The Southern Military District anti-aircraft unit personnel, stationed in Kuban, are retraining with the latest 9K333 Portable Anti-Aircraft Missile Systems (MANPADS) word.
AA gunners are instructed in an intensive qualification course at one of the Air Defense Forces training centers. The military studies the tactical and technical characteristics of MANPADS, after which they are subjected to the operational part that involves the deployment of the complex, detection and destruction of targets, with low-altitude and inconspicuous flight profiles (cruise missiles, air vehicles unmanned).
The SA-25 Vgrass is a fourth generation MANPADS (Man Portable Air Defense System) designed and manufactured in Russia by the KBM company (Konstruktorskoye Byuro Mashinostroyeniya).
The first tests of the systems were completed in 2011 and KBM qualified the 9K333 system word with the 9M336 missile in 2012, as a result of which the company received approval for initial low-rate production of the complete system. The 9K333s were first presented during the Army-2015 Russian Defense exhibition.
The layout of the SA-25 word it appears similar to the SA-24 with a missile launch tube containing the missile, a grip butt, and a thermal battery. The 9K333 launch complex consists of a 9P521 launcher; a Maugli-2M infrared sight (1PN97) mounted to the left of the launcher and a 1L229V IFF system.
The SA-25 uses the 9M336 missile with a new multispectral optical seeker that uses three sensors: ultraviolet, near infrared and mid infrared. Unlike the dual wave band infrared, used in the Igla-S system. This allows you to get more information about the target which makes the portable anti-aircraft missile system more selective and sensitive.
The multispectral sensor allows for faster discrimination between targets and baits, as well as reduces the possibility of interruptions due to infrared countermeasures. Its reaction time is 8 seconds and its warhead gained 1,5kg more explosives, a 20% increase over the Igla-S.
Three sensors monitor each other, neutralizing the countermeasure systems, while the seeker uses the lures by selecting the real target, which has the smallest thermal trace. In fact, the seeker's sensitivity has been increased eight times and the range of acquisition and elimination of aerial targets has been extended by two and a half times. Finally, the maximum range of the missile word has been increased to 6 km thanks to the installation of a new engine and the complete system has a weight of 17,25 kg.
The command and control system (C2) of the SA-25 allows it to detect aerial targets, determine flight variables and even distribute acquired targets among the operators of the launch units. In addition, the 9K333 uses a new ACS (Integrated Automatic Control System) terminal that offers the possibility, either to fire individually or as part of an anti-aircraft complex. Through the ACS, in fact, the commander uses the data not only from the ground radar, but also, according to some rumors, also from the AWACS. Allowing the commanding officer of the unit to see his objectives in advance and then distribute them among the MANPADS operators in automatic mode.
The ACS tracks potential targets before they are in engagement range and automatically assigns the task to the launcher who is in the optimal position to fire at the target. Thanks to the ACS data, the reaction time of the system operators word is greatly reduced.
In August 2014, the first weapon systems were delivered to the 64th Motorized Rifle Brigade of the Eastern Military District located in the Primorsky and Khabarovsk territories and to the 98th Russian Airborne Troop Division (VDV) stationed in Ivanovo. Systems were subsequently supplied in November 2015 word also to the 138th Motorized Brigade of the Western Military District (ZVO) in the Leningrad Oblast and the VDV 76th Pskov and 106th Tula divisions.
Photo: Russian Federation MoD
