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2S38 Derivatsiya-PVO 57-mm AAA SPG

The 2S38 is made on the basis of the well-proven BMP-3. At the International Military-Technical Forum "Army-2017", the Main Rocket-Artillery Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation presented at its stand a 2S38 combat vehicle with a 57-mm anti-aircraft artillery complex. At the next International Military-Technical Forum Army-2018, which opened on August 21, 2018 in the Patriot military-patriotic park in Kubinka, among other things, Burevestnik Central Research Institute AO (Nizhny Novgorod, is part of Scientific and Production Corporation "Uralvagonzavod") is a prototype made on the basis of the BMP-3 combat vehicle 2S38 self-propelled anti-aircraft artillery complex on the ROC "Derivation-air defense" with a 57-mm automatic cannon.

At present, various small-caliber anti-aircraft artillery such as 25mm and 35mm are popular, and the reason why Russia is doing the opposite is mainly because Russia believes that with the increase of air defense pressure in the field, the 57mm caliber anti-aircraft Compared with other small-caliber anti-aircraft guns, it has significant advantages in terms of artillery range and ammunition damage capability. At present, many military aircraft (such as armed helicopters) have the ability to defend against direct fire of several small-caliber artillery shells, and can leave the theater after being shot, while medium-caliber anti-aircraft guns can accommodate more powerful battles with a larger warhead internal volume. The missile-borne guidance system with a larger body and larger volume can achieve "one-hit kill" against enemy aircraft. This time, the Russian side stated that the preliminary tests of all vehicles of the system have been completed, confirming the ability of the system to combat various types of drones.

This product is created in the framework of the experimental design work "Air Defense Derivation", which implies the appearance in the troops of a promising mobile artillery complex with passive reconnaissance and tracking air targets. This combat vehicle is designed to destroy air targets such as unmanned aerial vehicles, cruise missiles, air-to-surface missiles, tactical aircraft, and fire support helicopters. Anti-aircraft guns are also capable of shooting down multiple rocket launchers, destroying ground and surface targets.

The optical-electronic detection and aiming system of the OES OP installed on this combat vehicle was created by the specialists of Minsk JSC “Peleng”. It allows you to carry out panoramic observation of the terrain at 360 degrees, as well as conduct a sector review. For example, the detection range through one of the television channels of the unmanned aerial vehicle “Bird I-400” in the viewing mode is 700 m, in the narrow field of view mode - 4900 m. The A-10 attack aircraft will be visible in the first mode already at a distance of 6400 m , and in the second - at 12,300 m. The thermal imaging channel allows detecting targets of 2.3 x 2.3 m in size with a probability of 80% at a distance of 10,000 m and recognizing them at a distance of 4,000 m.

ZAK-57 57mm anti-aircraft gun, which is a modernized and improved version of the S-60 anti-aircraft gun widely used in the former Soviet Union. And the shooting accuracy has been improved. The maximum speed is 80 rounds/min when shooting to the ground, and 120 rounds/min when shooting to the air. The maximum effective damage range is 6 kilometers, and the high shooting height is 4.5 kilometers.

The ZAK-57 antiaircraft gun has an elevation angle of -5 degrees/+75 degrees, 148 rounds of ammunition to be fired in the magazine (total carrying capacity of 200 rounds), and can launch five types of air-explosive shrapnel, armor-piercing shells, and laser-guided shells. shells. Among them, the air-explosive shrapnel can be programmed through the automatic binding coils of the muzzle, which can not only be used for air defense, but also for precise air-to-air strikes on personnel targets after fortifications. The armor-piercing projectile can penetrate armor thickness of 200 mm at a distance of 1500 meters, and can penetrate almost all lightly armored vehicles now and in the future. Its guided projectile adopts a duck-type aerodynamic layout, with a laser-guided sensor at the tail of the warhead, and 400 grams of high explosive inside.

The effective interception distance for manned aircraft is 200 meters to 6-8 kilometers, and the interception distance for UAVs is 3-5 kilometers. At the same time, a small fire control radar system is installed on the left side of the turret of the "bias", which has the ability to conduct 360-degree panoramic observation around the clock and automatically track and lock the target. It is also equipped with a laser range finder and a laser guidance system for laser Guidance of guided projectiles.

However, some analysts believe that it is not as magical as Russia said, and there are still many problems. On the one hand, the ammunition of the 57mm artillery is more than 600mm long and weighs more than 5kg. Such a large ammunition makes automatic loading difficult and limits the increase in the rate of fire of the artillery. For example, the rate of fire of the traditional 35mm air-guided automaton can reach 550 rounds/min, and the rate of fire of the rotary-bore automaton is as high as 1100 rounds/min, while the rate of fire of a single 57mm gun is only about 100 rounds/min. It is difficult to effectively cover the cluster target in use. On the other hand, although the 57mm artillery is powerful, its excessive ammunition volume also greatly affects the ammunition load. The total ammunition load of the "bias current" is only 200 rounds, which is likely to be consumed in a short time. Therefore, its continuous combat capability is still a big problem.

In 2018 the Ministry of Defense approved a new concept for the development of armored vehicles. For all light combat vehicles (infantry fighting vehicles, armored personnel carriers and armored cars) a new maximum caliber is chosen - 57 mm. Such guns are strong in their versatility. They can not only destroy tanks, but also shoot down drones. Their rate of fire can be compared with a machine gun. So far, only Russia has been able to bring such weapons to mass production. Light armored vehicles with 57-mm cannons will gain an advantage over other combat vehicles of the same class.

Before making a decision, development work was carried out, which confirmed the feasibility of arming such machines with 57-mm guns. Now the BMP and BTR, as a rule, install 30-mm cannons or 100-mm guns - launchers. Local wars and armed conflicts of recent years have shown that existing weapons are not always effective in the fight against high-speed or armored targets.

A more powerful 57-mm cannon will allow the Russian light armor not only to easily cope with infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers, but also, if necessary, to engage in combat with any of the existing tanks of the likely enemy. She can sweep away the sights of fire, thermal imagers and other external equipment, or hit such a protected tank as the Abrams on board.

Increasingly, on the battlefield, the main target for the crews of armored personnel carriers are not enemy tanks, armored personnel carriers or infantry fighting vehicles, but lightly armed jeeps or air drones. Such targets must be destroyed at the maximum distance, using the minimum amount of ammunition. Light infantry moving on “carts of the XXI century” cannot be allowed to be the first to use anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM). Drones - to transfer intelligence to your command post.

The domestic defense industry complex has already developed a technique that meets the latest requirements for combat. The BMP-3 and BTR-82 can be armed with a 57-mm automated remote-controlled artillery module AU-220M "Baikal". His gun has a high rate of fire - up to 120 rounds per minute. The same gun can be mounted on a heavy tracked BMP T-15, created on the basis of "Armata". For her, a combat uninhabited module "Dagger" has already been developed. His gun can shoot at a distance of more than 14 km.

Guns of 57 mm caliber have long earned a reputation as reliable anti-aircraft guns. In the USSR, the ZSU-57-2 anti-aircraft self-propelled guns were used, which were used in the Vietnam War, the Arab-Israeli wars and the Iran-Iraq war. At that time, the ZSU was supposed to destroy jet aircraft, but due to the lack of automated radar guidance devices, this machine did not differ in high efficiency.

The new Derivation anti-aircraft gun complex will begin to enter the Russian Armed Forces from 2022. This was announced in an interview with TASS by the general director of the Uralvagonzavod concern (UVZ, part of Rostec) Alexander Potapov. "Preliminary tests of the combat vehicle have been completed, including the confirmation of the possibility of combating drones of various types - from small-sized to heavy drums. A pilot batch is being manufactured. The first deliveries of the new anti-aircraft complex to the troops are scheduled for 2022," he said 31 August 2020. State tests of the new 57-mm self-propelled anti-aircraft gun "Derivation-Air Defense" are planned to be completed in 2022.