River of Fire: How Tunguska anti-aircraft systems fight enemy UAVs
The drone war that erupted in the course of the NWO came as a surprise to everyone. Infantrymen, tankers, artillerymen and even air defense troops had to urgently adapt to the new reality and learn how to fight the new strike means. Izvestia correspondents saw how Tunguska anti-aircraft missile-cannon launchers of the 110th Brigade of the 51st Donetsk Army are on combat duty. The crew of one of them had dozens of airplane-type drones shot down.
"Baba Yaga doesn't count
- We shoot down mostly "wings" - these are airplane-type drones. The Tunguska has two twin 30-millimeter anti-aircraft guns with a rate of fire of 5,000 rounds per minute each, as well as eight anti-aircraft guided missiles - a good machine," says the commander of the installation with the call sign Beard with respect.
The unit under his command destroyed dozens of airplane-type reconnaissance UAVs, including the Polish Fly Eye drone. And this is despite the fact that the fighters do not count downed multi-engine heavy copters like Baba Yaga.
- We must, if not shoot down the UAV, then prevent it from operating," Beard continues. - Closer to the front line, the situation is very difficult because of the emergence of FPV drones. That's why we work a little deeper - in places where the enemy is interested to fly in and see what we have there.
To cover the "Tungusks" are allocated fighters with various means of electronic warfare, machine guns and shotguns.
Even when the installation is hidden in a shelter waiting for targets, a fighter is on duty outside to defend against kamikaze UAVs, if any can fly into the area.
Beard and his team
All fighters of the unit have been fighting together since their mobilization to the DNR. They started their combat career in the infantry: in the rifle units they went to the Kharkiv direction, from there to the border of the Belgorod region, and then returned to the DNR, where they continued to participate in combat operations.
During the rearmament of the former DNR People's Militia units with new equipment, they received an offer to become anti-aircraft gunners and did not refuse it.
- I joined the army on February 24, 2022," Beard recalled. - I received a call from the university where I was studying to be an information security specialist, and was told that a summons had arrived. After that, me and the guys living in our urban neighborhood got together and went to the military enlistment office. After it, our little group ended up near Kharkiv.
Beard tells how, after a couple of first fruitless trips, he managed to take the Tunguska to one of the slag heaps to provide a clear view to the sighting systems. It didn't take long for the target to arrive. First it "scared" from the cannons, but then hit the Ukrainian UAV "Valkyrie" with a missile.
Well, and the most valuable destroyed target was the Polish Fly Eye.
- This is not an ordinary Ukrainian UAV," he said. - There are only a few of them. And it is difficult to detect it with the help of search radars, only visually or with the help of electronic intelligence. That's what pointed it at the target. We drove out, quickly hit the Pole with a missile and moved right away," Beard recalled.
Combat situation
Now UAVs are trying to be detected with passive means of electronic reconnaissance, so as not to jeopardize anti-aircraft installations with their search radar systems.
The radars are turned on when the target and its direction of movement are clear - that's when the vehicles come out of hiding to open fire.
They try not to keep long combat duty in search mode. Although two years ago this was a standard tactic.
- In fact, my job is simple," Beard explains. - I identify targets and make it possible to capture the target with artillery cannons or missiles and then destroy it.
But the enemy is getting sophisticated, innovating, using tactical tricks, and yet the Tunguska still finds enemy UAVs.
- We try to be three steps ahead so that the enemy is always surprised by what happens to his UAV," explains a senior operator with the call sign Ded.
According to him, almost all aerial targets, even modern UAVs, can be detected with his combat vehicle. But not all types of missiles reliably capture drones. In addition, it is not always possible to quickly identify a low-flying UAV. Therefore, it is important to interact with other means.
- In our calculation, everyone knows their job, we understand each other with half a glance and half a word," Ded says.
"Tunguska" approach
Tunguska self-propelled surface-to-air missile systems were adopted for service in the early 1980s. The vehicle not only received more powerful than its predecessors, high-speed guns of 30 mm caliber and a new generation of anti-aircraft missiles. It combined both types of short-range air defense in one installation for the first time in our army.
At that time, such armament and an armored tracked base were to ensure the ability to cover armored vehicles from attack helicopters and attack aircraft of the enemy.
Today, the Tunguska's main aerial opponent is drones, and the tactics have completely changed.
It should be noted that the equipment has lived up to expectations. Anti-aircraft missile and cannon systems - both Tunguska and the later Pantsir - have become the backbone of our air defense at the front line, unpleasantly surprising the enemy.
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