On sight at the soulless mechanism
Modern weapon less need of a man in combat
The development of military technology has led to the emergence of an adversary who is incapable of thinking, but he makes decisions in a split second. He does not know pity and never takes prisoners, hits him almost without a miss - but he is not always able to distinguish his from others ...
It all started with a torpedo ...
... And to be precise, it all started with the problem of shooting accuracy. And not a rifle, and not even artillery. The question arose squarely before the sailors of the 19th century, who were faced with a situation where their very expensive “self-propelled mines” were passing by. And this is understandable: they were moving very slowly, and the enemy was not standing still, waiting. The maneuver of the ship for a long time was the most reliable method of protection against torpedo weapons.
Of course, with the increase in the speed of torpedoes, it became harder to dodge them, so the designers spent most of the forces on this. But why not take a different path and not try to correct the course of an already moving torpedo? Asking this question, renowned inventor Thomas Edison (Thomas Alva Edison, 1847 – 1931) paired up with the less famous Winfield Sims (Winfield Scott Sims, 1844) presented an electric torpedo in 1887 that connected four wires to a mine ship. The first two - fed her engine, and the second - served to control the rudders. The idea, however, was not new, something similar was attempted to be constructed earlier, but the Edison-Sims torpedo became the first adopted (in the US and Russia) and mass-produced moving remote-controlled weapons. And she had only one drawback - the power cable. As for the thin control wires, they are still used today in the most modern types of weapons, for example, in anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM).
Soviet anti-tank missile system "Fagot". Adopted in 1970 year. The rocket is controlled by wire, it can fly up to 2 km and hit a target moving at a speed of no more than 60 km / h
However, the length of the wire limits the "sighting range" of such projectiles. This problem was solved at the very beginning of the 20th century by a completely peaceful radio. Russian inventor Popov (1859 – 1906), as well as Italian Marconi (Guglielmo Marconi, 1874 – 1937), invented something that allows people to communicate with each other, rather than kill each other. But, as you know, science can not always afford pacifism, because it is driven by military orders. Among the inventors of the first radio-controlled torpedoes were Nikola Tesla (Nikola Tesla, 1856 – 1943) and the outstanding French physicist Edouard Branly (Édouard Eugène Désiré Branly, 1844 – 1940). And although their offspring rather resembled self-propelled boats submerged in water with superstructures and antennas, the method of controlling equipment using a radio signal itself became, without exaggeration, a revolutionary invention! Children's toys and unmanned airplanes, car alarm remotes, and spacecraft driven from the earth are the brainchild of those clumsy cars.
Still, even such torpedoes, albeit remotely, were aimed by a man - who sometimes has a chance to miss. The idea of a homing weapon, capable of finding a target and maneuvering towards it without human intervention, helped to eliminate this “human factor”. At first, this idea was expressed in fantastic literary works. But the war of man with the machine ceased to be fiction much earlier than we assume.
Eyesight and hearing electronic sniper
Over the past twenty years, the US Army has participated four times in major local conflicts. And each time their beginning was transformed, with the help of television, into a kind of show, creating a positive image of the achievements of American engineering. High-precision weapons, guided bombs, self-targeting missiles, unmanned reconnaissance planes, battle management using orbiting satellites — all this was to shake the imagination of the townsfolk and prepare them for new military spending.
However, the Americans were not original in this. Propaganda of all kinds of "miracle weapons" in the twentieth century - a common thing. It was widely conducted in the Third Reich: although the Germans did not have the technical ability to photograph its use, and the secrecy regime was observed, they too could boast of various technologies that looked even more amazing for that time. And the PC-1400X radio-controlled aerial bomb was far from the most impressive of them.
The torpedo store of the British army during the Second World War. Photo: OSS from the National Archives collection
At the beginning of World War II in clashes with a powerful royal military fleetwho defended the British Isles, the German Luftwaffe and U-Boat-Waffe suffered heavy losses. Enhanced anti-aircraft and anti-submarine weapons, supplemented by the latest technological advances, made the English ships more and more protected, and therefore more dangerous targets. But German engineers began to work on this problem even before it appeared. Since 1934, they have been piling over the creation of the T-IV “Falke” torpedo, which had a passive acoustic homing system (its prototype was developed even earlier in the USSR), responsive to the noise of the ship's propellers. Like the more advanced Zaunkonig TV, it was intended to increase firing accuracy - which was especially important when launching a torpedo from a long distance, safer for a submarine, or in conditions of complex maneuverable combat. For aviation in 1942, the Hs-293 was created, becoming, in fact, the first anti-ship cruise missile. A somewhat strange-looking design was dropped from an airplane a few kilometers from the ship, outside the range of its anti-aircraft guns, accelerated by the engine and planned to the target, controlled by radio.
The weapons looked impressive for their time. But its effectiveness was not great: only 9% of self-guided torpedoes hit the target and only about 2% of guided missile bombs. These inventions required deep refinement than the victorious allies did after the war.
Still, it was precisely the World War II missile and jet weapons, starting with the “Katyushas” and ending with the huge V-2, which became the basis for the development of new systems that became the basis of all modern arsenals. Why exactly rocket? Is their advantage only in flight range? It is possible that they were chosen for further development also because the designers saw in these “air torpedoes” an ideal option for creating a projectile guided in flight. First and foremost, such a weapon was needed to fight aviation - given that the aircraft is a high-speed maneuverable target.
However, it was impossible to do this by wire, keeping the target in sight of your eyes, as on the German Ruhrstahl X-4, was impossible. This method was rejected by the Germans themselves. Fortunately, for the human eye even before the war came up with a good replacement - a radar station. The electromagnetic pulse sent in a certain direction, returned, reflected from the target. By the delay time of the reflected pulse, you can measure the distance to the target, and by the change in the carrier frequency - the speed of its movement. In the C-25 anti-aircraft complex, already in 1954, which entered service with the Soviet army, the missiles were controlled by radio, and the control teams calculated the difference between the coordinates of the missile and the target measured by the radar station. Two years later, the famous C-75 appeared, which not only was capable of “leading” simultaneously 18 – 20 goals, but also had good mobility — it could be moved relatively quickly from place to place. The rockets of this particular complex shot down the Powers reconnaissance aircraft, and then "flunked" hundreds of American aircraft in Vietnam!
American antiradar missile "Shrike" (AGM-45 Shrike) at the time of the meeting with the radar. Photo: US Navy
In the process of improving the radar guidance systems missiles divided into three types. Semi-active consists of a rocket on board, the receiving radar, which catches the reflected signal from the target, "highlighted" by the second station - a radar of target illumination, which is located on the launch complex or fighter aircraft and "leads" the enemy. Its plus is that more powerful radiating stations can hold a target in their arms at a very significant distance (up to 400 km). The active guidance system has its own radiating radar, it is more independent and accurate, but its “outlook” is much narrower. Therefore, it usually turns on only when approaching the goal. The third, passive guidance system, emerged as an ingenious decision to use the enemy's radar — at the signal of which it directs the missile. It is they who, in particular, destroy enemy radar and air defense systems.
The old inertial missile guidance system, like the V-1, was not forgotten. Its initial simple design, which only informed the projectile of the necessary, predetermined flight trajectory, is now supplemented with satellite navigation correction systems or a kind of orientation along the terrain that sweeps under it - using an altimeter (radar, laser) or video camera. At the same time, for example, the Soviet X-55 can not just "see" the terrain, but also maneuver above it in height, keeping close above the surface in order to hide from enemy radar. True, in its pure form, such a system is only suitable for hitting fixed targets, because it does not guarantee high accuracy of hitting. So usually it is complemented by other guidance systems that turn on at the last stage of the path when entering the target.
In addition, the infrared or thermal guidance system is well known. If its first models could catch only the heat of hot gases escaping from the nozzle of a jet engine, then today their sensitive range is much higher. And these thermal heads are pointing not only on short-range MANPADS of the Stinger or Igla type, but also on air-to-air missiles (for example, the Russian P-73). However, they have other, more mundane targets. After all, the heat radiates not only the engine of an airplane or a helicopter, but also a car, armored vehicles; in the infrared spectrum you can even see the heat that buildings emit (windows, ventilation openings). True, these heads of guidance are already called thermal imaging, and they are able to see and distinguish the outlines of the target, and not just a shapeless spot.
Portable laser designator (portable laser designator rangefinder) allows the homing head not to be mistaken with the target. It highlights its short pulses, not visible to the eye, but well recognized by the rocket’s navigation system. Photo: Staff Sgt. Cruz G. Sotelo / USMC
To some extent, they can also be attributed to semi-active laser guidance. The principle of its operation is extremely simple: the laser itself is directed at the target, and the missile flies neatly onto the bright red dot. Laser heads, in particular, stand on high-precision air-to-ground missiles X-38МЭ (Russia) and AGM-114K Hellfire (USA). It is interesting that quite often the goals they designated were saboteurs abandoned in the rear of the enemy with peculiar "laser pointers" (only powerful). In particular, the targets were destroyed in Afghanistan and Iraq.
If infrared systems are used mainly at night, the television, on the contrary, works only during the day. The main part of the head of the missile is a video camera. From her image enters the monitor in the cockpit of the pilot, who chooses a target and presses on start. Next, the rocket is guided by its electronic “brain”, which perfectly recognizes the target, keeps it in sight of the camera and selects the ideal flight path. This is the very principle of “shot - and forgot”, which today is considered the pinnacle of military technology.
However, it was a mistake to shift all responsibility for the conduct of the battle onto the shoulders of the machines. Sometimes, a prruha happened to the electronic old woman - as, for example, it happened in October 2001, when during the firing practice in the Crimea, the Ukrainian C-200 rocket chose not a training target at all, but the passenger liner Tu-154. Such tragedies were not at all rare during the conflicts in Yugoslavia (1999), Afghanistan and Iraq - the most precise weapons simply “made a mistake” when choosing peaceful goals for themselves, and not at all those that people intended. However, they still did not rationalize neither the military nor the designers, who continue to design all new models of guns hanging on the wall, capable not only to take aim independently - but also to shoot when they consider it necessary ...
Rocket launcher XM501 with remote control. Each container contains 15 missiles. The launches of various containers are controlled from a single remote control, and the infrared heads are directed at the missile target. Photo: US Army
Sleeping in ambush
In the spring of 1945, the Volkssturm battalions hastily assembled for the defense of Berlin took a short course in military training. The instructors sent to them from among the war veterans who were written off for injuries taught the teenagers how to use the “Panzerfaust” hand grenade launcher and, trying to cheer up the boys, they said that with this “miracle weapon” a person could easily knock out any tank. And they shyly lowered their eyes, knowing full well that they were lying. Because the effectiveness of the "panzerfausts" was extremely small - and only their huge number allowed him to earn a reputation as a thunderstorm of armored vehicles. For each successful shot, there were a dozen soldiers or militias slanted in line or crushed by caterpillars tanks, - and a few others who, having thrown their weapons, simply fled from the battlefield.
Years passed, more sophisticated anti-tank grenade launchers entered the armies of the world, then the ATGM complexes, but the problem remained the same: the grenade throwers and operators died, often without even having time to make their shot. For armies that valued their soldiers and did not want to overwhelm enemy armored vehicles with their bodies, this became a very serious problem. But the protection of tanks was also constantly improved, including active fire. There was even a special type of combat vehicles (BMPT), whose task is to detect and destroy enemy "faunters". In addition, potentially dangerous areas of the battlefield can be pre-worked through with artillery or air strikes. Cassette, and even more so isobaric and “vacuum” (CWA) projectiles and bombs leave little chance even to those who hid at the bottom of the trench.
However, there is a “fighter” to whom death is not at all terrible and with whom it is not at all a pity to sacrifice - because it is intended for this. This is an anti-tank mine. Weapons, massively used in World War II, still remain a serious threat to all ground military equipment. However, the classic mine is by no means perfect. For the defense of defense sites, they need to be placed in dozens, and sometimes even hundreds, and there is no guarantee that the enemy will not find them and will not harm them. The Soviet TM-83 seems to be more successful in this respect, which is not installed along the path of the enemy’s armored vehicles, but at the side — for example, on the side of the road, where sappers will not look for it. The seismic sensor, which reacts to ground vibrations and includes an infrared “eye”, informs it about the target's approach - and that, in turn, closes the fuse when the hot engine compartment of the car is facing the mine. And it explodes, throwing forward a shock cumulative core capable of hitting armor at a distance of up to 50 m. But even being discovered, TM-83 remains inaccessible to the enemy: it’s enough for a person to approach her at a distance of ten meters, as her sensors will work on his steps and heat body. The explosion - and the enemy sapper will go home, covered with a flag.
Non-contact fuse device NVU-P "Hunting". Includes five minutes, guided by the sound of steps. Illustration: “Warsaw pact mines” from the archive of Oleg Valetsky
Today, seismic sensors are increasingly being used in the construction of various mines, displacing traditional pressure fuses, "antennae" and "stretching." Their advantage is that they are able to “hear” a moving object (equipment or person) long before it gets close to the mine itself. However, he is unlikely to be able to approach her, because these sensors have closed the fuse much earlier.
The American mine M93 Hornet, as well as a similar Ukrainian development nicknamed "The Woodpecker" and a number of other, as yet experimental developments, seem even more fantastic. A weapon of this type is a complex consisting of a set of sensors for passive target detection (seismic, acoustic, infrared) and an anti-tank missile launcher. In some embodiments, they can be supplemented with anti-personnel ammunition, and the "Dyatla" even anti-aircraft missiles (like a MANPADS). In addition, the "woodpecker" can be installed covertly, being buried in the ground - which, at the same time, protects the complex from shock waves of explosions if its section is subjected to fire.
So, in the affected area of these complexes is the enemy equipment. The complex begins work, launching a homing missile in the direction of the target, which, moving along a curved path, will fall exactly into the roof of the tank - its most vulnerable spot! And in M93 Hornet, the combat charge simply explodes over the target (an infrared fuse is triggered), hitting it from top to bottom with the same cumulative core as the TM-83.
The principle of such mines appeared even in the 1970s, when automatic anti-submarine complexes were adopted by the Soviet fleet: the PMR-1 mine-missile and the PMT-1 mine-torpedo. In the US, their counterpart was the Mark 60 Captor system. As a matter of fact, all of them were self-guided antisubmarine torpedoes that already existed by that time and decided to put them on independent watch in the depths of the sea. They had to start at the command of acoustic sensors that reacted to the noise of enemy submarines sailing nearby.
B-52 bomber drops Mark-60 anti-submarine torpedo. Photo: SSgt. Russ Pollanen / USAF
Perhaps, only air defense forces have managed so far with such full automation - however, the development of anti-aircraft complexes that would protect the sky almost without any human participation is already underway. What happens? At first we made the weapon controllable, then “taught” him to direct himself to the target, and now we allowed him to make the most important decision - to open fire to the defeat!
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