From the very beginning, Invincible Sergey Pavlovich wanted to develop a completely different rocket. Circumstances and prospects made it possible to create the most advanced anti-tank weapon at that time. After almost 15 years, the Chrysanthemum ATGM remains in service and achieves incredible results.
First of all, Invincible said that any weapon should be created so that after 25 years it will not be thrown into the scrap due to outdated elements, but modernized and improved. Thus, the anti-tank rifle was conceived.
The idea of the Invincible was to create installations that would hit the enemy’s tank not from the side, from the side of the armor, but directly through the hatch. In this case, radio guidance options became impossible, the laser ones also became worthless. But, unfortunately, there was not enough time. Demonstration shooting in 1981, the Minister of Defense rejected, according to him, in such a smoke is simply impossible to continue to work.
By his order, the idea of installation was rebuilt. Whatever it was, but the order of Ustinov to remake the anti-tank gun as soon as possible was carried out. The laser system definitely did not fit, so radio waves were used. But there was a problem with the frequency: the safer it is for the crew, the more difficult the guidance, the smaller the distance of destruction.
The problem was more or less solved in 1984 - the caliber of the gun was simply amazing, the rocket penetrated up to 1.2 meters of armor, but the design was too bulky and inconvenient. At the same time, the installation has become much smarter than its prototypes. Now, it weighed about 3 tons and could be mounted on the BMP-3, so surface targets were hit. Also, in any weather, ground targets with an enemy’s movement speed of not more than 60 km / h and air targets up to 340 km / h could be destroyed.
Now the work of the locator took place in the range of 100-150 GHz, and a truly ingenious idea of engineering allowed for the first time to make ATGM fully automatic. All actions to search for the enemy, prepare the rocket and shoot pass without human intervention, the operator only presses the "start" button.
An anti-tank rifle, or anti-tank system, in conditions of good visibility, was able to work with laser guidance, but in this case the installation becomes semi-automatic. It is worth noting that it is possible to shoot from two guns at the same time, thanks to different guidance points and missile feeds.
"Chrysanthemum" contains many pieces of equipment: for verification, guidance, but it is quite possible to work the combat vehicle separately. Of course, this installation can be put on other types of chassis, for example on a boat, or even make a stationary structure. Unfortunately, the aviation version was not developed and is impossible to use.
ATGM "Chrysanthemum", which was also called "anti-tank gun" from its prototypes, has every chance of modernization and has already perpetuated itself in history as one of the best means of defeating enemy equipment. Who knows, perhaps very soon this type of weapon will become the most powerful in the world among its counterparts.