Among short-range air defense missile systems created in Russia in the last few years, there is a new generation ADMS «Sosna», developed by the Nudelman Precision Engineering Design Bureau, housed within «Almaz-Antey» Air and Space Defence Corporation since 2020.
ADMS «Sosna» is intended for protecting army units in any type of combat; on the march, against almost all types of contemporary air attack and reconnaissance means, and diving and flying at low and extremely low altitudes. The System provides engagement of enemy aircraft, helicopters, UAVs, cruise missiles, high precision weapon means, as well as manpower, soft skin, and light-armoured vehicles.
The System is designed on the basis of a new small-size high-efficient AAGM «Sosna-R» and high-precision jam-proof optronic control system (OCS). Both AAGM and OCS are mounted on a rotary part (turret) with power drives for two packages of missiles in containers. The small weight and dimensions of the missile allow for the accommodation of 12 ready-to-fire missiles on the launcher, as well as for the exclusion of transport-loader vehicles from the System configuration.
The rotary part is designed as a combat compartment, which can be mounted on various carriers with load-capacity exceeding 3.5 tons, such as BTR-82A, MTLB, BMP-3. The rotary part is unmanned. It is made to increase the protection of the crew and their comfort at work, as well as to decrease the dimensions and inertia of the rotary part.
The System combat vehicle is provided with precise navigation equipment, radio station, and equipment for receiving/transmitting data to the battery control post.
The AAGM “Sosna-R” has a two-stage configuration and consists of a sustainer (projectile) and a separable solid-propellant low-smoke engine with a short operation time. The missile is designed on the “Canard” aerodynamic configuration and two-channel aerodynamic guidance diagram, which is implemented with two pairs of orthogonally-located aerodynamic drives. The missile is stored in a sealed pressurized container. It does not require maintenance during its lifetime. The missile is launched from the container.
On the flight path, the missile rotates, its initial rotation is boosted inside the container and then sustained by the wing-mounted unit in the flight. The missile rotation is controlled by the gyroscope, which measures the angular roll altitude of the missile.
|
2. Firing at an air targe |
3. Overcoming water barriers
The missile guidance is implemented with high precision in the laser information field. The missile payload includes the HE-fragmentation front warhead, the rod-fragmentation main warhead, the impact fuse, and the laser non-impact target sensor with a circle emission diagram.
The optoelectronic control system consists of the gyro-stabilized platform with a two-channel stabilization and guidance system, TV-system, thermal imaging channel, target detection IR-channel, missile laser beam control channel, laser range-finder, digital computing system, automatic target acquisition, and tracking equipment, stabilization, and guidance system equipment, as well as display and control means.
The OCS provides detection, automatic acquisition, and tracking of the target, measuring angular coordinates and range, as well as high-precision guidance of LBCC information field and range-finder laser beam on target at day/night time, in the presence of natural or artificial interferences.
Main Advantages of the System
- Combination of high combat effectiveness (at a relatively low cost) with jamming immunity, operational security, an impossibility for the System to be destroyed with anti-radar missiles.
- High efficiency of combat use against various types of targets, due to extremely minute errors of missile guidance and use of high efficient combat munition.
- Ability to engage numerous types of hostile air targets, as well as the enemy’s light-armored vehicles and manpower.
- High accuracy of the missile targeting. It is provided by the accurate target tracking and information field guidance; by the high accuracy self-determination of the missile current position in the information field, as well as by using special control algorithms, implemented in the on-board micro-DCS.
- High jamming immunity of the System due to the use of the optical band, the narrow fields-of-view, due to generation of the focused laser information field, as well as the ability of the equipment to detect and track targets reliably using its signature on the background of pyrotechnical jamming.
- The furtive firing preparation process and high survivability of the System.
- Ability to operate at day/night time and under difficult weather conditions.
- Full automation of the combat operation work process.
- Ability to fire on the move.
The combination of high-performance capabilities of the missile and the control system provides large engagement zones during combat operations of the System.
For operation in combat missions, ADMS «Sosna» can be included in a battery composition, receiving target designations from a battery command post or command vehicle. Moreover, the system can operate autonomously without external target designation.
©New Defence Order. Strategy №4 (69) 2021
