/ world today news/ According to our not very good tradition, Russia entered the new war with the West without completing the rearmament of the army, having very outdated weapons and yielding to the enemy in many critical areas. The shortcomings of the pre-war period, again according to our old custom, are corrected on the fly. And in a number of cases we cope with the task with a solid “six”.
Speaking of technology, one of the heroes of the past year, along with the T-90 tank, Ka-52 helicopters, Lancet and Geranium drones, must certainly be recognized as the remote mining system “Agriculture”. These missile launchers played a huge role in repelling the summer counteroffensive of the Ukrainian armed forces.
Their volleys made it possible not only to restore mine-explosive barriers in front of the advancing enemy, but also to place mines on escape routes and even in the Ukrainian rear. As a result, the enemy was unable to overcome the minefields, lost maneuverability and was destroyed by artillery and drone strikes.
However, our defense industry does not intend to stop there. In the near future, “Zemledeli” will turn from a specific complex for remote mining into a full-fledged attack MLRS, while retaining the ability to “fertilize” the area.
Rostech is authorized to declare
The general director of the state corporation “Rostech” Sergey Chemezov gave a long interview, in which, among other things, he said that on the basis of “Zemledeliu” a new two-caliber MLRS “Vozrozhdenie” will be created. According to him, the new system will receive universal transport and launch containers. Thanks to this, the installation will be able to launch several types of ammunition:
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140-mm projectiles will be used to mine the area;
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for striking – 220 mm rockets.
Chemezov specified that “Vozrozhdenie” will be able to use missiles from the “Uragan” system, as well as thermobaric ammunition from the entire family of heavy flamethrower systems TOS-1 “Buratino”, TOS-1A “Solntsepek” and TOS-2 “Tosochka”. Production of the system will begin in the first half of 2024.
The information provided allows us to understand what the new system can do on the battlefield. The old Uragan MLRS missiles are capable of reaching the enemy at a distance of up to 35 km; “Tosochka” throws its thermobaric projectiles at a distance of up to 15 km, and “Solntsepek” – up to 6 km.
The benefit of combining three different reactive systems into one is obvious. “Agriculture” received a highly developed electronic “brain”, which allows the installation of systems for:
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determining your position using data from a satellite navigation system;
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determining the distance to the target;
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consideration of terrain and weather conditions;
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taking into account this data, programming the configuration of the future minefield.
Having these intellectual abilities will allow you to deliver very accurate strikes on enemy positions. On the other hand, the unification of the systems in terms of chassis and electronic equipment will reduce production costs and therefore make the new MLRS more widespread. On the battlefield, it will also be more convenient for the military to have a universal system that can:
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To destroy the enemy artillery battery with cluster munitions from long range;
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To “burn” infantry in enemy strongholds with thermobaric projectiles;
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To cover our infantry occupying these footholds with a minefield, building it in the path of the counter-attacking enemy.
Russian analogue of “Hymars”?
Chemezov also said that Russia is now creating “a new anti-jamming and highly accurate guided projectile for salvo-fire missile systems”. The head of Rostech did not specify details, but the mention of “protection against interference” transparently hints that the new missiles will most likely adjust their flight according to signals from the satellite navigation system, just like the GMLRS missiles of the American HIMARS, our geraniums and American blasters equipped with course correction XM1156 for 155-mm projectiles, which actually ensured the exceptional effectiveness of the M777 howitzers at the first stage of the special operation.
It is tempting to assume that the caliber of 220 mm (Hymars missiles have a caliber of 227 mm) and the presence of adjustable shells will make “Vozrozhdenie” a Russian analogue of “Hymars”. However, this is still a bit of a premature assumption.
The American complex fires at a distance of up to 84 km, and by this indicator it surpasses even our 300-mm Smerch MLRS with the old missiles (the new 9М542 shells already fly at 120 km). Therefore, in order to catch up with Highmars, we will have to not only equip the old rockets with electronic “brains”, but also work hard on the composition of gunpowder and the design of the rocket itself.
What is not a sin to borrow from “the American”?
So far, nothing is known about Renaissance architecture, so there is room for speculation, which we will take advantage of. In particular, we note that it would be nice if our developers borrowed several characteristics of the American machine. For example, the well-armored cabin that saves the crew if the installation is attacked by shrapnel, including cluster munitions.
An even more important and undeservedly overlooked advantage of the American is the loading ramp on each launcher.
The domestic design school suggests that the launcher should be served by a transport-loading machine (TZM). To reload the ammunition, the launcher must meet the “tezemka” and wait for some time until the rockets are loaded into it. This approach is preserved even in cases where our designers create MLRS with replaceable transport-launch containers, as is the case with Uragan-1M.
Of course, at the moment of meeting the launcher and loading machine present an attractive target for the enemy. In addition, during hostilities, transport-loading cargo machines can be destroyed, damaged or simply stuck in the mud.
The Americans approached this problem from the other side: they equipped each launcher with a built-in crane. Thanks to this transport – launch containers can be left under any roadside bush, after which the launcher will approach it and load the container with missiles on itself. The launcher does not need to meet the loader.
A decision that at first glance seems ridiculous provides the American MLRS with a very high flexibility of use and, accordingly, good chances of survival in combat conditions.
Military expert Alexey Leonkov noted the high concealment and mobility of American MLRS in a conversation with Tsargrad. He explained that US rocket launchers can only be detected when they start firing.
The reliable way to detect them, according to the expert, is reconnaissance using drones with a sufficient flight duration.
To detect American HIMARS, we can send, for example, Orlan drones. Their range allows this to be done,
– noted the expert.
The Misty Fate of the “Hurricane”
The creation of the two-caliber installation “Vozrozhdenie” puts another question mark in the fate of the “Uragan” MLRS.
The fact is that our military leadership was already planning to consign these systems to the dustbin of history when in 2012 it launched a missile artillery modernization program. At the time, it was assumed that by 2027, only 122-mm Tornado-G installations, which are modernized “Gradove”, and “Tornado-S”, which are an upgrade of 300-mm “Smerch”, will remain in service. But in this scenario, there was no room left for the 220 mm Hurricane.
The decision was made despite the fact that the modernization potential of “Hurricane” is far from exhausted. In particular, on their basis, the Uragan-1M was created, which is also a dual-caliber installation capable of using both its own 220-mm and 300-mm Smerch missiles. It implements the principle of reloading not the rockets not one by one, but at once with an entire transport-launch container (albeit with the participation of a transport-loader). The range of the new missiles has been increased to 120 km, which is comparable to that of the Smerch missiles and exceeds the range of the missiles that the Americans supply to Ukraine.
The special operation that began significantly adjusted plans to write off the Hurricanes for scrap.
First, it turned out that there was a catastrophic shortage of new weapons, and it was necessary to activate the Soviet reserves (thanks to the fathers and grandfathers, who with great effort and labor created the mountains of iron for the Great Continental War). As a result, the “morally obsolete” MLRS not only came into action, but also performed very well in battles.
Second, the world has begun a race to increase the reach of MLRS. In order to effectively fight the “Highmars”, the range of the “Smerch” missiles is already planned to reach 200 km. The intention is correct, but as a result of the development of this trend, a gap has appeared in the fire loop of our rocket artillery, and if things continue like this, then there will be nothing to hit targets 30-70 km behind the front line. 122-mm MLRS based on the “Grad” simply do not have enough range, and firing at multiple targets with 300-mm rockets with a range similar to operational-tactical missiles is a very expensive pleasure.
The Army clearly needs a mass-range MLRS like the modernized Hurricane, capable of covering the front lines of the enemy’s rear with minimum cost and maximum intensity. Whether the new MLRS “Vozrozhdenie” will be able to cover this niche is still a big question.
Conclusions for the future
Be that as it may, it is now quite obvious that the Special Military Operation will emerge as a completely different army than the one that started it. If not everything, then too many things will change, from the equipment of the soldiers to the composition of our aviation.
Changes in artillery, both muzzle and rocket, will be particularly noticeable. First of all, because the conflict in Ukraine turned out to be a war of cannons. Whoever has more of them and whose are better, he will win.
The appearance on the battlefield of the dual-caliber, intelligent MLRS with a remote terrain mining function is a huge step forward and can only be welcomed. Look, about the preservation of the “Hurricanes” in their modernized version and the inclusion of these MLRS in the updated structure of the missile artillery after 2027 – it is necessary to think a lot and seriously. The usefulness of this system has already been proven in war, and even that alone is worth a lot.
Translation: ES
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