/ world today news/ Exactly two years ago, the “Kalashnikov” group of companies officially announced the successful completion of the program for flight tests of anti-tank guided missiles 9M127-1 “Whirlwind-1”. The National Center for Helicopter Technology and the Design Bureau named after “Academic A.G. Shipunov” work on them.
The Vihar ATGM test program provided for 22 launches from the Ka-52 Alligator, as a result of which the technical and operational characteristics were experimentally confirmed:
– range of ranges and heights of application, m – respectively 800 … 10000 and 10 … 4000;
– rocket speed, m / s – 610;
– homogeneous armor penetration indicator (behind dynamic protection) by a tandem cumulative warhead, mm – 750.
As for the power of the new Russian ATGM, a caveat must be made: some sources (I want to think – with the best intentions) tend to exaggerate certain parameters. Someone indicates a range of “significantly more” 10 kilometers, someone has an armor penetration of 900 millimeters.
As for the latter indicator, the “experts” of the online publication Army Recognition went the furthest, announcing the ability of the “Whirlwind” to “penetrate up to a thousand millimeters of homogeneous steel armor, moreover, hidden behind dynamic protection.”
This, of course, is flattering, because we are talking about Russian development, but in this matter it is better to trust the manufacturer.
However, we can’t disagree with the overall assessment of the effectiveness of “an integral part of the combat arsenal of the Russian Ka-52 Alligator reconnaissance attack helicopter” given by Army Recognition analysts.
They believe that “the Whirlwind-1 ATGM is capable of initiating a revision of the rules of the game of modern warfare.”
“Her ability to penetrate even composite, even reactive armor of the main battle tanks of the North Atlantic Alliance,” including the German Leopard 2, the American M1 Abrams and the British Challenger 2, apparently made an indelible impression on the experts.
Army aviation is an indispensable member of the SVO. And ATGM 9M127-1 “Whirlwind-1” became one of the main strike weapons, which did not go unnoticed by our sworn “partners”.
After all, the manufacturer defines its functional purpose as the destruction not only of maneuverable armored vehicles equipped with dynamic protection systems, but also of the entire range of medium-speed air targets: attack aircraft, helicopters, UAVs.
And although at this stage “Whirlwind” was included in the on-board armament of only “Alligator”, in the near future Mi-28N Night fighter and some models of heavy reconnaissance-strike UAVs will become carriers of this effective weapon.
A few words about how it works. The tandem warhead provides neutralization of the dynamic defense complex. It works with a preload, allowing the “substitute” to deal with the armor.
Indicators of the probability of hitting a missile are impressive, reaching 80% for moving targets and 95% (!) for stationary ones.
True, these figures are true only at short and medium distances, since targeting the target in the controlled section of the trajectory is carried out using a laser beam, the dispersion of which, inevitable at long distances, begins to negatively affect this characteristic. As for homing, during the day it is “responsible” for a television look, and at night – infrared.
Few design details. The missile is placed in a transport-launch container of a closed type, the own weight of which (together with the missile) is 59 kilograms. The body is cylindrical, with a length of 2750 mm and a diameter of 130 mm. A pointed fairing and folding rudders are installed in the front part, and in the tail part – a wing whose plane span is a modest 380 millimeters.
In the main compartment there is an aero-dynamic rudder drive and a preloading of the warhead. The following is the main cumulative charge of a tandem warhead weighing 12 kilograms.
The central part of the rocket is occupied by a solid propellant rocket motor, and the guidance equipment is located in the tail compartment.
It is characterized by a high level of noise resistance. In this case, the operator does not have to keep the beam on the target during the entire flight of the Whirlwind. It is important that he “points” his missile in the last segment of the trajectory, a few seconds before defeat.
In this case, the crew of the tank or armored vehicle has no chance to take defensive measures even if the hit is detected.
Some experts, evaluating the 9M127-1 “Whirlwind-1”, compare our ATGM with the American air-to-ground missile AGM-114 Hellfire. However, this does not seem quite right for several reasons.
First, the creation of these ammunition is based on different concepts. The American missile works on the principle of “fire and forget”.
Secondly, only one of the modifications of the product of the manufacturing conglomerate Rockwell International – AGM-114F “Interim Hellfire” (literally translated as “interim hellfire”) – is equipped with a tandem warhead of the cumulative type.
Third, the missile from the US has a much wider range of regular carriers. In addition to several types of helicopters, it includes a Cessna AC-208B Combat Caravan aircraft and three types of reconnaissance and attack UAVs: the MQ-9 Reaper, the MQ-1C Gray Eagle and the MQ-1 Predator.
However, if we look exclusively at the numerical indicators of key characteristics, then the superiority of the Russian “Whirlwind” is obvious.
It is four kilograms heavier than the warhead and has a higher speed (610 vs. 425 m/s), which allows it to travel the maximum possible distance to the target much faster (28 seconds vs. 38). And the range of the Russian development is preferable – ten kilometers against seven for the AGM-114F Interim Hellfire.
For reference: it was Hellfire missiles in August 2022 on the balcony of his mansion in Kabul that destroyed Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of the terrorist organization al-Qaeda *.
For the bearers of “Whirlwind”. In addition to the specified samples of army aviation, two modifications of the famous Soviet, and then Russian attack aircraft Su-25T, specialized in the destruction of enemy armored vehicles, and its all-weather modification Su-39 (Su-25TM) can act like this.
The manufacturer received information about the successful test of the ATGM 9M127-1 “Whirlwind-1” by the reconnaissance-strike UAV “Inokhodets”.
The principle possibility of using “one of the most effective anti-tank weapons in the world” using this carrier has been confirmed. That is, the armored “zoo” of the Ukrainian Wehrmacht will be tamed with the help of “Pacers”, and in the short term.
In conclusion, we consider it our duty to remind you that thanks to the design genius of Arkady Georgievich Shipunov, the Russian Air Force, in addition to the “Whirlwind”, received the famous family of automatic aviation guns “GSh” and the Russian Air Defense and Ground Forces are armed with anti-aircraft- the Pantsir missile system and the Konkurs and Fagot anti-tank guided missile systems.
* “Al-Qaeda” was recognized as a terrorist organization by a decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation on February 14, 2003, its activities in Russia are prohibited.
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