Precision weapons deterrence or war. precision weapons
In the general case, the WTO is understood as a non-nuclear weapon that, as a result of targeting, ensures selective destruction of mobile and stationary targets in any conditions of the situation with a probability close to one.
Military Encyclopedic Dictionary: “Precision weapons include guided weapons capable of hitting a target with the first launch (shot) with a probability of at least 0.5 at any range within its reach”
The high accuracy of aiming at the target makes it possible to achieve the desired efficiency of its destruction without the use of nuclear weapons.
At present, samples of the WTO are available in all types of armed forces of foreign states.
WTO is distinguished from conventional ammunition by the presence of command, autonomous or combined guidance systems. With its help, the flight path to the target (object of destruction) is controlled and the specified accuracy of the ammunition hitting the target is ensured.
Depending on the type of carrier, the HTO can be aviation, sea and land-based, and in the next 10 years, space-based HTO may appear.
The air-based WTO is represented by the following aircraft weapons:
cruise missiles(KR),
guided missiles (UR) or guided missiles (URS)) of general purpose air-to-surface class,
managed aviation bombs and cassettes (UAB and UAK),
anti-radar missiles (PRR),
anti-ship missiles (ASMs).
Depending on the type of guidance system installed on board, the aviation WTO is subdivided:
on the WTO with optical-electronic guidance systems (television, thermal imaging, laser);
WTO with a passive radar guidance system;
WTO with active radar (mm-wavelength range) guidance system;
WTO with an inertial guidance system and correction according to the space radio navigation system (CRNS) "Navstar";
WTO with a combined guidance system (various combinations of the above guidance systems).
Depending on the maximum range combat use The WTO is divided into:
- long-range WTO - more than 100 km;
– WTO of medium range – up to 100 km;
- WTO short range - up to 20 km.
Strategic cruise missiles have a high probability of hitting various objects. This is achieved by the presence of a nuclear weapon and the combined guidance system used on them. It is based on an inertial navigation system with a radio altimeter, which operates throughout the entire flight route of the CD.
In specially specified areas of correction, corrections of the territorial-correlation system TERCOM (Terrain Contour Matching) are introduced into the inertial system. The operating principle of this system is as follows.
Above the correction area, using a radio altimeter, the true value of the CR flight altitude above earth's surface, and the barometric altimeter, which is part of the onboard equipment, determines the flight altitude above sea level, which is taken as the initial one. The obtained altitude values are sent to the comparison unit, where the barometric and radar altimeter readings are calculated. The difference in readings gives the height of the area above sea level, and their sequence is a profile of the terrain. The terrain height values in digital form, obtained after passing through the processor, enter the computer, where they are compared with all possible sequences of the digital matrix of the correction area (these matrices are preliminarily prepared and entered into the rocket's onboard computer).
As a result of the comparison (correlation), the matrix selects the sequence that is identical to that obtained in flight. After that, the computer determines the navigation errors in range and direction relative to the programmed trajectory and generates the appropriate corrective commands received on the rudders of the CD to change the trajectory of its flight.
The main performance characteristics of these missiles are given in Table 1 (draw).
Table 1.
Cruise missiles (CR) can be armed with B-52N strategic bombers, each of which has 20 CR and B-2A bombers (16 CR on board one aircraft).
The AGM86B ALCM-B (Advanced Launched Cruise Missile) strategic cruise missile is designed to destroy military and industrial targets with a nuclear warhead at long ranges (up to 2,600 km), as a rule, without the aircraft entering the air defense coverage area.
During the flight of the ALCM-B CD to the maximum range, there can be more than 10 correction areas on the route, spaced up to 200 km from each other. The first correction area, assigned up to 1000 km from the launch line, has dimensions of 67x11 km, and the last one - 4x28 km. The sizes of other areas may vary depending on the nature of the terrain: in mountainous areas they are smaller than in flat areas, the average size of the correction area is 8x8 km.
The most favorable terrain for flight correction is the terrain, the average height difference of which is in the range of 15–60 m. Such a terrain allows flight at altitudes of 60–100 m. The guidance error (KVO) when using TERCOM systems does not exceed 35 m.
The radio altimeter operates on the entire low-altitude section. The width of the radiation pattern of the slot antenna is about 70° in the direction of the rocket flight and about 30° in the transverse direction. When a rocket is flying at a height of 100 m, the irradiated area on the ground looks like a rectangle with sides of 150x70 m; at a flight altitude of less than 100 m, the irradiated area decreases.
The missile flight program, information about the target and areas of correction are entered into the on-board computer of the missile during its preparation. It takes 20 ... 25 minutes to check the control equipment, set the initial data and prepare the first rocket for launch, during which the aircraft maintains a given course. The launch interval of subsequent missiles is 15 seconds or more. After launch, there is no communication between the aircraft and the rocket.
The existing correction system was supplemented by the installation on board the spacecraft of the NAVSTAR space radio navigation system, which allows you to continuously determine the location of missiles on the flight route with an accuracy of 13 ... 15 m.
Based on the foregoing, the objects of destruction of the Kyrgyz Republic will be stationary military targets, including highly protected ones, as well as area objects with a high concentration of human resources and production capacities.
KR AGM-129A ACM (Advanced Cruise Missile), made using the Stealth technology with a range of up to 4400 km, has a CEP of up to 10 m. To improve accuracy in the final flight segment (guidance), in addition to the TERCOM system at a distance of 20 km and closer to The object uses an electron-optical correlation correction system DSMAC / DIGISMAC (Digital Scene Matching Area Corelator). With the help of optical sensors, the areas adjacent to the target are inspected. The resulting images are digitally entered into a computer, where they are compared with the reference digital "pictures" of the regions stored in the computer's memory, and based on the results of the comparison, corrective missile maneuvers are developed. In addition, a RAC system can be installed in which a comparison of the radar image of the area is made. The weight of the rocket does not exceed 1000 kg, EPR - 0.04 m2. The nuclear warhead with power switching from 3...5 to 200 kt can be used with a conventional warhead at a range of up to 2500 km. The missile carriers are strategic bombers V-52N, V-2A.
Advantages of KR:
- long flight range, allows strikes to the entire depth of the enemy territory without entering the air defense coverage area;
- low flight altitude and EPR, the possibility of a programmed maneuver to bypass strong air defense groups will make it difficult to timely detect missile launchers and destroy them using modern air defense air defense systems;
– the impossibility of determining the directions and objects of the RC actions;
- high firing accuracy and the probability of hitting Ts (KR are an effective means of destroying, including highly protected point targets, more effective than many types of ground-based and sea-based ballistic missiles. So, when objects are protected by excess pressure in the shock wave front equal to 70 / cm, the probability of their destruction by a cruise missile is 0.85, and by the Minuteman-3 intercontinental ballistic missile - 0.2).
The weaknesses of cruise missiles are:
- limitation of the launch range before the first correction of 1000 km. Exceeding this range can lead to the rocket leaving the correction zone and, as a result, to leaving the specified flight path;
- limitations and complexity, and in some cases the impossibility of using it during a long flight over the water surface, tundra and similar flat terrain, as well as over mountain ranges;
- the impossibility of retargeting the CD after launch from the carrier;
- low efficiency or in some cases the impossibility of using on moving targets, tk. the total flight time of the carriers and the CR themselves can be 6...10 hours;
- the complexity of organizing a massive application;
- subsonic flight speed.
In the United States, an assessment was made of the effectiveness of missiles with conventional warheads (CW) and nuclear warheads (NBC). An analysis of the results showed that with a guidance accuracy of 30...35 m, a nuclear warhead is 9 times more effective than a conventional warhead, but with an accuracy of 10 m, their effectiveness is comparable.
That is why, along with the development of strategic cruise missiles in the United States and other NATO countries, intensive work is underway to create tactical cruise missiles (TKR) in conventional equipment.
Tactical cruise missiles TKR CALCM (Conventional Airborne Launched Cruise Missiles) is a variant of the airborne ALCM cruise missile with a conventional warhead.
TCR air-based "Tomahawk-2" (sea-based version) was developed in the United States to engage targets with a conventional warhead weighing about 450 kg.
Since the launch weight of the TKR does not exceed the weight of the strategic missile launcher, and the weight of the warhead increases to 450 kg (a nuclear warhead weighs 110 kg), the flight range of the TKR decreases, while the CEP is about 15 m.
The F-15, F-16, F / A-18, F-35C aircraft (2 CR each), B-1B, B-2 bombers are used as carrier aircraft for the TKR. In addition, when conducting combat operations using only conventional means of destruction of the TKR, the B-52N bombers are armed. The main performance characteristics of the TKR are shown in Table 2 (draw). Table 2.
General purpose guided missiles designed to destroy various types of weapons and military equipment enemy, as well as engineering structures. The most common types of missiles currently in service with the aviation of the leading NATO countries are: Maverick, SLAM, AQM-142A Popeye AGM-158 JASSM (USA) and AS-30AL (France). The main characteristics of these missiles are shown in Table 3 (draw).
Table 3
A characteristic feature of general-purpose guided missiles is the high accuracy of targeting (KVO value - units of meters). It is achieved by using special systems management using various physical principles. The missile is guided to the target by devices located both on board the missile itself and on board the carrier aircraft.
IN guided aerial bombs combined high lethality the warhead (warhead) of conventional bombs and the accuracy of targeting of guided missiles (UR) of the air-to-surface class. The absence of an engine and fuel for it makes it possible to deliver a more powerful warhead to the target with a starting mass equal to that of the UR. So, if for aviation guided missiles the ratio of the warhead mass to the launch mass is 0.2–0.5, then for UAB it is approximately equal to 0.7–0.9. For example, the Mayverick AGM-65E UR has a warhead weight of 136 kg and a launch weight of 293 kg, and the GBU-12 UAB has 227 and 285 kg, respectively. The gliding mode characteristic of the UAB makes it possible to use them without the carrier aircraft entering the enemy's object air defense zone. At the same time, the area of possible bomb releases from high altitudes (Fig. 1) is only slightly inferior to the zone of the far boundary of the missile launch
With almost the same starting mass and launch (drop) range, a guided bomb hits the target more effectively. Optimal aerodynamic design and improved load-bearing properties of the wing make it possible to significantly increase the range of the UAB (up to 65 km for the AGM-62A Wallai-2) and cover almost the entire zone of application of tactical air-to-surface missiles. The presence of control and guidance systems, often unified with similar SD systems, gives the UAB all the properties of high-precision aircraft weapons designed to destroy especially strong small targets. Due to the ease of manufacture and operation, UAB is cheaper than UR.
UAB can be created by equipping conventional high-explosive, high-explosive fragmentation and cluster bombs with guidance units. A set of guidance equipment is also installed on the aircraft.
UAB have semi-active laser, passive thermal imaging or television command guidance systems. The main characteristics of the UAB are given in Table No. 4 (draw). Table 4
An important place among aviation guided missiles is occupied by electronic warfare missiles (EW) or, as they are often called, anti-radar (PRUR ). They are designed to destroy enemy radiating electronic equipment, primarily radar stations. air defense. Equipped with a passive radar guidance system that provides guidance to the radiation source.
All EW missiles The main characteristics of EW missiles are given in Table 5 (draw).
Table 5
For the first time, EW missiles (of the Shrike type) were used during the Vietnam War. The Shrike missiles could only be aimed at the emitting radar. When the radiation was turned off, the missile guidance was stopped. Subsequent types of missiles have on-board devices that store the location of the target and continue pointing at it even after the radiation is turned off.
Modern types of electronic warfare missiles have the ability to detect and capture for tracking radar radiation already in flight (for example, HARM).
Anti-radar guided missile(PRUR) AGM-88 HARM is designed to destroy ground and shipborne radars of anti-aircraft weapon control systems and radars for early detection and guidance of fighters. The HARM PRRS homing head operates in a wide frequency range, which makes it possible to attack a variety of enemy radio-emitting means. The missile is equipped with a high-explosive fragmentation warhead, which is detonated by a laser fuse. The PRUR dual-mode solid-propellant engine is equipped with fuel with reduced smoke, which significantly reduces the probability of detecting the moment of its launch from a carrier aircraft.
Several applications of the HARM PRSP are envisaged. If known in advance radar type and the area of its intended location, then the pilot, using an on-board electronic intelligence station or a detection receiver, searches for and detects a target, and after capturing it, the GOS launches a rocket. In addition, it is possible to fire PRUR at a radar station accidentally discovered during the flight. The long firing range of the HARM missile allows it to be used against a previously reconnoitered target without capturing the seeker before launching the PRMS. In this case, the target is captured by the GOS when a certain range is reached.
PRUR ALARM is equipped with a high-explosive fragmentation warhead, which is detonated by a proximity fuse.
There are two ways to use the ALARM RDP. In the first method, a missile is launched from a carrier aircraft flying at low altitude at a distance of about 40 km from the target. Then, in accordance with the PRUR program, it gains a predetermined altitude, switches to level flight and heads towards the target. On the trajectory of its flight, the radar signals received by the GOS are compared with the reference signals of typical targets. After capturing the target signals, the PRSD guidance process begins. If it does not capture the signals of the radar target, then, in accordance with the program, it gains a height of about 12 km, upon reaching which the engine is turned off and the parachute opens. During the PRRS descent on a parachute, the GOS searches for radar radiation signals, and after they are captured, the parachute fires back and the missile is aimed at the target.
In the second method of application, the GOS receives target designation from aircraft equipment, captures the target, and only after that is the launch and guidance of the PRRS at the target selected by the crew of the carrier aircraft.
The Air Force and Aviation of the French and British Navy are armed with AS-37 "Martel" PRUR. PRUR ARMAT (according to appearance resembles the Martel AS-37 and is close to it in size and weight) is designed to destroy military and object air defense systems emitting radars day and night in any meteorological conditions.
Missiles of the "Tesit Rainbow" type are capable of loitering in the air for a certain time, conducting reconnaissance of radar radiation. After detecting a working radar, a missile is aimed at it.
Conventional weapons15
The concept of conventional means of destruction arose with the advent of weapons of mass destruction, primarily nuclear weapons. It marked the boundary between those weapons that were used during the previous time and weapons that had fundamental differences and radically changed possible consequences its application.
The new weapons (weapons of mass destruction) were different in many ways. Firstly, in terms of their striking properties, which led to the massive defeat of the population, the destruction and destruction of various objects, equipment and structures, including heavily protected ones at long distances. It was several orders of magnitude more powerful than the existing one and had a strong
psychological effect.
Secondly, weapons of mass destruction have demonstrated completely new damaging factors, for example, nuclear weapons have a colossal set of damaging factors - a shock wave, light radiation, penetrating radiation, radioactive contamination and an electromagnetic pulse.
Damage chemical weapons is based on the use of poisonous substances capable of inflicting massive damage to manpower (troops, population, animals) in short time and over large areas.
Biological weapons are based on the use of pathogenic properties of microorganisms capable of causing various mass infectious diseases and death of people, animals and plants.
Traditional weapons, as a rule, had a limited scale of damaging effects on various targets and a rather limited effect of damaging factors.
The damaging factors were manifested in:
creation of excessive pressure (air shock wave) as a result of ammunition detonation (high-explosive);
creating a cloud of fragments dangerous, primarily for the population and troops of the enemy, as a result of detonation of ammunition (fragmentation);
creating a high-temperature cumulative jet, intended primarily for armored purposes (cumulative);
creating and maintaining a high combustion temperature of the object of strike due to the ingress of ammunition contents onto its surface (incendiary: napalm, pyrogels, thermite and phosphorus mixtures, etc.);
creating a volumetric detonating medium, which is an explosion of aerosols dispersed in space (vacuum). It is possible to classify conventional weapons and their main components on other grounds.
Thus, a line was drawn between those weapons that had been used for many decades, the possible consequences of their actions were studied quite well and completely new, previously unseen, little studied and of enormous destructive and striking power.
Hence, under the usual means of destruction began to understand ammunition various shapes, structures and capacities equipped with explosives or special mixtures.
15 Kubikov N.N. Dept. 11 "Operational management of RSChS and civil defense activities"
The bulk of ammunition is loaded with explosives, the energy released from which strikes, destroys and destroys intended targets within a certain radius of action, depending on their power and properties of a particular target.
Thus, depending on the type of damaging factors, OSB are munitions of the following type of action: percussion, high-explosive, fragmentation, cumulative, incendiary (fire) action, volumetric detonating (vacuum).
According to their design features, they are divided into rockets, bombs, shells, mines, torpedoes, warheads, tanks, cartridges, grenades, cartridges, bullets, charges, land mines, artillery shots, etc.
For the use of conventional means of destruction, as a rule, a complex (system) of weapons is used. The main elements of a modern weapon system are the means of destruction used, the means of their delivery to the target, as well as the means of control.
One of the important properties of conventional weapons should also be singled out: they can be unguided, guided and self-guided, with various control methods: with a command guidance system, with an autonomous guidance system, self-guided and with a combined guidance system.
Depending on the principle of operation, guidance systems include: television, thermal imaging, infrared, laser, radar, correlation, satellite, and others.
Conventional weapons are used in aviation, ground forces, navy.
Unguided and guided munitions can be delivered to their launch (drop) areas by various carriers, including strategic and tactical aircraft, ships and submarines.
Today, in the conditions of being potential adversaries near our borders, it should be stated that all objects of the economy on the territory of Russia are within the reach of modern conventional weapons, taking into account their means of delivery.
With the development of science and technology, the experience of combat use, OSB began to acquire more destructive and damaging properties.
Modern conventional weapons have increased destructive power, bringing them closer to nuclear weapons of low yield and long range. Such weapons include volume explosion (vacuum) munitions, which occupy an intermediate position between low-yield nuclear and conventional (high-explosive) munitions. The temperature in the detonation zone can reach 2500–3000°C in a few tens of microseconds.
They are capable of destroying not only manpower, weapons and military equipment of the enemy, but also objects of the economy, civilians cities, their infrastructure in order to create panic, chaos and force the enemy to surrender.
A separate place in the composition of conventional means of destruction is occupied by ammunition related to high-precision weapons.
2.2. High-precision weapons16
2.2.1. General characteristics of the WTO
Precision weapons are a special class of conventional guided weapons that have high accuracy in hitting a target. Ammunition is capable of hitting small ground targets, highly protected, buried and underground structures. These include Russian civil defense control points, protective structures for the largest working shift of categorized facilities, technological installations at enterprises of the fuel and energy complex, reactor compartments of nuclear power plants, and others.
Fundamental difference precision weapons is that it gives a high probability of hitting a target due to a direct hit in a wide range of ranges, at any time of the day, in difficult meteorological conditions and with intense enemy opposition.
Currently, precision weapons are understood as guided weapons that ensure the likelihood of a direct hit on standard objects.
Targets (for example, a building, an enterprise structure, a tank, an aircraft, a bridge, etc.) exceeding 0.5 at any launch (firing) range within the reach.
In particular, with circular dispersion, such a characteristic of the WTO accuracy as the circular probable deviation of the ammunition from the center of the target (Rquo) corresponds to the condition Rquo< 0,5Rп. Современные системы ВТО обеспечивают значение Rкво до 0,5 м.
The mass adoption of WTO models is regarded as a new qualitative leap in the development of means of armed struggle. The main qualitative characteristics of the WTO are:
minimum consumption of weapons (as a rule, it does not require sighting and ensures the defeat of identified targets with 1-2 shots (launches));
the absence of a significant effect of the firing range on its accuracy.
Today, many countries in the world have precision-guided weapons, including NATO countries, China, India and others. The US sells such weapons even to the countries of the Near and Middle East.
The peculiarities of the WTO are the destruction (destruction) of the most important (critical) elements of economic objects, the sizes of which are tens and hundreds of times smaller than the area of the enterprises themselves, but it is their destruction that stops the functioning of this object.
High-precision weapons include:
reconnaissance-strike (fire) complexes that implement the principle of “discovered - fired - hit”;
trajectory-guided ballistic missiles, including those with cluster warheads and self-guided submunitions;
artillery guided and self-guided munitions (shells and mines, including cluster mines);
aviation remote-controlled and homing munitions (bombs, rockets, cassettes);
remote-controlled aircraft. General classification The WTO is shown in Scheme 2.1.
16Osipov D.M. Dept. 11 Caf. 11 "Operational management of RSChS and civil defense activities"
According to the scale of application, the WTO is divided into operational-strategic and tactical.
The operational-strategic WTO includes the most powerful weapon systems, the use of which will allow opposing side inflict a decisive defeat on the enemy. These are, first of all, cruise missiles:
ground (GLCM) Ground Launched Cruise Missile) BGM-109A/…/F, RGM/UGM-109A/…/E/H);
maritime (SLCM) Sea Launched Cruise Missile) BGM-109G);
air (MRASM) Medium-Range Air-to-Surface Missile) AGM- 109C/H/I/J/K/L) basing:
guided missiles (such as MGM-52 "Lance", "ATACMS");
ballistic missiles induced in the final section of the trajectory (such as
MGM-31A "Pershing 1A");
reconnaissance-strike complexes (RUK) of the "PLSS" type (eng. Precision Location Strike System)" and "JSTARS ( Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System)»;
remotely piloted aircraft.
Tactical precision weapons include airborne guided bombs, guided aircraft cassettes and missiles, anti-tank missile systems (ATGMs) and tanks capable of using guided missiles.
Based on the nature of the radiation of the objects being struck, the WTO can be classified according to the type of targets being struck: radio-emitting, heat-emitting, contrast and general-purpose targets. To destroy objects (targets) of general purpose, ballistic and cruise missiles, guided missiles are used, during which there is no energy contact between the ammunition and the target. The same objects can be hit by artillery and aircraft using guided and homing munitions. To weapons that hit radio-emitting targets ( command posts, radar stations, communication centers, control and guidance centers for aviation, air defense, etc.), include weapons of the type RUK "PLSS" anti-radar missiles "AGM-88 HARM (eng. High-speed Anti-Radar Missile)", "AGM-78 Standard ARM (eng. anti-radiation missile)” and “AGM-45 Shrike” and others. guided missiles "AGM-65 Maverick", AGM-650, F and G, RUK submunitions "JSTARS".
Weapons that hit targets that have contrast (radar, thermal, photometric) with the background surface include JSTARS, artillery and aviation guided or homing munitions.
According to basing, high-precision weapons are divided into: ground;
air; marine.
Depending on the nature of the equipment that ensures accurate aiming of the weapon at the target, its location, and the characteristics of energy contact with the target, four control methods are distinguished:
telecontrol; autonomous; homing;
mixed (combined).
General classification of precision weapons
By scope
By type of targets hit
Based
By management method
By guidance system
By type of ammunition
tactical
operational-strategic
radio-emitting
heat-radiating
contrasting general
terrestrial tel
o w| V |
Television
Thermal imaging
P / a laser
Radar
correlation
BR KR UR UAB UAK
Com. SV on TVD
Com. Brig
Control channel
Difference rangefinder
By wire
On the radio Postglass fiber-
cable
passive active p/active
Scheme 2.1. General classification of high-precision weapons of the armies of NATO countries
TO modern means defeats in conventional equipment, capable of potentially delivering strikes on rear targets, can be attributed to:
conventional and guided bombs (UABs), including modular ones (with a rocket booster);
air and ground based guided missiles; air, land and sea based cruise missiles;
intercontinental ballistic missiles in conventional equipment. The means of delivery of these types of weapons can be strategic and so-
tactical aviation, surface ships and submarines.
Almost all of these weapons use aerospace means of targeting.
Guided bombs. Bombs with a laser guidance system (GBU-10, GBU-12, GBU-24, GBU-27) are currently used to attack point well-protected and buried targets from a distance of up to 20-30 km.
The warhead of these UABs usually carries a high-explosive charge with an explosive mass (EM) of 230-900 kg or penetrating warheads of the BLU-109 type. The target detected by the operator of the air control center is illuminated with a laser from the supporting aircraft.
The receiving device located on the UAB registers the radiation reflected from the target and corrects the bomb's flight path. The most probable deviation of guided bombs with laser guidance systems from the aiming point is no more than 3 m.
The main disadvantage of these bombs is that they can only be used in cloudless weather. In this regard, in the early 1990s, the JDAM program ( Joint Direct Attack Munition) on the creation of modules for correcting the flight path of aerial bombs based on signals received from GPS satellites. Air bombs equipped with JDAM have a circular probable deviation (CEP) of no more than 13 m in any weather conditions. More than 250 PSA tests with JDAM have been carried out, 96% of which have been successful.
In combat conditions, these bombs were first tested in March 1999 in Yugoslavia by B-2 strategic bombers. In total, during the conflict, 656 JDAM-type bombs with an explosive mass from 900 to 2000 kg were used in 45 sorties. Large-scale production of such UABs began in 2000, and there are plans to purchase 87,500 modules.
Practically the entire fleet of US bomber aircraft, including strategic bombers, tactical aircraft of the Air Force and Navy, will be equipped with JDAM guided bombs.
Work is also underway to further improve the characteristics of JDAM modules. In particular, it is planned to increase the range of aerial bombs from 28 to 74 km.
In parallel with the US Air Force JDAM program, the JDAM-PIP program is being conducted ( Product Improvement Program), the purpose of which is to reduce the CEP to 3 m by installing systems on the module for correction in the final section of the trajectory.
It should also be noted that the US Air Force also adopted more powerful caliber bombs with a warhead mass of over 2000 kg (GBU-28, GBU-37). They were developed to destroy buried (protected) underground command posts, warehouses and structures.
Thus, the GBU-28 laser-guided bomb prototype was first tested in 1991 during Operation Desert Storm in Iraq. The warhead of the GBU-28 bomb is an artillery shell of 203 mm caliber and about 6 m long, in which an explosive charge is placed.
For the first time in Yugoslavia, and subsequently in Afghanistan, the United States used camouflage (deeply penetrating into the ground and undermined at a considerable depth) guided aerial bombs "GBU-28" with a mass of 2272 kg.
The bombing line for such UABs is assigned at a distance of 60 - 80 km from the object, which makes it difficult to detect and destroy them with air defense systems.
Unlike the GBU-28, the GBU-37 are guided by GPS satellite data, and although they have less accuracy, they are all-weather. GBU-28 and GBU-37 bombs are equipped respectively with F-111 attack aircraft and B-2 strategic bombers.
In the future, the main type of planning UAB will be the AGM-154, which is being developed in three versions (the AGM-154A and AGM-154B variants carry cluster bombs, and the AGM-154C carries a monoblock warhead) to equip almost the entire aircraft fleet of the Air Force and Navy USA. In total, it is planned to purchase more than 23,000 pieces. The maximum combat load of a cluster bomb is 450 kg with a maximum range of up to 75 km. The AGM-154 will be controlled autonomously using INS/GPS. The accuracy of AGM-154A and -154V is about 30m.
The monoblock version of the AGM-154C will also be equipped with a TV camera, and control on the final part of the trajectory will be carried out by the onboard operator. Currently, the purchase of a monoblock version is planned only for carrier-based aircraft of the US Navy.
For the first time in a combat situation, AGM-154s were used in Iraq on January 24, 1999 from the board of a US Navy F / A-18 carrier-based fighter-bomber, which destroyed an air defense system. The main characteristics of guided bombs are presented in Table 2.1.
Tactical guided missiles. Currently, air-to-ground guided missiles (UR) with a range of 100 to 500 km are only in service with the US Navy aviation (F / A-18, R-3). SLAM guided missiles (AGM-84E) are capable of carrying a warhead weighing 230 kg over a distance of more than 200 km. In 1998, an improved SLAM-ER (AGM-84H) missile was tested with a range of more than 270 km. The SLAM-ER UR is also distinguished by increased accuracy, greater noise immunity and greater penetration of the warhead. The missile is controlled in flight by an inertial navigation system with correction from the global satellite navigation system, and in the final section of the trajectory, control is carried out by the pilot, who corrects the aiming point from the video image.
Since mid-1998, the F / A-18 carrier-based ground attack fighter has been re-equipped with the SLAM-ER, and in the future it is planned to equip R-3C patrol aircraft with these missiles. Further modernization of missiles (SLAM-ER PLUS) is also planned. It is assumed that the new modification of the missile will be equipped with an automated target recognition device ATA ( Automatic Target Acquisition), which will increase the efficiency of its use in adverse weather conditions.
The main performance characteristics of guided bombs (UAB)
Table 2.1.
| Type | Caliber, lb / total weight | Overall length/body diameter | Bombing height, km | Bombing line range, km | Guidance system | Warhead type | UAB carriers | ||
| type | accuracy | GOS characteristics | |||||||
| GBU-23-1 | 1000/ | 3560/350 | 0,06-9,0 | Laser, semi-active | 3,0 | - | high-explosive | A4, A10, F4, D18 | |
| AGM-123A (GBU-23-2) | 3500/456 | 0,06-9,0 | Laser, semi-active | 3,0 | - | high-explosive | A4, A10, F4, D18 | ||
| GBU-15(V) 2/B | 2000/ | 4050 /457 | 0,06-12,0 | 9-60 | 1,5 | high-explosive | B-52(4), F-111(4), F-4(2) | ||
| AGM-130 | 2000/ | 3920/457 | 0,06-12,0 | 28-80 | Thermal imaging, thermal imaging laser, semi-active | 1,5 | GOS with a two-focus optical system | High-explosive, cluster, penetrating concrete-breaking, volumetric explosions | B-52, F-111 B-16 (18) |
| GBU-28 | 2000/ | - | - | Thermal imaging, thermal imaging laser, semi-active | 1,5 | - | Penetrating | F-111, B-52 |
Long range cruise missiles. Sea-launched cruise missiles (SLCMs) BGM-109 Tomahawk are armed with multipurpose nuclear submarines and some types of US surface ships. The BGM-109 Tomahawk SLCM can carry a nuclear or conventional warhead with an explosive mass of 450 kg. There are modifications with monobloc (TLAM-C) and cassette (TLAM-D) warheads. In its development, the BGM-109 Tomahawk SLCM went through several modifications (Block I, Block II, Block III, Block IV). The main differences of the Block III modification from the previous ones are the long range (up to 1600 km) and the possibility of in-flight CR correction based on the signals of the CRNS GPS satellite navigation system (Table 2.2.).
The BGM-109 Tomahawk SLCMs were actively used by the US Navy in armed conflicts. Since August 1998 alone, more than 500 CRs have been used on the territory of Afghanistan, Sudan, Iraq and Yugoslavia. By the end of 1999, the arsenal of cruise missiles of this type amounted to about 2000 units, most of which are the Block III variant.
Currently ready for production new version KR "BGM-109 Tomahawk", characterized by an increased range of fire and pointing accuracy. In this version, the rocket is equipped with an improved control system, which additionally includes a Navstar satellite navigation system receiver and a flight time calculation unit. The software of the DSMAC guidance system has been improved and the efficiency of the engine has been increased. The Navstar receiver operates in conjunction with the TERCOM ( English Terrain Contour Matching)” or independently corrects the trajectory when flying over a surface with a weakly expressed relief (desert, flat areas), as well as over water and ice. As a result, the currently existing restriction on the removal of the launch area to 700 km from the coastline is removed. In addition, the preparation of a flight task for the onboard control system is simplified, since the calculation of the flight route is carried out directly on board the carrier.
Due to the exclusion of correction areas along the flight route, the firing range can be increased by 20%, and, taking into account better engine efficiency, by another 10% and will be from 1700 to 2000 km.
US long-range air-launched cruise missiles (ALCMs), just like BGM-109 Tomahawk SLCMs, can carry nuclear and conventional warheads. Rocket in non-nuclear equipment received the designation Conventional Air Launched Cruise Missile(CALCM) or AGM-86C. The CALCM ALCM can deliver a PBXN-111 high-explosive warhead with a caliber of 1350 kg to a range of more than 1000 km. CALCM ALCMs have been used in military conflicts since 1991. Financing is provided for the re-equipment of 322 nuclear ALCMs into non-nuclear ones. During the modernization of the CALCM AGM-86D (Block II) ALCM, its accuracy was improved to 5 m (KVO), and the missile itself is capable of carrying a penetrating warhead. The US Air Force is considering plans for the production of new long-range ALCMs.
As a result of modernization and taking into account combat experience in 2006, the US Navy adopted a new RGM-109E “Tactical Tomahawk” Block IV SLCM with a conventional warhead. At the same time, each American nuclear submarine is equipped with 154 SLCMs. It should be recalled that the US Navy planned to increase the number of SLCMs on nuclear submarines and surface ships to 4,000 units.
SLCM "Tactical Tomahawk" has the following advantages: firing range up to 3000 km;
high shooting accuracy (circular probable deviation up to 3-5 m);
a large distance between the missile launch lines (2500 km); operates in bad weather conditions;
low flight altitudes (10-30 m) in combination with small values of the effective scattering surface (ESR) significantly reduce the detection range for existing radar systems, which leads to untimely notification and target designation of fire weapons S-300, S-400 and, consequently, failure to complete the task of hitting the target;
low RCS values lead to disruption of the functioning of the guidance loops of the 48N6 SAM of the S-300 complex and air-to-air missiles R-27AE, R-27R, R-27RE, R-33, included in the ammunition load of the MiG-31 fighter-interceptor;
the presence of a cumulative high-explosive warhead (warhead) in SLCMs, which can penetrate an armor plate 2.5 m thick, makes it possible to reliably hit fortified missile systems mine and mobile basing, command posts, protective structures of civil defense;
the salvo missiles approach to the target from different directions at a given time is ensured;
the missile is capable of patrolling a given area for 2 hours and being retargeted in 4 minutes to hit another object;
SLCMs based on multi-purpose nuclear submarines provide surprise strikes and can be used as a rapid reaction weapon, as well as to suppress enemy air defense and missile defense systems at the initial stage of a conflict;
in the event of American nuclear submarines entering the waters of the northern and Far Eastern seas and being in close proximity to the borders of the Russian Federation, all objects of state administration fall within the reach of the SLCM.
Consequently, the large distances of the SLCM launch lines, combined with flight at minimum altitudes and low RCS (0.05 m2), make it difficult to detect them by radar stations and sharply reduce both the effectiveness of fighters and the likelihood of their being hit by Russian air defense systems.
Cruise missiles are being developed in many countries around the world. In the UK and France developed tactical missile"Storm Shadow / SCALP" air-to-ground class with a launch range of 250 km. During the aggression in Iraq in 2003, these missiles were launched from British Tornado fighters. Pakistan announced in 2005 that it was testing a Hatf VII Babur cruise missile with a range of up to 500 km. India with help Russian defense enterprises have developed a supersonic sea, land and air-based cruise missile Bramos with a launch range of 300 km. The United States is implementing a program to create hypersonic missiles of the AGM-type
86, capable of flying 1400 km in just 12 minutes. Hypersonic missiles provide speeds 8 times higher than the speed of sound.
The performance characteristics of US and NATO guided missiles are presented in Table 2.3.
As possible means destruction of rear facilities are also considered intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). Delivered to a target by ICBMs, warheads can have enough kinetic energy to penetrate any defense. Experiments carried out in the United States have shown the high potential of ICBMs to destroy buried targets. In particular, experimental launches of the SR-19 Pershing II missile, which is the second stage of the Minuteman ICBM, were reported. The maximum height of the trajectory was up to 180 km, and the flight of the head of the ICBM was corrected using the CRNS GPS. In one of three tests, a penetrating warhead with a speed of 1.2 km/s and a mass of about 270 kg passed through a layer of granite 13 m thick with a circular deflection probability of less than 5 m.
US sea-based precision weapons
Table 2.2.
| Basic performance characteristics | Types of CR | ||||
| Tomahawk | "Tomahawk" BLOK-III | "Tomahawk" BLOK-IV | |||
| BGM-109A | BGM-109C | BGM-109D | |||
| Firing range (km) | |||||
| Flight speed (km / h) on the march | 750 - 850 | 750 - 850 | 750 - 850 | 750 - 850 | 750 - 850 |
| Target altitude | 60 - 100 | 60 - 100 | 60 - 100 | 60 - 100 | - |
| Shooting accuracy (maximum deviation (m) | 80 - 100 | 5-10 | |||
| Warhead type (weight, kg) | Nuclear (130) | Semi-armor-piercing (442) | Cassette 166 elements (450) | Semi-armor-piercing (450), cassette (450) | Semi-armor-piercing, cassette |
| Control systems | AU, with terrain correction | AU, with correction according to the radar map of the area ("DSMAC-2") | AU, with correction systems "DSMAC-2" and "Navstar" | AU, with correction according to radar maps of the area, "Navstar" | |
| Launch weight (kg) | - | ||||
| Carriers (ammunition) | Submarines and NCs of the US Navy | Submarines and NCs of the US Navy | Submarines and NCs of the US Navy | ||
| Year of adoption | 1998 - 2006 |
Tactical and technical characteristics of guided missiles
Table 2.3.
| Type, country | Purpose | Carrier | Maximum launch range, km | Max Speed missiles, km/h | Accuracy, m | Type and mass of explosive warhead | Guidance system |
| "Maverick" AGM-65 A, B, D, E, F, USA | Defeat protected targets | F-16, F-18, A-4, A-10 | M-2 | ±2.5 | High explosive 60 - 136 kg | A, B, D, F - homing, thermal imaging, E - laser, semi-active | |
| AQM-123A, USA | Same | Same | M-0.8÷0.9 | ±1.5 | High explosive 430 kg | Laser, semi-active | |
| AGM-130A, USA | Damage to production facilities | F-111, B-52, F-4 | M-0.8÷0.9 | ±1.5 | High explosive 870 kg | Television, thermal imaging (command, homing) | |
| SLAM (AGM-84E), USA | Damage to energy facilities, port facilities | B-52, B-1A | M-0.85 | 2÷5 | penetrating 227 kg | Inertial, correctable "Navstar", command thermal imaging | |
| HVM, USA | Hitting point targets (armored) | F-16, A-10 | М-4÷4.5 | 2÷5 | Impact core 2.5 - 3 kg, (armor penetration up to 450 mm) | Command, laser | |
| AGM-109H, USA | Defeat standard areal targets | F-111, F-16 | - | M-0.9 | Cassette 500 kg | Inertial "TERCOM" and "DSMAC" | |
| AS-30A, France | For point ground targets | Mirage 2000 | 11,5 | M-10 | High-explosive fragmentation 239 kg | Semi-active, laser | |
| ASMP, France | Same | Mirage 2000 | M-3 | Same | inertial | ||
| LRSJM | Same | F-111, F-16 | 100-180 | M-0.8÷1.8 | Cassette, explosive 350 - 475 kg | Inertial "TERCOM" and RL |
Guidance aids. The current system of US space reconnaissance satellites still has limited capabilities for searching and tracking mobile targets. Detection of mobile targets is possible only by low-orbit satellites equipped with equipment high resolution(passive electro-optical receivers of the visible and infrared bands). It should also be emphasized that the time of the appearance of reconnaissance spacecraft (SC) over given areas can be predicted with high accuracy, which makes it possible to more effectively mask objects.
Thus, the existing system of US reconnaissance satellites cannot provide continuous monitoring of all objects that need to be attacked. Nevertheless, it is possible that in the future the United States will be able to deploy a spacecraft system of constant surveillance. For example, the Discoverer II spacecraft system being developed involves the deployment of 24 low-orbit satellites providing meter resolution. According to representatives of the US Department of Defense, this system will allow real-time monitoring of specified areas and issue target designations with an accuracy of 20 m.
To solve the problem of searching and tracking targets, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can also be used. Most likely, if UAVs will be used for targeting, then mainly as a means of supplementing the satellite surveillance system. It should be noted that UAVs being developed in the United States are tasked not only with detecting mobile targets and tracking them, but also with interfering with the movement of targets or temporarily incapacitating them.
Analysis specifications UAVs in service with the United States ("Predator", "Hunter") show that they have a limited range and resource. However, the Global Hawk type UAV being developed will be able to track a target for 24 hours at a distance of more than 5500 km from the base and return back. UAV "Global Hawk" will be equipped with optoelectronic and infrared equipment.
Reconnaissance-strike and shock unmanned aerial vehicles. Today there is no doubt about the usefulness of the use of unmanned aerial vehicles. aircraft for military purposes. Unmanned aerial vehicles have found the widest application in combat operations since the middle of the 20th - early 21st centuries. Mass
The spread of SNS receivers has led to an expansion of the scope of their use, to the emergence of new methods of navigation support in solving a variety of problems. Based on the experience of using the SNA in modern military conflicts, when developing a new generation of UAVs, their functions are expanding from solving reconnaissance tasks to performing reconnaissance and strike missions.
It should be noted that starting from the Vietnam War, they sought to entrust not only reconnaissance, but also strike missions to destroy various enemy targets. The air war in Afghanistan is widely conducted by reconnaissance and reconnaissance-strike UAVs. The leading countries of the world are actively developing and testing combat unmanned aerial vehicles, including unmanned bombers and attack aircraft.
Some modern UAVs aerial reconnaissance able to cross continents and can develop into teleoperated (remotely controlled) reactive
nyh tactical fighters and bombers. There are instances of remotely controlled aircraft the size of a butterfly or even smaller, making their own flight. Such UAVs are figuratively called the "flying eye" and
"flying beak". There has been a trend, primarily in the US Armed Forces, to unite all UAVs into a single information field, global electronic networks of automatic launchers, into a network of signal radio tags (radio tags) and means of exchanging intelligence information for all levels of military command.
Characteristics Modern military conflicts make it possible to identify a trend of a gradual transition to the creation, and then to the use of a specialized UAV - remotely controlled aviation system: unmanned analogue of manned combat aircraft. A possible classification of such an unmanned aerial system is given in Table 2.4.
The existing market for military UAVs can be divided into three main categories:
long-range strategic high-altitude UAVs capable of staying in the air for at least 24 hours and carrying a payload of up to 500 kg or more;
tactical medium-altitude UAVs with a flight duration of 4-1
Assessing the role of high-precision weapons (HW) in solving the problems of military conflicts of the last decade and taking into account the prospects for its development at the beginning of the 21st century, it can be said with confidence that it will continue to have a decisive influence on shaping the nature of armed combat not only in the air, but also in aerospace sphere.
One of the main threats national security Russian Federation in the aerospace sphere is the mass equipping of the US and NATO armed forces with modern high-precision weapons (WTO). At the same time, active work is underway to develop the infrastructure that ensures the effective use of the WTO: intelligence, communications, control and coordination systems for all forces and means involved in air and aerospace operations.
High-precision weapons made a special contribution to the formation of the nature of armed struggle in the air sphere in military conflicts at the end of the 20th century. Under his influence, the forms and methods of combat use of air attack weapons (AOS) were continuously improved, the tactics of the actions of aviation groupings changed, and new ones appeared. tactics to suppress the air defense system and strike at various ground targets.
In the general case, the WTO is understood as a weapon that, as a result of targeting, provides selective destruction of mobile and stationary targets in any conditions of the situation with a probability close to one.
A distinctive feature of the WTO from conventional ammunition is the presence in it of command, autonomous or combined guidance systems that control the flight path to the target (object of destruction) and provide the probability of hitting it, depending on the characteristics of the attacked target.
Depending on the type of carrier, the WTO can be aviation, sea and land-based, and in the next 10 years, the appearance of a space-based WTO is possible. Consider an air-to-ground aircraft WTO. It includes the following types of aviation weapons: cruise missiles (CR), general-purpose air-to-surface guided missiles (UR), guided bombs and clusters (UAB and UAK), anti-radar missiles (PRR), anti-ship missiles (ASM) .
Depending on the type of guidance system installed on board, the aviation WTO is subdivided into:
- WTO with optical-electronic guidance systems (television, thermal imaging, laser);
- WTO with a passive radar guidance system;
- WTO with an active radar (mm-wavelength range) guidance system;
- WTO with an inertial guidance system and correction for the space radio navigation system (CRNS) "Navstar";
- WTO with a combined guidance system (various combinations of the above guidance systems).
Depending on the maximum range of combat use from carrier aircraft, the aviation WTO is divided into:
- WTO large (more than 100 km) firing range;
- WTO medium (up to 100 km) firing range;
- WTO short (up to 20 km) firing range.
The main scientific and technical programs in the development of this class of aviation WTO are aimed at increasing the speed and range of flight, improving firing accuracy, reducing radar and optical visibility, and using combined guidance systems that allow the use of weapons in any meteorological conditions. Special attention is given to equipping the WTO with various types of combat units, which significantly expands the range of combat missions to be solved and the selectivity of the impact.
Assessing the role of the WTO in solving the problems of military conflicts of the last decade and taking into account the prospects for its development at the beginning of the 21st century, it can be said with confidence that it will continue to have a decisive influence on the formation of the nature of armed struggle not only in the air, but also in the aerospace sphere. . The biggest impact on this process will be the following factors :
1. The growth of the quantitative composition of the WTO in the general arsenal of weapons. Already at the present time, the stocks of high-precision aviation weapons of various types in the armed forces of the main foreign states amount to tens of thousands of units, and their annual production is in the thousands. Also noteworthy is the desire of developing countries to have their own arsenals of high-precision weapons in service.
2. The possibility of using the WTO from the borders that are not only outside the zones of active air defense systems, but also outside the zones of information air defense systems. This factor is implemented by developing a long-range HTO, as well as by implementing various HTO flight paths, which allow it to be launched from carrier aircraft due to the radio horizon.
3. Expansion of the range of altitudes and speeds of application of the WTO from the air sphere to the aerospace. Currently, a number of programs have been opened in the United States and NATO to create hypersonic guided and cruise missiles. Distinctive features of these types of means will be high efficiency and flexibility of combat use, low vulnerability, increased surprise and stealth of strikes due to the possibility of being used from any direction, in any weather conditions and regardless of the time of day.
4. Giving WTO "all-weather" properties allowing to effectively apply it in any situation, regardless of meteorological conditions and time of day. As a result, in the near future, the firing accuracy of the main types of WTO will not depend on meteorological conditions. This factor was developed as a result of the development of various guidance systems for the WTO. Currently, many types of weapons are equipped with an inertial guidance system with correction for the Navstar CRNS, as well as combined guidance systems operating on different physical principles.
5. Expansion of the list of types of objects affected by the WTO, and the emergence of the possibility of implementing the principle of selectivity of impact on objects. This factor was developed thanks to the development of various types of warheads for the WTO. The first samples of the WTO were capable of hitting only point objects that were weakly protected in engineering terms. At present, penetrating concrete-piercing warheads have been developed for the WTO, capable of effectively hitting highly protected buried objects.
Work is actively underway to create a WTO of the so-called non-lethal impact. It includes microwave munitions for defeating various types of radio electronic devices with an electromagnetic pulse, ammunition equipped with an electrified graphite mixture to disable power supply systems.
6. Possibility of creating in the USA and NATO at the turn of 2015 a “Prospective Integrated System for the Application of the WTO”. It is envisaged that this system will integrate strike assets equipped with WTO (aviation, surface ships and submarines, ground-based systems, strike UAVs), and an information and control infrastructure common for all types of WTO (global surveillance and intelligence system, communication system and data transmission, monitoring and control system). This system is assigned a decisive role in the concept of network-centric war being developed in the United States.
Under the influence of the mass adoption of new types of WTO, the forms and methods of combat use of the air defense system will acquire a different character and significantly replenish their content. This will manifest itself primarily in the fact that all combat operations will acquire a clearly expressed aerospace character and will be conducted in a single aerospace sphere. A number of new features will appear due to the qualitative improvement of the WTO.
Firstly, the spatial parameters of hostilities will increase significantly and the volume of tasks to be solved on an operational-strategic and strategic scale will increase. This trend is associated with an increase in the range of the use of the HTO and the possibility of its effective use for delivering strikes against objects located deep in the rear of the opposing side.
Secondly, as a result of increasing the selectivity of the use of the WTO, it becomes possible to comprehensively and simultaneously solve the main tasks of operations (combat actions) already at the initial stage of a military conflict.
Third, the dynamism and intensity of hostilities will increase significantly and, consequently, the terms for completing the main combat missions will be reduced.
Fourth, there is a real opportunity to achieve tactical surprise, especially when delivering the first missile and air strike to air offensive operation. This trend is due, on the one hand, to a significant increase in the combat potential of the SVKN groupings, which makes it possible to start hostilities by existing groupings without their preliminary strengthening, on the other hand, to the possibility of using HTO from borders outside the zones of control of the information means of the opposing side, as well as from unexpected directions.
Fifth, when massive strikes are carried out, there will be changes in the operational-tactical formation of the air defense system, associated with an increase in the number of forces operating in the echelon of unmanned weapons. This trend is due to the quantitative increase in such a type of WTO as air- and sea-based cruise missiles, which will be able to independently solve almost the entire range of combat missions.
In addition, there will be changes in the tactical formation of combat formations of manned aircraft operating in the air defense suppression echelon and in strike echelons. This will find its expression in the transition to the simultaneous operations of a large number of small strike groups and even single aircraft, solving specific missions of hitting targets. This trend is due to the high accuracy characteristics of weapons, which makes it possible to solve combat missions with a smaller composition of forces.
The number of sorties required to destroy the same small objects with the help of the WTO will be significantly reduced compared to the use of unguided weapons. Therefore, such a concept as a “massive air-missile strike” will acquire a completely different meaning, namely, it will be considered not from the point of view of massive air raids in dense battle formations, but from the point of view of the simultaneous actions of a large number of small aviation groups.
The transition to such actions has already been clearly indicated in military conflicts. recent years, where US and NATO aircraft simultaneously attacked a large number of targets, using small strike groups and even single aircraft.
It is also necessary to note the extraordinary influence that a promising aviation WTO can have on the tactics of carrier aircraft. This tactic will be significantly simplified, since the main tasks of carrier aircraft will remain to reach the established boundaries for the use of the HTO, located outside the zones of active air defense of the opposing side (and in some cases outside the zones of information air defense systems), and to conduct timed launches of the HTO.
Taking into account this circumstance, as well as the possibility of creating the above-mentioned “intellectual WTO”, when predicting the actions of the ACS in future military conflicts, it is advisable to consider not so much the tactics of the actions of carrier aircraft of the WTO as the tactics of the actions of the WTO itself. This tactic will be determined primarily by the type of guidance system installed on a specific HTO model, the nature of the target, as well as the degree of its protection by active and passive air defense systems.
Thus, the dominant influence on the formation of the nature of armed struggle in the aerospace sphere in military conflicts of the early 21st century will be provided by high-precision weapons, which will become the main means of fire impact on almost all objects, regardless of their degree of protection and mobility. It is safe to say that the wars of the future are the wars of high-precision technologies.
/S. YAGOLNIKOV, head of the Air Defense Research Center of the Federal State Institution “4 Central Research Institute of the Ministry of Defense”, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor;
A.KHRAMICHEV, Head of the Department of the Air Defense Research Center of the Federal State Institution "4 Central Research Institute of the Ministry of Defense", Ph.D.;
V. PANIN, Senior Researcher, Air Defense Research Center of the Federal State Institution "4 Central Research Institute of the Ministry of Defense", Ph.D., www.vko.ru/
(WTO) various types of weapons, primarily guided weapons (rockets, bombs, shells, mines, torpedoes), which have a high accuracy of hitting the target. Typically used in non-nuclear equipment to destroy important small-sized and highly protected objects (See 11.3.2.).
It is a special type of highly effective conventional weapon. Due to the high-precision hit on the target, as a rule, it has a limited power of combat equipment, selected from the condition that the affected area does not significantly exceed the dimensions of a typical target, characterized by a radius Rp.
Historically, ideas about how accurate a hit is high have changed as weapons have improved. In the 70s of the twentieth century, there was a modern performance about the WTO as a "precision" weapon. This term began to denote guided weapons that ensure the probability of a direct hit on typical objects - targets (for example, a tank, aircraft, bridge, etc.) exceeding 0.5 at any launch (firing) range within reach.
The concept of the WTO is connected with the concept, which was called "shot-kill" abroad. A weapon designed according to this concept is capable of hitting a target with high probability at any range within its reach. In particular, with circular dispersion, such a characteristic of the WTO accuracy as the circular probable deviation of the means of destruction from the center of the target (Rquo) corresponds to the condition Rquo
Typical means of the first generation of the WTO, designed to solve tactical problems, are artillery shells: American "Copperhead" and Russian "Krasnopol"; anti-tank missiles of the Hellfire complexes - the USA and Metis-M, Konkurs-M, Shturm - Russia; anti-ship missiles "Harpoon", "Exocet" - USA, France and X-31 - Russia; bomb "Wally" - USA.
Since the mid-1980s, in the USSR, the WTO also includes operational-tactical guided weapons as part of reconnaissance-strike systems and designed to destroy single and group targets. The mass adoption of WTO samples and especially high-performance weapons (HEO) is seen as a new qualitative leap in the development of means of armed struggle, and, as a result, of methods of combat operations.
This is confirmed by the following facts:
Since the VEO does not require zeroing in and ensures that the identified targets are hit by 1-2 shots (launches), new opportunities for conducting a combined arms operation appear. Conventional, non-nuclear means of destruction can inflict a sudden fire strike, comparable in its consequences to the strike of a low-yield tactical nuclear weapon. At the same time, objects located at various distances from the line of contact, including those in the second echelon, on the march, in areas of concentration, turn out to be accessible to defeat;
The insignificant consumption of guided weapons and the ability to maneuver with fire without a significant impact on the accuracy of the firing range simplify the logistics;
The combat formations of troops can be dispersed, since there is no need to pull up a long-range ATO to the line of contact between troops;
Significantly greater than traditional means, the fire performance of the VEO leads to the rapid decommissioning of military installations and equipment of the warring parties, which leads to a significant reduction in the timing of operations, and in some cases, judging by the experience of military conflicts of the 70s of the twentieth century, and to reduce the duration of hostilities.
The specific properties of the WTO led to a change in views on the role of conventional weapons not only in wartime, but also in peacetime.
On the one hand, the long-range WTO makes it possible to deliver an effective, selective strike against the organizers of terrorist acts, the initiators of aggression, and against goals that are vital and valuable to the leaders of totalitarian states (ruling clans). This makes the WTO an important deterrent that has already proven successful in a number of Middle East conflict situations.
On the other hand, the use of the WTO on environmentally hazardous objects, which are becoming more and more numerous in densely populated countries, makes the WTO a strategically dangerous weapon in the hands of terrorists and aggressors.
Tactical and technical shortcomings of the WTO are associated with increased requirements for the characteristics of systems combat support(reconnaissance, communications, control), as well as the need to take special measures to protect against the impact of the enemy on the radio-electronic components of the WTO by means of electronic warfare.
The costs of development and production of WTO are much higher than similar costs for samples of unguided weapons, however, in general, for the totality of weapons, the transition to WTO is, as a rule, economically justified.
Further development of the WTO goes in the direction of "intellectualization" of weapons (English super-smart weapon) by giving it the ability to recognize targets, including on the battlefield and in conditions of interference, and when exposed to large targets, choose the most vulnerable spot(fragment) of the target to hit it. It is advisable to reflect this new stage in the development of weapons terminologically, calling the new weapon highly intelligent (HIV).
Despite the fact that the concept of WTO has historically been introduced only in relation to USP, it is apparently inappropriate to be limited to such an area of application of this term. Under the definition of the WTO, promising means of radiation damage (laser, beam, radio wave weapons) and other promising types of weapons may well fit if they satisfy the main quantitative criterion of accuracy - a high probability of hitting a typical target.
Great Definition
Incomplete definition ↓
Objects (up to hitting the required window of a given structure).
Types of precision weapons[ | ]
Precision weapons include:
Principle of operation [ | ]
High-precision weapons appeared as a result of the struggle with the problem of the low probability of hitting a target with traditional means. The main reasons are the lack of accurate target designation, a significant deviation of the ammunition from the calculated trajectory, and enemy opposition. The consequence is a large material and time cost to complete the task, a high risk of losses and failures. With the development of electronic technologies, specific ammunition control capabilities have appeared based on the signals of the ammunition and target position sensors. The main types of methods for determining the mutual position of the ammunition and the target:
Sophisticated munitions may be guided by several methods of finding a target, depending on their availability and reliability. In addition to the problem of finding a target, high-precision weapons are often faced with the task of overcoming countermeasures aimed at destroying or deflecting the ammunition from the target. To do this, ammunition can approach the target in an extremely covert way, perform complex maneuvers, perform group attacks, and put active and passive interference.
Story [ | ]
In connection with the development of military affairs in many states, it became possible to improve the characteristics of weapons consisting of equipping their troops and armies. So the replacement of smooth-bore small arms with rifled ones made it possible to improve the defeat of the enemy at a longer distance. The invention of the sight small arms allowed to hit the target even more accurately.
First steps [ | ]
The idea of creating a guided weapon capable of effectively hitting the enemy with high accuracy appeared in the 19th century. The first experiments were carried out mainly with torpedoes. So, in the 1870s, the American engineer John Louis Lay developed a wire-guided electric impulse torpedo, which, according to a number of data, was used (unsuccessfully) by the Peruvian fleet in the Second Pacific War.
Lay's torpedo at the range
In the 1880s, the Brennan Torpedo, mechanically controlled by cables, was adopted by the British coastal defense. Later, a similar solution - the so-called Sims-Edison torpedo- tested by the American Navy. A number of attempts to create a radio-controlled torpedo were made in the 1900s-1910s. In view of the extreme limitations of the then telecontrol technology, these experiments, although they attracted great attention have not been developed.
The first samples of guided weapons systems were developed and tested during the First World War. So, the German Navy experimented, including in a combat situation, with radio-controlled boats equipped with explosives. In 1916-1917, several attempts were made to use aircraft-controlled Firma Fr. Lürssen" against coastal installations and ships, but the results, with rare exceptions (damage October 28, 1917 monitor exploding boat FL-12) were unsatisfactory.
Almost all the work of the 1930s did not lead to any results due to the lack of effective ways track the movement of guided weapons at a distance and the imperfections of control systems. However, the valuable experience gained was effectively used in the creation of guided targets for training gunners and anti-aircraft gunners.
World War II [ | ]
Intensive work on guided weapon systems was first launched during World War II, when the level of technology - the development of control systems, the emergence of radar stations, made it possible to create relatively effective weapon systems. The most advanced countries in this area are Germany and the United States of America. For a number of reasons, the guided weapons programs of the USSR, Great Britain, Italy and Japan were presented less widely.
Germany [ | ]
Particularly large-scale work on guided weapons systems in the period 1939-1945 was launched in Germany. Due to the scarcity of resources in a situation of confrontation with significantly superior enemy forces, the German military circles were feverishly looking for a way to make a qualitative leap in military affairs, which would allow them to compensate for the quantitative gap. During the war years, Germany developed a number of types of "wonder weapons" - the Wunderwaffe - guided torpedoes, bombs, missiles and other weapons systems, some of which were used on the battlefield.
However, due to a severe shortage of resources and an ideological development program (including a delay in the development of anti-aircraft missiles due to the priority of strike ballistic missiles), Germany was unable to effectively deploy and use most of the precision weapons systems being developed.
USA [ | ]
Japan [ | ]
Great Britain [ | ]
France [ | ]
- Gliding guided bomb (work interrupted in 1940)
- Gliding unguided aerial bomb SNCAM (work interrupted in 1940)
- Experimental liquid fuel rocket (work interrupted in 1940, resumed in 1944, test launch in 1945)
Italy [ | ]
post-war period[ | ]
The appearance at the end of World War II of nuclear weapons and their enormous capabilities for some time contributed to a decrease in interest in guided weapons (with the exception of nuclear weapons carriers and means of protection against them). In the 1940s and 1950s, the military assumed that atomic bombs are the "absolute" weapons of future wars. Relatively effectively during this period, only anti-aircraft missile systems and some variations of cruise and ballistic missiles, which were elements of the nuclear strategy.
Other guided munitions:
- AGM-84 SLAM-ER (Stand-off Land Attack Missile, Expanded Responce) - universal sea and air-based missile launchers. It is a variant of the ship's anti-ship missile "Harpoon" in 1977. Produced in AGM-84E/H version. The infrared sensor of the warhead (BCG) expanded the capabilities of the original model. Option E included INS / GPS in the middle leg of the flight and a TV camera in the final leg. Option H had an IIR / INS / GPS guidance system (IIR - infrared sensor in the HCG). Can hit moving targets like IRBMs. It is equipped with a warhead in a titanium shell WDU-40 / B weighing 227 kg, which is equipped with an explosive (BB) PBXC-129, a Raymond FMU-155 / B fuse with a programmable time delay for detonating the warhead.
- BGM-109 Tomahawk TLAM (Tactical Land Attack Missile) - versatile ALCM/SLCM. In service since 1986. It has four variants A/B/C/D. A - nuclear version, not used in practice. B - anti-ship (anti-ship missiles) sea-based. C - KR against ground targets with a unitary warhead. D - against ground targets with cassette warheads. There are 166 submunitions in the cassette.
- AGM-130 - universal ALCM with homing systems.
- AGM-86C/D CALCM (Conventional Air-Launched Cruise Missile) - ALCM. Created by converting nuclear CR. Equipped with a high-explosive fragmentation warhead weighing 900 kg (block 0) and 1350 kg (block I). In the latter version, it has GPS guidance with a range of 1100 km. There is also a Block II variant with an improved unitary "penetrating" HCG AUP-3 (AUP - Advanced Unitary Penetrator Kinetic Energy Warhead) designed to destroy bunkers and buried objects; weight of HCG in a titanium shell - 550 kg.
- AGM-114 Hellfire - air-to-surface missile, with semi-active laser or active radar guidance (embodiing the principle of "fire and forget"). The missile was equipped with helicopters of the AH-64, OH-58, AH-1 types.
- The BGM-71 TOW is a wire-guided anti-tank guided missile. Installed on ground equipment HMMWV, Bradley, Lynx and AH-1 helicopters.
- M712 Copperhead - 155 mm laser-guided anti-tank guided missile for cannon-type artillery
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