Path: spln!lex!extra.newsguy.com!lotsanews.com!newsfeed.direct.ca!look.ca!upp1.onvoy!onvoy.com!hermes.visi.com!news-out.visi.com!gemini.tycho.net.POSTED!not-for-mail Approved: sci-military-moderated@retro.com Return-Path: news-bounce@mtu.ru Delivery-Date: Thu Mar 08 07:56:28 2001 Delivery-Date: Thu, 08 Mar 2001 07:56:27 -0800 for <sci-military-moderated@retro.com>; Thu, 8 Mar 2001 07:56:24 -0800 (PST) for <sci-military-moderated@moderators.isc.org>; Thu, 8 Mar 2001 07:44:00 -0800 (PST) for sci-military-moderated@moderators.isc.org; Thu, 8 Mar 2001 18:43:49 +0300 (MSK) (envelope-from news-bounce@mtu.ru) To: sci-military-moderated@moderators.isc.org From: "å×ÇÅÎÉÊ ïÖÏÇÉÎ" <siber_bear@mtu-net.ru> Newsgroups: sci.military.moderated Subject: Armoured vehs Date: Thu, 8 Mar 2001 18:01:22 +0300 Organization: MTU-Intel ISP Message-ID: <9889ar$23f5$5@gavrilo.mtu.ru> X-NNTP-Posting-Host: ppp100-55.dialup.mtu-net.ru X-Complaints-To: usenet-abuse@mtu.ru X-NNTP-Posting-Date: 8 Mar 2001 15:43:49 GMT X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.00.2417.2000 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Priority: 3 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.00.2314.1300 Content-Length: 24741 Lines: 370 NNTP-Posting-Host: 0d46d2f3.newsreader.tycho.net X-Trace: 984079143 gemini.tycho.net 386 205.179.181.194 X-Complaints-To: abuse@tycho.net Xref: spln sci.military.moderated:35398 To whom it may concern. The article is scheduled for the 2/2001 issues of the Arms magazine. Ivan the Bear =Nothing per-r-rsonal, just business= ARMOURED VEHICLES OF RUSSIA - TODAY AND TOMORROW By Mikhail Baryatinsky No doubt, Russia remains a recognised leader of world tank construction. The leadership has been retained despite the negative factors resulting from the Soviet Union's collapse. At the same time, Russia's research and development in the sphere of tank-building did not stop in the 1990s. The R&D has been underway in two fields. The first one is dramatic modernisation of existing models, while the second one is development of new, advanced combat vehicles. Within the framework of the former, the Russian tank developers continue modernisation of the baseline T-72 and T-80 main battle tanks, which lead in the first half of the 1990s to the advent of the T-90 (prior to 1993 it was designated as T-72BU) and ô-80Uí tanks at the Uralvagonzavod plant and Omsk Transport Machinebuilding Plant. The upgrading was aimed mostly at their fire power and armour protection. The tanks have commonised main armament. They are equipped with the 2A46M-2 125-mm cannon and Irtysh 1A45T fire control complex that consists of the 1A42 fire control system and Reflex 9K119 guided weapon system. The latter provides firing at fixed and moving targets at ranges of 100-5,000 m with the tank rolling at a speed of up to 30km/h. It is far better than the Svir 9K120 guided missile complex of the T-72B tank that had to stop to fire main gun-launched guided missiles. It is worth mentioning that advantages and disadvantages of guided arms complexes in different Russian military-technical publications are widely debated. However, we should keep in mind that there is nothing of the kind in the West. The only shortcoming of the Russian-made guided missile complexes is the fact that they have never been fired in real combat. Main gun-fired guided missiles may become a means for tanks' fire power to increase without an increase in main armament caliber. As for tank armour protection, the thickness of the T-90 and T-80Uí tanks' prime armour has almost reached its limit. And now it is impossible to increase it without increasing the chassis's carrying capacity at the same time. For the same reason, there can be no increase in explosive reactive armour (ERA) - both mounted and built-in. However, the latter circumstance, to tell the truth, does not prevent an increase in explosive reactive armour elements' efficiency. Russian tank designers have been searching for the ways to beef up armour protection. The research led them to such non-standard and innovative ideas as the development of the Shtora-1 electro-optical countermeasures system. The system is designed to protect tanks from semi-automatic command-guided weapons, such as the TOW, HOT, MILAN, Dragon, etc; laser beam-riding Maverick, Hellfire, Copperhead munitions as well from artillery pieces with laser range-finders. Speaking of increasing the protection, we should mention the unique Arena active protection system that was tested for the first time on the T-80B tank and installed on production T-80Uí-1 Bars tank. The Arena enhances tank protection from antitank rockets and guided missiles by twofold. Both Shtora and Arena may be installed in the T-72 and T-80 tanks of older models during their overhaul and modernisation, as may new fire control systems, armament control complexes, engines, etc. There is a real opportunity to bring all or almost all Russian Army tanks now in service to the level of the T-90 and T-80Uí, thus extending their service lives. From the cost-effectiveness standpoint, it is going to pay off, given the economic situation in Russia now. At any rate, even richer countries in the West have modernized their existing armour over the past decade. In the upcoming 10-15 years, the emergence of radically new designs abroad is not expected. Also, it should be kept in mind that many foreign states have in their inventories more than 6,000 T-72 tanks of various variants. So, the programme of Russian armour modernisation has a very lucrative foreign application as well. The modernisation measures have also touched upon the numerous fleet of armored auxiliary and engineering vehicles mounted on the tank chassis. Suffice it to mention the IMR-3 and IMR-3í combat engineer vehicles, BMR-3 and BMR-3í armored mine clearing vehicles, íôU-72 armoured bridge layer, BREM-1í armoured recovery vehicle, which have been derived lately from the ô-72B and ô-90 tanks. The BREM-80U armoured recovery vehicle was derived from the ô-80U tank. Along with refining existing Russian combat vehicles, Russia spares no effort on the development of the fourth-generation tanks. For example, the Omsk-based Design Bureau of Transport Machinebuilding has been developing the new main battle tank Chorny Oryol (Black Eagle), a.k.a Object 640. The running mockup of the tank was demonstrated at ïmsk '97 arms exhibition, while the prototype was shown at the ïmsk '99 exhibition. The Object 640 has been built on an absolutely new chassis embracing some elements of the T-80's running gear. The elongated T-80 hull was featured by the prototype displayed, too. Afterwards, the hull will be significantly redesigned, judging by the tank model which was demonstrated as a static display by the Omsk Design Bureau. It will have a radically new, enhanced armour protection in its front arc. In addition, the front parts of the hull and turret roof will have built-in explosive reactive armour. The driver will be seated not below the hatch as he is in all production Russian tanks, but aft of it. The turret of the Black Eagle boasts an absolutely new design, evidently, an all-welded one. Its frontal glacis is equipped with built-in explosive reactive armour in the sector of approximately 120 degrees. The units of the explosive reactive armour are also installed in the front part of the turret roof. Laser illumination sensors are installed on the roof while the launchers, designed, most probably, to launch the Drozd-M system's shells, are installed on the sides. The whole ammunition load, to all appearances, is stowed in a spacious bustle in the turret rear and is screened from the combat compartment by an armored partition. If a round hits the ammunition stowage and the latter goes off, the energy of the explosion is supposed to go up through the ejecting panels, while the crew is expected to remain unscathed. The Black Eagle crew of three is placed the same way as in all Soviet-made tanks. The gunner's battle station is fitted with a combined sight with a laser range-finder. The commander has a panoramic sight and a thermal imager. Evidently, data from any of these sight systems can be shown on both gunner's and commander's displays. The armament of the 48-tonne tank comprises a 125-mm gun, 7.62-mm coaxial machine-gun and a remotely-operated 12.7-mm Kord antiaircraft machine-gun. The gun has an automatic loader similar to that of the French-made Leclerc. The loader can handle both separate and unitary rounds of ammunition. Looks like a main armament of a greater caliber will be installed on production tanks. The tank is powered by a gas turbine engine of at least 1400 horsepower. Probably, hydrovolumetric transmission will be employed, with the tank to be steered not by the levers but by the steering yoke. The running gear has seven roadwheels, the tracks are similar to those of the T-80 but are a little broader. The suspension is independent, torsion bar-type, and fitted with hydraulic shock absorbers. In expert opinion, the tank will be 70 per cent superior of such western tanks, as the M1A2 Abrams, Leclerc and Leopard 2A5 in mobility, fire power and protection. The Uralvagonzavod plant, the leading armour manufacturer, has developed another advanced combat vehicle whose advent was announced by Russian Minister of Defence Igor Sergeyev after his visit to the Nizhny Tagil and Yekaterinburg-based defence companies in March 2000. The cutting-edge main battle tank was designated as T-95. All characteristics, appearance and layout features of the T-95 remain classified. The only thing we know for sure at present is that the tank is not a derivative of any production Russian-made MBT, rather a from-scratch design. Meanwhile, some experts already obtained approximate data on the tank: its weight totals about 50 t, length and width, to all appearances, are roughly the same as those of the tanks now in service. The experts assume that the tank will require a 1,200-horsepower engine at least to have mobility appropriate to the present-day battlefield. The major innovation of the T-95 is its fighting compartment layout. The main armament is located in a small uninhabited turret, the automatic loader is placed below the turret. The battle stations of the three-man crew - driver, gunner and commander - are in a special armoured capsule separated from the automatic loader and turret by an armoured partition. Probably, the caliber of the gun is 135 mm. It is a dramatically novel artillery system and, in all probability, it will remain smooth-bore. The fire control system will undergo drastic changes, too - the target data will be fed by an array of optical and infra-red devices, the laser range-finder and, probably, a radar. The development of the fire control system is one of the key tasks that have been accomplished in developing the T-95 tank, since by virtue of the crew seating arrangement the crew will not be able to use regular optical observation devices. The hull and the turret are made of composite armour covered by third-generation explosive reactive armour. It is quite possible that the T-95 will be equipped with an active protection system derived from the current Arena active protection system. The turretless layout contributes to a sizeable slashing of the height of the vehicle and its battlefield observability. So, one of the problems of world tank development has been resolved: a relatively light fourth-generation main battle tank with a high degree of crew protection has been built. The western tanks of the '90s, such as the M1A2 Abrams, Leclerc and Leopard 2 weigh at least 60 t because of extreme thickness of their armour. As a result, their manoeuvrability and cross-country capability are limited. Their airlifting is difficult too. It is impossible to fully compensate thin armor through the use of active protection systems like those mounted by the Russian-made T-90 and T-80Uí. What is more, active protection means could not be beefed up indefinitely. So, the approach to tank protection, which was realised in the T-95, appears to be the most promising one. We expect that soon Russia will field a main battle tank giving the Russian tank industry at least a 10-year lead on its western opposite number. Armored vehicles designed to operate in concert with tanks on today's battlefield, are a vital component of the armored forces of any present-day armed services. Infantry fighting vehicles play a leading role in such cooperation. Modernisation has became a pass to the third millennium too. The greater part of the infantry fighting vehicles (IFV) in service with the Russian Army is made up of the BMP-1 and BMP-2 vehicles fielded in 1966 and 1980, respectively, and pretty obsolescent nowadays. Since the advanced BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicle is being fielded very scarcely, upgrading its predecessors is very pressing. It is all the more so since, besides Russia, the BMP-1 and BMP-2 are in the inventories of roughly two dozen armed forces across the world. Even though the BMP-2's armament could be found acceptable, the 73-mm 2A28 Grom smoothbore gun and 9K11 Malyutka antitank guided missile (ATGM), which make up the main armament of the BMP-1, are obsolete beyond any hope. This is the reason that the Tula-based Design Bureau of Instrumentation (in Russian - KBP) have developed a new fighting compartment designated as Kliver to be mounted on BMP-1 IFVs. Hereinafter, the fighting compartment is understood to be a turret with the main armament, sighting system, ammunition stowage, ammunition feeder system and gunner's combat station. The weapons suite of the Kliver is the 30-mm 2A72 cannon, PKTM 7.62-mm machinegun and Kornet antitank guided missile system. The cannon is housed by a special framework to enhance its barrel's rigidity during firing, which enhanced its accuracy. The Kornet ATGM system is effective against present-day tanks at a range of up to 5,500 m. Its 9M133 antitank guided missiles carry a tandem shaped-charge warhead lethal for armoured vehicles protected with explosive reactive armour (ERA). Even though the Kliver is not perfect (e.g. it is impossible to open the first pair of troop hatches on the upper surface of the hull), it still is rather good. With a dramatic increase in the BMP-1's fire power, the rest of its characteristics have not been degraded. It is quite probable that many foreign BMP-1 IFV operators would be interested in this rather inexpensive variant of making their infantry fighting vehicles meet the requirements of today. However, lately, not only the BMP-1 and BMP-2 IFVs have been modernised but the cutting-edge BMP-3 IFV as well. Since its armament needs not to be improved while remaining the most formidable IFV armament worldwide, it is mostly the vehicle's protection and mobility that are being uprated. Thus, at the IDEX '99 arms show, the BMP-3M outfitted with the Arena active protection suite was unveiled. The introduction of the Arena prompted certain alteration of the IFV's turret. The unit housing a radar to detect incoming ATGMs and antitank rockets is mounted on its rear section, with the system's rounds being mounted around it. The BMP-3M is powered by the advanced UTD-32F 650-hp engine. In addition, the IFV features the computer system designed to daily monitor the state of various units and assembles, thus enabling the driver to automatically start the engine in a certain mode, with the software-provided characteristics to be maintained automatically. The need in a more efficient engine became especially topical following the introduction into the BMP-3 of a sophisticated add-on explosive reactive armour system developed by the NII of Steel known by its Russian name NII Stali. With the ERA package mounted, the weight of the vehicle totalled 21 tonnes. A characteristic feature of Russian armoured vehicle development over the nineties became the reduction of the number of baseline chasses to mount various combat and auxiliary vehicles. For instance, the BMP-3 is gradually becoming the primary baseline light tracked vehicle. Just over the past decade, it was used for deriving the BMP-3K command vehicle, BRM-3 Rys reconnaissance vehicle, BREM-L Beglyanka recovery vehicle, Khrizantema self-propelled antitank guided missile system, 2S21 Vena 120-mm self-propelled gun, Vostorg heavy earth mover, etc. Nonetheless, the BMP-3 - is a light-skinned IFV just like the rest of today' s infantry fighting vehicles whose armour protection on the battlefield is far inferior of that of main battle tanks. The experience drawn from various wars including local conflicts emphasises an increased need in ensuring adequate personnel protection from present-day weapons. In realising the maximal protection concept, the Omsk-based Design Bureau of Transport Machine-building (KBTM in Russian) have derived from the T-55 MBT a prototype of the BTR-T heavy armoured personnel carrier (APC) whose armour protection is as effective against the enemy's weapons as that of a main battle tank. The BTR-T hull carries a low-silhouette turret that mounts a platform with the following missile and artillery weaponry - 30-mm automatic cannon, 7.62-mm machinegun and Konkurs antitank guided missile system. Such armament enables the crew to efficiently kill both thin- and thick-skinned armoured targets. The redesigned fighting compartment in the hull houses the commander, driver and five infantrymen in full combat gear. In fact, the BTR-T is not so much an armoured personnel carrier, as an infantry fighting vehicle based on a main battle tank chassis. Lately, such vehicles have been referred to as tank support combat vehicles (TSCV) or, somewhat jokingly, TAPC - truly armoured personnel carriers. In August 2000, the Ural Expo Arms 2000 exhibition saw the Uralvagonzavod plant unveiling its version of the tank support combat vehicle - the Object 199. Mounted on the T-72 MBT chassis and powered by the newly-developed V-92S2 1,000-horsepower engine, the 47-tonne vehicle is designed to deal with secondary targets, e.g. threat infantry fighting vehicles and armoured personnel carriers as well as enemy manpower. The tank turret was discarded in favour of a remotely-operated module comprising the 2A42 30-mm automatic cannon, AG-30 or AGS-17A automatic grenade launcher and PKTM machinegun. The Kornet ATGM system could be mounted as well. The front section of the hull features the integral ERA-equipped combined armour. The vehicle's sides are protected by skirts and ERA units. The Object 199 vehicle has a crew of five. Both the Object 199 and BTR-T could be viewed as a sort of concept embodiment of new-generation fighting vehicles. Looks like the former boasts better armament and armour protection than the latter, with its layout being better efficient. However, it carries no infantrymen though abroad the assault troops carried are a must for the vehicles of the class. Soon, similar combat vehicles are expected to be derived from the advanced main battle tanks - Black Eagle and T-95 - and have no flaws inherent in their predecessors. One should not believe, however, that main battle tanks and their supporting vehicles would hog the battlefield all for themselves in the future. Frequent local wars require highly mobile and well-protected combat vehicles with lethal armament. Most suitable to meet this requirement are wheeled armoured vehicles. In the early nineties, the GAZ joint stock company (Nizhny Novgorod, Russia) developed a new wheeled APC, the BTR-90, with its performance being by far superior of that of the BTR-60PB, BTR-70 and BTR-80 armoured personnel carriers well known across the globe, as well as present-day western APCs in the same class. The BTR-90 mounts the 30-mm 2A42 automatic cannon, PKTM 7.62-mm machinegun, AGS-17 30-mm automatic grenade launcher and Konkurs ATGM system. Its 7-tonne carrying capacity and 12-m? internal space enable the BTR-90 to mount heavier weapons systems, such as the fighting unit of the BMP-3, an antitank gun, a 120-mm gun, surface-to-air and antitank missile systems. The vehicle boasts a rather good armour protection that can protect, inter alia, from antitank mines via the wedge-like hull bottom with the V-shaped cross section. The BTR-90 is the first armoured personnel carrier that can be outfitted with the BIUS onboard data management system. In fact, the BTR-90 is more like a wheeled infantry fighting vehicle, rather than a classical APC. Such armoured vehicles are believed to be most suitable for the inventory of rapid reaction forces (RRF) that have been much spoken about recently. Of the variety of tracked fighting vehicles to field such a force whose backbone should be the Airborne Troops, the airborne infantry fighting vehicles (AIFV) are best suited. Developed by the Soviet Union over the 1960-70s, the family of these vehicles still has no analogues in the world. In 1990, the new-generation BMD-3 AIFV was fielded with the Soviet paras. It embodies the best advanced in this sphere. The vehicle could be both airlanded and airdropped with its crew inside, which enable the crew to join the fighting right after hitting the ground. The all-welded hull is made of a high-strength multi-layered aluminium alloy. To enhance anti-mine resistance, the crew seats are fixed to the inside of the fighting compartment roof. The upper front armour plate of the hull mounts to ball fixtures: one for the AGS-17 grenade launcher and the other for the RPKS-74 light machinegun. The two-seat turret with its armament is that of the BMP-2 IFV. The BMD-3 can be airlifted by all military transports and airdropped through the use of the PBS-950 multi-cupola palletless parachute system. The BMD-3 AIFV turned out to be such a success that it was used for deriving a whole family of new-generation vehicles. The first one happened to be the 2S25 Sprut-SD self-propelled antitank gun being, in fact, a kind of light tank built around the stretched BMD-3 chassis. The main armament of this 18-tonne airborne tank is the 2A75 125-mm smoothbore gun, a derivative of the 2A46 tank gun, that fires ammunition of all types designed for the 2A46, including tank-fired guided missiles. Thus, should the 2S25 be fielded, the Russian paratroopers would get a light combat vehicle as lethal as a main battle tank. Since we dwelt upon self-propelled field artillery (FA) pieces, it makes sense to touch on Russian-made systems of the class in greater detail. In this case, there is an obvious trend to slash the number of different types. For the near future, the standard self-propelled gun is going to be 152-mm 2S19 Msta-S SP howitzer. 2S19 SP howitzers are organised with Kapustnik battery firing task forces which are the bases to be beefed up for activating any field artillery outfits. Despite the Msta-S being the most advanced Rusisan-made self-propelled artillery piece, measures to upgrade it are already underway. The upgrade provides for fitting the Msta-S with an automatic sighting and fire control system (FCS) ensuring the so-called 'targetingless' [ÂÅÓÐÒÉÃÅÌØÎÁÑ] sighting system. With its good combat capabilities coupled with its targetingless sighting system, the Msta-S self-propelled howitzer meets the stringent present-day standards while its 155-mm derivative is to offer stiff competition to cutting-edge foreign-made self-propelled field artillery systems. Today, a large chunk of the Russian Army's 152-mm SP arty fleet is made up of 2S3M Akatsiya SP guns. Presently, the 2S3M is believed to remain in service for the upcoming 10-15 years. Owing to this, a 2S3M modernisation programme have been devised, which is aimed, first and foremost, at extending its effective range. This is planned to be achieved via fitting it with a new 39-calibre barrel and enabling the gun to fire high-explosive (HE) ammunition organic to the 2S19 howitzer. As a result, the full-charge range is to grow from 17.3 km to 25.1 km. Besides developing and perfecting traditional tube artillery systems, over the nineties, development of the so-called assault guns continued. This category of artillery systems includes, first of all, 120-mm pieces - the 2B16 Nona-K towed and 2S9 Nona-SV and 2S23 Nona-SVK self-propelled versions. Such weapons has become all the rage due to the local conflicts. The latter are normally fought without a clearly defined forward line of own troops (FLOT), often it is done in mountainous terrain, by small mobile task forces rather independent in the tactical and fire support sense. Using heavy self-propelled systems like the Msta-S and Giatsint in such conflicts is not always rational while the Nona-SV 120-mm SP artillery system, combining the best characteristics of the mortar and howitzer, proved to be extremely effective in, say, Chechnya. Another phase in this sphere proved to be the advent of the 2S21 Vena SP artillery system. Based on the BMP-3 chassis, the system features a longer barrel ensuring a greater effective range: thus, it can lob its high-explosive rounds at 13 km while mortar shells as far as 7.2 km. Unlike its predecessors, the Vena is equipped with a fire control computer. In the near future, it could oust all artillery pieces fielded with the Army - from the 120-mm mortars to 122-mm howitzers. Looks like the time will come soon for a larger-calibre assault guns to emerge. The NII Special Machine-building (NII Specialnogo Mashinostroyeniya) at the Baumann State Technological University (Moscow) have devised the concept, layout and basic specifications for a 152-mm SP howitzer mounted on the BTR-80 armoured personnel carrier and having a 20-round unit of fire. Possibly, it is such systems that will dominate wars in the near future. No doubt, this brief review is ill-suited for covering the whole spectrum of the Russian-made armoured fighting vehicles. Their status on the verge of the 21st century proves the Russian Army operates formidable armoured vehicles, featuring high firepower, adequate protection and high mobility, and is intent on keep on doing so in the future.