Great Warrior and Defender "Iskander"
Since its establishment in 2009, the High-Precision Complexes holding has achieved great success in the Russian and international markets. Products of the holding's enterprises are well known not only to users, but also to their opponents. According to some information, it was the Syrian “Pantsir” that shot down the Turkish phantom reconnaissance aircraft that invaded the airspace of this Arab country. Anti-tank missile systems "Cornet" were fatal weapons for Israeli tanks in Lebanon. Over five years, the Kornet ATGM has become one of the most popular anti-tank warfare systems in the world, and its new version with the ability to combat UAVs has already found its buyer. In 2013, the High-Precision Complexes included a unique enterprise, the manufacturer of the latest Iskander high-precision operational-tactical missile system, the Engineering Design Bureau from the city of Kolomna.
During the press conference of Russian President Vladimir Putin 19 last December, one of the first was asked: did Russia really deploy Iskander tactical missile systems in the Kaliningrad region? Prior to this, December 15 German newspaper Bild, referring to the data of space intelligence, said that the Russian PRTR was seen not only in Kaliningrad, but also along the borders with the Baltic countries. The result was a local political crisis with hot remarks by European and American politicians and experts under the slogan "Russians are coming!" Vladimir Putin, answering reporters, said that the decision to deploy OTRK in Kaliningrad has not yet been made. Also, the Russian president said: "In its segment, it is the most effective weapon in the world."
Just like the Oka, Temp-S and Pioneer missile systems, the Iskander has now turned from a military tool into a military-political tool. It is noteworthy that the US military attributed the newest operational-tactical complex to armament, "prohibiting access to the theater of military operations," that is, capable of only by its presence significantly affect the distribution of forces in the area of possible conflict and prevent its onset.
The operational-tactical complex "Iskander" remains one of the most mysterious weapons systems in the arsenal of the Russian army and information about it is scarce.
Atomic storm over Europe
If you look closely at the weapons and military equipment of the armies of the developed countries of the world, it is immediately evident that operational-tactical missile systems have found limited use there. In modern armies, they are more focused on shock Aviation with high precision weapons. Although back in the 80s and 90s there were quite a lot of OTRKs in the arsenal of the same US army, their number and all the more their quality could not be compared with the Elbrus operational tactical complexes that were in service with the armies of the USSR and the Warsaw Treaty Organization countries , "Temp-S", "Point" and "Eye". Why is the Soviet, now Russian military leadership relies on the OTRK?
For the answer to this question, we turned to the historian, author of books and articles on the opposition of NATO, the USSR and the Department of Internal Affairs Yevgeny Putilov. “Unlike aviation, which was experiencing restrictions on weather conditions and the need to pre-conduct complex organization of air operations, rocket complexes could be used for nuclear strikes immediately. The enemy had no defense against ballistic missiles. ”
According to Yevgeny Putilov, the basis for the hostilities in Europe should have been strategic operations carried out by coalition front groups according to a single plan and under a single command. “It was supposed,” he argues, “that the depth of a frontal offensive operation will be up to one thousand kilometers, and the average speed of advance will be up to 100 km / day for a combined-arms army and even to 120 km / day for a tank army. The achievement of such rates was ensured by the destruction of the enemy’s battle formations simultaneously with the tactical nuclear weapons to the entire depth of the frontal offensive operation. ”
Yevgeny Putilov also explained that since there were practically no nuclear weapons for artillery in the Soviet army before the beginning of 70-s, the front-line and army tactical missile systems were the main carrier of nuclear weapons.
“This is well seen in the example of the front, which was advancing from the territory of Bulgaria,” the historian states. - Here, superiority in aviation was on the enemy's side, although the front had to advance within three to four days to a depth of 150 – 185 kilometers, and then within a week to perform a further task to a depth of 220 kilometers with crossing the Black Sea straits. Operational-tactical missile systems with nuclear weapons were the main means of hacking the enemy’s defenses on mountain passes and narrows. ”
The Soviet OTRK became the “nuclear club” that paved the way for the combined-arms units. Tracking and destroying them for Western countries was very difficult. NATO was saved only by low accuracy and relatively short range of shooting by the army PTRK 9K72 "Elbrus" and divisional "Luna". But the situation changed when the long-range Temp-S was transferred from the Strategic Missile Forces to the Ground Forces, and high-precision Oka OTRK was put into service for the army and front-line missile brigades.
“After the transfer from the Strategic Missile Forces to the Ground Forces in 1970K9 Temp-S, the front-line commanders were able to hit targets from the first day to the full depth of the offensive objectives,” notes Yevgeny Putilov. “Next lay the line of demarcation of nuclear strikes by strategic and operational-tactical means and the goals were already within the competence of the Strategic Missile Forces.”
According to Oleg Kovshar, editor-in-chief of the Internet Project “Military Frontier”, the command of the Oka and Temp-S types was careful: “The preliminary planning of a nuclear strike at the operational level involved only 10 – 15 percents of these OTRKs,” our interlocutor states. - The main burden lay on medium-range missiles - they were connected to the nuclear facility, including for the operational level. Available RSD and OTRK like 9K72 allowed it. The main number of Oka and Temp-S complexes was to start work after the conflict began, that is, to receive target designation in the course of the development of the situation on newly identified targets, such as NATO nuclear attack means, heliports, troop accumulations and so on. d.
By the middle of 80-ies, the troops of the USSR and the Warsaw Pact countries began testing the first reconnaissance-strike complexes based on the Oka and Temp-S OTRK, target designations for which were issued ground-based and aviation reconnaissance, and later satellite systems. Given that the time to prepare for the launch, the introduction of the flight task and the launch itself was within 20 minutes for both complexes, the identified object was destroyed in the period from 30 minutes to one hour. It is noteworthy that at the beginning of the 80-s, special combat units in the OTRK arsenals pushed cluster warheads. The positions of the American ballistic Pershing-2 and ground-based Tomahawk missiles also came under attack from the Oka and Temp complexes. In this situation, US President Ronald Reagan initiated negotiations to reduce medium-range and short-range missiles, which ended with the signing of December 8 by the 1987 of the Permanent Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Short-Range Missiles.
“The official motivation of the Americans in demanding the reduction of the 9K714 Oka missile system within the framework of the INF Treaty was that the American missile of the same size could have an 500 range of kilometers,” says the historian Yevgeny Putilov. - The Soviet "Oka" on tests showed the maximum range of 407 kilometers. However, the position of Soviet negotiators allowed the Americans to demand a unilateral reduction of the Oka complexes under the slogan “You promised.” What was done.
Under the conditions of the limitation of the INF Treaty, the command of the Armed Forces of the USSR in 1987 year formulated the requirements for a prospective OTRK capable of hitting well-protected targets with missiles with both nuclear and conventional warheads in conditions of enemy counteraction, and not only stage of its preparation and exit to the starting position. This complex was designed in 1987 by the Kolomna machine-building design bureau on its own initiative by order and under the guidance of chief designer Sergei Pavlovich Invincible, the Iskander complex.
The birth of a warrior
“At first, there was the 8K14 rocket,” says Dmitry Kornev, the chief editor of the Militaryrussia Internet project. - Appearing at the dawn of the 50s based on the German V-2, by the end of the decade, the rocket formed the basis of the already effective Elbrus missile system 9K72. At the turn of the 50 – 60-ies came the awareness of the effectiveness of new areas - troop (tactical), army and front-line missile systems, as well as such Western innovations as solid-fuel missiles. And a wide front began work on several types of complexes. ”
According to the expert, the OKB-60 GKAT (the future Torch) came forward with a fairly revolutionary project in the middle of 2, which proposed the creation of the Hawk and Tochka military missile complexes based on the B-611 anti-aircraft missile. But they were waiting for air defense and missile defense systems from OKB-2, so at the end of 60-s, work on the ground direction in the design bureau was curtailed, and the documentation on the “Point” was transferred to Kolomna machine-building design bureau.
“By the end of the 60-ies, effective mobile chassis, compact and increasingly precise inertial control systems, efficient mixed solid fuel and engines based on it, compact nuclear warheads were created in the USSR. The creation of reconnaissance-strike complexes was on the agenda. Therefore, a real boom has occurred in 70 – 80s in the field of short-range missiles, ”Kornev told the publication.
The expert also explained that in 1972, due to the workload of MITA on the creation of Temp-2C mobile ICBMs, the draft design of the 9КХNUMX "Uran" complex was transferred for revision to the KB machine-building industry (KBM), where the 711К9 rocket complex was created on its basis "Oka". Then the triumphal march of KBM began in the segment of short-range ballistic missile systems.
“9K714“ Oka ”with a range of up to 500 kilometers gradually transformed into 9K717“ Oka-U ”, which was supposed to grow to“ Volga ”with a range of about 1000 kilometers. On the basis of these complexes, the Volodymyr KBM research and development complex, by the end of 80's - the beginning of 90's, planned to create an entirely new class of rocket weapons - a unified universal modular rocket system that could be used in the interests of divisions, armies and different types of rocket fronts, receiving target designation from different sources, ”continued Kornev.
According to the expert, on the “Wave” it was planned to introduce the re-targeting of missiles in flight, according to information from aviation and other “eyes and ears” of reconnaissance-strike complexes. But the INF Treaty intervened.
“Initially, the creators of the new Iskander two-missile tactical complex 9K715 set themselves the goal of creating a system capable of destroying (with two missiles) an important target at a distance from 70 to 300 kilometers. The development of technology has allowed several times to reduce the outfit of the funds necessary to defeat important goals. This is a comparison with the Elbrus 9K72 complexes that were in service, which Iskander was supposed to replace in the 80's. But the signing of the INF Treaty has made adjustments to the development of rocket systems in our country, and Iskander became Iskander-M — the way we know it now, ”concluded Dmitry Kornev.
From rocket to modular system
Work on the Iskander complex began in 1988. Surprisingly, the collapse in 1991 of the USSR slightly influenced the creation of a new OTRK. In the summer of 1991, the first throwing launches at the Kapustin Yar training ground took place, and in 1992 the Volgograd Titan plant presented the first chassis for the new complex. But in 1993, work on the Iskander shifted to the creation of a "multi-purpose modular missile system of the ground forces," known as the Iskander-M.
The newest operational-tactical complex became the pinnacle of creativity of the chief designer of KBM Sergey Pavlovich the Invincible, to which he went, creating “Point”, “Oku”, “Oku-M”, etc. The newest “Iskander” embodied all the experience and skills of its creator .
“At present, KBM is only improving the Iskander, improving the work of its units and mechanisms, putting new radio-electronic equipment, sighting systems, etc. Sergei Pavlovich the Unbeatable did the rest, developing the unified universal modular missile system Iskander,” the Military Military -industrial courier "Dmitry Kornev.
The new OTRK must hit targets not only with conventional ballistic missiles with different warheads, but also with cruise missiles. In 1995, the first experimental launcher on the Belarusian MZKT chassis appeared and the missile launches began. In 1997, complex tests started at the Kapustin Yar test site, which ended in 2004 with the adoption of the Iskander-M operational-tactical complex for the Russian Army. The very next year, the first complexes entered service with the 630-th separate missile division of the 60-th Combat Use Center in Kapustin Yar. In the same year, the Iskander PTRK export model project was presented. It was named Iskander-E (export) and differed from a Russian product in a launcher for one missile with a reduced range instead of two in the Iskander-M variant.
Until this year, several rocket brigades have been re-armed to the new complex.
Work on the cruise missile started back in 1999-m. After the state tests in 2007, the P-500 was put into service. Initially it was assumed that a new modification, the Iskander-K, would be created under the cruise missile. Several times the “K” variant appeared at various weapons exhibitions, causing genuine interest of foreign buyers. But apparently, cruise missiles will be delivered only to the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
According to KBM Director General Valery Kashin, five types of missiles, both aeroballistic and cruise, have already been developed and put into service, three more are under development. It is noteworthy that in the Iskander ammunition there are missiles with penetrating warheads for the destruction of bunkers and other enemy fortifications.
The armament of the likely enemy also does not stand still, new anti-air and anti-missile defense systems appear. Now the American Patriot has passed a significant modernization and is capable of striking aeroballistic targets. The US Navy, which received the upgraded SM-2 and SM-3 anti-missiles, is not far behind. Naval and land systems constitute a single integrated missile defense system in the theater of operations. But the Russian side also has the answer. According to a number of media reports, missiles for the Iskander complex have received systems for overcoming enemy antimissile defense. Such measures, implemented in the Oka OTRK, are passive and active jamming systems hidden in the rocket body. When approaching the target, dipole reflectors, small jammers, etc. are separated from the rocket.
NATO Headache
The newest Iskander-M operational tactical complexes are being used not only by district (front) command and subunit rocket brigades, but also by brigades subordinate to the combined-arms army headquarters, replacing reliable, but already outdated Tochka-U tactical missile systems. .
According to an independent military expert, one of the authors of the book “Tanks of August” devoted to the Russian-Georgian conflict in August 2008, Anton Lavrov, “Iskander” with its markedly increased accuracy and range compared to the “Point-U” brigades. At the disposal of the Ground Forces, for the first time after the failure of the INF, there appears its own long arm, capable of striking at the enemy’s key small-sized objects in its deep rear practically to the entire depth of front-line aviation.
“In today's conflict, Iskander-M will take on the tasks reduced under the INF Treaty of Tempus-S and the Pioneers, while possessing the Oka long-range characteristics,” suggested the chief editor of the Internet project “Military Frontier Oleg Kovshar.
According to Western experts, the Iskander-M operational tactical missile system, with its high precision and an arsenal of missiles for all occasions, will find worthy use not only in a big war, but also in a local conflict to destroy bases, places of concentration, and fortified militant positions. And in combination with the latest Russian reconnaissance systems of the complex missiles, you can hit targets in real time.
Interested in the procurement of the newest complex and some foreign countries. But, according to Andrei Frolov, editor-in-chief of the Export and Armament magazine, due to the negative reaction of the West and the INF Treaty, it is unlikely that these negotiations will be known before the transaction is made. “The countries of the CIS are interested in these complexes, in particular Armenia, Belarus. Perhaps even Ukraine to replace their "points-U". Also Iskander-E may be of interest to Iran or Iraq, ”Frolov suggested.
The newest Iskander-M complex produced by the machine-building design bureau took a worthy place in the arsenal of the Russian army. The complex will cope not only with a high-tech adversary, but also with militants in local conflicts. The company, headed by Valery Kashin, continues to improve the OTRK, in its arsenal there are the latest not only aeroballistic, but also cruise missiles. The leadership of the KBM and its employees were able in a short time to create a unique weapon system, which was highly appreciated by the domestic and foreign military, as well as the president of Russia. Now that KBM has become part of the holding company NPO High-Precision Complexes, which has allowed for the formation of a closed loop control when creating high-precision weapons of the operational and tactical zone of general-purpose forces, the work on Iskander will reach a new level, making OTRK destructive and universal .
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