Translated material
From mat to machine gun
New ammunition is being created in Russia
One of the leading enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex, the state scientific and production enterprise "Basalt", is celebrating its 70th anniversary these days. "Basalt" is a diversified enterprise, its customers include almost all branches of the military, special services, including foreign ones. The enterprise has the right to independently enter the foreign market. The annual growth in production in the last few years has been 40-50%, and this year it has more than doubled. This is not a report from a specific enterprise about the work done, it is an assessment of trends in an entire branch of the defense industry - the production of ammunition.As Vladimir Korenkov, general director of Basalt, figuratively put it, the company produces “the second bread of the army.” 60-70% of battlefield ammunition was developed to one degree or another by designers, scientists, and technologists of Basalt. Over the entire existence of the enterprise, more than 800 samples have been put into service. The tradition continues - every year two, three, and sometimes four new models of close combat weapons are delivered. Ammunition developed by "Basalt" is in service in more than 80 countries, licenses for the production of 61 types of ammunition have been transferred to 11 countries, and more than 20 factories for their production have been built in them.
"Basalt" is a copy of a successful part of the Russian defense industry. Recently, the company has been paying a lot of attention to the production of non-lethal weapons for the army - clearly for the future. The fact is that today such weapons are used only by special units of the FSB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and even then by decision of the prosecutor’s office. Vladimir Korenkov defined the place of non-lethal weapons, again figuratively: in the interval from the mat to the machine gun. The range of non-lethal weapons is quite simple: 50-60% are police gases, 30% are impact ammunition such as rubber bullets and shrapnel, the rest are foam, adhesive compounds, blinding grenades. The technical problem has already been solved across the entire spectrum - from a hand grenade to an aerial bomb. All that remains is to obtain the appropriate legislative framework and change the combat regulations.
Among the most promising means, Mr. Korenkov named cluster munitions, including completely new ones - gliding ones. Meanwhile, the world community advocates the destruction of this class of weapons as inhumane. Mr. Korenkov has been a member of the international conference on inhumane weapons for more than seven years. In his opinion, efforts to ban inhumane weapons, which, in addition to cluster weapons, anti-personnel and anti-vehicle mines, lasers, and remnants of war, are aimed mainly at Russian arsenals.
It is curious that before the invasion of Iraq, the Americans actively promoted the problem of anti-vehicle mines. In fact, these mines simply prevented the rapid penetration of American troops into Iraqi territory. The action did not take place mainly due to the position of the Russian delegation. With regard to cluster munitions, Mr. Korenkov believes, as a rule, organizations act at the suggestion of someone, often not really understanding what a cluster weapon is. The flaw in their position, according to the general director of Basalt, is that the incorrect use of these weapons is blamed on the weapon itself. An example of an application error: if a cluster munition is opened at an unusual height, unexploded elements from the cluster will litter a large area, and this area will be dangerous for a long time - the so-called post-war effect will arise.
Cluster weapons were created in order to solve the same problems, but with less, sometimes ten times less, means. In addition, the power of each cluster element has been reduced to the level necessary to hit the target. Opponents of cluster bombs talk only about the number of elements. For Russia, the ban on cluster munitions, Mr. Korenkov is sure, is extremely unprofitable: it will have to re-equip its arsenals to suit the characteristics imposed from outside. If the destruction of cluster munitions is legalized at the international level, Russia will have to purchase similar munitions and technology from the West.
Another new direction of “Basalt” is sets of modules for pre-existing weapons. For example, free fall bombs. Modules that deliver bombs precisely to the target allow them to be used from extremely low altitudes - outside the range of air defense systems. The cost of the module is comparable to the cost of the bomb itself. But a rocket to solve the same problems costs 50 times more. It is the modules that will determine the appearance of aviation weapons, as well as close combat weapons, in the next five to ten years.
In recent years, the company has put into service with the army more than fifty new and modernized types of ammunition for melee weapons. For example, the conventional RPG-32 “Hashim” grenade launcher has turned from a purely anti-tank weapon into a fighter’s small rocket artillery. It comes with a full range of ammunition that can defeat all types of modern armor, including those with active protection. It now allows you to fight enemy personnel in shelters. In this case, you can choose the optimal charge to hit a particular target. These wonderful properties are now given to the entire range of disposable weapons - from the old RPG-18 to the newest RPG-28, which are capable of hitting all existing tanks and in the future for ten years.
With the advent of a new elemental base, a new ideology of warfare (in the city, on rough terrain, from closed positions), old means created in accordance with the ideology of the 80s of the last century are not always effective. The fight against armored vehicles has to be carried out at short distances - from 50 to 200 meters. The important thing here is to hit the target with the first shot. And “Basalt” in this vein creates weapons of destruction “at a significant miss,” that is, when flying from above or from the side of the target. This is a global trend, but Korenkov’s subordinates are creating the same means as the Germans or Americans, much cheaper.
For the enterprise, naturally, there is the eternal problem of the defense industry - the struggle between “shield and sword”. But for now, says Vladimir Korenkov, attack means are ahead of the defense of armored vehicles, including active defense. Basalt shells penetrate 100 mm of armor, and the thickest tank armor is 70 mm. Moreover, as paradoxical as it may sound, active protection in some cases enhances the effect of the projectile. Another means for the war of the new ideology is the creation of strike and reconnaissance mini-complexes that make it possible to identify and hit a target without seeing it.
Among the “civilian” products of Basalt, fire-fighting bombs are in greatest demand. There are proposals from European countries, even from the US State Department and several states to create joint ventures on their territory to produce such bombs. If the state allows this product to be made marketable, things will work out. The use of this miracle bomb reduces the need for traditional fire extinguishing agents tenfold.
Basalt, like a number of other Russian defense enterprises, has not avoided pirated copying and cloning of its products. However, the CEO does not look at this phenomenon like other “robbed” directors. Vladimir Korenkov is grateful to dishonest competitors: “They saved us sales markets, where we come with new developments.” And they, and this is understandable, are preferable for buyers.
The peculiarity of Basalt is that it is not only a developer, but also a weapons manufacturer, with four enterprises covering the full life cycle of ammunition from the idea of creation to disposal. All this cooperation will be corporatized in the next nine months and will become part of the newly created state corporation Russian Technologies. Vladimir Korenkov hopes that the quality of products will only increase from this.