Review of weapons to strengthen the armed forces of Ukraine. What is already there and what is planned soon? Discuss
Table of contents
- Javelin
- Iron dome
- Harpoon and ATACM
NATO aid to Ukrainians came from the verythe beginning of the conflict in the east of the country, but no one wanted to get involved with the supply of lethal weapons and actually embark on the path of the Cold War with Russia, therefore they limited themselves to non-lethal military equipment and equipment (which cannot cause direct destruction, death or injury).
Since 2018, little by little, the beginning oflethal weapons come, most of all the noise was caused by the supply of Javelin ATGMs. This is understandable - almost every launch from such a complex is a damaged tank, there are no guaranteed or at least reliable means of protection against this weapon yet. Plus, they managed to buy up various rubbish from the bases of Eastern Europe, such as the BMP-1 or the Gvozdika self-propelled gun. To date, Ukraine has received military aid worth $ 2.5 billion, of which $ 400 million in 2021 alone. We decided to review the most interesting weapons and equipment in our opinion, which will bring the army of our western neighbor to a new level since 2015.
Javelin
FGM-148 Javelin in the hands of a Ukrainian soldier
FGM-148 Javelin missiles (throwing javelindart), belongs to the third generation of ATGMs, which we wrote about earlier in the corresponding article; in fact, it is also the ancestor of this generation. The Javelin differs from most world analogues, including any anti-tank systems in service with the Russian Federation today, by the use of a missile with a homing head (GOS). Therefore, the operator just needs to point the complex at a target (usually a tank), launch it, after which he can shoot on all four sides.
In systems of 2 and 2+ generations, a flying rocketit is required to "highlight" by holding the marker of the optical-electronic sight on the object until the moment of defeat - accordingly, there remains the risk of being detected by the active protection system of the tank and getting a response, and the enemy's tank crew has a chance to take protective measures.
At the same time, the Javelins remain fewtested in real combat. The striking factor of the missile of the complex remains the cumulative jet (the detonation of the warhead is concentrated in a small point, this makes it possible to penetrate even very thick armor), like the Russian Cornet or American TOW, which at the same time have a larger caliber (152 mm versus 127 mm for Javelin) and have a greater mass of charge.
Javelin against T-72, inside a bunch of explosives to give the impression of detonation of ammunition, but you shouldn't imagine that it will always be like this in a real battle
Accordingly, armor penetration variesrange 600-800 mm, which is almost half the size of the Cornet. However, Javelin hits armored vehicles through the upper projection (stupidly through the roof of the tower), where the armor is thinnest, but there is a catch here - the cumulative jet, burning through the armor, uses fragments and molten drops of this tank’s own armor to destroy the crew, equipment and ammunition.
That is, the thinner the armor, the less strikingelement. The cumulative jet itself does not create a significant high-explosive or thermobaric effect after breaking through (that is, an explosion, a sharp increase in temperature and pressure, affecting the crew in the first place). Therefore, in Syria, there were many cases when tanks got off quite easily after being hit.
Simply put, Americans would probably liketo test your complex in a real confrontation with hundreds of combat vehicles, and to do it with someone else's hands is much preferable. One can admit this reason as one of the decisive ones, why Ukraine receives hundreds of such complexes, when there are heated debates about other species, such as with ...
Iron dome
Iron dome
Israel's Iron Dome system is nothas close analogues in the armament system of the air defense forces of the Russian Ground Forces. This is a tactical anti-missile system for the needs of Israel itself, and it was created in order to repel the shelling of Palestinian missiles Qassam - collected almost "from shit and sticks", they cause damage primarily to residential areas. Accordingly, the most important thing for the complex was the range of detection and interception, light and inexpensive missiles that need to be crammed into the launcher to the maximum, and of course the operational Fire Control Center so that target detection and missile launch for interception was a matter of seconds.
With a small ceiling (10 km), the "Dome" hasa decent range of 70 km, which is constantly being increased in upgrades. Since the missile has active radar homing, this makes it of little relevance for use against aviation, because such missiles unmask themselves once or twice. In addition, such a system is the wildest expensive pleasure (offhand, to shoot down one Qassam-type missile costs 5-6 times more than the cost of this Qassam itself).
Infographic with basic characteristics
At the same time, it makes the rocket more stable.to interference with electronic warfare (radio-electronic warfare), and at long distances from the radars of the battery control center, it remains accurate, because its own radar provides more accurate information.
Thus, the Iron Dome is capable of wellto cope with shelling from MLRS (multiple launch rocket systems) of the Grad type, tactical missile systems of the Tochka or R-17 type (better known as the Scud). But this is not all, the system was developed taking into account the reflection of artillery and even mortar attacks.
It is clear that this is a very useful thing for Ukraine,since artillery and MLRS played a crucial role for both sides in the 2014-2015 war, and having such a trump card, which a potential enemy has no analogues, and nowhere to take, is almost half of the victory.
BM-21 Grad
But selling the Iron Dome directly to Israel is notmaybe (agreements with the Russian Federation), mediation by the United States can help, but it is still very "mediocre", this is mediation - in the light of rapidly developing events, it may not be in time.
Harpoon and ATACM
Apart from weapons that have a defensivecharacter, the appetite of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense extended to serious offensive weapons. In particular, they are interested in heavy anti-ship cruise missiles of the Harpoon class (Harpoon) and ground operational tactical missile systems MGM-140 ATACMS.
Harpoon- fairly common missiles, independing on modifications, they have a warhead of 225-235 kg, and already have experience in combat use both in regional conflicts and by the United States itself. One Harpoon is enough to sink a missile boat or corvette, as was the case during the Iran-Iraq War (from Iran).
Anti-ship missile Harpoon
Missiles can be coastal, airborne andship-based. The radius of destruction is 220-280 km. Depending on the size (visible dimensions, if we are talking about a surfaced submarine) and target displacement, it attacks both from a low altitude (2-4 meters from the water) and with a special maneuver - moving at a minimum altitude, the rocket sharply rises up to 2 km in height, after which he attacks with a dive.
Since the late 70s, they have been constantly modernized, mainly updating the ability to resist all the same electronic warfare systems that interfere and try to knock the missile off course.
Ukraine needs them to protect the coast, sincethe remnants of the Ukrainian part of the Black Sea Fleet are almost nothing after years of decline and underfunding. On the other hand, in the event of an aggravation of the conflict with the Russian Federation, even the weakest of all our fleets (the Black Sea Fleet) has the ability to attack objects outside the Harpoon radius, and the Ukrainians have almost no ships for the installation of these missiles.
MGM-140/168 half of the launcher is loaded with missiles like MLRS, in the other half one ATACMS missile
ATACMS- Army tactical missile system.Today it is hopelessly outdated, since the Americans got carried away with wars in the middle of nowhere and got carried away with many types of weapons for serious wars. This is an analogue of the Soviet systems such as Elbrus (aka Scud), or the lighter tactical systems Tochka and Tochka-U.
Such missiles are used to strike atlarge infrastructural facilities, troop concentrations to a depth of 280 km. Russian counterparts Iskander operate on a radius of 500 km, and in general we can say that this is already a new generation. The Americans will soon replace them with the new PrSM system, which means they will start getting rid of ATACMS.
Ukraine has already queued up to buy the American system, and the likelihood of a deal is quite high. The Americans will shake off their junk and support the "ally".
To what extent are the prospects for imported weapons capable of strengthening the army of Ukraine?
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