemy's low-maneuverable aerial objects (of course, when introducing a rod warhead and a compact millimeter seeker with a miniature proximity fuse).
At the second stage of the design of an anti-aircraft HVP variant, transverse control gas engines such as PIF-PAF can be added, which will be supported by maintaining a sufficient internal volume of the “carrying cone” due to the absence of any propulsion system. And most importantly, the launch of large-scale production of these shells can bring down the price from the 85 projected to 55 — 60 thousand dollars per unit (for the standard artillery version) and to 80 — 100 thousand dollars (for the zenith version). And this is a far more advantageous option for the Pentagon than the purchase of three times more expensive "Nammo" air-missiles with worse maneuverability and completely absent modernization reserve.
Information sources:
https://www.edrmagazine.eu/nammo-ramjet-artillery-round-a-game-changer
http://forum.militaryparitet.com/viewtopic.php?id=20912
http://forum.militaryparitet.com/viewtopic.php?id=23407
https://bmpd.livejournal.com/3250531.html
https://russian.rt.com/world/article/590811-ssha-ispytanie-snaryady-giperzvuk-kitai
Information