Russian Ground Forces: News #2

The Ground Troops of Russia’s Southern MD are resurrecting airmobile groups.

https://russiandefpolicy.blog/2019/01/03/airmobile-groups/

With the advent of new powerful but also quiet electric motors, it would be interesting if special sound sensing UAVs could be developed for the Penicillin artillery detection system... it could be more mobile and it could be fitted with MMW radar and thermal sensors too and just transmit triangulated data (radar, thermal, acoustic) back to the main vehicle operating with the artillery units it provides information to...

It means the vehicle could operate well out of harms way and while vulnerable to attack... like anything on the front line... the UAVs could move rapidly from place to place recording enemy fire using acoustic signatures to locate positions and weapon types that could be marked on real time maps used by friendly forces...

In a COIN type situation the radar and Thermal sensors (ie more expensive) could be on a medium altitude UAV out of reach of ground fire, while the sound sensor drones could be smaller and lighter and harder to see and hear and operate at lower altitudes detecting sounds...

Hole wrote:The thing with Penicillin is that it works only passive, so no radar for the drone. But good idea.

Which is why it's a good paring with Kornet-D.

The thing with Penicillin is that it works only passive, so no radar for the drone. But good idea.

I suspect the vehicle does not have a radar to prevent it being located easily.

For a COIN operation or an operation like Syria where the opponents don't really have an opposing air force they can reliably call on (ie not including teh Turkish, US, French, UK, or Israeli air support these head chopping terrorists have been receiving) then having thermal and radar sensors in UAVs operating at altitude over the battlefield while smaller much quieter drones with sound sensors operate much lower detecting launch signatures of rockets and guns would be a useful improvement... the smaller lower flying drones could pass information up to the larger heavier drone operating at altitude where it could send the information great distances with a more powerful transmitter...

For a WWIII scenario I would expect the same setup but the low flying models would likely need to be cheap and replaceable.... Perhaps another large drone carrying a dozen small drones that can fly with the other large drone and drop new small drones as they are needed...

Source: for the Russian military have developed an individual complex intelligence "The Eye"

According to the interlocutor TASS, the novelty has already been tested in Syria

MOSCOW, January 27. / TASS /. The Russian military will receive an individual reconnaissance complex "Eye", which is a mini-device with a high-resolution camera, which is launched from a hand-held rocket launcher. The novelty has already been tested in Syria, a source in the military-industrial complex told Tass on Sunday.

"For the Russian army, an individual operative reconnaissance system, the Eye, has been developed, which is a mini-parachute vehicle that is launched from a hand-held rocket launcher," the agency’s source said. According to him, "the Russian divisions in Syria have tested the product experimentally."

According to the source, a soldier on the battlefield launches a missile from a hand-held rocket launcher, which rises to a height of 300 m and throws the device with a high-resolution camera. While the device is lowered by parachute, the camera transmits the image to the fighter's tablet.

"The" Eye "complex allows you to quickly receive photo and video data in emergency situations or in places where information is difficult to obtain information by ordinary means or endangering human lives," the agency's source said. For example, the complex is supposed to be used in urban battles when the enemy is out of the line of sight — behind buildings, fences, on the roofs of buildings, and so on.

The source said that now the "Eye" is undergoing factory tests. The mass of the rocket launcher for launching the device does not exceed 400 g, its length is about 300 mm, the agency’s source said. According to him, the image is transmitted in real time, while at the maximum height in the field of view of the camera gets an area of ​​about 0.5 square meters. km

https://tass.ru/armiya-i-opk/6045867

Russia is developing a new complex for the protection of armored vehicles against precision weapons

According to TsNIItochmash, the first to receive the complex are self-propelled artillery guns "Lotos"

MOSCOW, February 8. / TASS /. A new complex of protection against high-precision guided munitions for armored vehicles is being developed by specialists of TsNIItochmash (part of Rostec). The first to receive the complex will be the newest self-propelled artillery guns “Lotos”, the press service of the TsNIItochmash said on Friday.

"The engineers of the artillery direction of TsNIItochmash JSC are developing a new complex for the protection of armored vehicles against precision weapons, based on the principle of optical-electronic suppression of targeting systems to the attacking guided munitions," the press service said. They added that the new complex "will be nominally installed on the 120-mm CJSC Lotos, which is currently preparing for preliminary tests."

The complex consists of equipment that fixes the shot itself and the sector from which it is made, as well as the system for setting up optical-electronic interference using aerosol ammunition, which violates the control of the attacking missile.

As specified in the press service, when an attack is detected, the complex fires aerosol ammunition in the required direction, taking into account the wind. Then a block of cassettes with an aerosol-forming filling flies out of the ammunition itself. "In flight, the cassettes consistently operate and form an aerosol cloud of interference in the visible, infrared and radio frequency bands, providing protection for the combat vehicle," explained TsNIItochmash.

The company reported that preliminary tests of aerosol ammunition, confirming their high efficiency, were conducted. They added that the ammunition of the system provides for the production of optical-electronic interference in the extended wavelength range, as compared with analogues.

To date, one of the most effective means of high-precision destruction of armored vehicles are anti-missile systems. Missiles of such complexes have different controls: their flight can be directly controlled by the operator of the complex over the radio channel, they can have an infrared homing head or fly to the target according to commands of the control system, while the target is illuminated by a laser beam. Breaking the radio command link with the missile, the disappearance of the laser illumination of the target, or the blinding of the missile in the infrared range, according to the type of control, will lead to a miss.

https://tass.ru/armiya-i-opk/6092253

One of the main developers of Russian weapons systems, TsNIItochmash (part of Rostec State Corporation), has launched a large-scale program of technical re-equipment costing half a billion rubles. Last year, the company was headed by Albert Bakov, who previously worked as the general director of the Tractor Plants concern. In an interview with Izvestia, Albert Bakov spoke about the development of new army pistols, sniper rifles and an artillery system for the landing force

Interview:https://iz.ru/843540/aleksei-ramm/zamenu-svd-my-ne-sdelaem-nikogda

Russian troops received extended-range helicopter missiles.

MOSCOW, March 11 - RIA News . Russian troops received new long-range light missiles for helicopters, Defense Minister General Shoigu said on Monday.
"Thanks to the Syrian experience, our helicopters received light, multifunctional guided missiles with a significantly increased range of up to 15 kilometers," said Shoigu at an expanded meeting of the Duma defense committee.

https://ria.ru/20190311/1551688003.html

.... Hermes? Or something else?

miketheterrible wrote:.... Hermes?  Or something else?

Hermes was apparently tested successfully in the Syrian theater, but the helicopter version comes with 20km range standard, so the significantly upgraded range of  '15km' would suggest a missile that probably had 10km range originally, which would be a 50% increase in range. Most likely it's a upgraded version of 9K121 Vikhr.

Statements by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu at a meeting of the State Duma Defense Committee

According to Alexei Nikolsky’s Vedomosti newspaper, the Ground Forces have achieved great success, but there are also shortcomings. The main focus in the last six years was on creating a group in the Crimea and on the border with Ukraine, the number of contract soldiers in the Russian army is about 394,000 - more than two times more than in 2012. This was announced on Monday [March 11, 2019] by the Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu at a meeting of the State Duma Committee on Defense. “At present, in each regiment and brigade [of the Ground Forces, Airborne Forces, Marines and Coastal Forces of the Navy], two battalions are formed, staffed by contract soldiers, and the third by conscripts. At the same time, recruits are not involved in the performance of combat missions. 136 battalion tactical groups (reinforced battalions with the ability to act independently. - “Vedomosti”), staffed by contract servicemen, ready to carry out any tasks, were formed, ”the minister explained.

Shoigu said the intermediate results of the rearmament of the army and navy. In 2012, when he was appointed minister, the share of modern weapons was 16%, and now it has reached 61.5% (the lowest in the Ground Forces is 48.3%). Among other things, the Ground Forces received 10 Iskander missile brigades, 3,712 new and modernized tanks and armored vehicles, and 34 formations were provided with Ratnik-2 individual combat equipment.

Shoigu's main achievement is an increase in the staffing of the Armed Forces from 70% in 2012 to almost 95% now, which, however, has been achieved to a considerable extent by increasing the number of officers to the values ​​preceding the 2008 reform under Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, says an expert of the Center analysis of strategies and technologies Mikhail Barabanov. Overcoming the crisis with manning allowed, among other things, to increase the strength of the Ground Forces, which are the basis of the Armed Forces, and to form a number of new units and formations, which first of all made it possible to create a significant land force at the borders with Ukraine, the expert adds.

According to the editor-in-chief of the magazine Arsenal of the Fatherland, Viktor Murakhovsky, since 2012, the Ground Forces have indeed significantly increased their potential, operational and combat capabilities. The situation with retooling for operational-tactical missile systems is developing well, with modern reconnaissance, communications and electronic warfare - not bad, with air defense weapons - generally well, like with new vehicles. Compared to 2012, the re-equipment of the Army personnel to the new means of individual combat equipment looks very good. At the same time, the previously planned rearmament plans for promising models of armored weapons and equipment have shifted to the right by 5–7 years, and the situation with rearmament with promising samples of receiver and rocket artillery is about the same.

Taking into account the armament of almost all of Russia's western neighbors with modern anti-tank missiles and the beginning of their purchases of high-precision tactical missiles, the unresolved, in fact, the question of enhancing the security of Russian armored vehicles and obtaining a large number of cheap high-precision ammunition requires urgent action, the defense industry believes.

https://bmpd.livejournal.com/3567811.html

Well it wasn't that many years ago the main complaint about the Russian Army was that no two soldiers seemed to have the same uniform pattern, which I didn't really consider a problem at the time... but the fact that they are all wearing the same uniform now suggests their other personal equipment is probably up to date too, which is rather more important.

Many countries around the world have issues like unreliable small arms or poor communications... it would be fair to say most countries really don't have spectacular communications, and during the minor conflict in Georgia it could be argued the personal equipment for navigation and communication and personal protection for individuals was probably a bit haphazard...

George1 wrote:[b]
Taking into account the armament of almost all of Russia's western neighbors with modern anti-tank missiles and the beginning of their purchases of high-precision tactical missiles, the unresolved, in fact, the question of enhancing the security of Russian armored vehicles and obtaining a large number of cheap high-precision ammunition requires urgent action, the defense industry believes.
https://bmpd.livejournal.com/3567811.html

This last paragraph is very important.

Hole wrote:The wars in Syria/Iraq/Yemen have shown that russian ATGM´s are at least a generation ahead of western ones. Also their vehicles are good protected, even old T-62M tanks withstood the impact of western ATGM´s.

You are taking some huge liberties with such statements IMHO...

To say that any/every Russian ATGM system is more advanced than any/every Western ATGM in all aspects inlcuding ease of operation, guidance method, guidance versatility, armor penetration, minimum/maximum range and terminal attack mode is simply.....

Also : define "Western"...

Sorry for the off-topic, i dont want to start a discussion about this. But a i have a more humble stance when it comes to matters like that, and this somewhat hurts my eyes, unless you can be more specific.

Well, let's see.

Javalin works great in perfect condition but less than ideal in majority of other enviornments.

Tow and Tow 2 proven to be ineffective in Syria against older tanks.

Kornet and Metis M proved otherwise to be great at destroying armor from afar, and being a fraction of the price.

Melan I don't think fared much better than Tow 2.

miketheterrible wrote:Well, let's see.

Javalin works great in perfect condition but less than ideal in majority of other enviornments.

Tow and Tow 2 proven to be ineffective in Syria against older tanks.

Kornet and Metis M proved otherwise to be great at destroying armor from afar, and being a fraction of the price.

Melan I don't think fared much better than Tow 2.

I thought the TOW 2 fared quite well

What did it fail against other than T-90s head-on?

T-72 upgrade it failed against as well.

Only fared well against thin armored BMP-1's and 2's. Maybe done well against T-62's.

Yep - it failed against anything with ERA from the front at least.

Pretty much every ATGM would perform like this - HEAT jetstream is the size of a pencil, if the projectile does not hit anything important (ammo rack, crew member, gun breech) then the tank may even continue fighting as if nothing happened. It isn't APFSDS.

except for Challenger 2 when it got hit by a RPG-29 which isn't exactly the same as a Kornet.