Anti-tank rifle: the history of the emergence and development

From the very beginning, Invincible Sergei Pavlovich wanted to develop a completely different rocket. Circumstances and prospects made it possible to create the most perfect antitank weapons at the time. Almost 15 years later, the Chrysanthema ATGM remains in service and achieves incredible results.

First of all, the Invincible said that any weapon should be created in such a way that in 25 years it was not thrown into the scrap because of obsolete elements, but modernized and improved. Thus, an anti-tank rifle was conceived.

The idea of the Invincible was to create installations that would hit the enemy tank not from the side, from the side of the armor, but directly along the hatchway. In this case, radionavigation variants have become impossible, laser ones have also become unusable. But, unfortunately, not enough time. Demonstrative firing in 1981 the Minister of Defense rejected, according to him, in such a smoke it is simply impossible to continue working.

By his order, the idea of installation was rebuilt. Whatever it was, but Ustinov's order to alter the anti-tank rifle as soon as possible was carried out. The laser system definitely did not fit, therefore radio waves were used. But there was a problem with the frequency: the safer it is for the crew, the more difficult the guidance, the less the distance of defeat.

The problem was more or less solved in 1984 - the caliber of the gun was simply amazed, the rocket punched to 1.2 meters of armor, but the design was too cumbersome and uncomfortable. At the same time, the installation has become much "smarter" than its prototypes. Now it weighed about 3 tons and could be mounted on BMP-3, thanks to which surface targets were amazed. Also in any weather, ground targets could be destroyed with an enemy speed of not more than 60 km / h and air targets of up to 340 km / h.

Now the work of the locator was in the range of 100-150 GHz, and a genius idea of engineering thought made it possible for the first time to make ATGM fully automatic. All the actions to find the enemy, prepare the missile and the shot pass without the participation of a person, the operator only presses the "start" button.
Anti-tank rifle, or ATGM, under good visibility conditions was able to work with laser guidance, but in this case the installation becomes semi-automatic. It is worth noting that it is possible to shoot from two guns at the same time, thanks to different points of guidance and rocket deliveries.

"Chrysanthemum" includes many units of equipment: for verification, guidance, but it is quite possible the operation of the combat vehicle separately. Of course, this installation can be put on other types of chassis, for example, on a boat, or even make a stationary structure. Unfortunately, the aviation version was not developed and it is impossible to apply.

ATGM "Chrysanthemum", which is called "anti-tank rifle" even from its prototypes, has truly every chance of modernization and has already immortalized itself in history as one of the best means of hitting enemy equipment. Who knows, perhaps, very soon this type of weapon will become the most powerful in the world among its counterparts.