SVP-24 4 "Gefest" ["Hephaestus"]
Instead of mounting a kit on an old bomb and lose the kit every time, the Russians mounted a JDAM-like kit, but on the airplane - the SVP-24 4 "Gefest" ["Hephaestus"]. SVP stands for “spetsializirovannaya vychislitelnaya podsistema” or “special computing subsystem”. What this system does is that it constantly compares the position of the aircraft and the target (using the GLONASS satellite navigation system), it measures the environmental parameters (pressure, humidity, windspeed, speed, angle of attack, etc.). It can also receive additional information from datalinks from AWACs aircraft, ground stations, and other aircraft. The SVP-24 then computes an “envelope” (speed, altitude, course) inside which the dumb bombs are automatically released exactly at the precise moment when their unguided flight will bring them right over the target (with a 3-5m accuracy, it is claimed).
The SVP-24 has now been confirmed to be mounted on the Russian SU-24s, SU-25s, Tu-22M3 “Backfires” and the Kamov Ka-50 and Ka-52 helicopters, the venerable MiG-27 and even the L-39 trainer. In other words, it can be deployed on practically *any* rotary or fixed wing aircraft, from big bombers to small trainers.
The specialized computing subsystem SVP-24 was put into service in 2008. But it was the successful experience of using it in Syria that accelerated its implementation in the Aerospace Forces. The vast majority of Su-24M bombers in the SAR were equipped with this advanced sight. According to the Ministry of Defense, in real conditions, it made it possible to achieve accuracy comparable to guided munitions. The accuracy of the Su-24M with him increased by more than three times. When dropped from a height of up to 6 km, the bombs deviate from the target by a few tens of meters.
The first updated Su-24M with Hephaestus was received by the 43rd Separate Naval Attack Aviation Regiment in the Crimea. Until 2014, Ukraine prohibited the modernization of its equipment. Therefore, the unit for a long time remained the last one, which was armed with the basic, outdated version of the Su-24.
The system continuously monitors the coordinates of the target and the aircraft itself, and calculates the parameters of the bomb fall after the release. It automatically corrects for wind, temperature and aircraft maneuvers. The command to use ammunition is issued at exactly the calculated time. There were recorded cases of sniper hitting even point objects with single unguided bombs: detached houses, tanks and vehicles of militants.
“The SVP-24 system allows the use of conventional bombs with an accuracy similar to corrected or guided munitions,” says First Deputy Chief of the Operations Directorate of the Air Force Main Staff (1997-2003), Major General of the Reserve Igor Semenchenko. - But it can also quickly retarget the aircraft and its weapons immediately after receiving intelligence data, say, from UAVs, from ground and undercover means. Including through the Sagittarius complex, which is included in the Ratnik equipment for infantry and scouts.
The specialized computing subsystem SVP-24 "Gefest" has increased the accuracy of bombing of Tu-22M3 strategic bombers and allowed the Su-24M bombers to use uncorrectable ammunition as high-precision during the operation in Syria. This was announced 09 January 2017 by the Chairman of the Military Scientific Committee of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation - Deputy Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant General Igor Makushev. According to him, Tu-22M3 bombers were involved in the special operation in Syria, which carried out more than 250 sorties, during which weapons of 250 and 500 kg caliber were used.
“For strikes against targets in Syria, Tu-22M3s were used that underwent modernization, during which specialized computing subsystems were installed on them, which made it possible to significantly improve the accuracy of bombing,” Makushev said at a round table discussing the Syrian experience.
At the same time, Tu-22M3s that underwent modernization were used to strike targets in Syria, during which specialized computing subsystems were installed on them, which made it possible to significantly increase the accuracy of bombing. to improve the accuracy of the use of ammunition, in Syria it was used by long-range Tu-22M3 bombers and Su-24M bombers. The development of the SVP-24 computers was carried out within the framework of the Metronome theme in order to increase the combat capabilities of the Su-24M front-line bomber.
Subsequently, development work was carried out to prepare a unified technology for the modernization of various aircraft and helicopters. "Hephaestus" by analyzing GLONASS data on the relative position of the aircraft and the target, taking into account the value of atmospheric pressure, air humidity, wind speed, flight speed and a number of other factors calculates the course, speed and height of the air weapon drop, after which the bombing is carried out automatically. The SVP-24 "Gefest" system expands the range of tactics available to pilots when searching for a target, reaching a target, aiming and delivering air strikes.
The use of a new sighting and navigation system allows bombing from a free maneuver without entering the zone of destruction of enemy object air defense systems. SVP-24 allows you to significantly increase the accuracy of the use of unguided aircraft weapons. Thanks to it, the accuracy of unguided aircraft weapons is not inferior to guided weapons. As part of the operations, the task of ensuring low-cost aviation combat operations was solved, which helped to reduce the cost of aviation weapons. The data complex showed that even outdated aircraft models can perform tasks on a par with the latest aircraft and are in no way inferior to them.
According to the chairman of the All-Russian People's Commissariat, 50% of the main tasks for air strike against enemy targets in Syria were carried out by Su-24M bombers and Su-25SM attack aircraft. This complex has been used in all armed conflicts of the Russian Federation since 2008 and has shown its effectiveness in combat conditions, which other countries cannot boast of, since there are no analogues of the SVP-24 complex.
But the theater is affected by factors that significantly reduce the accuracy of bombing. Firstly, the errors in the calculation of the target coordinates, which can reach several meters. Add them and determine the location of the carrier according to GLONASS. In addition, the coordinates are somewhat distorted during sharp maneuvering in the target area. Secondly, usually in the combat zone there is no complete information about the hydrometeorological situation, the state of the air environment in the target area. Taking into account these factors, it is possible to estimate the accuracy of the combat use of free-falling bombs using the SVP-24 with an indicator of 20-25 meters.
As for the ammunition used by the Russian Aerospace Forces in Syria, each type of missile or bomb corresponded to highly specialized tasks. Among them are both modern high-precision and adjustable weapons, and unguided bombs. Although there were problems with the latter.
For example, OFAB-250-270, an unguided high-explosive fragmentation aerial bomb to destroy enemy personnel, weapons and military equipment, has a circular probable deviation (CEP) from 30 to 150 meters. The guaranteed kill zone is about 30 meters; for manpower, the bomb poses a threat within a radius of 150-200 meters due to the shock wave and fragments. But a deviation of 150 meters is quite significant and hardly meets modern requirements. According to the commander of the 58th Army (2003–2006), chairman of the all-Russian public movement “In support of the army, defense industry and military science,” retired lieutenant general Viktor Sobolev, the problem is that the FAB-250 bombs are still Soviet-made. They are well, as they say, “cleaned up” during the Syrian campaign. They were also produced after the collapse of the USSR,
The problem is that the equipment on which OFAB is made was produced by the machine-tool plant named after. G. M. Sedina in Krasnodar. In Soviet times - 1500 machine tools per year, including those with CNC. They were exported to 64 countries. Now the plant is on the verge of bankruptcy. In 2016, for example, they made only ... one machine. At the end of 2017, the situation is not much better. However, it is not enough to revive a specific production, it is necessary to restore the Russian machine tool industry as a whole.
In candor, the hoopla surrounding the SVP-24 sounds too much like that of the Norden Bombsight. The bombsight, developed by Carl Norden, a Swiss engineer, was used by the U.S. Navy and Army Air Forces beginning in World War II until its retirement during the Vietnam War. Norden believed the device would lower the suffering and death toll from war by allowing pinpoint accuracy during bombing runs.
"The device had an incredible moral importance to Norden, because Norden was a committed Christian," Malcolm Gladwell, a Canadian journalist, author and speaker. said. "What did the Norden Bombsight do? It allowed you to bomb only those things which you absolutely needed and wanted to bomb."
The Norden, essentially an analog calculator, could adjust for air density, wind drift, the bombers airspeed and groundspeed while controlling the bombers' final run on the target. It was called "the single most complicated mechanical device ever manufactured," according to Stephan Wilkinson in his book, "Man and Machine."
Despite being highly sophisticated, the bombsight was not as accurate as reported. Even though Army Air Forces information officers claimed the bombsight could "drop a bomb into a pickle barrel from 30,000 feet," reality told a different story, according to Avers Don Sherman, a writer who studied the Norden saga.
"The Norden had only a 20-power telescope, so you couldn't even see a pickle barrel from 30,000 feet, much less hit it. You could make out a factory, but that was about it," Sherman said. "It was also very easy to defeat the Norden when it was used at high altitudes. Smoke screens worked just fine, ground fog was a barrier and the simple fact was that the year of the most disastrous B-17 raids, 1943, saw an unusual amount of bad weather over Europe."
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