"Mosquito" - anti-ship missile

Perhaps, it is because of the state of the navy that an adequate assessment of the country's defense capability and economy can always be given. And here it's not just the high cost of keeping ships and submarines. The modern fleet is a knowledge-intensive industry, where first of all the newest defensive and offensive weapons are "rolling".

If during the Second World War, the ball ruled heavy battleships with powerful protection and relatively simple aircraft carriers for propeller aircraft, but now the situation has changed dramatically. The navy of almost all the "sea" countries actively adopts relatively small and savage destroyers, the role of submarines is increasing, and aircraft carriers are considered exclusively from the point of view of an offensive element for intimidating countries that do not have normal air defense.

In addition, the current naval battles are no longer the same: opponents most often do not see each other even on the horizon, and victory is provided by powerful missile weapons, one volley of which may well send a huge enemy ship to the bottom. Our country has an excellent tool - the "Mosquito" system. This rocket, which was created in the USSR, is a reliable way to ensure the guarantees of a peaceful settlement.

Start of development

Work on the development of these weapons began in 1973. Dozens of research institutes and design bureaus from all over the USSR participated in the creation. "Mosquito" - a missile originally developed to replace obsolete types of similar weapons and intended for installation on destroyers and missile boats. In addition, it was equipped with combat ekranoplans.

Before the launch, the rocket had to go through an impressive series of testing tests, which were started only in 1978. This happened in the conditions of the "Sandy Balka" testing ground, where the first tests of the future product models were carried out and the characteristics of its marching engines were checked. State tests continued until the end of 1982.

They were recognized successfully passed only after the firing of the destroyer Desperado, which was in the Barents Sea. The targets were shot from a range of 27 kilometers, and it was required to hit two targets at once. The rocket and the ship's crew coped with this task perfectly.

In general, only during these tests the rocket was launched at once 15 times, and success was achieved in eight cases, partial success - in five. Only two launches failed. But not at once the Moskit hit the arsenal of the Russian fleet! The rocket, for another five years, from 1983 to 1985, underwent various constructive improvements and upgrades, until its potential was finally recognized as sufficient.

So, the initial flight range was increased almost six (!) Times, reaching a rate of 125 kilometers, and it was fully compatible with the ekranoplan "Lun", which provided reliable protection of virtually the entire coast of the USSR, provided this missile was used.

Issue, modifications

Issued and releases its "Progress" complex, located in Primorsky Krai. The rocket was repeatedly demonstrated both in the domestic Zhukovsky (MAKS) and at all world arms exhibitions (in Abu Dhabi, for example).

Only in the early 80-ies the complex was officially adopted by the destroyers of the class "Modern", Project 956, and in 1984 they began to install advanced missiles with a CT-190 launcher. Soon the aviation "Mosquito" was created. The missile was adopted in the period from 1992 to 1994.

What is it for?

The complex and the missile were created to destroy various categories of enemy surface ships, transports for landing, as well as convoy ships and single targets. This includes also hovercraft and water wings, which had previously been virtually invulnerable to rocket weapons because of their high march speed.

Efficiently destroy ships, displacement of which is within the limits of up to 20,000 tons. The target speed is up to 100 knots. The missile can hit the enemy even in conditions of intense fire and radar counteraction of the latter. Not a hindrance and difficult weather and climatic factors. The anti-ship missile "Mosquito" itself can be effectively used at an ambient temperature of -25 to +50 degrees Celsius.

Working conditions

Excitement of the sea when using the "Mosquito" can reach six points (if the goal is small - up to five), and the wind speed (its direction does not matter) - up to 20 meters per second. Soviet designers managed to create a missile that could hit the target even in a nuclear explosion.

What is the characteristic of the anti-ship missile "Mosquito" based aircraft? The main characteristics are no different from the fleet version. This complex can be equipped with aircraft Su-33 (Su-27K) and others that allow ship-based.

Structure of the complex

Many assume that the Mosquito complex itself has only one installation for launching the missile, but this is not the case. It includes several of them at once: standard anti-ship, supersonic, low-altitude, for target destruction under conditions of intensively operating air defense systems, as well as a projectile with "intelligent" ZM-80 guidance. The launching system is responsible for the system 3C-80, the installation for targeting the KT-152M. If it is a question of defense of the coast with a stationary basing of the complex, then the management takes on a single complex of CNO 3F80.

Technical features

The rocket belongs to an easy class, its layout was created according to the classical aerodynamic scheme. The shape of the bow is oval, the arrangement of the plumage and wings is X-shaped. Wings and feathers are foldable for easy transportation and fastening in the launch container. On the body clearly distinguished air intakes, and on the front fairing installed radio-transparent cook.

Its other characteristics are even more impressive:

• The length of the rocket is from 9.4 to 9.7 meters (depending on the modification and basing).
• Maximum acceleration - up to 2.8 mach.
• The minimum range of fire is 10 kilometers.
• Starting mass is from 4 to 4.5 tons.
• The weight of the warhead is from 300 to 320 kg.
• Shelf life in the launch container is up to 1.5 years.
• At present, upgraded missiles can hit the target when launched from coastal complexes at a distance of up to 240 kilometers.

In the manufacture of widely used chemically pure titanium, high-grade steel alloys and fiberglass.

Combined power plant. There is a starting powder engine, knocking out a missile from a launch canister, as well as a march air-powered propulsion system 3D83. Powder accelerator is located directly in the nozzle of the engine. It completely burns out in the first three to four seconds, after which its residues are pushed out by the flow of air.

Guidance system

The guidance system is also implemented in a combined scheme. Navigation - inertial type, as well as active-passive head of radar guidance. The "highlight" is the march control system, which provides a high probability of target damage even with its active fire countermeasures. It should be noted that this figure ranges from 0.94 to 0.98.

The flight occurs at acceleration above two mahovas, and the rocket goes on a very complex trajectory. Immediately after the start of the projectile performs a classic "slide", then the maximum sharp decrease - to a height of 20 meters. When the goal is nine kilometers away, an even sharper decrease occurs, to a height of seven meters, after which the rocket literally passes over the crests of the waves, maneuvering with a snake. During the flight, more complex maneuvers can be performed, and overloads often exceed 10G.

Defeat the target

Due to such characteristics, the "Moskit" (and "Malachite", its predecessor) poses a mortal danger for virtually any potential enemy ship. In combination with other anti-ship coastal defense, they reduce the probability of a "bloodless" landing of enemy troops to zero.

The defeat of the enemy's ship is ensured by the limiting kinetic energy and a powerful explosion inside the ship's hull. One missile will easily take the cruiser to the bottom, and 15-17 pieces can completely disable the whole ship grouping of the enemy. Especially good is the cruise missile "Mosquito" in that it is almost impossible to evade it. Its detection occurs only 3-4 seconds before the fire contact with the target, and therefore the old Soviet development is still respected and afraid of sailors in all the military fleets of the world.

Accommodation and state of the art

The Moskit was widely deployed on 956 destroyers (two quadruple complexes), anti-submarine ships of Project 11556 Admiral Lobov, as well as practically on all 1241.9 missile launches. It was installed on the pilot project of a small missile ship project 1239 (hovercraft), on the ships of the project 1240, as well as on the above-mentioned ekranoplan "Lun", for which the missile had to be seriously modernized.

It is especially valuable that the Moskit rocket, the characteristics of which have already been mentioned above, can be used in coastal defense units, as well as in coastal aviation, being mounted on Su-27K (Su-33) aircraft. In this case, one shell is taken aboard, which is suspended from the outside of the fuselage between the nacelle.

Range improvements

Already in 1981, a decree was issued, according to which it was necessary to significantly improve the engine to increase the range of missile application. This is how the "Moskit-M" rocket appeared, ten preliminary launches of which were carried out during the period from 1987 to 1989. Soviet engineers managed to increase the range immediately to 153 kilometers, and the modified version received the designation 3M-80E.

At present, the Moskit rocket, the photo of which is in the article, can be installed on virtually all types of Russian destroyers and other warships, including missile boats, and is also exported. It is allowed to mount it (at the request of the customer) for suitable foreign warships.

Importance

It is the Moskit missile, whose TTX was discussed in this article, made it possible to create a single ship project. Its characteristics were such that it gave the small missile boat almost the effectiveness of the destroyer. All this made it possible to make the creation of a full-fledged naval grouping dozens of times cheaper without sacrificing its combat qualities. Given the vast length of the coast of the USSR, this was extremely important.

Among other things, such attack weapons are simply invaluable in modern conditions, when the normal oceanic grouping of ships is just beginning to be recreated in the Russian Federation. At present, there is no special opportunity to bring large ships into the Navy, so the prospect of creating full-fledged destroyers with Mosquitoes on board is hard to overestimate. Therefore, Soviet development is not very soon and will not retire.