Electronic weapons. Directed EMP: Russia successfully tested new electronic weapons
Electromagnetic weapons: where the Russian army is ahead of its competitors
Pulse electromagnetic weapons, or so-called. “jammers” is a real type of weapon of the Russian army, already undergoing testing. The United States and Israel are also conducting successful developments in this area, but have relied on the use of EMP systems to generate the kinetic energy of a warhead.
We took the path of direct damage and created prototypes of several combat systems at once - for the ground forces, air force and navy. According to experts working on the project, the development of the technology has already passed the stage of field testing, but now work is underway to correct errors and try to increase the power, accuracy and range of radiation.
Today, our Alabuga, having exploded at an altitude of 200-300 meters, is capable of turning off all electronic equipment within a radius of 3.5 km and leaving a military unit of the battalion/regiment scale without communications, control, or fire guidance, while turning all existing enemy equipment into a pile of useless scrap metal. Apart from surrendering and handing over heavy weapons to the advancing units of the Russian army as trophies, there are essentially no options left.
Electronics jammer
For the first time, the world saw a really working prototype of an electromagnetic weapon at the LIMA 2001 arms exhibition in Malaysia. An export version of the domestic “Ranets-E” complex was presented there. It is made on the MAZ-543 chassis, has a mass of about 5 tons, ensures guaranteed destruction of the electronics of a ground target, aircraft or guided munition at ranges of up to 14 kilometers and disruption of its operation at a distance of up to 40 km.
Despite the fact that the first-born made a real splash in the world media, experts noted a number of its shortcomings. Firstly, the size of the effectively hit target does not exceed 30 meters in diameter, and, secondly, the weapon is disposable - reloading takes more than 20 minutes, during which the miracle gun has already been shot down 15 times from the air, and it can only work on targets at open area, without the slightest visual obstacles.
It is probably for these reasons that the Americans abandoned the creation of such directed EMP weapons, concentrating on laser technologies. Our gunsmiths decided to try their luck and try to “bring to fruition” the technology of directed EMP radiation.
A specialist from the Rostec concern, who for obvious reasons did not want to reveal his name, in an interview with Expert Online, expressed the opinion that electromagnetic pulse weapons are already a reality, but the whole problem lies in the methods of delivering them to the target. “We have a project in progress to develop an electronic warfare complex classified as OV, called Alabuga. This is a missile whose warhead is a high-frequency, high-power electromagnetic field generator.
Active pulse radiation produces something similar to a nuclear explosion, only without the radioactive component. Field tests have shown the high efficiency of the unit - not only radio-electronic, but also conventional electronic equipment of wired architecture fails within a radius of 3.5 km. Those. not only takes the main communication headsets out of normal operation, blinding and stunning the enemy, but also actually leaves an entire unit without any local electronic control systems, including weapons.
The advantages of such a “non-lethal” defeat are obvious - the enemy will only have to surrender, and the equipment can be received as a trophy. The only problem is the effective means of delivering this charge - it has a relatively large mass and the missile must be quite large, and, as a result, very vulnerable to destruction by air defense/missile defense systems,” the expert explained.
Interesting are the developments of NIIRP (now a division of the Almaz-Antey air defense concern) and the Physico-Technical Institute named after. Ioffe. While studying the impact of powerful microwave radiation from the ground on air objects (targets), specialists from these institutions unexpectedly received local plasma formations, which were obtained at the intersection of radiation flows from several sources.
Upon contact with these formations, air targets underwent enormous dynamic overloads and were destroyed. The coordinated operation of microwave radiation sources made it possible to quickly change the focusing point, that is, to retarget at enormous speed or to accompany objects of almost any aerodynamic characteristics. Experiments have shown that the impact is effective even against ICBM warheads. In fact, these are no longer even microwave weapons, but combat plasmoids.
Unfortunately, when in 1993 a team of authors submitted a draft air defense/missile defense system based on these principles to the state for consideration, Boris Yeltsin immediately proposed joint development to the American president. And although cooperation on the project did not take place, perhaps this is what prompted the Americans to create the HAARP (High Freguencu Active Auroral Research Program) complex in Alaska - a research project to study the ionosphere and auroras. Let us note that for some reason that peaceful project is funded by the Pentagon’s DARPA agency.
Already entering service with the Russian army
To understand what place the topic of electronic warfare occupies in the military-technical strategy of the Russian military department, just look at the State Armaments Program until 2020. Out of 21 trillion. rubles of the total budget of the State Program, 3.2 trillion. (about 15%) is planned to be used for the development and production of attack and defense systems using sources of electromagnetic radiation. For comparison, in the Pentagon budget, according to experts, this share is much smaller - up to 10%.
Now let's look at what can already be “touched”, i.e. those products that have reached series production and entered service over the past few years.
Mobile electronic warfare systems "Krasukha-4" suppress spy satellites, ground-based radars and AWACS aircraft systems, completely block radar detection at 150-300 km, and can also cause radar damage to enemy electronic warfare and communications equipment. The operation of the complex is based on creating powerful interference at the main frequencies of radars and other radio-emitting sources. Manufacturer: JSC Bryansk Electromechanical Plant (BEMZ).
The TK-25E sea-based electronic warfare system provides effective protection for ships of various classes. The complex is designed to provide radio-electronic protection of an object from air- and ship-based radio-controlled weapons by creating active jamming. The complex is designed to be interfaced with various systems of the protected object, such as a navigation complex, a radar station, and an automated combat control system.
The TK-25E equipment provides the creation of various types of interference with a spectrum width from 64 to 2000 MHz, as well as pulsed misinforming and imitation interference using signal copies. The complex is capable of simultaneously analyzing up to 256 targets. Equipping the protected object with the TK-25E complex reduces the likelihood of its destruction by three or more times.
The multifunctional complex "Rtut-BM" has been developed and produced at KRET enterprises since 2011 and is one of the most modern electronic warfare systems. The main purpose of the station is to protect manpower and equipment from single and salvo fire from artillery ammunition equipped with radio fuses. Developer company: OJSC All-Russian Scientific Research Institute Gradient (VNII Gradient). Similar devices are produced by Minsk KB RADAR.
Note that up to 80% of Western field artillery shells, mines and unguided rockets and almost all high-precision ammunition are now equipped with radio fuses; these fairly simple means can protect troops from destruction, including directly in the zone of contact with the enemy.
The Sozvezdie concern produces a series of small-sized (portable, transportable, autonomous) jammers of the RP-377 series. With their help, you can jam GPS signals, and in a standalone version, equipped with power supplies, you can also place transmitters over a certain area, limited only by the number of transmitters.
An export version of a more powerful system for suppressing GPS and weapon control channels is now being prepared. It is already a system of object and area protection against high-precision weapons. It is built on a modular principle, which allows you to vary the area and objects of protection.
Among the unclassified developments, MNIRTI products are also known - “Sniper-M”, “I-140/64” and “Gigawatt”, made on the basis of car trailers. They are, in particular, used to test means of protecting radio engineering and digital systems for military, special and civilian purposes from damage by EMP.
Educational program
The element base of RES is very sensitive to energy overloads, and a flow of electromagnetic energy of a sufficiently high density can burn out semiconductor junctions, completely or partially disrupting their normal functioning.
Low-frequency EMF creates electromagnetic pulse radiation at frequencies below 1 MHz, high-frequency EMF is affected by microwave radiation - both pulsed and continuous. Low-frequency electromagnetic radiation affects the object through interference to the wired infrastructure, including telephone lines, external power cables, and information supply and retrieval cables. High-frequency EMF directly penetrates into the object's radio-electronic equipment through its antenna system.
In addition to affecting the enemy's electronic resources, high-frequency electromagnetic radiation can also affect the skin and internal organs of a person. At the same time, as a result of their heating in the body, chromosomal and genetic changes, activation and deactivation of viruses, transformation of immunological and behavioral reactions are possible.
The main technical means of producing powerful electromagnetic pulses, which form the basis of low-frequency EMP, is a generator with explosive compression of the magnetic field. Another potential type of low-frequency, high-level magnetic energy source could be a magnetodynamic generator driven by rocket fuel or explosive.
When implementing high-frequency EMR, electronic devices such as broadband magnetrons and klystrons, gyrotrons operating in the millimeter range, generators with a virtual cathode (vircators) using the centimeter range, free electron lasers and broadband plasma beams can be used as a generator of powerful microwave radiation. generators.
Electromagnetic weapons, EMP
Electromagnetic gun "Angara", test
Electronic bomb - a fantastic weapon of Russia
In modern armed forces, various electronic equipment plays an important role. Such equipment is used as communication systems, detection, control and in many other areas. For this reason, electronic warfare (EW), as well as other electronic technologies, is one of the priority areas. In recent years, many electronic warfare systems for various purposes with different characteristics have been created in our country and abroad. According to domestic media reports, Russian engineers are currently working on promising systems of this class, capable of causing much more damage to the enemy compared to existing systems.
At the end of September, the Expert Online publication, in the article “Electromagnetic: where the Russian army is ahead of its competitors,” examined the latest successes of the domestic defense industry in the creation of electronic warfare systems. Journalists from the online publication recalled the “Ranets-E” system, which was demonstrated at exhibitions at the beginning of the last decade, and also talked about the developments of the early nineties that were proposed to solve various problems. However, other information contained in the publication is of particular interest.
With reference to an unnamed employee of the Rostec corporation, the Expert Online publication reports work on weapons that use an electromagnetic pulse (EMP). Currently, the concern's specialists are developing the Alabuga complex, designed to suppress enemy electronics using EMP. An unnamed Rostec employee said that systems using EMP already exist, but their main problem at the moment is delivering the equipment to enemy positions. The Alabuga project proposes using a rocket for this.
The Alabuga system is a missile that uses an electromagnetic pulse generator as its warhead. The rocket's task is to deliver a generator to the area where enemy troops are located, after which an impulse is generated. It is alleged that the generator turns on at altitudes of about 200-300 m above enemy positions and effectively hits electronics within a radius of 3.5 km. Thus, one missile with a special warhead can leave a large unit of the enemy army without communications and other electronic equipment. After such an attack using EMP, according to the source of the Expert Online publication, the enemy can only surrender, and the damaged, non-combat-ready equipment becomes a trophy.
Unfortunately, the Alabuga project is still secret and therefore the Rostec employee spoke only about the main features of the new original weapon. At the same time, he noted some of the problems that scientists and designers had to face. Thus, an EMP system capable of generating a pulse of sufficient power has large dimensions and weight. To deliver this system to enemy positions, a missile with the appropriate characteristics is required. At the same time, however, increasing the size of the delivery vehicle makes it more vulnerable to enemy air and missile defense systems.
According to the Expert Online publication, the Alabuga system has already been tested and experts are currently fine-tuning and improving it. For obvious reasons, more precise information about the progress of the project remains a mystery. Moreover, before the publication “Electromagnetic weapons: where the Russian army is ahead of its competitors,” the very fact of the existence of the Alabuga project was not known to the general public.
Despite the lack of information, the Alabuga project - if it really exists, and the source in Rostec is really related to advanced developments - is of great interest. Research on weapons that use an electromagnetic pulse to destroy enemy electronics has been carried out by leading countries for quite a long time, but such systems have not yet been used in practice.
However, developed countries have weapons in their arsenal that can destroy electronic systems using EMP - these are nuclear weapons of various classes. However, in this case, the electromagnetic pulse is only one of several damaging factors of the ammunition. In addition, the effect of other damaging factors of a nuclear explosion significantly exceeds the effect of EMR. For this reason, nuclear weapons, although they have an impact on electronics, still cannot be considered specialized weapons aimed at disrupting the operation of radio-electronic systems.
Judging by the published data, the promising Alabuga system has both positive and negative features. The first should include the possibility of relatively quickly and simply disabling various enemy systems and communications. It is alleged that one missile with an EMP generator is capable of disabling equipment within a radius of 3.5 km. Thus, with the help of a relatively small amount of ammunition, it is possible, at a minimum, to seriously hamper the actions of a large group of enemy troops.
Like other weapons, the Alabuga system is probably not without its drawbacks. First of all, these are large dimensions and weight, which impose certain restrictions on the delivery vehicles used. Another problem is specific combat capabilities. The effectiveness of EMP depends on a number of factors, including the protection of the equipment being attacked. With the right approach to designing protection for electronic systems, damage from an electromagnetic pulse can be significantly reduced.
The existence of the Alabuga project has not previously been reported. Moreover, information about the development of domestic electronic warfare systems using electromagnetic pulses was fragmentary. Due to the secrecy of the work being carried out, one should not expect that new information about promising projects will be announced in the near future. However, information about the existence of a new project can show that Russian specialists not only see the prospects of a new direction, but are also engaged in projects in this area.
Based on materials from sites:
http://expert.ru/
http://vpk.name/
http://military-industry.ru/
http://pravda.ru/
Electromagnetic weapons: where the Russian army is ahead of its competitors
Pulse electromagnetic weapons, or so-called. “jammers” is a real type of weapon of the Russian army, already undergoing testing. The United States and Israel are also conducting successful developments in this area, but have relied on the use of EMP systems to generate the kinetic energy of a warhead.
We took the path of direct damage and created prototypes of several combat systems at once - for the ground forces, air force and navy. According to experts working on the project, the development of the technology has already passed the stage of field testing, but now work is underway to correct errors and try to increase the power, accuracy and range of radiation.
Today, our Alabuga, having exploded at an altitude of 200-300 meters, is capable of turning off all electronic equipment within a radius of 3.5 km and leaving a military unit of the battalion/regiment scale without communications, control, or fire guidance, while turning all existing enemy equipment into a pile of useless scrap metal. Apart from surrendering and handing over heavy weapons to the advancing units of the Russian army as trophies, there are essentially no options left.
Electronics jammer
For the first time, the world saw a really working prototype of an electromagnetic weapon at the LIMA 2001 arms exhibition in Malaysia. An export version of the domestic “Ranets-E” complex was presented there. It is made on the MAZ-543 chassis, has a mass of about 5 tons, ensures guaranteed destruction of the electronics of a ground target, aircraft or guided munition at ranges of up to 14 kilometers and disruption of its operation at a distance of up to 40 km.
Despite the fact that the first-born made a real splash in the world media, experts noted a number of its shortcomings. Firstly, the size of the effectively hit target does not exceed 30 meters in diameter, and, secondly, the weapon is disposable - reloading takes more than 20 minutes, during which the miracle gun has already been shot down 15 times from the air, and it can only work on targets at open area, without the slightest visual obstacles.
It is probably for these reasons that the Americans abandoned the creation of such directed EMP weapons, concentrating on laser technologies. Our gunsmiths decided to try their luck and try to “bring to fruition” the technology of directed EMP radiation.
A specialist from the Rostec concern, who for obvious reasons did not want to reveal his name, in an interview with Expert Online, expressed the opinion that electromagnetic pulse weapons are already a reality, but the whole problem lies in the methods of delivering them to the target. “We have a project in progress to develop an electronic warfare complex classified as OV, called Alabuga. This is a missile whose warhead is a high-frequency, high-power electromagnetic field generator.
Active pulse radiation produces something similar to a nuclear explosion, only without the radioactive component. Field tests have shown the high efficiency of the unit - not only radio-electronic, but also conventional electronic equipment of wired architecture fails within a radius of 3.5 km. Those. not only takes the main communication headsets out of normal operation, blinding and stunning the enemy, but also actually leaves an entire unit without any local electronic control systems, including weapons.
The advantages of such a “non-lethal” defeat are obvious - the enemy will only have to surrender, and the equipment can be received as a trophy. The only problem is the effective means of delivering this charge - it has a relatively large mass and the missile must be quite large, and, as a result, very vulnerable to destruction by air defense/missile defense systems,” the expert explained.
Interesting are the developments of NIIRP (now a division of the Almaz-Antey air defense concern) and the Physico-Technical Institute named after. Ioffe. While studying the impact of powerful microwave radiation from the ground on air objects (targets), specialists from these institutions unexpectedly received local plasma formations, which were obtained at the intersection of radiation flows from several sources.
Upon contact with these formations, air targets underwent enormous dynamic overloads and were destroyed. The coordinated operation of microwave radiation sources made it possible to quickly change the focusing point, that is, to retarget at enormous speed or to accompany objects of almost any aerodynamic characteristics. Experiments have shown that the impact is effective even against ICBM warheads. In fact, these are no longer even microwave weapons, but combat plasmoids.
Unfortunately, when in 1993 a team of authors submitted a draft air defense/missile defense system based on these principles to the state for consideration, Boris Yeltsin immediately proposed joint development to the American president. And although cooperation on the project did not take place, perhaps this is what prompted the Americans to create the HAARP (High Freguencu Active Auroral Research Program) complex in Alaska - a research project to study the ionosphere and auroras. Let us note that for some reason that peaceful project is funded by the Pentagon’s DARPA agency.
Already entering service with the Russian army
To understand what place the topic of electronic warfare occupies in the military-technical strategy of the Russian military department, just look at the State Armaments Program until 2020. Out of 21 trillion. rubles of the total budget of the State Program, 3.2 trillion. (about 15%) is planned to be used for the development and production of attack and defense systems using sources of electromagnetic radiation. For comparison, in the Pentagon budget, according to experts, this share is much smaller - up to 10%.
Now let's look at what can already be “touched”, i.e. those products that have reached series production and entered service over the past few years.
Mobile electronic warfare systems "Krasukha-4" suppress spy satellites, ground-based radars and AWACS aircraft systems, completely block radar detection at 150-300 km, and can also cause radar damage to enemy electronic warfare and communications equipment. The operation of the complex is based on creating powerful interference at the main frequencies of radars and other radio-emitting sources. Manufacturer: JSC Bryansk Electromechanical Plant (BEMZ).
The TK-25E sea-based electronic warfare system provides effective protection for ships of various classes. The complex is designed to provide radio-electronic protection of an object from air- and ship-based radio-controlled weapons by creating active jamming. The complex is designed to be interfaced with various systems of the protected object, such as a navigation complex, a radar station, and an automated combat control system.
The TK-25E equipment provides the creation of various types of interference with a spectrum width from 64 to 2000 MHz, as well as pulsed misinforming and imitation interference using signal copies. The complex is capable of simultaneously analyzing up to 256 targets. Equipping the protected object with the TK-25E complex reduces the likelihood of its destruction by three or more times.
The multifunctional complex "Rtut-BM" has been developed and produced at KRET enterprises since 2011 and is one of the most modern electronic warfare systems. The main purpose of the station is to protect manpower and equipment from single and salvo fire from artillery ammunition equipped with radio fuses. Developer company: OJSC All-Russian Scientific Research Institute Gradient (VNII Gradient). Similar devices are produced by Minsk KB RADAR.
Note that up to 80% of Western field artillery shells, mines and unguided rockets and almost all high-precision ammunition are now equipped with radio fuses; these fairly simple means can protect troops from destruction, including directly in the zone of contact with the enemy.
The Sozvezdie concern produces a series of small-sized (portable, transportable, autonomous) jammers of the RP-377 series. With their help, you can jam GPS signals, and in a standalone version, equipped with power supplies, you can also place transmitters over a certain area, limited only by the number of transmitters.
An export version of a more powerful system for suppressing GPS and weapon control channels is now being prepared. It is already a system of object and area protection against high-precision weapons. It is built on a modular principle, which allows you to vary the area and objects of protection.
Among the unclassified developments, MNIRTI products are also known - “Sniper-M”, “I-140/64” and “Gigawatt”, made on the basis of car trailers. They are, in particular, used to test means of protecting radio engineering and digital systems for military, special and civilian purposes from damage by EMP.
Educational program
The element base of RES is very sensitive to energy overloads, and a flow of electromagnetic energy of a sufficiently high density can burn out semiconductor junctions, completely or partially disrupting their normal functioning.
Low-frequency EMF creates electromagnetic pulse radiation at frequencies below 1 MHz, high-frequency EMF is affected by microwave radiation - both pulsed and continuous. Low-frequency electromagnetic radiation affects the object through interference to the wired infrastructure, including telephone lines, external power cables, and information supply and retrieval cables. High-frequency EMF directly penetrates into the object's radio-electronic equipment through its antenna system.
In addition to affecting the enemy's electronic resources, high-frequency electromagnetic radiation can also affect the skin and internal organs of a person. At the same time, as a result of their heating in the body, chromosomal and genetic changes, activation and deactivation of viruses, transformation of immunological and behavioral reactions are possible.
The main technical means of producing powerful electromagnetic pulses, which form the basis of low-frequency EMP, is a generator with explosive compression of the magnetic field. Another potential type of low-frequency, high-level magnetic energy source could be a magnetodynamic generator driven by rocket fuel or explosive.
Russia is developing electronic munitions designed to disable enemy equipment using a powerful microwave pulse, an adviser to the first deputy general director recently reported. Such statements, often containing extremely scanty information, look like something out of the realm of science fiction, but they are heard more and more often, and not by chance. Electromagnetic weapons are being intensively worked on in the United States and China, where they understand that promising remote control technologies will radically change the tactics and strategy of future wars. Is modern Russia capable of responding to such challenges?
Between the first and second
The use of electromagnetic weapons is considered part of an element of the US "third countervailing strategy", which involves the use of new technologies and control methods to achieve an advantage over the enemy. While the first two “compensation strategies” were implemented during the Cold War solely as a response to the USSR, the third is aimed primarily at China. The war of the future involves limited human participation, but it is planned to actively use drones. They are controlled remotely; it is precisely such control systems that electromagnetic weapons should disable.
When talking about electromagnetic weapons, we primarily mean technology based on powerful microwave radiation. It is assumed that it is capable of suppressing, even completely disabling, enemy electronic systems. Depending on the tasks being solved, microwave emitters can be delivered on rockets or drones, installed on armored vehicles, aircraft or ships, and also be stationary. Electromagnetic weapons usually operate over a range of several tens of kilometers, hitting electronics in the entire space around the source or targets located in a relatively narrow cone.
In this understanding, electromagnetic weapons represent a further development of electronic warfare. The design of microwave radiation sources varies depending on the targets and methods used. Thus, the basis of electromagnetic bombs can be compact generators with explosive compression of the magnetic field or emitters with focusing electromagnetic radiation in a certain sector, and microwave emitters installed on large equipment, such as airplanes or tanks, operate on the basis of a laser crystal.
Let them talk
The first prototypes of electromagnetic weapons appeared in the 1950s in the USSR and the USA, but it was possible to begin producing compact and not very energy-consuming products only in the last twenty to thirty years. In fact, the United States started the race; Russia had no choice but to get involved in it.
Image: Boeing
In 2001, it became known that work was being done on one of the first examples of electromagnetic weapons of mass destruction: the American VMADS (Vehicle Mounted Active Denial System) system made it possible to heat a person’s skin to the pain threshold (approximately 45 degrees Celsius), thus actually disorienting the enemy. However, in the end, the main goal of advanced weapons is not people, but machines. In 2012, a missile with an electromagnetic bomb was tested in the United States as part of the CHAMP (Counter-electronics High Power Microwave Advanced Missile Project) project, and a year later a ground-based electronic drone suppression system was tested. In addition to these areas, laser weapons and railguns similar to electromagnetic weapons are being intensively developed in the United States.
Similar developments are underway in China, where they recently announced the creation of an array of SQUIDs (SQUID, Superconducting Quantum Interference Device, superconducting quantum interferometer), which makes it possible to detect submarines from a distance of about six kilometers, and not hundreds of meters, as with traditional methods. The US Navy experimented with single SQUID sensors rather than arrays of them for similar purposes, but the high noise level led to the abandonment of the promising technology in favor of traditional detection means, in particular sonar.
Russia
Russia already has samples of electromagnetic weapons. For example, the remote mine clearance vehicle (RMD) “Foliage” is an armored vehicle equipped with a radar for searching for mines, a microwave emitter for neutralizing the electronic filling of ammunition and a metal detector. This MDR, in particular, is intended to accompany vehicles of the Topol, Topol-M and Yars missile systems along the route. “Foliage” has been tested several times; in Russia, it is planned to put into service more than 150 of these vehicles by 2020.
The effectiveness of the system is limited, since it only neutralizes remotely controlled fuses (that is, with electronic filling). On the other hand, the explosive device detection function always remains. More complex systems, in particular Afghanit, are installed on modern Russian vehicles of the Armata universal combat platform.
In recent years, Russia has developed more than ten electronic warfare systems, including Algurit, Rtut-BM and the Krasukha family, and also created the Borisoglebsk-2 and Moskva-1 stations.
The Russian military is already supplied with aerodynamic targets with a built-in electronic warfare system capable of simulating a group missile attack, thereby disorienting enemy air defenses. In such missiles, instead of a warhead, special equipment is installed. Within three years they will be equipped with the Su-34 and Su-57.
“Today, all these developments have been transferred to the level of specific development projects for the creation of electromagnetic weapons: shells, bombs, missiles carrying a special explosive magnetic generator,” says Vladimir Mikheev, adviser to the first deputy general director of the Radioelectronic Technologies concern.
He clarified that in 2011-2012, under the code “Alabuga,” a set of scientific research was carried out, which made it possible to determine the main directions for the development of electronic weapons of the future. Similar developments, the adviser noted, are underway in other countries, in particular in the USA and China.
Ahead of the rest of the planet
Nevertheless, in the development of electromagnetic weapons, it is Russia that currently occupies, if not a leading, then one of the leading positions in the world. Experts are almost unanimous on this.
“We have such standard ammunition - for example, there are generators in the warheads of anti-aircraft missiles, and there are also rounds for hand-held anti-tank grenade launchers equipped with such generators. In this area, we are at the forefront in the world; as far as I know, similar ammunition is not yet supplied to foreign armies. In the USA and China, such equipment is now only at the testing stage,” notes the editor-in-chief, a member of the expert council of the military-industrial complex board.
According to analyst Samuel Bendett of CNA (Center for Naval Analyses), Russia is the leader in electronic warfare, and the United States has lagged far behind over the past 20 years. The expert, speaking recently in Washington, D.C., to government officials and representatives of military-industrial circles, particularly noted the Russian RB-341V Leer-3 GSM communications suppression complex.
Only Russia is armed with electromagnetic ammunition September 29th, 2017
Enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex have created a powerful electromagnetic missile "Alabuga", which has a warhead with a high-power electromagnetic field generator. It was reported that it was capable of covering an area of 3.5 kilometers with one blow and disabling all electronics, turning them into a “heap of scrap metal.”
Mikheev explained that “Alabuga” is not a specific weapon: under this code, in 2011-2012, a whole complex of scientific research was completed, during which the main directions for the development of electronic weapons of the future were determined.
“A very serious theoretical assessment and practical work was carried out on laboratory mock-ups and specialized testing grounds, during which the range of radio-electronic weapons and the degree of their impact on equipment was determined,” Mikheev said.
This impact can vary in intensity: “Starting with the usual interference effect with temporary disabling of the enemy’s weapons systems and military equipment up to its complete radio-electronic destruction, leading to energetic, destructive damage to the main electronic elements, boards, blocks and systems.”
After the completion of this work, all data on its results were closed, and the topic of microwave weapons itself fell into the category of critical technologies with the highest classification of secrecy, Mikheev emphasized.
“Today we can only say that all these developments have been translated into specific development work on the creation of electromagnetic weapons: shells, bombs, missiles carrying a special explosive magnetic generator, in which, due to the energy of the explosion, a so-called microwave electromagnetic pulse is created , which disables all enemy equipment at a certain distance,” the interlocutor noted.
Similar developments are being carried out by all leading world powers - in particular, the USA and China, the KRET representative concluded.
Russia today is the only country in the world that is armed with ammunition equipped with electromagnetic generators, said Viktor Murakhovsky, editor-in-chief of the Arsenal of the Fatherland magazine, member of the expert council of the military-industrial complex board.
This is how he commented on the words of Vladimir Mikheev, adviser to the first deputy general director of the Radioelectronic Technologies concern, who stated that Russia is creating electronic munitions capable of disabling enemy equipment due to a powerful microwave pulse.
“We have such standard ammunition - for example, such generators are in the warheads of anti-aircraft missiles; there are also rounds for hand-held anti-tank grenade launchers equipped with such generators. In this area, we are at the forefront in the world, similar ammunition, as far as I know, is still there are no supplies for foreign armies. In the USA and China, such equipment is now only at the testing stage,” RIA Novosti quotes V. Murakhovsky.
The expert noted that today the Russian defense industry is working to increase the effectiveness of such ammunition, as well as to strengthen the electromagnetic pulse through new materials and new design designs. At the same time, Murakhovsky emphasized that calling such weapons “electromagnetic bombs” is not entirely correct, since today the Russian army only has anti-aircraft missiles and grenade launchers equipped with such generators.
Speaking about radio-electronic weapons of the future, being developed today in Russia, the interlocutor cited the example of the “Microwave guns” project, which is currently at the research stage.
“At the research stage, there is a new product on a tracked chassis that generates radiation that can disable a drone at a great distance. This is exactly what is now colloquially called a “microwave gun,” said Murakhovsky.
For the first time, the world saw a really working prototype of an electromagnetic weapon at the LIMA 2001 arms exhibition in Malaysia. An export version of the domestic “Ranets-E” complex was presented there. It is made on the MAZ-543 chassis, has a mass of about 5 tons, ensures guaranteed destruction of the electronics of a ground target, aircraft or guided munition at ranges of up to 14 kilometers and disruption of its operation at a distance of up to 40 km. Despite the fact that the firstborn created a real sensation in the world media, experts noted a number of its shortcomings. Firstly, the size of the effectively hit target does not exceed 30 meters in diameter, and secondly, the weapon is disposable - reloading takes more than 20 minutes, during which the miracle gun has already been shot down 15 times from the air, and it can only work on targets in the open terrain, without the slightest visual obstacles. It is probably for these reasons that the Americans abandoned the creation of such directed EMP weapons, concentrating on laser technologies. Our gunsmiths decided to try their luck and try to “bring to fruition” the technology of directed EMP radiation.
Active pulse radiation produces something similar to a nuclear explosion, only without the radioactive component. Field tests have shown the high efficiency of the unit - not only radio-electronic, but also conventional electronic equipment of wired architecture fails within a radius of 3.5 km. Those. not only takes the main communication headsets out of normal operation, blinding and stunning the enemy, but also actually leaves an entire unit without any local electronic control systems, including weapons. The advantages of such a “non-lethal” defeat are obvious - the enemy will only have to surrender, and the equipment can be received as a trophy. The only problem is the effective means of delivering this charge - it has a relatively large mass and the missile must be quite large, and, as a result, very vulnerable to destruction by air defense/missile defense systems,” the expert explained.
Interesting are the developments of NIIRP (now a division of the Almaz-Antey air defense concern) and the Physico-Technical Institute named after. Ioffe. While studying the impact of powerful microwave radiation from the ground on air objects (targets), specialists from these institutions unexpectedly received local plasma formations, which were obtained at the intersection of radiation flows from several sources. Upon contact with these formations, air targets underwent enormous dynamic overloads and were destroyed. The coordinated operation of microwave radiation sources made it possible to quickly change the focusing point, that is, to retarget at enormous speed or to accompany objects of almost any aerodynamic characteristics. Experiments have shown that the impact is effective even against ICBM warheads. In fact, these are no longer even microwave weapons, but combat plasmoids. Unfortunately, when in 1993 a team of authors submitted a draft air defense/missile defense system based on these principles to the state for consideration, Boris Yeltsin immediately proposed joint development to the American president. And although cooperation on the project did not take place, perhaps this is what prompted the Americans to create the HAARP (High Freguencu Active Auroral Research Program) complex in Alaska - a research project to study the ionosphere and auroras. Let us note that for some reason that peaceful project is funded by the Pentagon’s DARPA agency.
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The element base of RES is very sensitive to energy overloads, and a flow of electromagnetic energy of a sufficiently high density can burn out semiconductor junctions, completely or partially disrupting their normal functioning. Low-frequency EMF creates electromagnetic pulse radiation at frequencies below 1 MHz, high-frequency EMF is affected by microwave radiation - both pulsed and continuous. Low-frequency electromagnetic radiation affects the object through interference to the wired infrastructure, including telephone lines, external power cables, and information supply and retrieval cables. High-frequency EMF directly penetrates into the object's radio-electronic equipment through its antenna system. In addition to affecting the enemy's electronic resources, high-frequency electromagnetic radiation can also affect the skin and internal organs of a person. At the same time, as a result of their heating in the body, chromosomal and genetic changes, activation and deactivation of viruses, transformation of immunological and behavioral reactions are possible.
The main technical means of producing powerful electromagnetic pulses, which form the basis of low-frequency EMP, is a generator with explosive compression of the magnetic field. Another potential type of low-frequency, high-level magnetic energy source could be a magnetodynamic generator driven by rocket fuel or explosive. When implementing high-frequency EMR, electronic devices such as broadband magnetrons and klystrons, gyrotrons operating in the millimeter range, generators with a virtual cathode (vircators) using the centimeter range, free electron lasers and broadband plasma beams can be used as a generator of powerful microwave radiation. generators.
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