In recent years, in the armies of the whole world, emphasis has been placed on means that allow destroying the enemy and enemy equipment at a distance, avoiding a direct collision. Domestic aircraft are no exception. Old missile systems are being modernized , new ones are being created.
But at all times, a special role was played by means to defeat enemy aircraft. In addition, this list has recently included heavy UAVs and missiles. One of the promising means of their destruction is the S-400 complex, which is better known as the Triumph.
Destination
This missile system can be used to destroy jammers, reconnaissance and reconnaissance aircraft, attack aircraft and fighters, UAVs, as well as enemy missiles of various types.
Advantages over Existing Samples
The S-400 air defense system was developed on the basis of the S-300, but it has much better characteristics in all areas. The new complex is not only cheaper, but also 2.5 times more efficient.
The uniqueness of the "Triumph" is that the complex can work not only with new missiles that were specially designed for him, but also with old models that were produced for the S-300 and the like. Even in the basic version, the complex is equipped with four variants of missiles at once. In the case of deployment, it allows you to organize several echelons of air defense as soon as possible, and organize an attack on enemy air reconnaissance bases.
Thus differing from previous models, the S-400 is almost completely automated, which can significantly reduce the number of personnel needed for its maintenance and repair. Due to the highest degree of integration with other air defense systems and MLRS, it can be used in any unit of the RF Armed Forces.
Developer Details
This complex was designed in the legendary Almaz Design Bureau, with the active participation of General Designer A. Lemansky. The development involved specialists from the Fakel Design Bureau, the Novosibirsk Scientific Research Institute of Measuring Instruments (measuring instruments), as well as other design bureaus related to precision engineering.
Date of adoption
The complex entered the arsenal and database at the end of April 2007, which by military standards recently. The first settlement, which this air defense system began to cover from the air, was the city of Electrostal, Moscow Region. Among NATO, the complex is known under the designation SA-20.
What is included
In terms of structure and acquisition, the S-400 is virtually no different from its predecessor. The SAM system includes a multifunctional radar, an installation for launching missiles, as well as fully autonomous guidance and target designation systems. As for the differences, the new model provides support for a much larger number of targets, and the probability of their simultaneous destruction is higher.
The S-400 Triumph itself includes several structural elements at once. 30K6E automatic control and guidance system includes:
- Command control point of battle 55K6E.
- For quick detection and enemy guidance radar 91N6E is used.
The composition of the direct anti-aircraft complex 98ZH6E also includes additional components:
- Radar control and tracking of air targets 92N2E.
- To launch missiles directly, 5P85TE2 or 5P85SE2 launching systems are used.
- The list of rockets with which this complex is compatible is impressive. 48H6E, 48H6E2, 48H6E3 can be started. This SAM also allows missile launches to destroy ultra-long-range targets 40H6E.
If required by the current tactical situation, the following optional tools may be additionally given to fire calculation:
- Specially designed for tracking targets at the maximum available altitude of the 96L6E radar.
- Tower 40V6M, designed to improve the signal on the antenna 92N6E.
Basic information about SAM
The S-400 Triumph complex was created, inter alia, to combat high-precision weapons of the enemy, allowing even small and high-speed ballistic missiles to be shot down . A huge advantage is that the weapons used not only destroy the air target, but completely undermine its controls and the entire warhead. It should be borne in mind that the probability of hitting an air target is:
- For manned targets, this figure is at least 0.9%, and the probability of defeat is practically not affected even by pilots performing special maneuvers to evade.
- For unmanned targets, the probability is about 0.8%. Even if a missile or UAV is only partially affected, in 70% of cases complete destruction of their warhead is achieved.
As for the chassis on which it would be possible to install containers, each of which contains the S-400 missile, the choice is limited only by the equipment of a particular
military unit. So, in this role almost all modifications of MAZ, KAMAZ, and also KRAZ and URAL vehicles can be used.
Other information
It should be noted that several types of missiles can be combined in launch containers at once, which contributes to the creation of a powerful layered defense, which none of the western missiles in service can overcome.
The autonomy and mobility of the system is facilitated by the fact that it is equipped with powerful generators that make the S-400 Triumph a unique model of equipment that is capable of effectively solving combat missions in the long separation from basing units.
Between the constituent parts of the complex, radio communication is established, both via a wired and wireless channel. The first option is used much more often, since it provides maximum protection of transmitted data from interception. However, wireless communication also has a right to exist, since in combat conditions deployment speed and system mobility are much more important.
Control
As with most similar systems, control is carried out using a combined circuit. Almost throughout the flight, the rocket is guided by the data that was loaded into its control chip from the radar of the complex. Only at the maximum approach to the target does the warhead begin to follow the target, actively monitoring its movements using its own guidance system, which is located in the warhead.
If we talk about at what distance the S-400 (missile system) can hit a target, then in the standard state this distance is 120 kilometers. The defeat of the object is possible at an altitude of 5 to 30 kilometers.
From the moment the target is detected and until its launch, only eight seconds elapse. The service life of each rocket is about 15 years. In the event that special certification bodies can confirm the preservation of the operational properties of the equipment, this period can be significantly extended.
Destruction of the warhead
The main requirement of a modern air defense system is not just to bring down a missile, but to achieve guaranteed destruction of its warhead. This is especially true if the system is located in close proximity to the facility protected by it. It is highly undesirable if a knocked-out rocket falls on him, when an explosive or a nuclear warhead is completely preserved in its body.
Only in the case when the warhead is intercepted even when the enemy missile approaches the target, such an unfavorable scenario can be ruled out. Destruction of the most dangerous parts of enemy equipment can be achieved only in two cases: either with a direct hit on a warhead, or with sufficiently compact exposure to fragments on it.
Target interception
As we already said, the ammunition used in many respects distinguishes the S-400. This missile system is notable for the fact that the missile does not start immediately from the container, but is thrown to a height of 30 meters with a squib. This not only guarantees the complete safety of operators, but also allows you to achieve the highest possible accuracy when hitting targets.
Simultaneously with the start of the marching engine, the rocket includes an active system for suppressing interference, which allows you to bypass almost all known types of protection against interception. It should be noted that the rocket has its own gas-dynamic maneuvering system, thanks to which it can successfully deviate from collision with false targets, constantly pursuing the desired object.
Conditions for guaranteed destruction of a missile warhead
As we have already said, one of the conditions for a successful defeat of a warhead is a direct hit on it. You can understand that this may not be done so often. Therefore, the main method is controlled and remotely initiated (according to scanning data from the warhead of the missile complex) the release of fragments. The S-400 complex, the characteristics of which we present below, provides point-by-point peripheral detonation of an enemy missile.
If the jamming system of the enemy’s target is too successful, then a centralized missile launch is activated, as a result of which a symmetrical cloud of fragments rushes to the target.
The most important performance characteristics of the complex
- The target detection range reaches 600 km.
- Up to 300 (!) Heterogeneous objects can be accompanied at the same time.
- The maximum range of defeat is up to 240 kilometers.
- The target can be hit at speeds up to 4800 m / s.
- Up to 36 enemy aircraft or missiles can be attacked simultaneously.
- For each of these goals, up to two missiles can be launched at a time.
- The deployment time of the S-400 complex, the characteristics of which are given here, is only 5-7 minutes.
- Before major repairs, the system is capable of operating up to 10 thousand hours.
What can this system interact with?
It should be noted that the S-400 air defense system can effectively interact not only with air and ground guidance systems, but even with military satellites in orbit around the planet. When creating the complex, the specialists were guided by the principle of the greatest possible compatibility, so that it can be used with equal success in any group of the RF Armed Forces.
Especially promising from this point of view is a complex of radar surveillance and guidance - AK RLDN. This equipment can carry out automatic reconnaissance of the enemy’s airspace in order to ensure maximum effectiveness of both air defense systems and attack aircraft.
The S-400 system works especially efficiently with its modification A-50, as well as with the modernized replica A-50U, which includes the Shmel-M radio complex. It is installed on an IL-76 reconnaissance aircraft, so that the air defense system can receive information about potentially dangerous objects that are thousands of kilometers from it. In addition, combinations of various types of ground-based and airborne RTKs (radio systems) are currently being tested.
The purpose of these experiments is to find the most informative and inexpensive option. Just note that of all existing not only in the West, but also in our air defense systems, this particular complex is the cheapest, reliable and effective. The accuracy of the missile destruction that the S-400 Triumph missile system has is not inferior to that of the S-300, but all other indicators are much better.