advertisement Radio Electronic Technology INFORMATION & ANALYSIS MAGAZINE Founder and publisher – Concern Radio-electronic technologies JSC Author of the concept – Nikolai Kolesov
EDITORIAL BOARD
IOSIF AKOPYAN – Deputy Director General, Designer General, Agat JSC ANATOLY AXYONOV – Development Group Chief, Rosoboronexport JSC ANATOLY ALEXANDROV – Chancellor, Moscow State Technical University named after N.E. Bauman VLADIMIR BARKOVSKY – Doctor of Technical Sciences VICTOR BONDAREV – Russian Aerospace Forces Commander-in-Chief YURI BORISOV – Deputy Defence Minister of Russian Federation VLADIMIR GUTENEV – First Vice-President, Russian Engineering Union; First Deputy Chairman, Committee for Economic Policies, Industry, Innovative Development and Entrepreneurship, State Duma of the Russian Federation YURI GUSKOV – First Deputy Director General / Designer General, Phazotron-NIIR Corporation JSC GUIVI DJANDJGAVA – Deputy Director General, avionics R&D, Concern Radio-electronic technologies JSC VICTOR DOTSENKO – Director General, Micran Research & Production Company Ltd. YEVGENY DRONOV – Director General, Tulamashzavod Production Association JSC ANDREI ZVEREV – Director General, Russian Electronics JSC IGOR ZOLOTOV – Deputy Director General, Concern Radio-electronic technologies JSC ANATOLY ISAIKIN – Director General, Rosoboronexport JSC NIKOLAI KOLESOV – Director General, Concern Radio-electronic technologies JSC GENNADY KOLODKO – Technical Director/First Deputy Director General, Ryazan State Instrument-making Enterprise JSC OLEG KUSTOV – Editor-in-Chief, Radio Electronic Technology magazine SERGEI LADYGIN – Deputy Director General, Rosoboronexport JSC YURI MAYEVSKY – Designer General, EW systems and equipment/deputy Director General, EW equipment R&D, Concern Radio-electronic technologies JSC VLADIMIR MERKULOV – Deputy Director General, Vega JSC IGOR NASENKOV – First Deputy Director General, Concern Radio-electronic technologies JSC VLADIMIR NIKITIN – Director General, Krylov State Research Centre FSUE BORIS OBNOSOV – Director General, Tactical Missiles Corporation JSC IGOR OZAR - Director General, Sukhoi Aviation Holding Company VICTOR POLYAKOV – Director General, UAC – Integration Centre LLC VIKTOR SLOKA – Designer General, Radiotechnical Institute named after academician A.L. Mints JSC YURI SLYUSAR – President, United Aircraft Corporation JSC ANDREI TYULIN – Director General, Russian Space Systems JSC YEVGENY FEDOSOV – Research Supervisor, First Deputy Director General, GosNIIAS FSUE, member of the Russian Academy of Sciences ALEXANDER FOMIN – Director, Federal Service for Military Technical Cooperation SERGEI KHOKHLOV – Director, Department of Radio-Electronic Industry, Ministry of Industry and Trade SERGEY CHERNYSHEV – Director General, Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute VYACHESLAV SHEVTSOV – Chief, Telecommunication Department, Moscow Aviation Institute IGOR SHEREMET – Vice-president, Academy of military sciences
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Editor-in-Chief EDITORIAL & PUBLISHER’S ADDRESS: © All rights reserved. OLEG KUSTOV 20/1 p.1, Goncharnaya str., Moscow, 109240, Russia The materials published in [email protected] Tel./fax +7 (499) 253-65-22 the magazine shall only be www.hi-tech.media, e-mail: [email protected] used with written permission Signed for printing: 14 Oct 2016 of the editorial staff. Reference Editor Publication Date: 01 Nov 2016 to the Radio Electronic BOGDAN KAZARYAN Technology magazine in case [email protected] DESIGN, PREPRESS & PRINTING: of reprinting is obligatory. Aeromedia Publishing House Ltd. The editorial staff shall not Columnist Bldg 66, 80, Leningradsky av., Moscow, 125190, Russia review and return materials submitted. Authors are VLADIMIR GUNDAROV Printrun: 1,000 copies responsible for the contents [email protected] Free distribution of the materials they submit.
Assistant Editor-in-Chief Photos in this issue: Rostech, Russian Engineering Union, Russian Ministry of Defence, ELENA KUZNETSOVA Rosoboronexport, Concern Radio-electronic technologies, Ryazan State Instrument-making Enterprise, [email protected] Tactical Missiles Corporation, KB Radar, Prokhorov Academy of Engineering Sciences
Cover photo: Su-35 multirole fi ghter of generation 4++, photo by Alexei Mikheyev contents
Radio Electronic Technology #5/2016 (10)
FRONT LINE
Russia’s Defence Industry Today and Its Innovative Future...... 6 Yuri Borisov
KRET: TASKS AND PROSPECTS
KRET: Diversifi cation as Key Element of Development Strategy...... 8 Igor Nasenkov
We Offer Full Range of Avionics Components and Systems Certifi cated to EASA Standards...... 10 Interview with Guivi Djandjgava, Deputy Director General for avionics R&D / Designer General, Concern Radio-electronic technologies (KRET)
Present-Day Problems of Advanced Identifi cation Friend or Foe Equipment...... 14 Sergei Chulyuk, Vitaly Shevtsov
Decimeter/Centimeter Double-Band Integrated Small Radars ...... 16 Yury Guskov, Oleg Samarin, Vladimir Savostyanov
President-S Airborne Defensive Aids Suite ...... 18 Dmitry Sherstnev
Top Class of Modern Russian Technologies for Aviation ...... 22 Alexander Popov
Radar for Mi-28NE Family Helicopters...... 24 Sergei Shelukhin, Vyacheslav Androsov
Modelling of Air Pressure Sensing Probes ...... 26 Mikhail Sorokin, Maria Dubinina
DEFENCE INDUSTRY AND RUSSIAN ARMED FORCES
Review of Events ...... 30
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Expedition to Mars as Mankind’s Dream ...... 34 Yuri Kubarev
DEVELOPMENT PRIORITIES
Prospects of 3D Radars Development...... 40 Igor Sadovsky, Sergei Nenuzhny, Yuri Samul
Guidelines for Air-Launched Precision-Guided Weapon Development ...... 44 Boris Obnosov, Vladimir Yefremov, Alexander Puzanov
2 RADIO ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY 5/2016 Airshow China 2016
Dear readers! The Russian Federation and People’s Republic of China have been tied with the relations in all branches of industry, science and technology for a long time. The ties have turned into mutually benefi cial strategic partnership in recent years. You are holding the latest issue of the Radio Electronic Technologies magazine, timed to an event important to the aircraft manufacturing community – the 11th China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition (Airshow China 2016). This magazine has been a venue for exchanging scientifi c and practical experience and knowledge in the production, maintenance, repair, overhaul and operation of high-technology products for military, special and commercial applications. Along with the coverage of products from Concern Radio-electronic technologies, the magazine offers information and analysis on a wide range of problems pertaining to the development of aircraft and spacecraft radio electronic equipment. I wish the participants of Airshow China 2016 interesting meetings and fruitful and successful consultations and negotiations.
NIKOLAI KOLESOV Director General, Concern Radio-electronic technologies
3 5/2016 RADIO ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY Airshow China 2016
VLADIMIR GUTENEV First Vice-President, Russian Engineering Union First Deputy Chairman, Committee for Economic Policies, Industry, Innovative Development and Entrepreneurship, State Duma of the Russian Federation
Ladies and gentlemen, colleagues, friends! I am glad to greet the Airshow China 2016 international aviation and aerospace exhibition participants, organisers and guests on behalf of the Russian Engineering Union and in my personal capacity. The cooperation between the Russian Engineering Union and People’s Republic of China has been increasingly multifaceted and intensive in recent years. The Memorandum on Cooperation and Mutual Understanding signed by the Russian Engineering Union and PRC Machinebuilding Federation in 2011 has contributed to this considerably. Current and future aerospace programmes are of special importance to the economies of our countries. As traditional embodiment of the best advances of international science and technology, these branches are certainly a strong driving force behind the economic growth. Both Russia and China have their own achievements in this sphere, surpassing the progress made by other major international manufacturers. Companies of our countries have achieved a new level of cooperation in fi xed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft production, engine production, aerospace sphere, and production of avionic and materials for these branches of industry, and in several other fi elds as well. Cooperation implies both mutual assistance and practical steps in high-technology product development, manufacture and export, in pooling the efforts and in trade and investment. This affords Russian and Chinese companies a wide spectrum of opportunities and shall facilitate their confi dent entry on new foreign markets. The Russian exposition at Airshow China is among the largest ones. Over 45 major corporations, holding companies and individual fi rms, including those of the defence industry, shall display their products. Certainly, the International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition being held in Zhuhai for the 11th time shall be a signifi cant event for the international aerospace industry and give new impetus to the Russian-Chinese relations in this innovative branch of economy.
4 RADIO ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY 5/2016 Airshow China 2016
Dear friends! Rosoboronexport is a traditional participant in the Airshow China international aerospace exhibition in Zhuhai. This year’s visit of our delegation has been the ninth one. We consider our participation in the air show as a very important line of our marketing efforts. The feature of the event is that it is aimed at the Asia-Pacifi c region that we regard as very promising to us. Airshow China dates back to 1996. It has turned into a major regional venue for displaying advanced aircraft, air-launched weaponry, airfi eld equipment, air defence systems and air force personnel technical training aids to date. Moreover, China is our strategic partner, with which we have had long-time mutually benefi cial relations. This year marks the 16th anniversary of the Treaty of Good-Neighbourliness, Friendship and Cooperation between the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China of 16 July 2001 and the 20th anniversary of the strategic partnership and comprehensive cooperation between Russia and China. I am certain that this year of anniversaries shall see the air show open up new vistas of cooperation for our countries. ANATOLY ISAIKIN Since Rosoboronexport’s establishment in 2000, we have made quite a progress, Director General, having struck thousands of deals and having exported hundreds of thousands Rosoboronexport JSC of examples of combat gear to 115 states in every corner of the world. Owing to the company’s efforts and the painstaking work of Russian arms designers and manufacturers, Russia’s partners in military technical cooperation have received effective means to deal with national security threats and defend their sovereignty. The need for up-to-date effective air force and air defence materiel has grown all over the world. Rosoboronexport as a subsidiary of the Rostec State Corporation takes due account of this in dealing with its partners. Its steady growth is owing, inter alia, to the closer attention many countries have paid to the acquisition of cutting-edge Russian systems designed for reliable defence of civilian facilities and military installations. Their competitive edge stems from the promising offers of all types of systems in all classes. Russian solutions are unique in many segments of the global market. Russia’s defence industry develops and makes the whole spectrum of air force materiel. For this reason, Rosoboronexport offers its customers the most relevant systems that have proven their mettle in combat and earned respect in many countries. By the way, the Chinese military has gained colossal experience in operating Russian-made military equipment. The Soviet assistance to China in the 1950s ensured the development of the industrial, scientifi c, technical and personnel basis the country used as a stepping-stone for its breathtaking breakthrough into the 21st century. Therefore, today, decades later, China remains a major customer for Russian armament. I mean all of it, with a large part of it being planes, helicopters, aircraft engines and air defence systems. No doubt, we have closely watched global arms market trends, including those in Asia-Pacifi c, and striven for our offers to take account of the actual requirements and peculiarities of each of our partners irrespective of the scale of partnership. Russia is willing to continue to pursue its mutually benefi cial defence and security partnership with China. The lucrative orders for advanced Russian fi ghter jets and air defence systems China has awarded in recent years is a good case in point. Rosoboronexport’s wealth of experience and the trust of its customers enable us to face the future of the relations between our two countries with confi dence and optimism.
5 5/2016 RADIO ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY front line
Russia’s Defence Industry Today and Its Innovative Future
and future tasks facing the Russian Armed Forces. There is a presidential order to have the share of advanced materiel in the inventory of the armed forces brought to the level of no less than 70% by 2020. The technical and economic performance out- lined in the programme translates into the major task of the defence industry facilities. Russia’s armament programme and defence industry being in a single basket is accounted for by not only their roles, which is to be major play- ers of the country’s military and technical poli- cies, carried out to provide national security, but also by virtue of drawing their resources from the same place, i.e. the federal budget. The demand for military and special equipment is in its own way a stimulus for maintaining and developing military and industrial technologies. At the same time, the defence industry’s scien- tifi c, technical and technological achievements comprising the basis for the development of the systems and equipment that are instrumental in accomplishing military missions effectively, regard- less of the tactical situation, take shape in them. The defence industry is manned by quality YURI BORISOV Today’s major tool providing comprehensive labour and provided with cutting-edge technolo- Deputy Defence Minister development of the armament plan based on the gies – civilian and military. The defence industry of Russian Federation requirements of the Russian Armed Forces is the accounts for over 70% of the products coming State Armament Programme. into being in Russia. Its major goal is to provide and maintain a bal- The share of active innovative facilities is over anced development of military and special equip- 30%, while 25% of the exported industrial inno- ment and maintain its level that will guarantee vative products are military. defence and security of the Russian Federation. Production and technical upgrade of the The State Armament Programme for 2018– defence industry resulted in 70 new installations 2025, which has not yet been prepared, will and over 270 industrial technologies for manu- be aimed at shaping new armed forces and facturing hi-tech products, boosting the capacity equipping them with the required types and by 15.5% in 2015. quantities of current and advanced weapons, It is worth mentioning that the spike was reg- including nontraditional ones, which will istered in radio electronics, where the production become assets in carrying out both current of military equipment grew by 24%.
6 RADIO ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY 5/2016 front line
The reason for it is that this fi eld is considered - complete building integrated backbone to be – and has every right to that – the loco- structures that accumulate small and medium motive of the development of smart equipment, innovative facilities, provide cooperation and namely precision-guided weapons, radar and implementation of large projects (programmes) electronic intelligence assets, information tech- for the sake of optimization and greater produc- nologies, robotic equipment, etc. tion concentration, as well as better corporate This fi eld includes the largest defence industry management; players, such as the United Instrument Corpora- - develop special economic zones and tech- tion, Radio Electronic Technologies, Russian Elec- nical parks – Dubna, Tomsk, St. Petersburg, tronics, Schwabe and many others. Moscow-Zelenograd, etc. – working towards Major areas, crucial to maintain parity with innovative development, in particular; foreign electronic armament designers and - develop backbone and critical indus- manufacturers, thus needed to be developed in trial and military technologies to provide order of priority in these facilities, are microelec- defense and security of the state, as well tronics, optoelectronics, microwave and quantum as competitive and science intensive prod- electronics, data display systems, photosensitive ucts; equipment, and military electrical products. - improve legal and regulatory basis in the Owing to the continued growth since 2010 interest of the defence industry’s innovative and a wide range of radio electronic equip- development; ment that came into being since then, the - get loans ready available whenever they are troops received the Moskva-1 advanced radio- required for the implementation of innovative electronic reconnaissance system, Khibiny defense projects; individual protection gear, navigation systems - promote equipment – military, civil or dual- for various aircraft and ground equipment that purpose – in Russia and abroad; remain the best ones in the world. - buy key defence industry facilities and turn The output growth in other areas of the indus- them into state property for their further satura- try is tangible too: aviation – 17.1%, shipbuild- tion with innovative technologies that are crucial ing – 14.4%, ammunition and special chemistry – for the development of the country’s industry and 13%, missiles and space – 8.6% and conventional will benefi t its competitive advantage on foreign weapons – 5.4%. markets; As a result, 2015 saw the troops receive over - improve the system of personnel training, 6,500 pieces of major equipment. including advanced and professional develop- The defence industry’s major task is to develop ment; encourage qualifi ed labour to work in the and produce up-to-date competitive equipment, defence industry. supply advanced weapons to the armed forces for It goes without saying that only a compre- their rearmament, along with other troops and hensive solution will work here and bring military agencies, and strengthen Russia’s posi- Russia’s defence industry to a new innova- tion on the global arms market. tive level consistent with today’s environment To this end, several major initiatives paving the and the requirement of boosting the nation’s way for the defence industry’s innovative devel- defence and security. opment should be taken to: In summing up, I would like to reiterate that - provide rapid re-equipment and develop- the supply of equipment to the Russian Armed ment of the defence industry’s major production Forces depends on both military and technical facilities that have more to do with the imple- policies of the country, as well as economic and mentation of the state armament programme, development state of the scientifi c, technical, development of unique bench and test assets, technological, and production capability of the development and proliferation of hi-tech military, defence industry. civilian and dual-use equipment on markets for It is the defence industry that provides the import replacement and substitution; foundation for Russia’s military security.
7 5/2016 RADIO ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY KRET: tasks and prospects
KRET: Diversifi cation as Key Element of Development Strategy
major military industry players, which the well-known US weekly Defense News draw up annually. The corporation’s being among the first Rus- sian defence contractors, on which the West- ern sanctions were imposed, may be regarded as the recognition of the part we play and our importance. We have been proactive at most of major international shows pertinent to our line of work. At these events, we display land-based, naval and airborne electronic countermeasures systems (ECM), designed to protect ships, planes and helicopters against incoming weapons, and national radar identifi cation equipment in addi- tion to our avionics. Various estimates indicate that our products increase the survivability of, say, aircraft by 25 times in battle. We continue to witness an output growth indicating that KRET has found its niche in the instrument industry. I am certain that the trend will persist and KRET’s share of the Russian market may account for 75% in terms of avion- ics, 90% in terms of ECM gear and as many as IGOR NASENKOV The participation of the Concern Radio-elec- 100% as far as identifi cation friend or foe (IFF) First Deputy tronic technologies (KRET, a subsidiary of the systems are concerned. Director General, Rostec State Corporation) in the 10th Airshow The corporation’s current development strat- KRET JSC China International Aviation & Exhibition in egy instils confi dence in its prospects. This has 2014 was a debut venue for it to present its been proven by KRET’s performance that has brand name in Southeast Asia. KRET Direc- been high for a long time. Its earnings have tor General Nikolai Kolesov emphasised at the equalled 45 billion rubles in earlier 2016, while time that by attending the show, the corpora- its net profi t exceeded that in 2015 by 9%. To tion, which share of the Russian avionics mar- cap it all, the corporation has surpassed both ket exceeds 90%, consolidated its position as last year’s achievements and the objectives integrated equipment supplier and created planned. preconditions for its increasing participation in Nonetheless, I believe we are faced with very international shows and aftersales support. serious challenges pertinent to resolving tech- I am glad to say that we at KRET continue to nical, organisational and industrial problems. evolve fast. The prestige of the company has We are to diversify our products considerably by been growing year in, year out. In 2015, KRET ramping up our share of commercial goods mar- rated 48th on the Top-100 list of the world’s kets. KRET has set a strategic guideline for itself
8 RADIO ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY 5/2016 KRET: tasks and prospects
to ensure that the increase stands at 50%. The gramme at the stage, at which the development solid fi nancial foundation we have laid in recent of its basic systems will be decided upon. The years will enable us to tackle the issue. new programme will become a largest-scale The improving fi nancial indicators earlier this cooperative project in the aircraft production year allow an increase of in-house investment in and high-technology spheres ever signed by promising development programmes and step the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) and Com- up the substitution of the imported electronic mercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC). componentry. The companies intend to gain a 10% slice of Radio-Electronic Technologies is part of the widebody aircraft market by 2032, with the the nation’s defence industry that remains the market estimated to include 600–800 Russian- driver of science and high-technology develop- Chinese planes by 2020. ment. We both count on the domestic market The new airliner will be intended for the and are working on landing more orders from Southeast Asian market in the fi rst place and foreign customers. Our exports are planned for the market of Russia and other CIS countries an increase to 30–35% as part of our overall as well. According to expert opinion, the agree- industrial output by 2017. This has been facili- ment may initiate the largest Russian-Chinese tated by the ever keener interest in our products high-technology programme, because engineers on the part of foreign customers not only owing and designers are to develop a sophisticated to their high quality and competitive edge, but widebody aircraft virtually from scratch. also because new local confl icts have been crop- Naturally, KRET’s subsidiaries will actively ping up, the ongoing ones have intensifi ed and participate in developing the avionics suite, ECM equipment has been used on a larger scale. control systems and other components for this As for avionics, much depends on the produc- landmark endeavour. They include our exhibi- tion and sophistication of aircraft. The avionics tors at the Airshow China 2016 international equipping fi xed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft aerospace exhibition, e.g. Research Institute of are not sold separately. They, who buy Russian- Aircraft Equipment, Moscow Institute of Elec- made planes and helicopters, also acquire our tromechanics and Automation and Aeropribor- avionics as part of them. We know that global Voskhod. aircraft exports will not slump and we pin our KRET is a participant in outfi tting the PRC- hopes on that. destined world’s most effective Mi-26 heavylift- I would like to single out two most signifi cant ers with radio electronic equipment. Launching programmes out of the potential opportunities the type’s production in China is being looked offered by the cooperation with companies from into now. the People’s Republic of China. In conclusion, I would like to stress that many One is the signature of the contract for 24 of our products are on a par with the Western Generation 4++ Su-35 fi ghters for the People’s analogues as far as functionality is concerned. Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). The Su-35’s Take for example the high-tech strapdown iner- avionics made by KRET’s subsidiaries features tial navigation systems developed by KRET’s sub- modularity and open architecture. The fi ghter’s sidiary Moscow Institute of Electromechanics and Irbis radar is among the best in the world. Automation. The systems equip virtually all up- The other is the signing of the bilateral agree- to-date planes and helicopters. There are plans to ment on the co-development of a cutting-edge equip ground vehicles with them as well. long-distance widebody passenger aircraft. I am certain that the participation of the The agreement was a signifi cant result of Rus- corporation’s delegation in Airshow China sian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to China in International Aviation & Exhibition 2016 will May 2014. The parties to the agreement have contribute to the constructive mutual relations launched a thorough feasibility study. Consider- and cooperation with our colleagues from the ing KRET’s specifi cs, the company will take part People’s Republic of China and with corporate in the advanced airliner’s development pro- representatives from other countries.
9 5/2016 RADIO ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY KRET: tasks and prospects
We Offer Full Range of Avionics Components and Systems Certifi cated to EASA Standards Interview with Guivi Djandjgava, Deputy Director General for avionics R&D / Designer General, Concern Radio-electronic technologies (KRET)
What do you think of the prospects of the evolution In this respect, breakthroughs in the avionics of avionics as a whole and those designed for com- development will be as follows: mercial, military, general aviation and unmanned - development of unattended avionics featuring aerial vehicles (UAV) in particular? controllable redundant computing environment On the whole, the present-day trend in the evo- and end systems for military and commercial air- lution of the avionics of all aircraft may be called craft, with the unattended avionics embodying the a combination of heavy integration of hardware functions of expert systems and supporting net- (including the introduction of the system-on- centric control; a-chip (SOC) technology) and the modularity - adaptive resources distribution computing and open architecture principles. Interfaces are environment for avionics suites with commonised getting commonised and progressive software software architecture and sets of SOC modules; upgrade capabilities are being implemented. The - UAV precise control and safety systems for trend is owing to both economic and organisa- complex (multifactor) situation; tional/technical prerequisites. - strapdown inertial navigation systems These days, the needs for the increased ease wrapped around laser, micromechanical and solid- of beefi ng up the functionality of the equipment, state wave gyros; coupled with the drive to reduce the equipment’s - multifunction large direct view displays for price and operating costs, is on the rise. In addi- creating a ‘glass’ cockpit. tion, the current and anticipated progress in tech- All of this should be implemented in integrated nologies and electronic componentry allow the fl ight/navigation and communications suites avionics integration to deepen on the hardware compliant with future air navigation and air traf- and software levels. fi c standards under the ICAO Global Air Navigation The conceptual lines of the evolution of new- Plan (GANP) and regional plans. generation avionics for the foreseeable future What will the commonality of approaches to devel- will be the improvements in the architecture of oping avionics for future aircraft, devising its archi- aircraft’s avionics suites, information management tecture and preparing relevant fl ight data consist in? systems, crew situational awareness systems, tech- At present, part of the contemporary Russian nical state monitoring and management systems, avionics problems has been resolved in coopera- aircraft fl ight control optimisation and techniques tion with the United Instrument Corporation (UIC). of information exchange among air crews, avionics Advanced aircraft are to be fi tted with new-gen- suites and air traffi c control systems. eration modular avionics subbed IKBO IMA – Rus-
10 RADIO ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY 5/2016 KRET: tasks and prospects
sian acronym for ‘integrated avionics suites on the degree can the above approach be implemented in basis of integrated modular avionics’. the designs of the long-haul wide-body airliner and Up-to-date modular architecture used in avion- heavy-lift helicopter? ics development and production allows consider- Under the long-haul wide-body airliner pro- ably standardised avionics suites fi t for equipping gramme, KRET has received from UAC an RFI on advanced air upgraded fi xed-wing and rotary- a suitable avionics suite with the relevant tech- wing aircraft. For instance, under the future trans- nical requirements to it. Analysis of the require- port plane development programme, we have ments has shown that the overwhelming majority offered avionics based on the common integrated of KRET’s integrated modular avionics developed modular avionics principle applicable for a wide under the Federal Civil Aircraft Development Pro- range of aircraft. It will allow equipping and then gramme meet the requirements – some of them upgrade planes with up-to-date commonised even in excess. KRET has prepared its proposals instruments and software packages throughout and forwarded them to UAC for the both parties to their service life. It is for this reason that a deci- the agreement. sion was made to emphasise modular avionics, As far as all – technical, functional and oper- which individual units may be replaced with more ating – characteristics are concerned, our pro- sophisticated ones as need be in a manner similar posals allow developing an up-to-date avionics to a present-day personal computer or the Lego suite meeting all future international standards construction toy. and being fi t for beefi ng up its functionality as Such systems have been actively promoted by new requirements emerge. However, since the Honeywell and Rockwell Collins, just to name a long-distance wide-body passenger aircraft is a few. Until recently, the Russian avionics equip- bilateral programme, we realise that choosing a ping the in-service planes have undergone fi nal design and composition of its avionics suite minimal upgrade – mostly through replacing is subject to a bilateral agreement. Meeting with individual parts with more up-to-date domestic our Chinese partners over the past years, we have or imported ones without altering the structure exchanged the results produced and proposals for of and links within the systems at a customer’s various lines of the work and have conciliated our request, as a rule. approaches and views of the pace of the work to What is your take on the capabilities of the Su-35’s a large degree. Painstaking joint efforts are neces- avionics? sary to choose the optimal contractor for each of What is important here is that we have devel- the aircraft’s component so that there is the top- oped a modular architecture of the fi ghter’s avion- notch quality and parity between the parties. ics. This means that it may not only be scaled up or The intergovernmental documents signed state down depending on the mission but also tailored that the Russian-Chinese joint products will afford to specifi c requirements of any customer. the two countries new scientifi c, technical and com- Su-35 fi ghter Does this mean that the avionics of the Su-35s to be exported to China can be modifi ed too? Our Chinese colleagues and we are still dis- cussing this, but one thing is for sure: the aircraft will be outfi tted with the Chinese navigation aids designed for Chinese satellite navigation system BeiDou. This is a matter of principle to our part- ners. Still, software and data processing algo- rithms will be Russian, including the mission plan- ning equipment reliant on Russian-made digital terrain maps, as you know. United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) President Yuri Slyusar says the Russian-Chinese long-haul wide- body airliner will be an utterly new aircraft. To what
11 5/2016 RADIO ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY KRET: tasks and prospects
Mi-26T2 petitive opportunities. How will this contribute to KRET can offer the full range of certifi cated heavy-lift helicopter KRET’s avionics research and development? components (units and systems) of an avionics Our avionics developed to date are supposed suite, including do so in support of the plane’s to be used under the programmes in discus- certifi cation. The normative documents underly- sion – the long-range wide-body airliner and ing the development have been approved by the heavy-lift helicopter, for instance the avionics western aviation authorities – EASA and FAA. This equipping the Mi-26T2 heavy-lift helicopter. will allow developing avionics on a high hardware However, we should not rest on the laurels now. design assurance level in accordance with new The introduction of newly-developed equipment requirements of ARP P 4754/4761, suffi cient for into programmes under way should run parallel the certifi cation by EASA. to further applied R&D of advanced avionics, Overall, we are facing an opportunity to update the use of new avionics integration principles, the avionics of Russia’s rotary-wing and fi xed-wing improvements in the avionic fail-safety, reli- aircraft fl eet on a large scale in line with interna- ability and safety, and introduction of innovative tional airworthiness and safety standards. As part equipment and aircraft control principles. This of the import substitution efforts, we will be able will provide the crew with higher situational to replace the Western-made avionics aboard the awareness in fl ight and the transition to option- in-service Il-96-300/400s, Tu-214s, An-124s, Il-76s ally unmanned control of aircraft further down and Be-200s. The same should be done to the the road. KRET’s subsidiaries are planning to machines from Russian Helicopters – the Ka-62, explore these lines of R&D and will drive their Ka-226T, Mi-38, Mi-171 and the Mi-8/17 family. The work in the future. same goes for the Sukhoi Superjet 100 and MC-21. It is known that Russian avionics manufacturers Part of the KRET-made avionics has been played virtually no part in the developing of the avi- included into the current standard design of the onics of the Sukhoi Superjet 100 airliner, because MC-21 and is being integrated in accordance with they were not prepared for having their products the plane’s construction schedule. certifi cated in accordance with international stand- ards. What kind of certifi cated scientifi c and techni- Interview by Dmitry Litovkin, cal groundwork for avionics can Russia offer for the military columnist with the Izvestia daily, long-range wide-body airliner programme now? for the Radio Electronic Technology magazine
12 RADIO ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY 5/2016
KRET: tasks and prospects
Present-Day Problems of Advanced Identifi cation Friend or Foe Equipment
SERGEI CHULYUK To identify detected and tracked objects, of both antennas and receivers throughout the Designer General weapons systems are outfi tted with identifi ca- operating conditions. of Unifi ed State Radar tion friend or foe (IFF) transponders operating The growing sophistication of the antennas Identifi cation System, PhD in conjunction with the weapons systems in and receiving channels of the interrogators question. Their joint work predetermines the increases their cost. The monopulse signal pro- VITALY SHEVTSOV infl uence of IFF gear on the effectiveness of cessing gets far more complicated when wide- Engineer, the weapons. Therefore, certain requirements band signals are used. Radioelektronika JSC, PhD are issued to the characteristics of IFF equip- Now, the development of conformal anten- ment when the latter are developed. nas is especially relevant as far as airborne IFF The development of advanced weapons sys- equipment is concerned and can be achieved by tems and the ever-growing complexity of their fi tting the emitters in the leading edge of the use in battle cause increasingly more stringent wing. This allows a sizeable reduction in the requirements to IFF hardware. The require- width of the main beam compared with that of ments can be met, inter alia, through refi ning ordinary antennas housed in the plane’s nose the advanced equipment design principles. section having limited dimensions. To generate For instance, designers are faced with a whole a sum pattern, however, there is special equip- number of diffi cult IFF equipment development ment controlling the transmit/receive ele- problems. ments. Its algorithms should take into account These authors believe that resent-day the complicated independent oscillation of the and future battles are to see a considerable plane’s wing panels in fl ight along with other increase in the spatial density of objects sub- factors. Such an increase in hardware complex- ject to identifi cation, i.e. targets. Hence, for IFF ity shall also increase the cost of the aircraft to be reliable, the weapons systems conduct- IFF gear. ing IFF must meet much tougher standards to The coordinates can be transmitted as part gauging the coordinates of targets. of the IFF signals by means of raising the infor- The enhanced accuracy of measuring the mation capacity of the signals. coordinates of targets to be IFF’d is feasible A way to increase the information capacity of through the interrogators using the monopulse the signals is for IFF systems to use drastically return signal processing and conformal anten- novel signals featuring an expanded spectrum. nas and through IFF gear transmitting coordi- This will remove the need of increasing the sig- nates as part of its IFF response signals. nals’ duration and the associated defi ciencies. The monopulse signal processing by the The use of wideband signals necessitates interrogators allows a severalfold increase the development of all-new identifi cation in the accuracy of angular coordinates of tar- equipment. Based on the peculiarities of an gets without the size of antennas having to IFF system, the effect of the advanced signals’ increase. For this purpose, several channels for introduction will be maximized only after all processing return signals should be developed. supporting military gear switches over to them, The channels should have very stable gain and which will entail considerable fi nancial and phase curves and the mutual channel identity material resources and time.
14 RADIO ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY 5/2016 KRET: tasks and prospects
For the coordinates to be transmitted as part Nonetheless, the shortcomings of wide of the IFF signals, IFF systems can receive them bandwidth signals as applied to IFF aids and from navigation systems carried by the identify- their introduction have been mentioned above. ing weapons systems. Since not all of them can A key requirement to IFF systems is a con- be outfi tted with navaids, the feasibility of fi t- siderable reduction in weight and dimensions. ting the latter to IFF gear should be looked into. A resolution to the problem is being hin- The evolution of ELINT equipment boosts dered, inter alia, by the need of the electro- the ability to detect signals emitted by IFF magnetic compatibility with the carrier’s transponders, which, in turn, reduces the electronics. Rather large massive metal cases stealth of and exposes the interrogating weap- are used for this purpose. At the same time, ons systems. the screening properties can be retained and A solution to the enhanced operating stealth the weight can be reduced through replacing of IFF systems is wideband signals. They will the metal cases with those made of composite ensure relevant distance for IFF equipment materials. while reducing the peak power in proportion Thus, there are a whole number of serious to the time-bandwidth product. The properties problems facing the development of sophis- of wide bandwidth signals allow a reduction ticated IFF gear. Despite considerable costs in their power below the noise without ham- in money, resources and time, these problems Advanced weapons pering the detection quality. In addition, the should be resolved to afford the IFF tran- systems lead to tougher noise-line structure of wide bandwidth signals sponder-equipped weapons systems the effec- requirements to IFF facilitates their covert emission as well. tiveness required. equipment
15 5/2016 RADIO ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY KRET: tasks and prospects
Decimeter/Centimeter Double-Band Integrated Small Radars
YURI GUSKOV Radar reconnaissance, reconnaissance check, extent the performance of the former. These First Deputy Director identifi cation and tracking of ground (surface) provide a stepping stone to a Ku- (or X-) and General – Designer targets in heavy conditions – due to weather UHF-band integrated aperture. General, Phazotron-NIIR, or their concealment capabilities that they Here comes another very important require- PhD (engineering), senior possess either by design or by chance – dictate ment that modern SAR have to meet. They need researcher the use of various wavebands. Though, limited to be equally effective in ground mapping and weight and dimensions of manned aircraft and surface (ground) mobile target discrimination. OLEG SAMARIN drones delayed the development of multi-band Since the latter utilizes a monopulse azimuth Chief, Scientifi c and radars. To address the problem, replaceable direction-fi nding technique, it needs no less Research section, radar payloads were proposed. But that would than two receiving channels – azimuth sum/ Phazotron-NIIR, not prove to be a complete remedy. Their difference or left/right subaperture – in each PhD (engineering), deployment, even simultaneous from different band. senior researcher aircraft, falls short of real-time requirements, The solution has come with a design (patent for the integration of radar images, acquired No. 2496120 IPC G01S 13/00), that utilizes VLADIMIR through different wavebands, takes a while and various types of modulation and processing SAVOSTYANOV, is performed on the ground. methods to provide digital probing signal gen- Laboratory Supervisor, Thus the requirement for a small, synthetic eration with a real-time signal-generation and Phazotron-NIIR, aperture, multi-purpose radar (SAR) operat- processing control. Phazotron-NIIR’s recent PhD (engineering), ing in several wavebands or at least two, but researches resulted in the development of associate professor providing a wide envelope, is already ripe and a small Ku-band SLAR that was later used to needs a solution. The groundwork laid in Rus- design a double-band multi-purpose SAR oper- sia over the past years is suffi cient to pave the ating almost simultaneously in Ku and UHF way for such double-band system that will fi t bands to provide integrated radar images. The various small aircraft, including reconnais- same will work with X-band radars. sance and search-and-rescue. The architecture of the centimeter/deci- An analysis suggests that the most appro- meter double-band SAR integrates antennas, priate solution is to have Ku (or X) and UHF probing signal generators for two wavebands, wavebands combined, because they provide and radar signal processors providing imag- a wide frequency envelope that translates ing either for each band separately or for both into their combined capability to pick sig- bands (composite imaging) aboard of a small nificantly different signatures of targets. The aircraft. Among other noteworthy features of centimeter waveband is better at perform- the integrated radar is its on-board computer- ing positioning tasks, allowing to reference controlled master receiver that came into being targets, detected via the UHF channel. Also during the design phase. there are almost no challenges in bringing Integrating bands means making their oper- together Ku- (or X-) and UHF-band aerials. ation synchronized (with radiation and recep- The UHF oscillator does not overwhelm the tion alternating in each band within a radar centimeter waves, while the antenna panel of cycle), providing data that once processed the latter system can even boost to a certain yields two images simultaneously with the
16 RADIO ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY 5/2016 KRET: tasks and prospects
same center, scale, and projection view. The Ku-band transmitter/reciever similarity in scale between the two images is achieved in azimuth and range through pro- viding the required time of synthesizing the antenna and transmitting in both bands the same pulse width of probing signals respec- tively. It is no longer an issue with arranging a convenient display of the radar images (coming in succession one after the other or integrated) since they are tied in together from the very beginning. The signal processing algorithm splits into primary (zero-frequency component removal, phase correction, demodulation, and sampling) and secondary (autofocusing, mobile target discrimination, azimuth compression, range migration, range compression, noncoherent signal integration, and imaging) procedures. The former are carried out for each trigger Ku-band radar module Ku/UHF-band radar module pulse periods and deal with the digitized signal streams coming from each band and channel separately. The secondary procedures kick in only on getting all references and start with processing the amplitudes and parameters of detected targets. The fi nal stage is an inte- grated processing of all data collected within both bands that result in two images, moving target marks included, for each band or a single integrated image (composite imaging). The design of the Ku/UHF double-band radar is different from its single-band counterpart in its antenna featuring oscillators and addi- tional UHF board on the right that includes a In summing up, we will highlight what we transceiver, interface converter, switch-board, believe to be important results of the project. voltage stabilizer, HF fi lter, and frequency 1. Phazotron-NIIR designed a Ku-band mixer. The design came into being thanks to multi-purpose small radar and confi rmed its the integration of radar major components that characteristics. resulted in the system gaining but a slight mar- 2. The Ku-band radar was used to develop a gin to its weight. The Ku-band radar’s weight is Ku/UHF double-band SLAR providing real-time 32 kg while that of the double-band (Ku and intelligence in either of the bands or combina- UHF) system is only 35 kg. tion thereof. That means that a solution was found to a 3. The algorithms and design solutions very urgent issue of equipping small aircraft, that gave birth to the integrated architecture including drones, with a centimeter/decimeter concept allowed to produce the lightest and double-band synthetic aperture SLAR. It pro- most compact radars that today’s technologies duces radar terrain images tied together in two would permit to. wavebands simultaneously and discriminates 4. Both manned aircraft and drones, their mobile targets regardless of whether they are role notwithstanding, can carry the integrated masked or concealed in foliage. double-band radar.
17 5/2016 RADIO ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY KRET: tasks and prospects
President-S Airborne Defensive Aids Suite
DMITRY SHERSTNEV Established in 1949, the Ekran research insti- - active electronic countermeasures system; Director General, tute is the strategic parent company in the sphere - optronic jammer; Ekran Research Institute of multifunction integrated airborne defensive - expendable countermeasures dispenser (chaff, aids suites (DAS) protecting aircraft from surface- fl ares and disposable decoys for individual protec- to-air missiles (SAM) and terrorists using advanced tion of the front and/or rear hemisphere against man-portable air defence systems (MANPADS) on radar homing missiles); a large scale. - active towed radar decoy; At the ARMY 2016 international military-techni- - multifunction display (MFD); cal forum, Ekran has displayed its latest product – a - coordinator. defensive aids suite designed for protecting fi xed- wing and rotary-wing aircraft from air-to-air mis- RADAR WARNING RECEIVER (RWR) siles, SAMs and antiaircraft artillery (AAA) systems Detection of the radar illumination of the Presi- by detecting the threats and countering incoming dent-S-equipped aircraft by radars of AAA and SAM weapons. systems and air-to-air missiles, direction-fi nding of The President-S performs the following: the radars, gauging of their coordinates and identifi - - detection, identifi cation and direction-fi nding cation of their type and operating mode. of air-to-air missiles, SAMs and AAA systems, radar The RWR is internally mounted. homing air-to-air missiles and SAMs by means The sensitivity of the RWR allows detecting the of the emission of their radars and active hom- radar illumination at a distance in excess of the ing heads using continuous, quasi-continuous and reach of the illuminating radar. pulsed radiation; - detection, identifi cation and direction-fi nding of LASER WARNING RECEIVER (LWR) laser illumination sources; Detection of the laser illumination. Direction- - detection of launches of air-to-air missiles and fi nding of the illuminating laser and gauging of SAMs and measuring of their coordinates by means its coordinates. Identifi cation of lasers. The LWR is of the plumes of their engines; installed in the fuselage. - jamming of the radars and radar homing heads of air defence systems; MISSILE APPROACH WARNING SYSTEM - active infrared jamming of heat-seeking (MAWS) missiles; Detection of launches of SAMs and air-to-air - control of the dispensing of chaff, fl ares and missiles and their positioning by means of their disposable decoys; plumes. The MAWS consists of four to six units - distribution of the resources of the DAS among that are either housed by the fuselage or carried air defence threats. on external stations. The open-architecture DAS can have its composi- tion optimised depending on the aircraft protected ACTIVE ELECTRONIC and its missions. It consists of the control unit and COUNTERMEASURES SYSTEM (ECM) the following optional modules: Protection of the aircraft against AAA, SAM and - radar warning receiver; AAM systems equipped with target acquisition - laser warning receiver; and fi re control radars and radar homing missiles - missile approach warning system; by deploying electronic countermeasures in their
18 RADIO ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY 5/2016 KRET: tasks and prospects
Missile approach warning system
Control unit Expendable countermeasures dispenser
Active towed radar decoy
Missile approach Non-coherent Laser warning system optronic jammer optronic jammer
Radar warning Active electronic countermeasures receiver Laser warning receiver system
coverage sectors and wavebands. The internally - optical mechanical unit; President-S mounted ECM system jams enemy radars at the tar- - control unit; airborne defensive get acquisition, tracking, guidance and attack stages. - power supply unit; aids suite composition - missile attack warning unit. NON-COHERENT OPTRONIC JAMMER (OJ) The LOJ executes consecutive jamming of at least The OJ protects the aircraft against heat-seeking two simultaneously incoming missiles across the SAMs, MANPADS and air-to-air missiles by jam- whole spectrum of ranges and aspects. The design ming their infrared homing heads. It jams electro- and digital data communications message protocols optical guidance systems at the attack stage. The (DDCMP) are as requested by the customer. control unit issues targeting and target designation The jammer has standby and operating modes. commands for tracking the incoming missile. The Once the onboard power supply is turned on, the optronic jammer’s components are installed in the LOJ goes into standby mode and selects and tracks fuselage and mounted on external stations. targets. The LOJ transitions to operating mode by command of the President-S DAS’s control unit and LASER OPTRONIC JAMMER (LOJ) tracks and jams threats. The jammer, in conjunction with the aircraft’s Within its scope when swapping data with the radio electronics, protects the aircraft against DAS’s control unit and the aircraft’s targeting and heat-seeking air-to-air and surface-to-air missiles. navigation suite, the laser optronic jammer handles It may be installed in the fuselage or attached to the following basic tasks: external stations. - acquisition of incoming heat-seeking air-to-air The LOJ consists of the following components: and surface-to-air missiles in its scan zone with the - laser unit based on a multispectral solid- use of target designation data, issuance of their state laser; coordinates, and their prioritisation;
19 5/2016 RADIO ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY KRET: tasks and prospects
- tracking and jamming of the incoming heat- - running integral diagnostics; seeking missiles based on their priority; - exchanging data with the radio electronic sys- - tracking of attacking planes in the preliminary tem of the aircraft; target designation zone and alerting of the crew to - recording fl ight data. their launching missiles; Control and data exchange are compliant with - making sure that the incoming heat-seeking the MIL-STD1553В standard. An integral voice syn- missiles have been jammed by using the light back thesizer is available. scattered from the marked missile. CONCLUSION EXPENDABLE Overall, the President-S defensive aids suite COUNTERMEASURES DISPENSER (ECD) acquires, identifi es and prioritises threats and dis- The countermeasures dispenser is designed to plays the information on the most dangerous of deploy chaff, fl ares and disposable decoys to protect them on the MFD in the cockpit. If there is no such the aircraft against surface-to-air and air-to-air heat MFD, a self-contained indicator and a coordinator seekers and radar homers. may be integrated with the DAS that allows the quick re-programming of the database of the radio ACTIVE TOWED RADAR DECOY (ATRD) electronic equipment. It provides individual protection against radar The DAS controls the countermeasures and the homing missiles incoming head-on or in pursuit by exchange of data with the rotary-wing or fi xed- luring them away from the aircraft. wing aircraft’s avionics in line with the GOST 18977-79 and RTM 1459-75 standards, including CONTROL UNIT (CU) the GOST V 26 765.52-86 (MIL STD 1553 В) standard. It controls all of the President-S’s modules in The President-S consists of units that can be carried accordance with a preset algorithm. both inside the fuselage and on external stations. Its functions are as follows: The DAS can be mounted on both Russian-built - data receiving and processing; and imported planes and helicopters and exported - issuing commands; either as part of the above aircraft or independently.
20 RADIO ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY 5/2016
KRET: tasks and prospects
Top Class of Modern Russian Technologies for Aviation
ALEXANDER POPOV Design Bureau of Industrial Automatics (SC PK-400М fl ight control system for Dan-M air tar- Director General, DBIA) is formed as an experimental design bureau get, SAU-131 fl ight control system for Krylo recon- Design Bureau OKB-4 by the Order of the Ministry of Aircraft Pro- naissance UAV, PK-29М fl ight control system for ofIndustrial Automatics duction of the USSR No. 69 of 24 February 1947. unmanned aircraft based on L-29М, VSUPT-85МVL Until mid 1980s the main specialization of the fl ight control system for Il-114 regional aircraft, experimental design bureau was the development etc., were developed at the enterprise. of navigational automatics, small-sized pressure At the beginning of the 2000s the fi rst domes- devices and angular rate gyroscopes powered by tic fl ight and navigation system for the AU-30 direct current for aviation and cosmonautics. airship implementing the basic principles of fl y- During this period there were developed and by-wire system was developed. transferred to serial production more than 40 During the period from the middle of the types of sensors and devices including elec- 1960s till present time the greatest number of tric direction indicators of EUP-53 type, com- DBIA developments is connected with the heli- pound devices of DA-200 type (climb indicator, copter equipment. roll-and-sideslip indicator), rate-gyro units of The engineering team of the organisation has BDG-6-type, angular rate sensors of DUSA-type developed autopilots and fl ight control systems (DUSB, DUSB-2B), damping devices based on for Mi-14, Mi-24, Mi-26, Mi-28N, Mi-8/17 heli- electromechanical actuators of RAU-107 type copters, for unmanned version of Mi-4 helicop- and etc. The products found use in aircraft ter, etc. weapon systems for Su-7/9/11/15/17/24/25/27, Beginning with Ka-25 all Kamov helicopters MiG-17/19/21/23/25/27/29/31 and intercon- are equipped with automatic control systems tinental ballistic and space missiles. Pressure produced by DBIA. For Ka-50 the fi rst domestic devices were used in the control system for the digital-to-analog PNK-800 helicopter fl ight-and- R-7 (8K71PS) launch vehicle that provided the navigation system was developed. Later on it was fi rst satellite launch on 4 October 1957. used as a base for SAU-800 automatic control In 1966 the experimental design bureau was system development that was designed for Ka-52 renamed as Design Bureau of Industrial Auto- helicopter. SAU-37D system installed on Ka-31 matics (DBIA). Design of automatic fl ight control helicopter provides aircraft controllability and systems, autopilots and navigation systems for stabilization while using a radar antenna rotating combat, transport and civil helicopters, aircraft, during the fl ight. unmanned vehicles, missiles, target-missiles, air- One of the principle steps in the company cushion vehicles, wing-in-surface-effect ships and development was the decision to design and cer- airships became the main activity of the organisa- tifi cate basic PVN-1 fl ight-and-navigation system tion. The AP-122 auto-pilot for La-17 unmanned as a component part. This equipment has been reconnaissance aircraft, SAU-23 automatic fl ight used to create navigation systems for Ka-226T, control system for MiG-23 third-generation Ka-226MS and Mi-171A2. multipurpose fi ghter with variable-swept wing, At present the design bureau has fi nished the PKV-252 fl ight control system for Kа-27 mul- development of SAU-32-226М and PVN-1-04 for tipurpose ship-based helicopter, ASM-21 auto- Ka-226T helicopters, PKV-М24(А) for Mi-24 and matics for MiG-21М drone, NPK-300 fl ight and Mi-28N, PKV-8 for Mi-8/17 helicopters, SUU-А for navigation system for Кorshun tactical strike UAV, Ansat helicopter, etc.
22 RADIO ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY 5/2016 KRET: tasks and prospects
New generation PKV-26DE automatic fl ight tion that allows providing the parity of the Rus- PKV-26DE fl ight system for Mi-26T2 is introduced into series pro- sian Federation in the helicopter industry and control system duction. This system allowed reducing the number restoring its statehood as an advanced aviation of crew members from fi ve persons to three, due power in the fi eld of unmanned aviation for sev- PVN-1-03 to high level of automation. The system ensures eral decades to come. fl ight/navigation system automatic high precision performance of all the helicopter fl ight and navigation features including slingload operations, extreme temperature and humidity missions in arctic and tropical climates. Duplex automatic fl ight control systems for Mi-38, Mi-171A2, and Ka-62 are at the fl ight tests phase. Designed for Mi-171A2 helicopter, the fl ight control system is based on PKV-171А duplex fl ight control system and two navigation com- puters modifi ed from PKV-1-03 fl ight/navigation system. The system provides the possibility for fl ight in at any time of day or night including in degraded conditions. PKV-171А and PVN-1-03 ensure accomplishment of some aerial opera- tions, among other things in hover and specifi c fl ight path modes. Fuel burn rate is reduced due to application of unique methods for navigation calculation and fl ight path planning. In the short term DBIA will introduce a number of essentially new developments for advanced aviation systems of the next genera-
23 5/2016 RADIO ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY KRET: tasks and prospects
Radar for Mi-28NE Family Helicopters
SERGEI SHELUKHIN The Ryazan State Instrument-making Enterprise also have been faced with the requirement to be First Deputy Manufacturing (Russian acronym GRPZ) is a subsidiary of the Con- able to handle all of their missions – attack in the Director / Scientifi c and cern Radio-electronic technologies (KRET) and a fi rst place – in any weather and round the clock. Technical Centre Director, Russian leader in developing and producing up-to- Therefore, the radar has been integrated with their Ryazan State Instrument- date aircraft equipment and avionics. It is taking part fl ight/navigation system in terms of functionality. making Enterprise in the development of an integrated avionics suite The radar consists of the mast-mounted compo- for the T-50 fi fth-generation fi ghter. At present, the nent and the units housed by the helicopter’s fuse- VYACHESLAV company is running the production of the avionics to lage. The mast-mounted radar antenna offers the ANDROSOV equip Generation 4+ and 4++ tactical fi ghters, such rotorcraft an advantage when the latter fl ies nap-of- Chief, design bureau, as the MiG-29, Su-27, Su-30, Su-34 and Su-35, and the-earth. Hunkering down behind hillocks, dunes integrated radio technical the Mi-8/17 utility helicopters as well as Mi-35M, or forest, the crew of the helicopter invisible to the department, Ryazan Mi-28N/NE/UB and Ka-52 combat helicopters. enemy sees ground targets within a wide azimuth State Instrument-making Recently, GRPZ has resolved a complex problem, angle by means of the radar. The latter’s high perfor- Enterprise having developed a millimetric-band radar for the mance expands the helicopter’s operating envelope Russian Defence Ministry’s Mi-28UB helicopter by far. Its crew continuous day/night surface, air and and its export version Mi-28NE. The two machines meteorological situation awareness for use of their
24 RADIO ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY 5/2016 KRET: tasks and prospects
Radar and optical image in a sandstorm weapons in any weather, in dust, smoke and other battlefi eld obscurants hampering television cameras and thermal imagers. The functional software, all of which was Higher resolution image developed by GRPZ’s scientifi c and technical Runway. centre in compliance with the radar’s purpose, View from WSO`s workstation and radar allows the following: image in ground survelliance mode Helicopters - detecting static and mobile targets on land and water and gauge their relative coordinates (range, azimuth and elevation angles) in scan mode and by means of the coordinates fed by the ground Hangar control centre or a target designation helicopter Generator Runway or by entering them manually in fl ight, or from the
fl ight mission prepared in advance; Ground surveillance/moving target selection mode. Approaching moving targets - gauging the direction, in which targets are are red and receding ones are green, while static objects are white. moving relative to the helicopter (approaching or receding); - generating the target designation data for more accurate systems of the helicopter, e.g. the electro- optical fi re control system, and for other helicopters or ground control centres; - detecting and locating dangerous natural phe- nomena, such as thunderstorms, lightnings, rain and high humidity and icing areas and gauging their boundaries and moving bodies within areas like that; - terrain mapping, detection of dangerous natural and cultural features and measuring their height, distance and angular dimensions. The radar’s unique feature is its ability to select moving targets and hazardous obstacles at the same time with generating the image of the ground. The personnel of GRPZ’s scientifi c and technical Acquiring a column of armour and feeding the target designation data to the optical system centre have introduced several original solutions into the radar, namely: - internal beam electromechanical stabilisation loop that prevents the impact of the helicopter’s mechanical oscillations on the radar antenna and allows quality radar imagery of the ground or water below; - airborne computer system, modules of an analogue low-frequency receiver, an analogue-to- digital converter, a graphic processor, a power sup- ply source, and control and signal processor – all housed in a single case. At present, GRPZ is upgrading the radar to The Mi-28NE helicopter’s radar has passed improve its characteristics even further. The all of its tests. GRPZ has produced it under the upgrade will not only give the Mi-28N helicop- contracts for export of the Mi-28NE since 2014. ters competitive edge over their foreign rivals, The Mi-28UB version passed its offi cial trials in but also afford them far enhanced combat capa- December 2015. bilities on most complicated battlefi elds.
25 5/2016 RADIO ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY KRET: tasks and prospects
Modelling of Air Pressure Sensing Probes
MIKHAIL SOROKIN In line with the trends for end-to-end aircraft Wind tunnel tests and experiments to prove the Chief of Theory equipment certifi cation, models, test benches metrological characteristics of the probes take too & Research Department, and other installations have to be developed much time and require considerable material costs. UIMDB JSC , candidate and made and modelling and lab and bench They have been increasingly replaced with math- of engineering sciences, tests at various stages of development have ematical (computer) simulation of the external air- to be conducted. The mathematical modelling fl ow conditions of a mock-up of a separate probe. MARIA DUBININA stage is designed for reducing the volume and The fi nite volume method leads the software Engineer, Theory time of full-scale tests of aircraft hardware, products modelling the fl owing of liquid and & Research Department, including air pressure sensing probes. gas. To ensure acceptable accuracy of the results UIMDB JSC The air data systems (fl ight environment data of the computational modelling of the pressure systems, etc.), which Aeropribor-Voskhod JSC and perception by pitot-static probes, a certain pro- UIMDB JSC develop use raw data in the form of cedure should be adhered to during the prepa- impact and static pressure sensed by air pressure ration of the geometric model, fi nite element sensors. The latter are pitot probes, static pressure mesh and calculation model and during the probes, air static tubes (designed to gauge both analysis of the results. total and static pressure in fl ight) and combined At the calculation stage, it is necessary to set the air data sensors. type of problem to be solved, set medium proper- This article will dwell on one of the stages of ties, specify the boundary conditions and choose designing such instruments. It consists in assess- solution schemes and turbulence model. ing angular and speed characteristics of the pitot Mention should be made that the solution error probe (dependence of the pressure coeffi cient on mainly depends on the choice of a turbulence the upwash/downwash angle and the speed of the model and solution schemes of differential equa- airfl ow respectively) and in assessing the effec- tions. So, these issues will be considered by the tiveness of electric heating. example of the pitot probe. Mathematical modelling is used hereinafter The calculation of the probe’s angular charac- as the basic method of assessment. Therefore, teristic was performed by the OpenFoam program answers are needed on the following question (www.openfoam.com/products/openfoam-plus.php) about the completeness and corresponding of: used for fl uid and gas fl ow simulation. The Open- - description of a real object and conditions Foam code was developed by OpenCFD Limited of its operation by means of mathematical mod- in Great Britain and has been used by many elling; design bureaux and manufacturing plants for - results of the mathematical modelling and more than 15 years. During the simulation, the practical experiments across the whole range simpleFoam solver was used. It is a steady-state of fl ight parameters and the airfl ow around the solution program for the turbulent fl ow of non- probes. newtonian fl uid. To extrapolate the modelling results to all The basic data for mathematical modelling was conditions of the operation of aircraft, one needs fl ow velocity, the angle between the fl ow direction acceptable accuracy of assessing the chosen and pitot probe axis, and air density. A tetrahedral quantitative indices during an integrated con- mesh with prismatic layers at the probe surface sideration of the results of the modelling and was used to calculate the boundary layer. On the experiments. whole, a general parameter y+ did not exceed 1,
26 RADIO ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY 5/2016 KRET: tasks and prospects
which indicates that the processes in the boundary Pitot probe layer were described correctly. For the purpose of comparison, SpalartAllmaras, kOmegaSST, LienCubicKE, NonlinearKE, realizableKE and RNGkEpsilon were chosen from numerous famous turbulence models. They precisely describe the external airfl ow of various objects. The simulation results were compared with the experimental data. To select a turbulence model fi t for modelling the pitot probe, the maximum value of the relative error was measured for ranges of incident fl ow rake angles. Here are the best turbulence models for Pitot Air pressure probe probes (speed ~74 m/s) at angles: 0° – RNGkEpsilon; up to 10° – kOmegaSST; up to 20° – kOmegaSST; up to 30° – kOmegaSST; up to 40° – kOmegaSST; up to 50° – kOmegaSST; up to 60° – realizableKE. The results produced indicate that the most versatile model is kOmegaSST, because its use in the modelling as part of the OpenFoam software package ensures the best convergence of the cal- Air data parameters sensor culation and experimental data for all incident airfl ow rake angles. Other turbulence models sometimes produce results with a lower error, but such instances defy systematization and cannot be predicted in advance. Proceeding from the above, further calcula- tions should better use the kOmegaSST turbulence model as most suitable for modelling similar probes, because it combines the strengths of the k-ω model in describing wall layers and of the k-ε model in describing the airfl ow far away from the walls. To choose the most accurate and suffi cient scheme of the numerical calculation of equations and minimising the mathematical modelling error, about 30 variants of calculation schemes were considered. They differed in the sequence of using the fi rst-order (linear approximation) and second- order (quadratic approximation), discretization and interpolation (Gauss method or least square accuracy – resource cost ratio should be tackled method) methods, which infl uenced the accuracy depending on the objective of the modelling. and stability of the calculation solution. The next problem subject to resolution as part The mathematical modelling’s error can be of the designing of pitot probes is ice protection. reduced by increasing the resources costs (com- Ice accumulating on the sensing part of the probe putational resource costs in the fi rst place) expo- alters the streamline body of the probe and alters nentially. Therefore, the issue of the solution the pattern of the distribution of pressure on its
27 5/2016 RADIO ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY KRET: tasks and prospects
Dependence of relative simulation error δU on the angle the best one for heating. Based on the outcome of U, % U, δ the research, a fi nal design of the electrical heater is selected. See below the results of the modelling of the heat exchange in a mock-up, produced by means of the CAE Ansys engineering analysis system. The mock-up’s electrical heating is by means of two heating elements – one in the mock-up’s sensing part and the other in the front part of the mock-up’s rack. The probe comprising areas with different thermal properties is set into the air- fl ow. The heat generated by the heating elements
Alfa, ° propagates throughout the probe and is carried SpalartAllmaras kOmegaSST LienCubikKE NonlinearKE realizblelKE RNGkEpsilon away from its surface by the airfl ow and radiated
Dependence of velocity on incident mainstream angle into space. Heat transfer is the basic means of heat exchange during the heat’s propagation via
U, m/s U, the probe. Convective heat transfer in the hollow parts of the probe, should there be any, and radia- tive heat exchange are negligible inside the probe. Heat transfer in the probe is via all of its parts, including their air cavities and heating elements. Heat propagation via the medium is described in quantitative terms by only one parameter – ther- mal conductivity in medium λ. The parameter may be a constant or a temperature function. During the calculation, the heat conductivity of all materi- Alfa, ° Stream Test Variant 1 Variant 2 Variant 3 als used in the probe, including the air, and, gener- ally, the material the heating element is made of. Dependence of relative simulation error on main stream angle The heating element is dual-hatted as far as heat exchange in the probe is concerned. Firstly, it is a source of heat and, secondly, it is heat- conducting structural element. If the heating element is considered as a heat source, heat
relative simulation error, % simulation error, relative emission is determined as a function of the heat emission capacity dependence on temperature. When the heating element is considered as heat-conducting element, its heat-conductive properties are specifi ed just like the properties of the rest of materials are. Alfa, ° Variant 1 Variant 2 Variant 3 Surface heat exchange depends on convective heat transfer and heat radiation. The former plays the main part in surface heat exchange. outer surface, which leads to errors in measuring The modelling was conducted in under the ‘dry’ an aircraft’s altitude and speed parameters. air conditions. See below the temperature distri- Electrical heating is provided for preventing bution on the surface of the probe mock-up at an the icing of the pitot probe’s surface. Its effective- incident airfl ow temperature of -17°C and with ness heavily depends on the correct design of the emergency voltage. heater. In real life, a rather large number of pitot Thermocouples were attached to the surface of probe mock-ups have to be considered to select the pitot probe casing for the thermal tests at TsAGI.
28 RADIO ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY 5/2016 KRET: tasks and prospects
Temperature distribution over the pitot probe mock-up surface at a ‘dry’ airfl ow temperature of -17°С and a velocity of 77 m/s, layout of the thermocouples
The results of the mathematical modelling of the pitot probe mock-up with the 150 km/h Comparison of experimental data and ‘dry’ airfl ow pitot probe mock-up heating modelling data incident ‘dry’ airfl ow and -10°C temperature allow the following conclusions: Thermocouple Experiment Modelling numbers temperature, °C temperature, °C - dissipation power (an integral character- 1 63.3 80.6 istic) in the mathematical modelling results 2 64.9 83.0 (235 W) almost coincides with the experimental 3 49.3 57.9 data (232 W); 4 46.0 72.1 - temperature (local characteristic) in the 5 47.6 68.0 mathematical modelling are higher by an aver- 6 42.3 70.2 age of 20°C, which indicates a systematic error 7 33.8 64.2 of the mathematical modelling and stems from the inaccurate description of the thermal con- ence on the heating element’s resistance are not tact inside the mock-up (the selected value of taken into account. the contact’s thermal resistance is lower than Thus, substantiated mathematical modelling the actual value). schemes allow producing satisfactory results that At the moment, research is in progress into replace experimental results in a reliable manner. reducing the modelling’s systematic error. The The mathematical modelling methods should take research consists in the following: into account the peculiarities of the numerical - calculation of actual thermal resistance of the methods and parameter ranges used (the incident contact surfaces of the mock-up’s parts; airfl ow speed and incident airfl ow rake angle in - specifying of the probe mock-up’s heating ele- the fi rst place), in which the results differ from the ment model more accurately; experimental data by less than 0.5%. - specifying of the values of the sprayed mate- It should be noted that the regulatory framework for rial’s heat conductivity more accurately; aircraft and airborne instrument development should - the heating element’s deformation in the include separate standards for such air pressure sens- process of heating and the deformation’s infl u- ing equipment like this, similar to SAEAS8006.
29 5/2016 RADIO ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY defence industry and Russian Armed Forces
RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN AT A MEETING WITH THE KALASHNIKOV CORPORATION’S PERSONNEL SAID DEFENCE CONTRACTORS SHOULD RAMP UP THE OUTPUT OF COMPETITIVE COMMERCIAL GOODS According to him, the products of Russian arms manufacturers will be relevant even after the governmental armament acquisition programme is fulfi lled. The diversifi cation of defence contractors’ industrial production is to be dis- cussed by the State Duma, Vladimir Gutenev, a deputy of the State Duma of the 7th convocation, said. Gutenev has been nominated for chairmanship of the De- fence Industry Legal Support Committee. The primary objective is for the defence industry development committee to work out a mechanism of implementing the president’s defence industry diversifi cation instructions. An increase in commercial good output should be looked into, Gutenev said, and its share should be driven to 50% of the overall output. “Here, the technical and technological potentials, human capital quality and advances of fundamental and applied science intersect. Morphing the three important tasks together will enable Russian weaponry to retain its competitive edge and will involve the defence industry in increasing the competitiveness of commercial products,” he summed up.
Novosti news agency, 2 October 2016
RUSSIA DEEMS IT IMPOSSIBLE TO DISPOSE OF PLUTONIUM UNILATERALLY In April, Russian President Vladimir Putin underlined that the United States had not met its commitments for arms-grade plutonium disposal and for build- ing a special facility for this purpose, while Russia had fulfilled its obligation. He also stressed that Washington had said it intended to destroy the spent nuclear fuel using not the method the two countries agreed upon, but a differ- ent one allowing it to retain the so-called bring-back potential. In other words, it may be recovered, reprocessed and turned into weapons-grade plutonium again. At the time, Vladimir Putin called upon the US to think how Russia would respond. “Due to a radical change in the circumstances, the threat to strategic sta- bility due to unfriendly actions of the United States of America against the Russian Federation and the inability of the United States of America to meet its obligations on disposing of surplus weapons-grade plutonium under inter- national treaties, and proceeding from the need for urgent measures to protect the security of the Russian Federation,” the president of the Russian Federation resolved “the suspension of the agreement between the government of the Russian Federation and the government of the United States of America on the disposal of the plutonium recognised as plutonium unnecessary for defence purposes any longer, its circulation and cooperation in this sphere.” The decree emphasises that it means the plutonium that is not “used in making nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices, or in research, de- velopment, design or tests pertaining to such devices or fir any other military purposes.”
TASS, 2 October 2016
30 RADIO ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY 5/2016 defence industry and Russian Armed Forces
RUSSIA NOT ABOUT TO THROW IN TOWEL Kurchatov Institute President Mikhail Kovalchuk in an interview with TASS denied the popular opinion that Russian science, technology and industry were backward. He mentioned just a few cutting-edge achievements, but what achievements they are! All present-day particle accelerators, including CERN’s Large Hadron Collider, uses the colliding beams operating principle devised by Russian scientists. Its numerous parts and a panoply of magnets were made by Russian research institutes. Two out of the four detectors (each as big as a fi ve-storey building) installed at the particles collision point in the 27-km-long ring of the LHC, in which heavy particles are accelerated to huge energies, consist of 100 tonnes of lead tungstate monocrystals – components invented, grown and assembled by Russian scientists. The PIK high neutron fl ux research reactor, which is among the most powerful ones in the world, is being prepared for power start-up at the Kurchatov Institute’s facility in Gatchina. The Kurchatov Institute has launched development of the drastically advanced Ignitor tokamak in cooperation with the Rosatom corporation and Italian partners. Russia is starting the promotion of the fourth generation of synchrotrons that do not exist yet. These sources of energy will become a true alternative instead of the so-called alternative energy sources – solar and wind ones and electric cars allegedly pro- tecting environment. If all existing cars and trucks are converted to electric propulsion, the power generating capacity will have to be doubled at the least, which is impossible in both technical and fi nancial terms, because the Earth will be suffocated by acid rain. Russia’s technological contribution is considerable, and Russian scientists have played a substantial part in initiating virtu- ally all major research programmes in Europe.
TASS, 3 October 2016
ADVANCED RUSSIAN ECM SYSTEM RYCHAG-AVM STARTS OFFICIAL TESTS An advanced electronic warfare (EW) helicopter equipped with the Rychag-AVM active electronic countermeasures (ECM) sys- tem has commenced its offi cial trials, Vladimir Mikheyev, assistant to the fi rst deputy director general of Radio Electronic Technolo- gies Corp. (a subsidiary of Rostec Corp.), told TASS. He noted the testing methods were very complex because many of the helicopter’s characteristics were simply unique. The bulk of the tests is expected to be passed by year-end 2016. The new airborne jammer will be several times more effective than the preceding variant. “The waveband of the new jammer covers not only fi re control systems, but numerous command, control, communications (C3), navigation, radar, data link and posi- tioning systems as well,” the Radio Electronic Technologies representative explained. The new version can jam more electronic systems simultaneously, detect a greater number of targets and jam them at a longer range in a more effective and quality manner. The system is mounted on the Mil Mi-8AMTSh (NATO reporting name: Hip) helicopter. KRET says the Rychag-AVM can ‘blind’ the enemy in an area with the radius of several hundred kilometres and handle several targets at a time.
TASS, 21 September 2016
31 5/2016 RADIO ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY defence industry and Russian Armed Forces
MARKET PROSPECTS OF IL-112V TRANSPORT PLANE Sergei Lyashenko, chief designer of the Ilyushin Il-112V light airlifter, believes the aircraft has good market prospects. He added the prelimi- nary tests would be on the first flying prototype due to the right sched- ule. The complete static and endurance trials will involve the second aircraft to enable the first one to log 2,500 flight hours on test sorties. The transport plane’s documentation has been devised and handed over to the manufacturer – VASO – in Voronezh in 2016. The first flying prototype will conduct its maiden flight in mid-2017. The Il-112V is designed for the whole range of special aircraft mis- sions flown from small poorly equipped ground and paved airfields. In addition, they can airdrop light weapons and vehicles and personnel. There had been 1,150 examples of the Il-112V’s predecessor, the Antonov An-26, built by 1986. Over 600 of them have been operated worldwide to date and are subject to replacement. The Il-112V’s characteristics are as follows: powerplant – two TV7-117ST engines with a maximum power of 3,500 hp each, aircraft length – 24.15 m, height – 8.89 m, wingspan – 27.6 m, fuselage di- ameter – 3.29 m, range with 3.5-tonne payload – 2,400 km, cruising speed – 450–500 km/h, service ceiling – 7,600 m, maximum takeoff weight – 21 t and maximum payload – 5 t.
UAC’s corporate magazine Horizons, 16 September 2016
PHYSICISTS GAUGE AIRCRAFT ENGINE WEAR AND TEAR BY A DROP OF OIL Scientists with the Research Institute of Applied Physics (NIIPF) in the Siberian city of Irkutsk are preparing two scintillation oil analysers to Perm-based Aviadvigatel, the developer of the engine to power the MC-21 airliner, and to Rybinsk-based Saturn that developed the engine equipping the Sukhoi Superjet 100 passenger plane. The analysers allow gauging the state of an engine with the 90% reliability in 20 minutes, using 2 ml of drained oil, down to a particular engine unit. “We say there is a defect in the engine, indicate the unit susceptible to wear and tear and sometimes guess the residual service life, i.e. the time it can stick it out despite the defect,” NIIPF leading researcher / senior lecturer Victor Drokov says. According to him, the device is fi ve to seven years ahead of all research programmes in this fi eld in the world. The analyser allows doing without having to dismount an engine for a complete examination every time the chip warning light starts blinking or a certain number of fl ight hours has been logged. Traditional oil diagnostics systems using the hardware dating back a quarter of a century are inaccurate and their diagnostics reliability is about 5%. The physicists counted money and said a single erroneous and premature dismounting of an engine costs in the neighbourhood of 20 million rubles ($321,000). The designers also have laid the groundwork of the technologies for the nuclear power in- dustry, diesel locomotives, ship-borne diesels, ground vehicle diagnostics and mineral deposit assessment.
Life.ru, 13 September 2016
32 RADIO ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY 5/2016 defence industry and Russian Armed Forces
ARMOURED VEHICLES PROTECTED BY ELECTRO-OPTICAL PROTECTION SYSTEM IS INVISIBLE TO MISSILE GUIDANCE SYSTEMS The Electromashina company has developed and tested a unique electro-optical countermeasures system dubbed SPZ (Russian acronym for ‘smokescreen system’). On today’s fl uid battlefi eld, it will spot laser beams aimed at the advanced Armata, Kurganets and Boomerang combat vehicles or incoming missiles and discharge special smoke gre- nades that will generate a smokescreen impenetrable to enemy precision-guided weapons in the infrared, ultraviolet and optical regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. A vehicle can be equipped with several independent SPZ blocks. The tests of the advanced systems on combat vehicles are slated for next year. The SPZ system is a set of unique smoke grenades on a traversing platform and a set of sensors spotting the laser illumination and missiles incoming from various directions. The data provided by the sensors is analysed by the computer system, and then the optimal trajectories are calculated for smoke grenades so that the smoke- screen is deployed on several sides of the vehicle without getting in the crew’s way. The SPZ can be used against the unique US-made Javelin homing antitank guided missile wearing the aura of invincibility – the world’s only missile homing on the target’s outline and infrared signature.
Izvestia daily, 19 September 2016
AIRCRAFT MAKER OF YEAR 2015 COMPETITION AT CUTTING EDGE OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT 29 September 2016 saw the awards ceremony for the prize winners of the Air- craft Maker of Year 2015 competition held by the Union of Aviation Industrialists of Russia to promote systems of public incentives for aircraft industry personnel who produced outstanding results in scientifi c, production and social spheres of aircraft-making. The awards ceremony was held in the International Trade Centre. 102 works had been submitted for the competition. The winners in the following nominations are: Best Innovation Project – the Irkut Corp.’s Irkutsk Aviation Plant and Ir- kutsk National Research Technical University for the work titled development and Introduction of a Set of highly Effective technologies for the Design, Design/Technological Preparation and Manufacture of the MC-21 Aircraft (in the picture: Oleg Demchenko, President, Irkut Corp., with the award); Training a new generation of aircraft industry personnel – the Affi liate of the Sukhoi Company, Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Plant named after Yuri Gagarin; Advanced Technology Development – AeroComposit JSC for the work titled Development of the Composite Wing for the MC-21 Advanced Pas- senger Aircraft by Means of Vacuum Infusion; Development of Aircraft Systems and Assemblies – Zvezda JSC named after Academician G.I. Severin for the work titled Development of the Fifth- Generation Aircraft Ejection Seat; Development of Aircraft and Aircraft Components (Design Bureau of the Year) – the Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant for the certifi cation of the Mi-38 helicopter; Contribution to the Development of Aviation and Aircraft Industry Stand- ards – Standardisation, Certifi cation and Quality Control Committee of the Union of Aviation Industrialists of Russia for the work titled Devising the 2016–20 Aircraft Industry Standardisation Programme.
Union of Aviation Industrialists of Russia, 30 September 2016
33 5/2016 RADIO ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY food for thought
Expedition to Mars as Mankind’s Dream Developing powerful electrojet engine – past and present of Sergei Korolyov’s programme
YURI KUBAREV Long before the fi rst manned fl ight around OUR TARGET: DEVELOPMENT Vice-President, Prokhorov the Earth, which 55th anniversary was marked OF MEGAWATT-CLASS ELECTROJET ENGINE Academy of Engineering in Russia last spring, Sergei Korolyov had The development of a megawatt electrojet Sciences, Ph.D. (Sc.), started devising the programme of a manned engine is quite feasible today. Scientists have a professor, USSR State expedition to Mars. The great designer was great groundwork laid during the Soviet times. Prize winner, honored intent on using a powerful liquid-propellant Soviet engines were all the rage in the world scientist of the Russian rocket motor unless a solar- or nuclear-pow- in the 1960s through ‘80s. By then, the Soviet Federation, member ered electrojet engine could be developed by Union had developed and tested the thruster of the International the date the expedition was set to launch on – with the anode layer (TAL, A.V. Zharinov, Institute Association of Scientifi c 8 June 1971. of Atomic Energy, 1958–70), and its derivative – Discoverers, professor The Martian programme has gotten back into the stationary plasma thruster (SPT, A.I. Morozov, emeritus of Shanghai the foreground early in the new millennium. Institute of Atomic Energy, 1965–71) as well as Aerospace Academy Even a feasibility study got under way and con- the magnetoplasmodynamic (MPD) thruster pro- cept defi nition was kicked off. The concept of posed and tested by this author in the Moscow the fi rst transport/energy module, or the tug, Institute of Physics and Technology (MFTI) in was to be defi ned by 2018, of which a statement 1958–59. was made during the 34th Academic Scientifi c A group of scientists, including the above- Conference on Cosmonautics. mentioned ones, who were laying the physical The preliminary design of the space trans- groundwork of the current plasma accelerators port module – an interorbital tug equipped (i.e. electrojet engines), was awarded the USSR with a nuclear powerplant including an elec- State Prize in 1991. trojet engine. The Dollezhal Power Engineering This author developed and used several Research and Development Institute (Russian design versions of the MPD thruster, burning acronym – NIKIET) is in charge of developing various gases, in the Keldysh Centre in 1960–67 the nuclear powerplant, Keldysh Research Cen- and then in the MIREA Moscow Technical Uni- tre (former NIITP – Thermal Processes Research versity and Moscow State Instrumentation and Institute) for the electrojet engine based on Informatics University. In conjunction with per- nuclear technologies, while the Energia Corpo- sonnel of Energia Corporation and other organi- ration named after Sergei Korolyov was to inte- sation, he conducted comprehensive research grate the solutions. into physical processes in the laboratory condi- To implement the programme, the Keldysh tions and then the research mover up into outer Centre has opted for the ion engine design fi rst space, where it was performed in cooperation developed and used by Harold Kaufman in the with the Experimental Meteorology Institute United States in 1958–59, and Roscosmos Corp. and Applied Physics Institute of the State Com- has approved its choice. However, the design mittee of Hydrometeorology. makes no provision for a megawatt-class elec- In 1977–79, using the single-stage MPD trojet engine as its core. thruster, we conducted full-scale experiments
34 RADIO ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY 5/2016 food for thought
of the Kust series, using a stably-operating 5kW MPD thruster at the Kapustin Yar missile range in the Astrakhan Region and on Franz Josef Land. In 1987, there was a series of experiments near the Brazilian Magnetic Anomaly and in the equatorial area of the Atlantic between West Africa and South America. During the experi- ments, MPD thrusters with a power of up to 10kW operated in frequency and high-frequency modes. Those were the fi rst and only space experiments to date, which proved the very fea- sibility of using the electrojet engine, which we are developing, to discover new physical phe- nomena and regularities. Of special interest were the results produced by the experiments using MPD thruster and ver- sions, instruments and devices, for which inven- tor’s patents were taken out. Most of them are based on the new plasma physics law discov- ered by this author’s: “Regularity of the emer- gence of electrostatic instability of plasma mov- ing in irregular electric and magnetic fi elds.” The discovery’s priority – 2 October 1962 in terms of the discovery of the penetration of the external electric fi eld of an electrostatic probe at a dis- tance exceeding the Debye shielding radius, and 4 December 1963 in terms of discovering the testing electrojet engine models, including MPD Top: vacuum chamber emergence of regular electrostatic oscillations thrusters. We have produced good results prov- tests of an MPD engine creating an immobile wave in a jet of plasma ing our experimental and theoretical research with a power of less than emanating from an engine’s nozzle like a jet of and the validity of our MPD thruster develop- 1 kW and nitrogen as neutral gas. ment methods, selection of its optimal operat- working medium. The phenomena discovered and the results of ing and control modes and improvement in Bottom: tests of the the MPD thruster experiments near the Brazil- plasma’s fl ow from the engine. VASIMR-24 with a power ian Magnetic Anomaly afford an explanation of For comparison purposes, the US Variable Spe- of more than 10 kW and the cause of the loss of Russian interplanetary cifi c Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR) has argon as working medium probe Phobos-Ground in 2012 and Japanese a jet expansion angle is close enough to 90 deg. space-based X-ray telescope Hitomi (ASTRO-H) Our MPD thruster has that of only 5–7 deg. in February 2016. The sustainers of the space- The experiments proved other advantages of craft were turned off by the plasma created on the MPD thruster over the US and German elec- their surface by the Sun, environment or the trojet engine models. Our engine is the only one work of the MPD thrusters, as was the case with for now, in which the specifi c impulse and thrust the Kust and Start experiments. The failure of vector can be controlled and the plasma jet can the electronics should be taken into account be rotated and dissipated using various meth- when developing the manned interplanetary ods. At the next stage, we would like to continue spacecraft and powerful electrojet engines. the research into, development and testing In recent years, the work on MPD thrusters of a two-stage MPD thruster with a power of has been supported by the Chemical Automat- ~100kW. ics Design Bureau (KBKhA) in Voronezh, which Overall, the development of the MPD thruster is made a test rig with a high-vacuum chamber for closely linked with resolving three basic problems.
35 5/2016 RADIO ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY food for thought
engines that need at least seven various power supply sources, including several high-voltage converters. Today, we are facing a relatively simple task to perform. Building on the experience gained by us and other organisations, we should make a model of the 100kW MPD engine and its control system and test them in outer space. This will not hurt the work on developing lower-power engines and plasma neutralisers that can be tested aboard the ISS and various spacecraft. We have laid a good experimental ground- work. We conduct research at the confl uence of several disciplines – physics and plasma diagnostics, electronics and control systems, radio physics, vacuum and cryogenic hardware and technology, materials science, etc. In these fi elds, we have prepared the optimal solutions for the MPD thruster. There is one thing left to do, the one nobody has dealt with yet – to Thrust vector control The first one is the development of a extend the service life of the engine, the cath- of the MPD engine 0.1–1 kW or more spacecraft plasma neutrali- ode pack mostly. The cathode pack participates sation system to alter the environment around in emitting the electrons igniting the discharge. the spacecraft and remove the electrostatic The more powerful the engine, the higher the charge from it. The plasma neutralisation sys- stream of electrons ionising the gas should be. tem, like the electrojet engine, provides the The cathode’s surface emits the electrons, and alteration of the plasma jet and its charge’s the ions come towards the cathode, heating and magnitude and permutation. The MPD degrading it. thruster allows the generation of plasma with There are several solutions to the problem. a positive or negative excess, in which the The fi rst one is to use the known and future concentrations of positively and negatively materials to develop a cathode pack design, in charged particles are equal. This is a sine qua which the stream of ions coming to it would non for the operation of any electrojet engine have low energy and not destroy it. onboard a spacecraft, which has been proven The second solution that we have tested is by full-scale tests. the pulsed and frequency operating modes of The second problem is that the MPD thruster the engine. The thing is the disintegration of can be used as an engine with a power of ~10kW the cathode pack is mostly due to the electric or more in the crew escape capsule or cosmo- arc between the cathode and anode (nozzle) naut scooter for moving around the spacecraft, similar to the one in arc welding. The electric arc e.g. the International Space Station (ISS). Such a heats and disintegrates the cathode pack. This device will come in handy for assembling struc- may be avoided, which was proven by bench tures of interplanetary spacecraft and research tests and full-scale fl ight tests under the Start stations in near-Earth orbit. programme. The engine’s operation was made Finally, the third problem is the use of the pulsed. Under laboratory conditions, the MPD MPD thruster in developing a megawatt-class thruster operated successfully at frequencies of electrojet engine to power an interplanetary ~400Hz and ~10kHz, with nitrogen and argon transport system. The number of MPD engines used as propellant. the latter will require is fewer by two orders The third solution is that high-frequency of magnitude than that of the proposed ion and super-high-frequency discharges are used
36 RADIO ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY 5/2016 food for thought
instead of the ‘heating cathode’. The engine ated along the engine’s axis and ejects them out should be two-stage. In the fi rst stage, the cath- of the nozzles. The cathode pack on the mag- ode pack can be replaced with high-frequency netic system behind the engine makes up of the or super-high-frequency discharges, in which ions’ charge with the electrons, and low-density a stream of low-power plasma is generated. In plasma is generated. the second stage, the basic process of ionizing Russian scientists are trying to make the the working medium – gas – takes place, but German dream of the electrojet engine come the stream of ions no longer hits the walls of true as well. In 2010, Horst Wolfgang Loeb, the engine, but slides along them. A specially professor with Giessen University, won the Rus- arranged magnetic fi eld limits the particles’ col- sian Education and Science Ministry’s Grant lision with the engine walls and anode pack. As No. 11.G34.21.0022 worth 150 million rubles far back as 1983, we at MIREA made and started for two years. Professor Loeb did not come to laboratory examples of such engines, tested the this country empty-handed; rather, he brought concepts, received the inventor’s certifi cates and his Radio-Frequency Ion Thrusters (RIT) dubbed published the preliminary results produced by high-frequency ion engine (HFIE). Proceeding the research. from the principle of similarity, the optimal Solutions to extending the MPD engine’s ser- frequency, gas pressure and costs of manufac- vice life have been found, and it is really feasible turing a series of engine varying in types and to develop a megawatt-class electrojet engine dimensions from RIT-2.5 (diameter of its ion- featuring thrust vector control and specifi c optical system – 2.5 cm) to RIT-22 (22 cm) were impulse and burning a cheap propellant – nitro- calculated and the corresponding values were gen and argon. produced for the HFIE-45. Mind you, a similar engine was being developed and tested by the FIVE PROBLEMS Kurchatov Institute and All-Union Electrome- WITH DEVELOPING ION ENGINE chanics Research Institute (VNIIEM) as far back Trade journals have run articles on the fi nanc- as the ‘70s, and the research was discontinued. ing of a Russian nuclear electrojet powerplant In 2012, Prof. Horst Loeb got another two-year programme designed for 2010–18, with the grant. Saying good-bye to hospitable and gen- fi nancing standing at 17 billion rubles. The idea erous Russia in 2014, the German professor was to use ion engines as well as SPT and TAL thanked his Russian colleagues and spoke of his that the Keldysh center has recently been call- plans for the future: “When I came to Russia four ing Hall engines. They are ion-type engines too, years ago, I could not imagine what laid in store requiring the electric compensation of their ion for me. Having met my future colleagues at the jets with electrons. Their operating principle, airport, I realised that I had become a member too, is related to the Hall effect discovered by of a big and united team. I am very proud that Edwin H. Hall in 1879. The effect boils down to I have received the award. Now, I have to leave a special kind of electric current emerging in the Moscow and come home. It was a pleasure to electric and magnetic fi elds that perpendicular work with young scientists of Moscow Aviation to each other. Institute.” In the TAL and SPT like in the MPD thruster, And where is the electrojet engine? Still a solenoid generates an axisymmetric magnetic nowhere to be seen. fi eld, there is an internal anode and an external Now, ion engines with the ion-optical systems cathode situated behind the magnetic system. up to 35 cm in diameter have been developed There appears an electric fi eld between them, and tested well enough abroad, mostly in the to which xenon is fed. The electric fi eld removes United States. There are just a handful of larger electrons from the neutral atoms, turning the ion engines at the laboratory model stage of latter into positively charged ions and thus development. creating low-density plasma. The hall current In a megawatt-class powerplant, each of the accelerates the ions in the magnetic fi eld situ- ion engines has to have a working diameter of
37 5/2016 RADIO ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY food for thought
tions from time to time due to the work of their electrojet engines of various types. Probably, the powerplant designers and supplier believe the problem is far-fetched and is not worth dealing with. This is far from being the fact, however. Experiments have proved that the ion engine is a source of strong radiation in the frequency range up to 70 GHz. The known research by Russian scientists has proven that with the ion engine on, the spacecraft can maintain stable radio communications are possible at a distance of 5 million kilometres. For comparison pur- poses, the minimal distance between the Earth and Mars is about 56 million kilometres. Ion and Hall-effect engines will not allow the development of a megawatt-class nuclear electrojet powerplant either despite their good characteristics. Thus, it is impossible for Russia Basic diagram of MPD at least 70 cm and each of its grids spaced less to develop a megawatt-class electrojet engine accelerator: 1 – cathode, than 0.1 cm away from each other has to have with the use of low-power ion and Hall-effect 2 – anode, 3 – case, about 36,500 holes. Ion-optical system grids engines. For this reason, alternative designs 4 – solenoid, 5 – insulator are convex and their holes have to be aligned should be pursued, building on the MPD thruster strictly along their axis. The development of and its versions. an ion-optical system with a grid diameter of 1,000 mm for a high-power engine, which SYMBOLS AND MEANINGS Prof. Loeb promoted, is a technological problem, In 2009, a message was published on the web- which solution is next to impossible, according site of the Electric Propulsion and Plasma Dynam- to expert opinion. ics Lab of Princeton University. The message read The second problem is that the powerplant has that a 7 kW ion engine managed in outer space to to comprise 300–500 modules, each of which increase the velocity of the 370-kg Deep Space 1 supplied by seven DC sources, including high- spacecraft by 4.3 km/s, having used for this purpose voltage converters. Hence, the auxiliary equip- 74 kg of xenon that is a rarest gas on the Earth ment of the power supply system and engine and throughout the rest of the Solar system. For control system will reduce the reliability of the comparison, whole nitrogen makes up 78.081% whole powerplant while increasing its weight. of the volume of the dry air and argon 0.932%, The third problem is the use of the very xenon account for 8.7x10−6%, i.e. it constitutes a rare and extremely expensive xenon as work- 0.087±0.001-millionth part (μL/L) of the Earth’s ing medium. One manned fl ight, let alone the atmosphere. With 1 g of xenon going at about ground tests of the engines, would require sev- $1.54, the 4.3-km/s acceleration has cost the US eral times more of it than is produced at present taxpayer in the neighbourhood of $113,000. The all over the world. mission to Mars will take around 150–300 tonnes The fourth problem is the neutralisation of of xenon. At the most conservative estimate, the the static charge on a large spacecraft equipped working medium alone would cost $231 million by a nuclear electrojet powerplant. to $462 million, let alone the cost of the tanks to Finally, almost all known works on the ion store xenon on the Earth and aboard the space- engine have overlooked the problem of the craft. Maybe, this is a reason for the US scientists’ electromagnetic compatibility of spacecraft disinclination to use xenon as propellant for the engines. When spacecraft were operated in ion engine to burn. Nonetheless, the test has been orbit, there were radio communication disrup- positioned as a feat of US science.
38 RADIO ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY 5/2016 food for thought
Russia has achievements of its own too. In to share advanced technologies and research 1972, the altitude of the Meteor spacecraft’s projects with us, he or she would be unable to orbit was increased by 17 km with the use of a do so in an open and legitimate way due to the SPT-based thruster. In the early ‘80s, the Fakel legal restrictions on their circulations beyond design bureau in Kaliningrad launched pro- the United States and European Union. duction of SPTs with a power of several kilo- At the same time, the United States carries watts. The decades-long experience in devel- on buying Russian rocket engines for its Atlas V oping various electric propulsion systems and launch vehicles inserting military satellites in subsystems resulted in a series of SPTs that orbit, and NASA astronauts keep on going to the have been successfully used for correcting the ISS aboard Russian spacecraft. Russia’s space orbits of Meteor, Cosmos, Luch, Gals, Express industry is a symbol of our scientifi c, techno- and other spacecraft. In 2002, personnel of logical and industrial advances, which is recog- several Russian organisations won the Rus- nised by the whole world. It is a brand name sian Federation State Prize for the develop- that sells well, after all. The very fact of its high ment of electrojet engines and their operation commercial value is indicative of Russia being aboard spacecraft. on par with the United States in terms of space What can the Americans and Germans teach exploration. us? Should we hire them as our teachers? The Russian cosmonautics can and should generate thing is there have been attempts at paling off ideas of its own and have its own way to the stars. on us the recognised ineffectual scientifi c and Preserving our independence in terms of space technical designs ditched or being ditched by access, rather than aping Western approaches, economically developed countries, and the and the progress of the space industry are what economic sanctions slapped on Russia by the makes up the modernisation of economy. This is West have revealed the latter’s true attitude the gist of the 2009 presidential programme on to this country and the lack of reliability of the the modernisation and technological develop- so-called partnership with it in all fi elds of sci- ment of the nation’s economy. This is how we Expedition to Mars ence and technology. Even if somebody wanted must see and implement it. as mankind’s dream
39 5/2016 RADIO ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY development priorities
Prospects of 3D Radars Development
IGOR SADOVSKY INTRODUCTION ing the coordinates, including altitude. Their Director, KB Radar JSC – Establishing the continuous radar coverage mean-root-square error in gauging angles of Managing Company of of national airspace is important for military elevation were 0.05–0.08°, which equals an Radar Systems Holding security and air safety. For this reason, the altitude measuring mean-root-square error of Company development of advanced, highly effective 180–280 m at the target’s range of 200 km. surveillance radars for both peaceful and mili- With their undeniable advantage in gaug- SERGEI NENUZHNY tary applications is rather relevant. ing altitude of targets, 3D radar system had Deputy Director, a number of drawbacks as well – low mobil- KB Radar JSC – Managing OUTLINE OF SURVEILLANCE ity due to comprising several pieces of radar Company of Radar RADAR EVOLUTION equipment and low throughout, because the Systems Holding Company, As combat aircraft and air-launched weap- mobile altitude-finding radar’s beam had to M.Sc., assistant professor ons evolved and were used ever more often in be moved mechanically to the azimuth angle the armed conflicts of the 20th century, their assigned. YURI SAMUL timely acquisition for the effective repulsing As the integral target acquisition capa- Lead Engineer, of air attacks has become especially impor- bilities of fighter aircraft and air defence (AD) KB Radar JSC – Managing tant. Early surveillance radars were two- missile systems improved, the guidance and Company of Radar dimensional and good enough in detecting target designation accuracy requirements Systems Holding Company enemy aircraft at a range long enough for were becoming less stringent. As a rule, the scrambling interceptors and antiaircraft artil- size of the additional scanning sectors of lery in a timely manner. active AD assets started equalling several With the progress made by fighter aircraft degrees in azimuth and elevation. This made it and then antiaircraft artillery (AAA) and sur- feasible for cumbersome 3D radar systems to face-to-air missile (SAM) systems, the control be replaced with relatively compact 3D radars, of interceptors and target designation for AA which characteristics can be seen in Table 1. guns and SAM systems were added to the above task of radars. It became impossible for CURRENT LINES OF DEVELOPMENT radars to do with two dimensions only, because OF 3D RADARS the additional scanning sector remained too Another revision of the airspace surveil- large in such a case, requiring too much time lance system and, hence, radar and radar to be scanned. At the same time, due to the system design principles is under way due to limited integral surveillance capabilities of another leap in the evolution of combat air- fighter jets, AAA and SAM systems, surveil- craft and air-launched weapons. lance radars needed high coordinate-meas- The basic trends in the development and uring accuracy to designate targets for them. employment of combat aircraft and air- As a rule, the problem would be resolved by launched weapons are as follows: means of tri-coordinate, or 3D, radar sys- - massive use of cruise missiles to achieve tems. 3D radar systems usually comprised a the military effect required; 2D radar acquiring and ranging aerial objects - employment of long-range anti-radiation and measuring their elevation and a mobile missiles and other precision-guided weapons altitude-finding radar. 3D radar systems fea- to neutralise AD radars and weapons at stand- tured an unprecedented accuracy of measur- off range;
40 RADIO ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY 5/2016 development priorities
- extensive application of electronic counter- tude), small size and high mobility in the VHF measures (ECM) to jam AD radars and SAM systems; band, using classic approaches. - operation of unmanned aerial vehicles KB Radar JSC – the managing company of the (UAV). Radar Systems Holding Company and the Republic’s The contemporary features of using combat of Belarus developer and manufacturer of radars aircraft and air-launched weapons in battle and ECM and ELINT systems – has succeeded in are as follows: blurring out the antagonisms of the requirements - a considerable increase in accuracy considerable in its radars and radar systems of the against surface targets (CEP within 10 m); Vostok family. This has been achieved owing to - a sizeable reduction in the radar observ- advanced antenna system, digital synthesis and ability of combat aircraft and air-launched digital signal processing technologies. weapons (RCS within 1 m2); At a new twist of the development spiral, - an increase in the spectral radiation den- we have gotten back to developing 3D radar sity of active ECM – up to 2,000W/MHz; systems comprising a mobile 2D VHF-band - expanded altitude and speed bracket of ranging radar and the Vostok-3D advanced combat aircraft and air-launched weapons mobile AESA altitude-finder as another step
(Нmin < 50 m, Нmах > 120 km, Мmax ≤ 5–25); in the evolution of the Vostok family of radars. - a considerable increase in the number of The Vostok-3D radar is an innovative highly missions handled by cruise missiles. competitive system building on the latest Against this backdrop, the following param- radar achievements, cutting-edge digital eters become critical to target acquisition technologies and sophisticated design and radars: manufacturing solutions. The Vostok-3D - frequency band ensuring effective acqui- three-dimensional radar is designed for tar- sition of stealthy and small-size targets; get acquisition, ranging, azimuth, altitude and - active and passive countermeasures radial velocity measurement, automatic target immunity; classification and feeding of the data to the - ineffectiveness of anti-radiation missiles integrated warning and control system. used against them; The basic member in the Vostok-3D fam- - high initial position coordinates meas- ily is the proven Vostok-D/E 2D VHF-band urement accuracy sufficient for compensat- AESA radar. Essentially, the Vostok-3D is the ing high-speed targets’ data lag errors and Vostok-D/E VHF-band design with the inte- manoeuvring targets’ filtering errors; grated S-band altitude-finding capability. Vostok-3D radar - small size and high mobility allowing sur- vivability against precision-guided munitions; - highly automated combat operation and VHF-band range-fi nder high throughput; - high reliability. Analysis of the sum of the critical param- eters of radars indicates the incomplete com- pliance of the in-production 3D radars to the current and especially future requirements. S-band altitude-fi nder On the other hand, the very set of require- ments to 3D radar parameters includes some that are antagonistic. For instance, the above requirements are best met by the VHF band from the viewpoint of the optimal frequency band selection. However, it is hard to ensure high accuracy of measuring the coordinates (especially alti-
41 5/2016 RADIO ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY development priorities
Pdet sphere’s RCS (droplets in particular) is propor- tional (R/λ)4 and negligible; - a radically higher passive ECM immu- nity compared with that of microwave-band radars, because the passive countermeasures fluctuation spectrum width (several hertz) in the VHF band is smaller; - high absolute stability of the frequency used by the emitters, which allows highly coherent probing signals; - lower vulnerability to anti-radiation weapons. It is hard to achieve the required
Dmax D homing accuracy for anti-radiation munitions in the VHF band owing to the limited dimen- sions of their onboard antennas; Aerial target The advantages of the VHF-band for tar- - stealth technology is virtually ineffective detection probability get acquisition, direction-finding and rang- against VHF-band radars. ing are owing to the peculiarities of the However, the VHF waveband has drawbacks propagation and reflection of the waves in too. The greatest difficulty for designing VHF the VHF band: radars is posed by attaining the required - other conditions being equal, the VHF angular coordinate accuracy and resolution band provides a far longer target acquisition while achieving acceptable dimensions (espe- range and altitude, especially small-size tar- cially height) of the antenna systems with gets, because aerodynamic aircraft’s RCS being high mobility in view. bigger in the VHF band than in the microwave A number of peculiar design solution and UHF bands. The effect is especially pro- applied to the Vostok-3D radar has allowed nounced when targets are small. Their RCSs in heavily neutralising the aforesaid drawbacks the VHF band are 10–100 times bigger that in of the VHF band. the microwave band. The dimensions of some A compromise solution to reconciling the of the elements of aircraft are comparable above-mentioned antagonisms lies in the use to the length of the waves in the VHF band, of the S-band altitude-fender channel. which causes resonance, when illuminated by The vertical fl at S-band AESA is set in the the radar, and resonance amplifies the elec- central part at a slant. Each of the AESA lines tromagnetic echo; has sold-state antenna module of its own, per- - lower losses of electromagnetic energy to forming digital signal synthesis and processing. absorption and dissipation during its propaga- Owing to digital signal synthesis and pro- tion, which is especially important for long- cessing, each AESA line ensures digital syn- range acquisition radars; thesis of directional patterns in the transmis- - the return radiation of aircraft is less jag- sion and reception modes. The antenna is ged and, hence, the fluctuation of the echo is mechanically steered in azimuth to perform lower than in the microwave band; for this azimuth scanning synchronised with the VHF reason, target acquisition of VHF radars is less rangefinder channel with a difference of 180°. dependent on range and the tracking is more The altitude-finder of the Vostok-3D radar stable compared with shorter-wave bands; has two basic operating modes: - there are virtually no reflections from - linear 360° azimuth scanning at a rate of meteorological phenomena (fog, mist, rain, 10 s or 20 s and simultaneous elevation scan- etc.) owing to the dependence of spherical ning within the 0°–16° sector. In this mode, objects’ RCS on the ratio of the sphere’s radius there is a single wide (about 20°) directional to the wave’s length R/λ. With R/λ<<1, the pattern for emission and 16 directional pat-
42 RADIO ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY 5/2016 development priorities
Table 1. Altitude-fi nding mean-root-square errors of 3D radars Target altitude mean-root- ters for reception. The operating mode is the Radar type Country Range, km square error (Htgt), m same as the one used by up-to-date solid- 400 (with Htgt up to 6 km) 19Zh6 Russia 70 state 3D radars; 1,500 (with Htgt 6–20 km) - altitude-finding mode. A single pencil- 22Zh6 Desna Russia 500 300 beam (within 2°) directional pattern is gener- 55Zh6UME Russia 600 200 ated for emission and three for reception (for 800 200–300 sum/differential processing in elevation). The PRV-16 Russia 150–200 200 PRV-17 Russia 300 310 operating mode allows the required accuracy 80K6 Ukraine 300–400 100 of altitude measurement at the maximum Protivnik-GE Russia 450 340 target acquisition range. The altitude-finding 67N6 Gamma-D Russia 500 400 channel’s potential is about 10dB higher than FPS-117 USA 760 250 in the former mode. Airspace scanning in this TPS-77 USA 915 250 case is handled by the VHF-band channel of JYL-1 China 600 200 the rangefinder. The VHF-band channel is the source of range and azimuth data for the altitude-finding channel. The operating mode Table 2. Vostok-3D radar characteristics is the same as the one of the radar system Maximum range, km 360 Maximum acquisition range for target with 1-m2 RCS consisting of the altitude-finder and range- 350 without active ECM at 10,000-m altitude, km: finder radars, but has an immeasurably higher Acquisition range for target with 1-m2 RCS in heavy ECM 170 throughput owing to altitude scanning in the (200W/MHz, range to jammer – 200 km) at 10,000-m altitude, km: range, azimuth, course of the synchronous rotation of the Primary coordinates and parameters measured ranging and altitude-finding antennas. altitude, radial velocity Resolution: Advantages of the Vostok-3D radar with the range, m 200 S-band altitude-finder are as follows: azimuth, ° 5.5 - two radars operating in different bands elevation, ° 1.2 are mounted on the same vehicle; Mean-root-square error per scan: range, m 25 - high mobility and relatively small dimensions; azimuth, ° 0.3 - sum of all strengths of the Vostok-E radar elevation, ° 0.08–0.1 as the best VHF-band radar and up-to-date 3D Number of types of probing signals 4–8 S-band AESA radar; Active noise jamming rejection ratio (signal-noise ratio – 40dB) ≥30 - high ECM immunity owing to its two elec- Passive jamming suppression ratio, dB ≥50 Automatic data processing and target tracking available tromagnetic wavebands (1.5–2 m and 10 cm) Automatic tracking of active jammers available among other thing; Throughput (number of targets processed in a single 10-s scan) at least 250 - invulnerability to anti-radiation missiles Target classifi cation 5 classes supported (there are VHF-band radar homing heads to Displacement time, min 8 (crew – 3) fit anti-radiation missiles, and the S-band may Mean time before failure, h 1,000 be turned on only from time to time, with the Mean time to repair, min. 30 VHF band being effective in acquiring anti- radiation missiles); All Vostok radar versions operate in con- - the price more than twice as lower as that junction with identification ‘friend or foe’ (IFF) of the version comprising the separate Vostok- equipment of various standards and are inte- E rangefinder radar and a separate altitude- grated with a control system with the use of finder. relevant data control and exchange protocols. Radars from KB Radar JSC feature high All versions of the Vostok are based on a coordinate measurement accuracy, reliable high degree of the commonality of their com- acquisition of small and stealthy targets and ponents and technical, design and manufac- enhanced ECM resistance and slash the effec- turing solutions affording them operational tiveness of stealth warplanes and anti-radia- cost-effectiveness and reducing the time for tion missiles. the customers to learn to operate them.
43 5/2016 RADIO ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY development priorities
Guidelines for Air-Launched Precision-Guided Weapon Development
BORIS OBNOSOV The short fl ight time, target-wise versatility, fl ight surface target designation input, radar/visual Director General, Tactical high accuracy, high lethality and long range make target designation and strict guidance algorithm Missiles Corporation, Ph.D. air-launched weapons the weapons of choice for may be attributed to the contemporary – third – dealing with surface and aerial threats and dis- generation of PGMs. The development of this gen- VLADIMIR YEFREMOV rupting the enemy’s military, industrial and trans- eration of missiles has been virtually complete. Deputy Designer port infrastructure in the overwhelming majority The development of the fourth-generation air- General, Tactical Missiles of military confl icts varying in intensity. launched weapons should meet the following Corporation, M.A. The prospects for the evolution of air-launched requirements: weapons of all classes are hinged on next-gen- - multipurpose use; ALEXANDER PUZANOV eration precision-guided munitions (PGM) being - self-contained round-the-clock all-weather Executive Director, R&D developed as one of the basic subsystems of com- highly accurate employment of general-purpose Directorate, Tactical plex high-end hierarchical systems. They are made PGMs against camoufl aged targets at long range Missiles Corporation, M.A. up of not only highly accurate missiles and bombs in countermeasures-heavy environment by means and the aircraft carrying them along with their of the following: onboard control and launch preparation equip- • highly accurate strapdown inertial navigation ment. Now, the system comprises such subsystems systems (SINS) integrated with the interference/ as ground-based weapon preparation, mission countermeasures-immune satellite navigation input data and control (target designation) sys- systems; tems. A guided air-launched weapon remains the • thermal-imaging, high-defi nition radar and PGM system’s key strike element determining the combined homing systems wrapped around matrix results of its operation. photodetectors capable of pattern recognition and In the modern sense, a PGM is a munition image processing; afforded the self-contained navigation and hom- - highly accurate employment of antiradiation ing capabilities ensuring the reliable hit with the missiles with the use of high-end technical intel- deviation from the air point being less than the ligence, fl exible logic and versatility of guidance radius of the warhead’s kill zone radius. to all types of radar and radio electronic commu- Air-launched PGMs are organized on the basis nications systems in complicated radio electronic of the classifi cation covering the air-to-surface environment by increasing the range of passive (air-to-ship) and air-to-air missiles and smart radar homing heads featuring square-hit extra- bomb classes: accurate homing channels and by introducing - long-range subsonic, supersonic and hyper- proximity fuses adaptable target-wise; sonic cruise missiles; - effective selective hit of the required ele- - general-purpose medium- and short-range ments of targets by antiship missiles in electronic tactical and battlefi eld missiles; countermeasures (ECM)-heavy environment by - specialised antiradiation, antiship and anti- means of fi tting antiship missiles with active/ tank missiles; passive high-resolution homing heads (including - guided bombs and submunition dispensers. millimetric-band ones) featuring square-hit extra- Air-launched weapons with low-sensitivity radar accurate homing channels and a wide range of the and optronic navigation and guidance systems, pre- latest ECM immunity solutions;
44 RADIO ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY 5/2016 development priorities
- design and manufacturing commonality and nents out of up-to-date and future high-strength modularity; thermal-resistant radioparent radar-absorbing - high power pulse of new-generation power polymeric composite materials, using traditional plants, higher velocities and higher in-fl ight and cutting-edge inexpensive industrial technolo- maneuvering dynamics; gies – vacuum infusion ones, for example. - enhanced lethality of warheads; - reduced signatures, high survivability and reli- POWER PLANTS ability and stand-off range; At present, tactical missiles are powered by - lighter and smaller weapons for tactical and single-thrust, variable-thrust and multi-pulse ground attack aircraft, including light homing solid-propellant rocket engines with variable weapons for helicopters and attack drones; fl ight modes, turbojet engines and ramjet engines. - low production and employment preparation Solid-propellant rocket engines have been costs and low prices. evolving along the four lines: Russian tactical air-launched weapons are on a - improving the formulation and composition of par with the best foreign-made ones. Their export solid propellants; versions are as good as their foreign-made ana- - design improvements; logs as far as combat performance is concerned. - developing thrust vector control systems to After the time wasted in the 1990s, there has been enhance manoeuvrability and effectiveness of consistent improvement in the technical and tech- missiles; nological solutions embodied in advanced weap- - developing and introducing advanced poly- ons under way now. Both in Russia and abroad, the meric composites to slash structural weight and solutions drive the priorities and tendencies of the boost manoeuvring dynamics. ongoing R&D, weapon standardisation and com- Designers are looking into future variable- mon approaches to inter- and intra-service muni- thrust rocket engines with deep thrust control tion commonality and modularity, reasonable ratio (Rstart/Rcruise≥10), burning gelled propellants to between commonised and specialised weapons power light multipurpose high-speed missiles. and their components, and curbing of the growth A breakthrough in developing supersonic of weapon types. medium- and extended-range air-launched mis- Each of the above systems may be represented siles is the development of combined (integrated) as a complex structure comprising interconnected solid-propellant ramjet-rocket powerplants with subsystems and elements. high energy/power ratio. Compared with the tra- Proceeding from the tasks of and requirements ditional solid-propellant rocket engine, they will to future air-launched PGMs, it is possible to draw extend range by far, especially when fl ying at low up a list of basic efforts to develop their systems, altitude. which is being implemented worldwide. Turbojet engines. One of the lines of air- launched weapon development is small-size loi- DESIGN AND AERODYNAMICS tering missiles to take out a wide range of targets. The advanced technologies of selecting the Their turbojet engines should become smaller than optimal layout for tactical air-launched weapons the current ones by an order of magnitude. The are aimed at developing highly agile guided muni- foreign models of such weapons – the US-made tions for omnidirectional and all-aspect launches. missiles LOCAAS (Low Cost Autonomous Attack The omnidirectional launch capability, coupled with System) and LAM (Loitering Attack Missile) – can the carrier aircraft’s multiple sighting channels, will loiter in an assigned area for 1.5–2 hours. Their allow launching the whole payload at multiple or miniature turbojet sustainer engine’s compressor individual spaced targets on a single pass, thus and turbine use a car turbine compressor, and fuel increasing the aircraft’s chances for survival. is used for cooling and lubricating their bearings Basic PGM airframe design improvement trends instead of oil. imply the development of layouts and aerodynamic Ramjet engines. The contemporary supersonic confi gurations and making structures and compo- missiles have a rocket inside their ramjet ducts for
45 5/2016 RADIO ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY development priorities
acceleration to the velocity, at which the ramjet labor-output ratio and manufacture, alignment kicks in. The large size of the ramjet’s duct and and operation cost. The tests of a solid-state wave the solid-propellant rocket engine’s low specifi c gyro prototype for medium- and low-accuracy impulse are the causes of the powerplant’s large SINS have produced satisfactory results. (60–80%) share in the missile’s structure in terms In the low accuracy class of gyros (a drift of tens of weight and size and, hence, larger overall of degrees per hour), micromechanical sensors dimensions than those of subsonic missiles, with and reduced-diameter sensing device solid-state the payload, hardware and fl ight range being wave gyros are being looked into in line with the approximately equal. latest world tendencies. This minimises the SINS’s dimensions and is justifi ed for weapons with a ONBOARD NAVIGATION SYSTEMS fl ight time of 90–100 s at the most. The prospects are hinged on the development Due to irreducible physical problems causing of self-contained highly accurate navigation sys- the mounting in-fl ight navigational calculation tems wrapped around the core in the form of SINS. errors of SINS, the high accuracy of en-route navi- The basic tendencies of their development are gation of contemporary and future air-launched enhanced accuracy of self-contained navigation, weapons should be by means of updating the extended service life, reduced power consumption, SINS by satellite navigation systems, i.e. by means weight and size and slashed cost. of developing GLONASS/GPS-aided INS, or GAINS. Navigation accuracy en-route to the target is increased through integrating the data from sat- ellite navigation systems or TERCOM systems. GUIDANCE SYSTEMS However, the mainstay of navigation data genera- Extremely stringent requirements to the func- tion is the self-contained SINS, which accuracy is tionality, characteristics and operating condi- often affected by errors of the raw data measuring tions of air launched weapons’ guidance systems devices – accelerometers and rate gyros. and navaids (SINS and satnav) are coupled with These days, laser gyro sensors with the digital extremely tough weight and size limits. output are used when there is a need for rate gyros In the world, there are the following break- with an accuracy of several decimals of a degree down of homing head types by the classes of air- per hour, especially as far as agile weapons are launched weapons: concerned. With short warm-up time, they have a - electro-optical (semi-active laser, television, low scale factor error and high continuous accu- thermal-imaging) homing heads equipping air-to- racy across the unlimited range of measurements. air and medium-range missiles and smart bombs; Russia strives to develop a three-axis monolithic some of the foreign missile types, e.g. the AGM-84 ring laser gyro to attain the accuracy required and and AGM-114, are fi tted with extreme millimetric- to halve the weight, size and labor-output ratio band active radar homers; over single-axis laser gyros. - passive radar homing heads of anti-radiation The medium accuracy class (~1–5°/hr) is made missiles; they have been evolving from lettered up of obsolescent rotor-type vibrating gyros of homing heads with narrow operating frequency the ‘90s. An alternative to them is fi bre-optic ranges to present-day wideband passive radar gyros (FOG). Their performance and angular speed homers versatile in terms of targets; measuring characteristics can be improved as - active K-band radar homing heads carried a new component manufacturing technology is by air-to-ship missiles to acquire targets at long learnt, for which purpose new FOG circuit variants range under adverse weather conditions. and advanced interference/instability cancellation Several types of guided bombs (US-made JDAM, and compensation methods and devices are nec- Russian-developed KAB-500SE) have no homing essary. Another approach is to adopt an affordable head. They are guided to the pre-reconnoitred tar- solid-state wave gyro technology requiring no gets with the use of SINS and satnav updates. specialised high-precision equipment. Then, the In the electro-optical system segment, thermal- accuracy required is achieved at a relatively low imaging heat seekers with matrix photodetectors
46 RADIO ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY 5/2016 development priorities
are most widespread. The round-the-clock capa- and combined multichannel homing heads tai- bility, acceptable range and high quality of the lored to specifi c types of air-launched weapons in imagery when using full-size matrix photodetec- design terms, etc.; tors with 250,000 elements or more allow the • introduction of artifi cial intelligence to carry generation of the image of the terrain observed out automatic terrain and object identifi cation and and the target and ensure effective automatic increase the immunity of homing heads to inter- acquisition, identifi cation lock-on and tracking of ference and countermeasures. the target assigned. Promising lines of refi ning homing heads in In general terms, there are the following basic technical terms include the development of the lines of homing head development, to which following: designers adhere worldwide: • all-weather round-the-clock high-resolution • improvement in the hardware’s performance; active radar homing heads operating in the • miniaturisation via weight and dimension extreme millimetric band; reduction; • thermal-imaging heat-seekers based on dual- • development of new types of hardware band (3–5, 8–12 μm) full-size matrix photodetec- channel modules, in particular laser locator, tors executing target patter recognition against 1–1.5-micrometre optical, multispectral optical the backdrop of clutter and countermeasures;
47 5/2016 RADIO ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY development priorities
• combined homing heads with the active radar 4–5 m thick. Various ways of increasing the depth channels extreme-millimetric-band and thermal- of penetration are considered, including doing so imaging channels; by adding extra kinetic energy to the warhead or a • high-resolution active K-band radar homing part of it, infl icting prior damage on the obstacle heads based on the AESA with the passive channel; with a shaped charge or with precursors of other • reduced-cost small-size single- and multi- types or by increasing the dynamic stability of the channel homing heads for light multirole missiles high-strength precursor of a relevant shape while and homing submunitions; distributing the weight along the warhead. • wideband passive radar homing heads with There is a need for ‘smart’ adaptive fuses set- the thermal-imaging accurate-targeting channel; ting the warhead off in the optimal point near the • multispectral electro-optical (TV/thermal- target to maximise the warhead’s effects irrespec- imaging) homing heads with automatic target tive of the velocity, dive angle and deviation of the patter recognition; point of impact from the aim point. • laser seeker heads; Another promising line of warhead improve- • wideband radioparent fairings resistant to ment is the development of guided (homing) sub- high thermal and mechanical loads and common munitions of cluster warheads. fairings for combined TV/thermal-imaging homing Small guided submunitions boost the effective- heads. ness of tactical air-launched weapons against Mind you, sophisticated homing heads are not high-value multiple targets, e.g. tank units, by sev- the only thing making air-launching weapons eral times. In this fi eld, the development of small effective. The aircraft has to carry a highly capa- homing heads and fuses for advanced submuni- ble surveillance/targeting system interacting with tions and optimal layouts of cluster-type war- air-launched weapons in an optimal manner and heads, small-size detonation interconnections and there should be methods and equipment for fur- blast initiation equipment. nishing the weapons with information (reference Based on the above, it is worth stressing that images) and mission profi les for pre-determined high functional and ‘intellectual’ sophistication of targets. The practical work on resolving the prob- air-launched precision-guide weapons designed lems is another important line of developing for dealing with surface and aerial targets is only weapons and aircraft. a prerequisite. The effectiveness of weapons and strike aircraft WARHEADS on the whole should be due to the maximal sup- Up-to-date high-explosive/fragmentation war- port of the avionics suites of the aircraft and their heads of air-launched weapons are developed as closest integration, which is being consistently versatile for certain groups of standard targets implemented in the latest aircraft. (manpower, combat vehicles, fortifi cations, ships) In conclusion, it is worth noting that the devel- and multi-effect in terms of their effects on the opment of air-launched weapons – both at the target (fragmentation, high-explosive or incendi- design groundwork layout and critical technology ary ones). development stage, on the one hand, and at the The power of high explosives and the operat- development stage, on the other – has been under ing characteristics of warheads have been on the way in close cooperation with a whole number increase and techniques of altering the shape of of research organisations. Over 30 universities the frag fi elds (narrow, wide, directed), weight and and colleges are taking part in the R&D. The sci- shape of submunitions (compacts frag, elongated entifi c and technical problems being tackled by submunitions) depending on the situation and tar- research institutes and higher education colleges gets have been in development. spans virtually all lines of developing advanced Russia and other countries pay special atten- air-launched guided weapons and ensures the tion to a priority line of improving air-launched feasibility of a degree of technical perfection, high weapon warheads designed to take out bunkers performance and high lethality of air-launched hardened by means of a protective concrete layer weapons.
48 RADIO ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY 5/2016 OVER 70 YEARS IN THE WORLD OF AEROMETRY
AEROPRIBOR- VOSKHOD
Helicopter Aircraft equipment Air data Multifunction Integrated standby air data system control system measuring system air data sensor instrument system for Kamov Ka-52 for Kamov Ka-62 for Sukhoi Su-35 for Irkut MC-21 for next generation aircraft
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advertisement www.aeropribor.ru Concern Radio-electronic technologies JSC is a new player on the global market of radio-electronic solutions for government and business, with the company facing bright technological vistas and having a long-term corporate development strategy. The concern offers up-to-date radio-electronic products based on innovative Russian technologies and designed for outer space, aviation, naval and army applications. Concern Radio- electronic technologies sports a wide range of products for use in the medical, power generation, transport and other spheres. The company’s steady growth and good financial standing bolster its commitment to its global security mission with reliance on the best traditions of the Russian radio-electronic school of thought. Concern Radio-electronic technologies was set up in 2009. It comprises 97 subsidiaries throughout Russia.
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