Technical progress in the field of arms development is much faster than in other areas of human activity. Aircraft fly higher and faster, tanks become more powerful, and their tower guns hit further. Improved and means designed to counter the military equipment of a potential enemy. It comes to the point that the edge separating tactical missile launchers from anti-tank systems is erased or becomes obscure. An example is the Russian "Cornet" - a weapon designed to combat armored vehicles, but also suitable for suppressing well-fortified firing points and other elements of layered defense. Previously, these tasks were carried out by heavy siege artillery systems and powerful missiles with special warheads.
My wonderful Izh Cornet ...
Only the Dutch army currently has such a military rank. The etymology of the word is beautiful: its root is the English name of the main army trumpeter, who transmitted the commander’s commands to the entire army in the Middle Ages through sound signals. This title (chief officer) was also in the Russian Army, and remained as long as the White Movement existed. It gave the name to the small Izh Cornet motorcycle, popular among athletes. This bike, despite its small size and low power, looks pretty dandy thanks to chrome decor elements and a successful design. Engine capacity - only 50 "cubes", you can ride on it even without a driver’s license. The birthplace of the Cornet motorcycle is Izhevsk. The weapon is also often named after an old military rank. A traumatic revolver is made in Ukraine (9 mm caliber). It is compact and comfortable. Hardball enthusiasts also know the inexpensive and high-quality Kornet air gun. But the talk in this article will be about a much more formidable weapon, anti-tank.
Penetrates more than a meter of armor
It’s hard to fight advancing tank formations. Modern technology is equipped with effective protection, as conceived by the designers to protect the crew and vital components from the effects of damaging factors. The thickness of the frontal armor has increased significantly in recent decades, but the efforts of the creators of combat vehicles were not limited to this. It has become multi-layered, resistant to cumulative impacts, and the angle of its spatial orientation contributes to reflection and rebound. Now it’s not enough for a projectile to have the ability to penetrate a layer with a thickness of, for example, 100 mm, since comprehensive protection measures multiply its durability. The Kornet anti-tank complex was created with a very large reserve of power in order to successfully deal with armored vehicles that meet the most modern world requirements, and even promising ones. Not a single tank has meter armor - such a mass would make the structure incredibly heavy. However, the cumulative tandem charge with which the 9M133 missile is equipped is able to penetrate a thicker (1200 mm) layer, which is also behind the dynamic defense. "Cornet" is an irresistible weapon.
Guidance
The best of all situations for the use of anti-tank weapons is one in which direct fire contact with the advancing enemy is excluded. However, over-the-horizon shooting is possible only if the conditions for visual control of its result are met. The flight range of the 9M133 rocket can reach ten kilometers, but the effective radius in the daytime does not exceed 5500 m, and at night - 3500 m. The guidance system is semi-automatic laser. This means that it is enough for the operator to keep the target at the mark of the sight, and everything else happens without his intervention. The missile goes in the direction of the beam, guided by a tele-orientation system, while active or passive interference that the enemy can exhibit is ineffective. The guidance signal comes from the complex, from which the trigger was launched through the photodetector directed backward. "Cornet" is a weapon suitable for use in conditions of zero visibility, in this case, the aiming is carried out with a thermal imaging quick-detective sight 1PN79-1. This device has also found application in guidance stations of modern infantry fighting vehicles and attack helicopters.
Missile in container
Rocket control wheels are located in its bow. There are two of them, and in a transport position they are recessed in special niches, and come out of them after the start. In the front compartment there is also a leading cumulative charge, which serves to burn through armor protection. The rocket engine is solid fuel and is made in the form of a ring, so that there is a hollow space inside it - this is necessary so that the gas stream of the main cumulative warhead (located behind) could pass through it at the moment of impact. Torque nozzles are angled. The wings are elastically bent and straightened after the projectile leaves the container. They are located behind (according to the "duck" scheme) and are shifted by 45 ° to the plane of the rudders. The release of a rocket from a plastic TPK is carried out by an expelling charge. The flight path is spiral. The Kornet anti-tank complex can be stored for ten years. During this period, there is no need for routine maintenance and inspections.
Cumulative effect
The 9M133 missile with a cumulative warhead can penetrate the thickness of a homogeneous, covered by dynamic armor protection of 1000-1200 mm. This result is due to several damaging factors. The velocity of the projectile is 250 m / s, its mass is 29 kg, the weight of the blasting substance is 4600 g, the tandem charge, when blown up, the unspent solid fuel residue also enters the reaction, through which the plasma gas stream of the main warhead passes. This is how the anti-tank “Cornet” works, and the danger of its impact is enhanced by the high accuracy of getting into the most vulnerable areas of protection provided by laser guidance. But this tool can be used with another type of charge, anti-personnel.
Against pillboxes, bunkers and combat vehicles
Sometimes situations arise on the battlefield that are difficult to foresee. The advancing unit may suddenly encounter a powerfully fortified defensive point, and the attack will drown. The Kornet missile system is versatile enough to solve not only the task of fighting tanks, but also effectively suppress stationary centers of resistance. This rather compact tool is equipped not only with cumulative, but also with thermobaric warheads. In terms of explosive power, the effect of a 9M133F or 9M133F-1 rocket is similar to the effect of a 152-mm howitzer shell or ten kilograms of TNT. In fact, it is a vacuum bomb delivered by a rocket engine with high accuracy over a distance of 5.5 km. High-explosive thermobaric "Cornet" - a weapon of effective destruction of unsealed lightly armored enemy vehicles (armored personnel carriers, infantry fighting vehicles, etc.)
Launcher
The infantry-controlled launcher is a tripod, the design of which integrates firing control devices, guidance, sighting devices, and optical equipment (including infrared). It can also be part of the standard armament of military vehicles (infantry fighting vehicles or "Tiger"). The Kornet anti-tank complex uses the BM 9P162 chassis (Object 699 with the BMP-3 chassis ) as the main vehicle. The crew consists of two or three people. Directly firing and pointing at the target is carried out by the gunner-operator from his workplace equipped with an electronic system. Management of preparation for launches occurs on the commands of the remote control. Revolver-type reloading machine - there are 16 shells in total in the ammunition, 12 of which are located directly in the drum. The 9P162 machine is equipped with two 9P163 launchers. The time allotted to launch production is 20-30 seconds.
In especially difficult conditions
The design of the complex "Cornet" provides for the possibility of dismantling the launcher from a combat vehicle, if necessary. The situations during the war are very diverse. If the BM has lost its course and it is necessary to fire from positions hidden or inaccessible to vehicles (in mountains or settlements), the 9P163 installation is removed from its regular place on the BM and delivered to where it is needed. Suddenly, a powerful firearm is able to reverse the unfavorable situation and affect the outcome of the battle in a decisive way.
Cornet Abroad
In 1997, at an exhibition in Abu Dhabi, the Russian exposition first presented to the attention of potential buyers the Kornet anti-tank missile system. The weapon, the photo of which became available on booklets, made a proper impression due to the main difference from the already well-known "Metis", "Competitions" and "Bassoons" - a laser rather than a wired guidance system. Those wishing to purchase this complex for their own armed forces did not take long to wait. Algeria, Greece, India, Jordan, Côte d'Ivoire, Peru, Syria, Turkey, and also, according to unverified data, Libya are countries that equipped their armies with the latest Russian anti-tank weapons (the Cornet-E modification is intended for export). Until 2009 alone, 35 thousand missiles and many hundreds of launchers were produced, including those installed on the BRDM-2M and BMP-2M. Of course, the main goal of the manufacturer was to equip the Russian Army, but, as is often the case with successful weapons, controlling their distribution in different countries turned out to be a difficult task.
Uncontrolled Export
Almost immediately after the Kornet-E ATGM entered the foreign market, the media became aware of the use of this effective anti-tank weapon in various international regional conflicts. The Hezbollah organization used them against the Israel Defense Forces in 2006 (the IDF lost 46 Merkav, although there is evidence that this figure is underestimated, but 164 cars actually burned). A possible explanation for the presence of the Cornets lies in the Syrian track, although it is almost impossible to trace the origin of this technique. The same applies to Islamic ISIS, which hit the Abrams tank and several armored vehicles with shells (possibly of Russian origin). It is noteworthy that the Iraqi army used the same weapons against the militants of the “Islamic State” in the Diyala region (2014). Then, Ukrainian experts announced the discovery of a cumulative warhead at the site of the explosion, which retained traces of markings indicating the date of manufacture (2009) of the Cornet projectile. The militia’s weapons come from various sources, mainly trophy weapons, but this find (if it is not another fake) can weaken Russia's foreign policy position regarding the situation in the Donbass.
Creators and manufacturers
V. S. Fimushkin, O. V. Sazhnikov and S. N. Dozorov were awarded the State Prize of the Russian Federation for the creation of the third-generation complex “Cornet” (2002). The following year, the merits of another designer who was directly related to this project were noted - Lev Zakharov (Order of Merit for the Fatherland, Third Class). Apparently, these awards are well deserved. The general organization-developer has become the famous Engineering Design Bureau. The rocket is made at the machine-building plant named after V.A.Dektyareva (Kovrov town). Other Russian defense industry enterprises, such as the Volsk mechanical plant in the Saratov Region and Tulatochmash OJSC, also became manufacturing contractors.