Automated artillery reconnaissance complex penicillin. Why do Penicillin complexes worry the US military?

The international military forum “Army 2018” continues. A significant part of its exhibition is occupied by artillery and missile systems. Visitors can see the latest self-propelled gun"Coalition-SV", the Iskander operational-tactical complex, the 203 mm Malka cannon and many other interesting developments. But artillery is not only what it shoots, it efficient work impossible without quality products target designation and reconnaissance.

It is for this reason that at the stand of the Main Missile and Artillery Directorate of the Russian Ministry of Defense you can see a model of a new reconnaissance complex, which is known to the general public under the name “Penicillin”. Experts believe that its appearance can lead to the same revolution in artillery that its “namesake” once accomplished in medicine. Thanks to the complex's sensitive sensors, the military will be able to accurately determine the location of enemy batteries, while remaining invisible to the enemy. "Penicillin" will be able to detect even launchers anti-aircraft and tactical missiles.

It is planned that the reconnaissance complex will begin to enter service with the troops next year.

What is Penicillin and what is it for?

Today, enemy artillery positions are detected using radar systems. A typical example of such equipment is the Zoopark-1 anti-battery radar, which was put into service Russian army in 2008. Its operating principle is quite simple: the radar detects the trajectories of projectiles or missiles, and then the computer calculates where they were launched from. The problem is that the use of radar instantly reveals the location of the station itself, making it vulnerable to enemy fire. In addition, it can be suppressed using various systems EW.

True, there are also advantages: “Zoo” is capable of not only calculating enemy batteries, but also effectively adjusting the fire of its own artillery.

The Penicillin complex works in a completely different way. Its main part is an external optical-electronic module of thermal direction-finding equipment, designed to detect radiation in the infrared and visible spectrum from the terrain and various objects. It is located on a special rod, which unfolds during combat use.

In addition, this complex includes special sound receivers that literally “listen” to the earth, like acoustics on submarines. The information received from the sensors is sent to the receiving equipment and displays the situation in real time.

"Penicillin" is capable of detecting mortar positions at distances of 10 km, the location of self-propelled guns and towed artillery - up to 18 km, rocket launchers– up to 40 km.

Up to 30 targets can be detected simultaneously. The width of the reconnaissance strip is 20-25 km. During testing, the complex showed very high accuracy, reaching one and a half arc minutes. More precise data about its characteristics are kept secret for now.

Samples of the complex shown earlier were installed on the chassis of a KamAZ-6350 truck. At the Army 2018 forum, another version was demonstrated - using an armored car

Vladimir Smirnov, Marianna Chursina

State tests of the new automated artillery reconnaissance complex 1B75 “Penicillin” have been completed. This system allows you to determine the coordinates of enemy artillery firing positions within a radius of up to 25 km in five seconds. In addition, Penicillin adjusts the firing of fire weapons of friendly forces. Delivery of the first sound-thermal systems to the troops is expected in 2020. Experts call the key feature of the new systems the ability to as soon as possible react to enemy artillery fire and destroy it before it changes its location.

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In Russia, state tests of the latest automated artillery reconnaissance complex 1B75 “Penicillin” have been completed. Moreover, the first two samples of this equipment are planned to be delivered to the troops in 2020. RIA Novosti was informed about this by the press service of the Ruselectronics holding.

It is noted that the Penicillin sound-thermal complex is designed to detect firing positions of enemy artillery pieces, mortars, multiple launch rocket systems, as well as launch positions of enemy anti-aircraft and tactical missiles. At the same time, the system simultaneously adjusts the firing of friendly artillery.

The complex includes several sound receivers installed on the ground and an optoelectronic module. “Penicillin” receives and processes thermal imaging and acoustic signals from shots and shell explosions, providing data on the location of the ammunition explosion, the accuracy of the hit, and reports the location of enemy artillery.

A key feature of the new complex is that it determines the coordinates of a single target within a radius of up to 25 km in just five seconds.

"Penicillin" can carry out firing maintenance for both one battery and each battery of the division in turn. The installation also ensures interaction with subscribers automated system tactical and operational management. The radio communication range with external subscribers is up to 40 km,” Ruselectronics reported.

The optical-electronic module “Penicillin-OEM” itself, which is a complex of thermal direction-finding equipment (TPA) on a telescopic rod, includes six thermal imaging and six television cameras. All of them are placed in a single housing on a rotating and swinging base.

“The radiation that comes from objects located in the reconnaissance sector is converted by optical-electronic units of the product ... into electrical signals and transmitted to the equipment for receiving and displaying the ROV in real time,” notes the documents for the development of the module.

For the first time, the existence of the automated sound-thermal reconnaissance complex AZTK 1B75 “Penicillin” became known to the general public in March 2017. By this time, at the Donguz training ground in Orenburg region testing of a prototype has started.

It was reported that the complex is intended to replace the traditional principle of adjusting fire with the help of scouts who work on the front line at the risk of their lives.

“In contrast, Penicillin can operate at a safe distance from the enemy without operator participation in a fully automated mode, which minimizes the influence of the human factor,” Ruselectronics said.

Besides, existing complexes artillery reconnaissance are vulnerable to enemy electronic warfare and anti-radar weapons. In turn, AZTK 1B75 performs tasks without unmasking itself by external radiation.

“Artillery remains one of the important factors on the battlefield”

Previously an American analytical publication National Interest published a material entitled “Perhaps Russia has a new means of destroying (American. - RT) heavy artillery". It was about the new artillery reconnaissance complex presented at the Army 2018 exhibition.

It is noted that Western radar systems - the American Hughes AN/TSQ-51 and the Scandinavian ARTHUR - due to their characteristics, have difficulty detecting small projectiles and are subject to anti-radar measures. Non-detectability Russian system traditional methods, writes NI.

Currently, the main artillery weapons in service with the US Army are the 155-mm self-propelled artillery installation M109, towed howitzers M119 (105 mm) and M777 (155 mm), as well as several types of mortars and MLRS (HIMARS and MLRS). The firing range of most of them with conventional shells does not exceed 25 km.

According to corresponding member Russian Academy rocket and artillery sciences Konstantin Sivkov, the main advantage of the Penicillin complex is the presence of a thermal optoelectronic channel, which allows you to react to enemy artillery fire in the shortest possible time and deliver a counter-battery strike even before it has time to change location.

“According to open data, the range of the complex is 25 km, that is, within the tactical defense zone. Accordingly, light field artillery and mortars will mainly work against such targets,” the expert told RT.

In turn, military columnist for Komsomolskaya Pravda, retired colonel Viktor Baranets, noted that foreign experts rightly drew attention to the fact that Russian complex will very seriously affect the effectiveness of artillery combat.

“That’s why they called the Penicillin complex the killer of American artillery. All armies of the world have artillery pieces of different calibers and different ranges, and artillery remains one of important factors on the battlefield,” said RT’s interlocutor. “It is very important to have the exact coordinates of the location of a particular weapon, because the weapon fires several shots and immediately changes position. And if technology does not allow one to instantly detect his position, it means that the enemy will simply shift this position, and the shells will arrive, essentially, to nothing.”

The expert noted that the AZTK 1B75 makes it possible to determine the firing point with maximum accuracy in a matter of seconds and cover it with return fire: “This is one of the elements of the new warfare, where the speed of response to enemy fire is reduced to a minimum.”

• British 155 mm howitzer M777 and American self-propelled gun M109 (155 mm)
• Reuters

According to Barants, foreign experts pay attention to the fact that high performance characteristics complex achieved through the use latest technologies, which so far only the Russian defense industry has.

“We need to talk about something else: that in this complex there is not a single bolt or board that we would purchase abroad. Everything in this complex is Russian, from the most basic equipment to complex electronic systems. Possessing such a complex, the Russian army receives very serious anti-artillery “ears and eyes,” which is extremely important when conducting modern combat operations, where time becomes a very serious factor,” the expert added.

“The speed of reaction to enemy fire also becomes an additional weapon of our army,” he emphasized.

“I would like to congratulate our designers, scientists, technologists, and engineers who came up with and completed this complex. We will wait for its mass entry into the Russian army,” concluded Baranets.

The new Russian sound-thermal artillery reconnaissance complex 1B75 “Penicillin” can become a breakthrough “method for eliminating American heavy artillery” and thereby revolutionize weapons, just as its namesake revolutionized all medicine, writes the American analytical publication National Interest.

The authors of the article note that in order to detect noise and kinetic energy, this system fixation uses four sound-thermal locators, a huge stabilization platform and an optical-electronic module. In addition, for lightning-fast information sorting, Penicillin is equipped with six conventional and six thermal imaging cameras, reports.

Experts indicate that the complex can find targets in just five seconds within a radius of up to 25 kilometers, as well as prematurely determine the location of enemy shells. As noted in the Russian Federation, the complex’s detectors are so accurate that they can even detect a door slam. At the same time, “Penicillin” is fully automated.

According to available data, one of the advantages is the low probability of its detection by enemy artillery. This is due to the fact that Penicillin does not use the elements inherent in radar electromagnetic waves. The complex was first presented in last year, it is now completing testing and is awaiting mass production in 2019.

The day before it became known that a new generation over-the-horizon detection radar station of the “Container” type had been deployed in Mordovia, which can track hypersonic missiles at a distance of three thousand kilometers.

“The radar is capable of monitoring the flights of any air targets at a distance of about 3 thousand kilometers

and can simultaneously accompany more than 5 thousand air objects various types, including small ones,” the ministry said.

The department also emphasized that the station will have to provide reconnaissance of hypersonic aerial objects over the territory of Western European states and in southwestern region.

Two months earlier, the Russian Ministry of Defense published a video with footage of tests of the latest Russian combat robot "Nerekhta" and combat robotic systems "Uran-9". The publication was dedicated to Ground Forces Day, which is celebrated in Russia on October 1.

The Nerekhta robotic complex is equipped with a tracked chassis, an armored hull and mounts for special equipment. Three modules have been developed for the robot: combat, transport and artillery reconnaissance.

Uran-9 serves for reconnaissance, fire support of motorized rifle units and counter-terrorism missions. It is noted that the armored vehicle is armed with a 30-mm automatic cannon and Ataka anti-tank guided missiles.

In June this year US Army Secretary Mark Esper said that his department precision weapons long range is considered the number one priority in modernizing the US Army.

“Even the US military hospital in the German city of Landstuhl is within range of Russian missiles.

It is at this distance rocket troops The Russian Armed Forces can hit our targets. We currently have virtually no such thing as a “deep rear.”

All our facilities in Europe could suddenly find themselves under deadly enemy fire,” this is how one of the senior US Army officers assessed the current situation.

Developers of weapons for the US ground forces said that design bureaus and industrial enterprises intend to design and put into service American army integrated series of weapons to fully comply with the priorities outlined in general outline Mark Esper.

Such a series will include a long-range precision missile, hypersonic weapons for ground forces and long-range artillery. For the latter, the task is to double the firing range of 155-mm shells and reach the kill line of 60 km.

To solve this problem, it is planned to use a longer barrel, active-missiles with ramjet engines and new materials. This, according to the developers, will allow shooting at a range of 60 km and further.

In May, Western experts analyzed how Russia plans to shoot down American F-22s and F-35s, reports NSN . It's about about the Struna-1 bistatic radar system, which is capable of tracking stealth fighters equipped with stealth technology, including the fifth-generation F-22 and F-35 aircraft of the US Air Force.