Heavy self-propelled ATGMs: the end of history
"Chrysanthemum-S"
The Time of the Universal Soldiers
In the segment of land vehicles, the main heroes of the special operation were universal vehicles, for example, the BMP-3. Tanks, which have been buried since the end of the last century, have also not lost their leading positions, although they have seriously changed their profile of work. Workhorses are also highly valued, capable of taking on a wide range of combat loads and performing an equally wide range of tasks. Such heroes, of course, include MT-LB and the older sister of MT-LBu.
At the same time, highly specialized military equipment finds limited use in the realities of a special operation. These include airborne equipment of the Airborne Forces, traditionally distinguished by high firepower and high mobility, but insufficient armor.
A lot has already been said about the overdue revision of the tactics of using airborne troops and, accordingly, the deep modernization of military equipment. This time we will focus on rather inconspicuous vehicles, which, nevertheless, were talked about a lot before the special military operation.
We are talking about self-propelled anti-tank systems, primarily on tracks.
The technique is predominantly defensive, and therefore could not show itself to the fullest during last year's spring offensive of the Russian army. It would seem that the modern attempts of the Armed Forces of Ukraine should have become a high point for the Russian Shturm-S and Khrizantema-S. But the main killers of NATO equipment in the steppes of Zaporozhye turned out to be helicopters, anti-tank mines and Lancets. As the President of Russia mentioned, they were accompanied by ideal Kornets.
There is a strong impression that there is simply no place for heavy self-propelled anti-tank systems in a special operation.
Mobile ATGM carriers are good for everyone, but when there are no enemy tanks, they find work at the front with great difficulty
The caterpillar carrier of anti-tank missiles is largely a domestic know-how.
With a certain conventionality, "Chrysanthemum" and "Storm" can be called the successors of not the most successful missile tank IT-1. In the days of Nikita Khrushchev, missiles of all classes were held in high esteem, and ATGMs did not escape this fate - a whole T-62 was sent for installation. It turned out to be expensive and very inefficient - IT-1 was removed from service six years after its adoption.
At present, the Russian Army has an impressive arsenal of self-propelled weapons designed primarily to destroy enemy armored vehicles. The heaviest of them is the Khrizantema-S, armed with a 54-kilogram 9M123 rocket capable of penetrating up to 1,25 meters of armor. On paper, the technology should inspire fear and awe in NATO technology. And she really inspires. Only in the special operation is there little evidence of the effective operation of tank destroyers.
"Chrysanthemum-S" does not hunt alone - the battery includes a combat vehicle of the platoon commander and the battery itself. Needless to say, a group of vehicles sharply sharpened to fight tanks requires additional air defense cover and protection from saboteurs?
"Chrysanthemums" are also expensive products: the BMP-3 chassis is one of the most high-tech in the class of light armored vehicles. By the way, the Troika base is used for the Kornet-T self-propelled missile system. The maximum range of work on targets for two ATGMs is 5,5-6 km, but this is a very conditional figure.
Even on the plains of the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, it is very difficult to find such straight lines, which makes the crews of tracked anti-tank systems approach the tanks at critically close distances. This automatically increases the likelihood of detection by intelligence and destruction. And the enemy, unfortunately, can hit the equipment quite easily. If, of course, it will.
With the younger brother "Shturm-S" on the MT-LB platform, the situation is similar. With the exception of the used Ataka missile, which is paired with aviation ATGM "Whirlwind" gets the enemy at ranges up to 8 km. In fact, the only option for using self-propelled anti-tank missiles in defense is to work from a caponier on a hill.
End of the story?
Heavy tracked anti-tank systems turned out to be “limitedly fit” for a special operation for several reasons.
The competition from the army aviation is unprecedented - the Ka-52 killed more than a dozen tanks and infantry fighting vehicles over the summer. Helicopters with high mobility can be quickly deployed to places where the front is breached and operate outside the zone of return fire. As we have already found out above, neither Chrysanthemum-S nor Shturm-S are capable of this.
The future belongs to relatively inexpensive and resource wheeled ATGM carriers
The second factor is the increase in the release of the Lancet kamikaze, capable of hitting equipment at a distance of several tens of kilometers. Of course, it is impossible to compare the lethal force of the 9M123 rocket with a tandem warhead with 3-4 kilograms of explosives in the Lancet. But the kamikaze operator is free to choose the place of impact on the tank, aiming at the most vulnerable points, and the Chrysanthemum ingenuously strikes from a horizontal position.
Hitting the Lancet and its crew is much more difficult than tracking down the rather big BMP-3 profile, albeit without a turret, at the forefront. At close approaches, cheap by military standards, kamikaze quadrocopters with bolted RPG grenades are effective. For only $500-$1, an operator is able to destroy a multi-million dollar tank. At the same time, working outside the line of sight of the enemy.
Finally, the third factor that calls into question the concept of heavy tank hunters is the widespread use of ATGMs on mobile platforms. Now who just does not have their own anti-tank missile. The Terminator has four Attacks at once, the infantry fighting vehicle with the Berezhok module has four Kornets, the Titan combat vehicle is presented at the Army-2023 forum, in which the light spoke module is supplemented with a pair of Konkursov-M .
Almost all combat vehicles are equipped with anti-tank missiles, which somewhat devalues the importance of heavy platforms
The BT-3F with Kornet-E missiles was demonstrated at the rank of a conceptual model - this is a 17-seat tracked armored personnel carrier that has the ability to destroy enemy tanks and fortifications. A bit of a controversial idea, but it will probably be further developed. For all the presented vehicles, ATGM is an additional means of combat, but they are much more versatile and, in which case, they can stand up for themselves. What can not be said about Chrysanthemum or Sturm.
In the first photo, "Kornet-D1" on the BMD-4M platform, in the lower one - BT-3F with anti-tank systems.
Wheel carriers of anti-tank systems favorably differ in lower cost, greater mobility and resource. This is primarily about the "Cornet-D" on the chassis of the "Tiger".
By the way, the idea of light chassis for anti-tank missiles has not died in the West. The Americans, in particular, mount TOW on HMMWW and Stryker. It seems that this direction will become prevalent in the coming years, and complex and expensive tracked chassis will find a much more important job.
But the Russian military-industrial complex does not calm down - the Kornet-D2023 on the BMD-1M platform is demonstrated at the Army-4 forum. The latter, by the way, is more expensive in production than the BMP-3, primarily due to scarce alloys and complex suspension.
As soon as tanks stopped going on the attack in the manner of the Second World War, the need for expensive and high-tech hunters disappeared. Now the tank, in extreme cases, will not climb on the rampage, and if it climbs, then after a thorough reconnaissance. From which an ambush will not hide even from one "Chrysanthemum" and "Sturm".
It looks like it's time to reconsider the prospects for a family of highly specialized vehicles at the front.
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