See and win
Not so much the Indians, who are the main foreign consumers of airborne radar control systems (BRLSU), developed at the Instrument Engineering Research Institute (NIIP), as the Americans wanted to have the most complete picture of our combat avionics. For this purpose, maneuvers with the unambiguous name RedFlag (“Red Flag”) were conducted in the United States in 2008. As a result of training battles of Russian design, the Indian Su-30MKI with the Bars radar surpassed both the heavy American fighter F-15 and the most massive light fighter F-16. On the teachings of Garuda IV against Su-30MKI already put up the Europeans - Mirage 2000 and Rafale F3. The result is the same - complete superiority in melee and long-range air combat. After that, the expert community in the field of avionics had a reasonable question: why do Russians have a worse element base, but the finished products — airborne radars — work better than Western ones?Indeed, a paradox ... For the answer, the NVO correspondent went to Zhukovsky near Moscow - the capital of the Russian military aviation.
ORIGINS
- No secret! - authoritatively stated in NIIP. - Another General Designer Viktor Konstantinovich Grishin (head of the Research Institute of Nuclear Research with 1973 to 1978) - “NVO”.) Said jokingly: our advantage over potential opponents was that we didn’t have warm toilets at test sites.
- This is in what sense? ..
“We tried not for profit, not for money and not for comfort, because we were patriots and enthusiasts, and if needed, we worked on 30 hours a day, and they had everything on schedule ... We have never regretted ourselves for business. That was the founder of our company, Viktor Vasilyevich Tikhomirov.
Remarkable detail. When Tikhomirov was elected a corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences for the Department of Technical Sciences (radio engineering, electronics, automation and telemechanics) in 1953, he was already three times the winner of the Stalin Prize; ”, But at that time Viktor Vasilyevich did not have any academic degrees - he did not have time to complete it. And only in 1966, the Higher Attestation Commission of the USSR corrected this administrative absurdity: for outstanding scientific achievements, three times the laureate and holder of two orders of Lenin, member Tikhomirov, was also awarded the degree of Doctor of Technical Sciences.
Achievements were worth it. Tikhomirov received the first Stalin Prize for the Redut-40 radar, which was put into service before the war. The second is for the first domestic airborne radar Gneiss-2, which was baptized in the Battle of Stalingrad. The radar was installed on the Pe-2 front-line bomber, and Tikhomirov himself tested it in a combat situation — he flew as an operator. Well, the third Stalin Prize was received already in the 1953 year for the high-precision rangefinder. In the same years, work began on the Emerald radar for the MiG-17, during which the famous Tikhomirov team was formed, which today bears the name of its founding father.
The main task, which in 1955 was set before the established branch of the Scientific Research Institute-17 (now the Research Institute of Instrument Making), was formulated as follows: development of aviation radar equipment. But other times came, at the head of the party and the state stood Nikita Khrushchev, who was piously convinced that the rocket weapon it is absolutely everything that decides, and Victor Tikhomirov, together with his comrades from the heavens, was lowered to the sinful land - to create medium-range air defense systems for the air defense of the Ground Forces.
ON EARTH, IN THE SKIES AND ON THE SEA
In addition to the cipher, the first anti-aircraft missile system of the Research Institute of Instrumentation was also given a proper name - "Cube". Well, since they were going to use it to cover the main strike force of the Soviet army from the air enemy - tank divisions, the complex was mounted on a caterpillar track. At the same time, for the first time, both a surveillance radar and a guidance radar were combined on one self-propelled vehicle.
It was planned to withdraw 1961 of the year to the joint state tests of the Cube air defense system in the second quarter. But not everything that the party set forth was feasible within the set time limits - the unknown is unpredictable, especially when it comes to a set of technical solutions that are ahead of their time. In general, the schedule flew to hell, the industry leaders did everything for everything for only a year, and Tikhomirov stood firmly on his side at the board of the Ministry of Radio Industry: it would take more than a year, but two, to bring the Cuba to a combat-ready state. And such a personal opinion cost Viktor Vasilyevich the position of the head of an enterprise.
The Cube itself also hung by a thread. The topic could have been covered in a year, if during the demonstration of military equipment at the Kubinka airbase, “Kubov” self-propelled units with mock-ups of life-size rockets did not catch Nikita Khrushchev’s eyes. In general, the party leader really liked how everything turns, and they didn’t explain to him that, by and large, it was still semi-finished. As a result, the “Cube” program unexpectedly received the highest level of priority, and in 1964, the first successful launch took place, as Tikhomirov planned, the target was scattered into pieces.
In 1967, the Cube ADMS was adopted. For its development and serial development, many employees of the Research Institute of Instrument Engineering received state awards, and the most distinguished became laureates of the Lenin and State Prizes. And only Viktor Vasilyevich Tikhomirov, although he remained in the calendar as the general designer of the complex, did not make it to the lists of those awarded or marked.
In the meantime, the “Cube” created by its ideology, the Cube, which received the name “Square” in the export version, began a triumphal march around the world. And the finest hour of the Tikhomirov brainchild struck in 1973 year during the Arab-Israeli war of the Doomsday, when Egyptian anti-aircraft gunners, using 95 missiles, shot down an enemy aircraft 64. The result was so impressive, that there was literally a line-up behind the Squares - 27 countries.
The complex today, after seven upgrades, is still in service with many armies. The fact that the F-1999 Stealth F-117 was hit by his Yugoslav “Square” in 2 influenced his incredible combat longevity. And if the ultra-modern plane, declared invisible by the Americans, turned out to be a complex of thirty-five years ago, what about Buk and its more modern versions? For example, Buk-М24, which included radars with PAR (phased antenna arrays), could, in contrast to single-purpose Cuba and six-purpose Buk, simultaneously fire at an XNUMX target.
By the way, the name "Beech" appeared at a friendly table, when the team celebrated the next labor achievement. We didn’t think too much: just turned the word "Cube" the other way around.
Ten years, while the Research Institute of Instrument Engineering was engaged in radar exclusively for mobile anti-aircraft missile systems, avionics went far ahead. How much this became clear after the traitor Belenko hijacked the MiG-1976 to Japan in September of 25 of the year. The Americans dismantled it on a cog and made a public statement: the glider is above all praise, but on the electronics side the Russians "are behind us forever."
In such a delusion, the Western aviation world stayed until 1991, while at the next International Air Show in Le Bourget there was no presentation of the MiG-31, under the nose fairing of which, to the great surprise of experts, the FAR with electronically controlled beam was discovered - so to speak, “serving part "no less unique in its characteristics, the control system of weapons (SUV)" Barrier ". Nothing like the world fighter aircraft was not even close.
And since the best Western fighters were at that time equipped with radar with slotted antenna arrays with mechanical scanning, it became clear that they were not in a position to equate with the “thirty-first” as equals. Therefore, as soon as the first MiG-31 appeared in the Far East, the Japanese and Americans, having calculated the safe distance, prudently pushed their aircraft away from our borders. By the way, the MiG-31, equipped with the SUV Zaslon, developed at the Instrument Engineering Research Institute, is still considered to be the best in its class. In 2013, the expert council of the Polytechnic Museum assigned the status of a “Monument of Science and Technology of the Fatherland” to the prototype of the PAR of the Zaslon Radar Station.
There were other breakthrough works. A special pride of the staff of the Research Institute of Instrument Engineering is the Bars radar control system (RLSU), thanks to which the Su-27 has turned from a “clean” interceptor into a multi-functional Su-30MKI fighter. At first, the Su-30MKI went exclusively for export (more than 200 aircraft sets were delivered to India alone), but then, as the NIIP said, our Ministry of Defense “thought better of it and fixed it historical mistake ”- ordered and buys in large quantities Su-30SM aircraft with Bars-R radar control system for the Russian Air Force.
But the Irbis-E radar control system for the Su-35 NIIP fighter, the Sukhoi Design Bureau and the Ryazan State Instrument Factory were used up their hard-earned money. Initially, Su-35 was intended for export deliveries and was not included in the state defense order, but the MAX-2009 was unexpectedly surprised by the military department for the first 48 planes from the Su-35C with the Irbis radar control system in the Russian version. As far as we know, the plans of the Ministry of Defense intend to purchase more 60 machines of the same type.
... And if you look into the future? For example, the Americans did not go through the development phase of passive HEADLIGHTS, but immediately switched to active HEADLIGHTS (AFAR). But, according to Anatoliy Sinani, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Deputy Director General of the Research Institute of Scientific Research and Development, the AFAR itself is not a panacea: “The main thing is electronic control of the beam, and what the developer will decide on what to do. Since there are advantages in AFAR and in PAR, an adequate concept must be chosen every time. ” For example: the “IRBIS” radar control system with a passive HEADLIGHT has a significantly longer detection range than all existing and under development radar radar systems with AFAR.
The radar complex for the PAK FA decided to do with active phased antenna arrays in the X- and L-bands. As the general director of the research institute Yuri Bely noted, the fifth-generation fighter’s electronic system will have several AFARs spread across the surface of the aircraft, which as a result form the so-called “smart skin”. In other words, it will be like an “all-seeing” aircraft. At the same time, NIIP has no doubt that PAK FA with AFAR will surpass F-22 and F-35 in a number of characteristics.
Having achieved significant results in aviation and ground-based radar, the Tikhomirov team turned their attention to sonar. Currently, NIIP produces mobile small-sized sonar systems of the Neman series, which successfully operate in the divisions of LUKOIL, Gazprom and RusHydro, etc. The Nemans also worked on history - for example, with their help, dozens of dead ships of the times of the First World War and the Great Patriotic War were discovered within the framework of the expedition “Bow to the Ships of the Great Victory”. The Neman’s asset also has a unique find - the last sailing battleship of the Russian imperial fleet Lefort, crashed back in 1857.
Sonars from Zhukovsky and the Navy will be used. Recently, the Neman successfully passed the state joint tests with a recommendation to take on the supply of the Ministry of Defense. It is assumed that they will be used to combat underwater saboteurs, as well as to search for underwater objects and bottom mines both on surface ships and in underwater vehicles.
CONVERSION AND BENEFITS
In the so-called era of change, the Instrument Engineering Research Institute, like most of the enterprises of the military-industrial complex, was left without a state defense order. There were cases when employees for three months did not receive a salary. Survived mainly due to exports - primarily due to the Bars radar and the Kvadrat air defense missile system.
They tried to switch to the production of consumer goods. It did not come to the pots, but there were attempts to produce electricity meters, massage complexes, stun guns, and so on. However, such production did not make the weather and did not warm the soul, and most importantly, it did not bring profit. So came the realization that it is necessary to deal with all the same core business.
“Smart conversion” bore fruit when a branch appeared in NIIP, the main products of which were automatic control systems (ACS) for the Metro and Russian Railways' electric trains. For example, ACS of the Vityaz series, developed at the institute, are operated today in the Moscow, Kazan and Nizhny Novgorod metros, as well as in the Sofia and Baku subways. And just recently, in January, on the Koltsevaya Line of the Moscow Metro, a system of automatic train maintenance developed in Zhukovsky, which allows the train to move automatically on the stretch and stop at the station with an almost jeweler's accuracy — to 30, was tested. In fact, the driver remains only withdraw from the depot, as well as close and open the door.
And that's remarkable. Fulfillment of orders for the Metro and Russian Railways turned out to be more profitable than the state defense order, which distracts a significant amount of manpower and resources, but does not promise such a big profitability - around 5 – 8%. "Citizen" gives two times more profitability. As they say, feel the difference!
And the institute needs money. To attract young people, to create decent conditions for highly qualified specialists with a good education, who by now know the price for themselves. Therefore, if in 2001, the average salary at the institute barely exceeded 4 thousand rubles, now it is 49 thousand, which is on average higher than in the industry, and in the Moscow region too. But in order to keep salaries at a decent level even in a recession, the main products of the Research and Development Institute of Instrument Engineering - radar stations for combat aviation complexes and air defense missile systems - must be in demand and be competitive, including in the external market.
And, of course, surpass the avionics of a possible enemy. The logic here is simple: “To see earlier means to win!” Over the course of 60 for years, the team of the V.V. Tikhomirov copes with such a task. The results of the work of the last decade are especially impressive: “Bars” for Su-30MKI, Su-30MKM, Su-30MKA, Su-30СМ, “Sword” for Su-30МК2, Su-27СМ, “Zaslon-AM” for MiG-31BM Irbis "for Su-35С. It is noteworthy that today 70% of the fighters ordered by the Russian Air Force, and those that go through the military-technical cooperation for export, are equipped with radar equipment developed at the VV Instrument-Making Instrument Engineering Research Institute. Tikhomirov. And ahead there are PAK FA and PAK DA.
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